[Batman]

Hello.

About to purchase computer mainly for adventure gaming and some work. I would like to purchase a mac over the pc and was wondering are most games made for mac. I can run a dual boot of course and would be happy to do so. Any body else using a mac. I have used my daughters mac to play the old Infocom games and it is so clean and tidy to use and organise files not to mention the virus free enviroment, (I have not had any as yet but cant say the same for my pc).

Also about to purchase my first real adventure game since Infocom and Magnetic scrolls days.
Thinking of one of the black mirror series. Any input into how good these are.

Thanks

[needlefeast]

Originally Posted by Batman

Hello.

About to purchase computer mainly for adventure gaming and some work. I would like to purchase a mac over the pc and was wondering are most games made for mac. I can run a dual boot of course and would be happy to do so. Any body else using a mac. I have used my daughters mac to play the old Infocom games and it is so clean and tidy to use and organise files not to mention the virus free enviroment, (I have not had any as yet but cant say the same for my pc).

Also about to purchase my first real adventure game since Infocom and Magnetic scrolls days.
Thinking of one of the black mirror series. Any input into how good these are.

Thanks

In order for you to play most games you need windows. There are only a couple I have seen that have been made Mac compatible. I have a macbook pro but I don't use it for gaming, I have all my games on my sisters PC but she gets mad cos I am always in her room.

I haven't played Black Mirror, I like the Runaway series in terms of more recent games but it doesn't have such a good reputation on this site. If you are starting out int he gaming world you should just go to a shop and have a look to see what titles interest you. You will get bombarded with suggestions here but adventure gaming is really diverse and you could play what's considered one of the best games ever and dislike it just because you don't like that exact style. Why don't you tell us a bit more about what you like in an adventure game (if you can) it might make recommending titles a bit easier.

Good luck!

[ADan]

I am running a virtual machine software (VMWare) (which is - I take it - not the same as an emulator) on a MacBookPro.

In fact the only reason I have anything Microsoft on my computer is for playing AGs. The advantage of the virtual machine over the 'Bootcamp' is that you don't have to boot anew to access your Mac desktop and you don't need to define a partition on your hard drive. You can use both systems parallel at the same time.

I mounted XP but you can implement any other system you like and even use/import images of existing PCs you might want to continue to use in a more stable environment (Mac).

I didn't have any problems with the adventures I played so far.

This isn't supposed to sound like an advertisement but I must say I never once regretted changing to a Mac.

Of course there's the matter of cost. In addition to your Mac which *is* a bit more expensive than a "regular" PC you'd have to purchase a Microsoft OS and the VMWare.
(It is possible to use an image from an existing and properly licensed Windows; don't know about the legality of that, though. But I'm pretty sure it is legal. It wouldn't make any sense to allow importing an image of your old machine otherwise. The import btw runs automated as far as I can remember ... pure magic ;o).

Hope you'll find a solution that suits you best.

Cheers, Dan.

[Hansi]

Most adventure games will play in Crossover: http://www.codeweavers.com/

And/or Wine: http://wineskin.doh123.com/Information.html

Check http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibi...me/?;showall=1
and
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManage...e+Applications

For compatibility lists.

Originally Posted by ADan

I am running a virtual machine software (VMWare) (which is - I take it - not the same as an emulator) on a MacBookPro.

In fact the only reason I have anything Microsoft on my computer is for playing AGs. The advantage of the virtual machine over the 'Bootcamp' is that you don't have to boot anew to access your Mac desktop and you don't need to define a partition on your hard drive. You can use both systems parallel at the same time.

I mounted XP but you can implement any other system you like and even use/import images of existing PCs you might want to continue to use in a more stable environment (Mac).

I didn't have any problems with the adventures I played so far.

This isn't supposed to sound like an advertisement but I must say I never once regretted changing to a Mac.

Of course there's the matter of cost. In addition to your Mac which *is* a bit more expensive than a "regular" PC you'd have to purchase a Microsoft OS and the VMWare.
(It is possible to use an image from an existing and properly licensed Windows; don't know about the legality of that, though. But I'm pretty sure it is legal. It wouldn't make any sense to allow importing an image of your old machine otherwise. The import btw runs automated as far as I can remember ... pure magic ;o).

