Curse

mcosad · Nov 25, 2008, 06:22 PM // 18:22

So I bought a mac for university and worked out all the vmware and windows xp sp2 crapola.
I have a black macbook, 2 gigs of ram and 160 gig hard drive, intel processor, but I think it has a shoddy graphics card, because when i run guild wars it's unplayable. And i checked my internet connection, it's not a lag problem or ping.
Running vmware you have to use their graphics accelerator which, correct me if i'm wrong, isn't the same as using your own. For this reason, i was wondering if if should buy the newest mac OS (which comes with boot camp)? Would running windows straight, and not in parallel, improve graphics?
Thanks for your help

TheJokersWild · Nov 25, 2008, 06:49 PM // 18:49

How recent is that Mac? If it's a Brand New Macbook, they no longer use the Intel GMA vid cards (good thing for gamers). If it's an older one then it's a bit more harsh.

Either way, Parallels, and VMware Fusion Emulate the video card, you were correct there. So then it's unsupported and barely playable. If you installed 10.5, you would indeed get BootCamp, and could run straight in Windows. Yes GW would work, and be mostly playable but you'd be running without the wonderful Mac OS you've come to know and love. :P

What I recommend (and I actually DO use it) is Crossover Games. Runs GW to near perfection, and it uses your real hardware, as opposed to VMware and Parallels emulation method. It's basically Wine in a nice package if you know what Wine is.

mcosad · Nov 25, 2008, 07:36 PM // 19:36

Wonderful advice, thank you. Do i have to buy this?

TheJokersWild · Nov 25, 2008, 08:21 PM // 20:21

Crossover Games, like VMWare, and Parallels, is a "pay to use", but they all offer a Demo. So you can try out Crossover Games to make sure it WILL support your hardware before proceeding with a purchase.

I don't quite remember the Demo details, but it's also possible you might be able to enter a sort of "Demo Loop" whereby using it for the Demo time, and simply "renewing" your demo time. For the ability to play Guild Wars, Steam Games, and a plethora of other previously "Windows Only" applications, It was worth the purchase to me.

So I didn't stay on Demo too long.

They used to offer a deal where if you bought Crossover Pro, you got it PLUS Games edition. Apps like M$ Office and Visual Studios run better in Pro than in Games. Something else to consider.

mcosad · Nov 26, 2008, 04:53 PM // 16:53

Next problem: I think i have an insufficient graphics card: I got the game running and it was acceptable, but then I changed it to a smaller window to check the web (note there was still a window open). The window kept shimmying to the right across the screen, and refused to maximise. I eventually gave up and let it exit the screen stage right. Now when i run the game, the music starts, but the window's gone! Help!

As of now, i've rebooted the bottle, restarted the game, the laptop, and crossover. I don't think restarting's going to fix it, and i'm not that good with this software. Any advice is appreciated.

TheJokersWild · Nov 27, 2008, 02:20 PM // 14:20

I'd recommend you hit the Codeweavers' website for more info on the matter.
They're pretty good with sorting out the errors with their system. Often it's something that can be solved with a few switches on the app, or a setting in Crossover itself.

Since the game runs off DirectX, it can't really "Maximize" itself to full screen, so you're stuck with permanent Windowed mode. Just a note.

Codeweaver's website, specifically the GW Forum is
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibi...d=1658;forum=1

Kindeller · Dec 11, 2008, 06:54 PM // 18:54

I can confirm you can run GW very smoothly on mac, when i got my macbook last summer the first thing i wanted to try on it was GW. Only to find out it apparently "was not possible" (forum members) I ignored them and continued in my search. I found crossover games after a quick search and within a few hours of finding it had guild wars up and running. I've played it for months now, there is a way to get it for shall we say a reduced price anyone who's interested can send me an e-mail and i'll sort you out.

Otherwise it's saved alot of time and space on my other computer, i just wish It worked so fluent with other programs. It just so happens that they worked with the game especially.. To get another one thats not already on they're list of games to work is a real good luck.

~Kind

Snype · Dec 29, 2008, 11:58 PM // 23:58

has anyone had any trouble playing gw through crossover games because of the command+w shortcut? Its annoying to be walking and then have your window closed out of no where. Anyone know how to alter the shortcut?

Kattar · Dec 30, 2008, 01:24 AM // 01:24

I have run into this. Bugs the crap out of me as well. Only solution I've found is to be very careful when running. I'll do a little more research though.

nightfall_adict · Jan 04, 2009, 06:39 AM // 06:39

I'm a mac user and I play GW on boot camp! you have to buy the PC operating system, but it works awesomely

tenetke · Jan 05, 2009, 07:15 AM // 07:15

Quote:

EDIT - IT DOES WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN only comaptible with microsoft windows....

