Hi there,
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Background:
Every now and then people complain about Simcity 4 for Mac is slow compared to the PC one. I personally tried the universal binary of SC4 and also the SC4 on a virtual pc under parallels. The impression was that the PC one is more responsive and faster in computing/finding path. The UB patch is just a beta and not supported by Aspyr.
On Mac when it comes to virtualisation, Parallels, Vmware and Crossover are the big names that worth mentioning. I didnt try Vmware on my own and I bet the end result of installing SC4 on it would be similar to that on Parallels. Crossover however has the lowest overhead, due to the fact that the bottle it create to accomodate a Windows application is just a slice of windows, ie Crossover only install the essential files to mimic a Windows environment. RAM usage, disk space usage and CPU usage are the overheads I am talking about.
Long before trying to install SC4 on Crossover, I had an experience of playing Counterstrike on Mac. While my laptop, Macbook Core Duo pretty sucks thanks to the intel integrated graphics, the gaming experience was "okay". I have nearly nothing to complain except for the lowish framerate. There was no graphic glitches whatsoever.
A few days ago, Crossover sent me an email that Crossover Games was release. Then, it comes the idea to virtualise Simcity on Mac.
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Installation:
I spents hours to figure out how to run the installer properly. I left the hard copy of the game in my home country. And there are only the image files of the game in the external hard disk. MDFs and CueSheets. Okay! It doesnt matter if you have image or not.
1)The most important thing is that you have a copy that you can install on Windows.
2)Then copy everything from Disk 1 to a folder, let say "SC4 Install". I assume you do it in Windows. Copying from a hard copy on Mac may or may not work. I didnt try that out.
3)Do the same thing with Disk 2. And you now have a folder with the files from the two discs
5)Create a Windows XP bottle in Crossover Games.
6)Copy the folder "SC4 Install" to C:\Program Files in the bottle.
7)Run setup.exe by using Crossover Games --> Program --> Run Command
8)Download patch 1.1.638 and place it under "Program Files", install the patch using Run Command.
9)Download 1.1.638 No-CD patch. Go search for it. Rename the original exe before overwriting with the No-CD patch.
10)Go to Crossover Games Menu --> Program --> Run Command . Point to Simcity 4 Rush Hour/Deluxe .exe. Add the appropriate commands behind the file path. For example,
"/users/me/......../Simcity 4/App/Simcity 4 RH.exe" -introff -CustromResolution:Enabled -r1280x800x32
11)Save the command and try running SC4 if you wish.
12)Go to Crossover Games Menu --> Program --> Reveal in Finder.
You should have the Simcity 4.app which is created by Crossover and another which you create yourself. Right click both of them and show their contents. Open Info.plist(double click).
13) Under Root/CrossoverHelperCommand, copy the string with the custom command to the same string of the .app created by Crossover. Save the plist
Drag the Edited .app to the Dock.
14)Done. Dont tell me you are not playing SC4 on Mac after all these steps.
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Game Play
-On the macbook, hardware rendering gives glitches, while software mode runs just as fast but without major glitches.
-Remember NAM, CAM etc have seperate versions of Mod, for PC and MAC respectively.
