Okay.. I dont get it...

[lucashp 1]

Im gonna buy a intel mini mac soon. But I have no clue if its going to work with simcity 4, Sims 2, Civilization 3, Other mac OS X games. Im looking at other topics, but I still dont get the problom. Is it because they bought the mac version of the game, and theyre playing on the windows part of the intel? Or is it the hardware, that it just is to slow? Does this mean not all my games will work on my new comp? Will I need to replace them with the PC version? Am I asking so many questions Its anoying you? Sorry for this confusing Odd thread. I hope I dont get flamed...

[solsys 0]

Quick Answers and No Flames

Your games should work

The old PowerPC programs are being translated on-the-fly by Rosetta

The hardware itself is screaming fast, it just has to do a ton more work translating the app.

Windows versions of your games WILL NOT work under OS X

Better Explanation:

Basically the problem with the older mac games is that they were originally created for the old PowerPC Macs, and in order for them to work on the intel macs, they're translated by the OS automatically when they are run. The best way to think about it is Person A speaks English and Person B speaks French, in order for them to communicate they run everything they say to each other through person C. No matter how good a translator C is, the conversation will be slower, and certain nuances of speech will be lost, which can cause mis-understandings, or in the computer's case: bugs.

I've played several PPC games(Including SC4) on my Intel MacBook Pro, and they have all worked fairly well, though they are slower than they would be on an equivalent G5. Older games tend to work better, since they were made to work with slower hardware to begin with. If you are going to get a Mac Mini, I would -highly- recommend getting the full 2GB of ram, and if you can afford it, go for the 1.83Ghz version. My MBP running at 2.0 Ghz works fine on smaller lots, but it can bog down a bit on larger built-up lots (of course SC4 never ran well on my PC, so I didn't notice much of a difference )

All of that being said, Certain games (like Sims 2) have been converted to "Universal Binaries". What this means is that the app has been rebuilt in a way that allows it to run without translation on the new machines. You can go to: http://guides.macrumors.com/Universal_Binary_Games and see which games have been updated. Aspyr has said several times than a UB version of SimCity is on the way, but it isn't here yet...

Hope that clears up your confusion,

[LivingInThePast 364]

However, there are a few more things.

Classic Apps (made before OSX) will not run on Intel.

Using the free tool Boot Camp and a copy of Windows XP, you can boot up into XP. It has been highly suggested that if you have an Intel Mac, run the Windows version of SimCity in Windows mode.

[lucashp 1]

Mes thanks you plenty .

So living, anotherwords if i want to play a old 9 OS game i would need to buy the windows version? And about the windows XP, Would it be same using the updated game version of mac v.s. the windows with a windows version?

What Windows XP should I get?

[solsys 0]

Yup for Mac OS 9 games you would have to get the windows version and run them thru bootcamp. As far as Universal Binaries vs Windows Native, it depends greatly on the game and how well it was ported originally. Chances are the Windows version might still be better, since the game was probably written for it originally. For example, Civ IV runs great on my MBP, whereas World of Warcraft runs better on my PC.

As far as WinXP goes, see if you can find XP Professional, the main advantage over Home will be that Professional will recognize both cores on the CPU and can offload some OS tasks to the 2nd core while the game is running full-tilt on the first, plus newer games are being written so they will take advanage of both CPU cores. Before deciding, check to make sure that the old windows games work with XP, since OS 9 games would have been ports of games written for Windows 98, which can be hit-and-miss on XP.

[Kakaze 0]

Windows XP Home recognises the dual core chips just as well as Pro. What XP Home doesn't recognise is dual CPUs.

One thing to take into consideration with the Mac Mini is that it uses integrated graphics. The graphics chip on the Mac Mini isn't able to do several important 3D operations in hardware and thus offloads it to the CPU which slows things down. Also, and this is the integrated part, the chip uses system memory instead of memory dedicated specifically for it. If you only have 512 megs of RAM in a Mini the graphics are gonna eat 60-80 megs of that RAM which, of course, reduces the ram you have open for software. Adding extra RAM with a Mini - or a MacBook as they're hardware identical - is greatly recommended.

Now, if you're playing older games - SC4 shouldn't be too much of a stretch for the graphics on a Mini - or 2D games you'll be fine, for the most part, but you'll be hard pressed to play any of the newer 3D games without reducing the settings all the way down to their lowest. The Sims 2 will most likely fall into this category.

[lucashp 1]

Hmmm... That has kind of changed my mind... I might buy a Mac mini 1.83 GB, but then, again I will say goodbye to other windows games I could play..

[lucashp 1]

Im going to boot this old thread (I know Most people hate people doing this, But I am however the author.) The main reson why I wanted The better Mac mini was so It would run much more faster on games, And would be a G5 so I can play Civilization 4, And other great games I would be passing up. Ive been searching on Apple a little bit, But I cant seem to find a mini mac that has is a G5, And not intel. I looked at a couple of forums and people were ranting about intel being too slow and that has changed my mind.

[Zelgadis 638]

I do know there was never a G5 variation of the Mini. Now I don't remember if there was a G4 version but there might have been. I do think that the Minis are Intel only though. Somebody can come and correct me if I'm wrong.

ISF

[lucashp 1]

No, theres been a G4 version. So far it looks like mini mac is intel only now.