The Sims 2 and the New Intel-based Macs

[dmetzcher]

I have two games, the Sims 2 and Railroad Tycoon 3 for my Mac. What will happen to these games if I get a new Intel Mac? Will I have to buy them again? Is that what typically happens to games when a hardware upgrade of this nature occurs? I can't imagine that either game will run nicely under Rosetta. Any thoughts, anyone?

[Phluxy]

I think those games take advantage of the velocity engine. And rosetta only emulates G3 instructions. I don't know if those games are, or ever will be universal, same with a lot of games and old mac os x apps. And some new ones that are not main company focusses for some companies who mainly focus on one app.

[dmetzcher]

Poo.

[bobw]

From MacFixIt;

Games -- most compatible, but slow

A few readers have reported that the Sims 2 outputs no sound when run under Rosetta.

Other games' status are as follows:

Doom3 - Works in 640X480 and 800X600 Slightly jerky
Homeworld 2 - Works
Nanosaur 2 - Works
Warcraft III Reign of Chaos - Works
Warcraft III - Frozen Throne - Works


MacObserver reports that Aspyr Media has confirmed that it will be releasing free Universal binary patches for its best-selling Doom 3 and The Sims 2 games for Macintosh Computers running on Intel chips.

[dmetzcher]

MacObserver reports that Aspyr Media has confirmed that it will be releasing free Universal binary patches for its best-selling Doom 3 and The Sims 2 games for Macintosh Computers running on Intel chips.
Great news!

[tjlazer]

What about Quake 3 Arena?

[mdnky]

Railroad Tycoon's minimum requirements are a 400MHz + processor, 256MB RAM, and 32MB Video RAM. It ran pretty much perfectly for me on my old G3 900MHz iBook @ 1064x768 on the battery (reduced processor speed), so an Intel Mac should handle it fine (even under emulation) in term of power. Whether or not it shares any sound or video issues is another question.

[ex2bot]

Rosetta DOES now emulate Altivec. As of 10.4.3

(one url: http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/11/20051130003205.shtml)

Speaking of Railroad Tycoon (3? the newest, whatever it is), I'm thinking of getting it. Anyone have opinions on the quality of the game?

Doug

[mdnky]

Speaking of Railroad Tycoon (3? the newest, whatever it is), I'm thinking of getting it. Anyone have opinions on the quality of the game?

I played it once...the day I bought it...haven't since. It's alright, but just didn't appeal to me.

[Stridder44]

I read Railroad as Roller....which led me to think of RollerCoaster Tycoon....which is such an awesome game (way better than Railroad Tycoon or whatever)

[dmetzcher]

Rosetta DOES now emulate Altivec. As of 10.4.3

(one url: http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/11/20051130003205.shtml)

Speaking of Railroad Tycoon (3? the newest, whatever it is), I'm thinking of getting it. Anyone have opinions on the quality of the game?

Doug
Version 3 is the latest.
I have it and liked it when I first got it, but, like so many games that I buy, I rarely play it now. It's a cool game though. If you ever played the DOS version way back in the early 90s that fit on a floppy, and loved it like I did, you'll love this version.

[mdnky]

Can you play Railroad Tycoon 3 on PowerPC (G4) ibook?
You can play it on a G3 iBook (900MHz, 640MB RAM, 32MB video).

[ex2bot]

[My late reply:]

Thanks for the feedback about Railroad Tycoon, guys. I did buy it (for only $20!!) and I have played it a couple times. It looked reeeeeeaaallly cool on my projector.

I haven't had much time to play anything, but I'm going to work on it on my vacation next week.

I'm waiting for the next killer single-player game, a la Deus Ex, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, etc. No MMOG's since I don't have broadband.

Doug