Old quote, but still makes me laugh.

I think there are still active contributors to the Darwine OS X binaries. A google search should give you the information on it. Not sure if it is updated as often as Wine, it may not be updated at all anymore. The latest update on SF is listed as July of 2007, supposed to be a working version of wine at that time. If it is then you shouldn't have any problems running GW. http://www.kronenberg.org/darwine/ is probably your closest call for a more up to date version. No idea how it works though using linux myself.

If it is based on the newest version of Wine then you won't have any problems. Currently I run GW at max settings with a min of 30 fps under wine 1.1x.

Quaker · Jan 05, 2009, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Personally, I'd say that running WinXP using Bootcamp is the best solution. Anything else involves some sort of emulation and/or compromise. I know that many Mac owners have some sort of a anti-windows mind-set, but the reality is that the new iMacs hardware is essentially the same as a PC - OSX is the OS not the hardware. Regardless of how you feel about Windows, you only need it to play games, and using some sort of Windows wannabe like Wine is still not really running GW in OSX anyway.

DuroMentis · Feb 17, 2009, 05:29 AM // 05:29

Hehe, looks like there's a bad case of noob in the air and most of the people here are getting infected. Just kidding. Before someone decides to bash me for bringing up a potentially dead thread, I am writing this only because there are still a few Guild Wars players desperate to play on Mac. There is a program which I have used and had success with. It's called Cider, and it works on Mac Os X without the need to switch to Windows via Bootcamp. I can also confirm that Guild Wars has worked for me and I am running on a Mac Mini Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz with 2GB of RAM. How you choose to obtain this program is up to you, but I can tell you that it has worked for me.

Oh for you children out there who say PCs are better, I'll believe that when I get a BSOD. XD

Hope this helps.

Quaker · Feb 19, 2009, 07:24 PM // 19:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuroMentis

Oh for you children out there who say PCs are better, I'll believe that when I get a BSOD. XD

Just to be picky, let me point out again, but in a slightly different way, that a BSOD is caused by Windows, not a "PC". If you run Linux on a PC you don't get BSODs. Also, the hardware in a modern Mac is essentially a PC.

So, for you children out there, don't let the hype generated by some TV commercials fool you. It's not PC vs Mac - it's Windows vs OSX.
I doubt that the hardware in a Mac is really any better than the hardware in any quality PC. (Can you say "nVidia failure".

)

Ps. - if you want to annoy your Mac using buddies, be sure to call it OS "ex", not OS "ten".

P.p.s. I have no problems with Macs vs PCs - my son runs a Macbook, which, other than the goofy things he has to do to "right-click", seems to be a good machine. I just don't like misinformation and hype created by commercials, or other means.

mac guy · Jun 02, 2009, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Try cross over from code weavers. the game version works the best. the other option is to get vitual box An open source vm that will allow you to run windows. cross over is the fastest although there seems to be a few bugs and it does not work with every thing.

Master Zoa · Jun 23, 2009, 06:56 PM // 18:56

Okay i just a pretty powerful MacBook Pro, but i would like to install Guild Wars onto it. I was reading the posts that this thread opened with and it said it could not happen, but it has been two years since then. So is there anything i can do to run it?

rick1027 · Jun 23, 2009, 07:34 PM // 19:34

there is a linux thread around here somewhere that should help you better then this one there area few ways to run guild wars under and one being wine crossover which is a pay per month program i believe not 100% on that though and im thinking there is another way. i at one time had guild wars running on linux with the help of wine but dont recall all i had to do to get it running

moriz · Jun 23, 2009, 09:30 PM // 21:30

there are two main ways to do this:

1) install windows XP/Vista/7 using Bootcamp, which essentially turns your MBP into a normal windows based laptop, set up all the drivers and updates, then install GW. that will get the maximum performance for your hardware

2) install Wine/Crossover/Cider/whatever-derivative-of-Wine-you-can-think-of, install GW, and cross your fingers.

Tarun · Jun 24, 2009, 05:16 PM // 17:16

Or 3. Buy a real gaming computer that runs Windows and you can upgrade easily if need be. :P

aubray1741 · Jun 24, 2009, 10:44 PM // 22:44

I've had great success dual-booting OS X and Windows on a MacBook and playing Guild Wars. You can use Bootcamp, but I'm ninja at Disk Utility and dual-booted manually. The bootloader on Macs is pretty amazing, it just works when you have multiple partitions, and it fools Windows into thinking it's the first partition.