Hope you'll find a solution that suits you best.

Cheers, Dan.

I use vmware within my windows 7. I installed my old XP Pro to the vmware workstation so I can use two different windows environments simultaneously. Only real reason I have it is because microsoft and HP won't make a driver to support my old scanjet in windows 7, but it works in XP.

[jhetfield21]

If you plan on using Linux at all theres a really good abandonware source.they already have Beneath the steel sky and since scummvm is also installed if you can find anything that old,like Manic Mansion or Day of the Tentacle or Zak McCracken or Monkey Island 1,2 etc,they will play easy.

As for a machine if you decide not to go for Mac i think you can get a good one nowadays for a decent amount of cash.

But to tell the truth I too want to get a Mac sometime.If anything Apple is the peak of organization be it the software or the hardware.I'd really like an iMac.

[ZeframCochrane]

Considering that I probably can't sway you from your decision of getting an Apple computer, my advice is to get an Apple with Bootcamp feature. Double-booting is superior to virtual machines in my opinion, albeit slightly more complicated to set up. I've never owned an Apple with Bootcamp, so I really can't attest to the degree of difficulty of the procees.

What I can say is that the support of 3D hardware acceleration in virtual machines such as VMWare guests is somewhat limited. VMWare does include an experimental support, but it's mostly limited to enabling the Aero effects for Vista or 7 guests on Windows-based hosts. Which wouldn't be your case anyway. So you'd be limited to purely 2D games.

Could I perhaps convince you of setting up a proper GRUB-based double boot on a non-Apple computer, with Ubuntu Linux (or any other release of your choice) and Windows? For me, the only alternative to Windows has always been Linux (lolnerd). The process is pretty simple, you start from a computer with Windows installed, and at the end of the process (of which you can see the details simply by searching for " Windows Ubuntu double boot" on Google) you end up with having a menu at startup time (between the Bios POST and the OS boot), which allows you to choose which OS to boot into.
No need to say that the marvellous advantage of Linux is that its free, so you can optimize your investment by allocating more funds for the hardware.

[Dwagginz]

I'm going to side with Zefram. If you're wanting to maximise your ability to play adventure games (And, potentially, other types of game) then you need to have Windows in some capacity. You don't need to use it as a primary OS (Use Bootcamp as advised above).

I'd say to stay away from Mac, but that's mostly because I think they're not that good for what you pay - No real ability to upgrade, no real flexibility in your system and you're paying more for less (Relative to a PC or Linux system). I like flexibility and control, and I don't feel Macs give me that (Just my opinion, of course).

[jhetfield21]

im with zefram on the whole windows/ubuntu being a good alternative and if the budget is limited you'd be better investing in a desktop and it's hardware(better upgradability).
i can't say much about mac os since i've never used them myself only friends and colleagues but so far really good feedback(at least for our field of work).for one though there are very few games made for mac be it exclusively(haven't heard of but it is a possibility) on not.if you can do sth to put windows in like the above posts say then go ahead.but mac and even linux will be troublesome for gaming.linux mostly because the software that emulates windows applications is not 100% compatible with all games.there are many games that play poor or so and so and some that can't.

[Weare6]

I have Machinarium for the MAC... its awesome. (but you can get it for PC also). If your a old school Adventurer like me your gonna love Machinarium.
It's beautiful!!!!

[Hoipolloi]

Originally Posted by Dwagginz

... Mac... No real ability to upgrade, no real flexibility in your system and you're paying more for less (Relative to a PC or Linux system). I like flexibility and control, and I don't feel Macs give me that (Just my opinion, of course).

Not just yours. A quote from an interesting talk at the CCC congress last year: Give people fewer choices, and they'll feel less bad about the choices they make. That's Apple's success strategy. (Cognitive psychology for hackers - Youtube link)

As to what you should buy, Batman - even if you "only" want to use it for adventure games, don't waste your money on old technology from eBay. Even adventures get bigger and "better" over the years, and they'll use newer features. So get a decent PC with upgrade capabilities, and if you want it to look as pretty as a Mac, choose a custom case, or build your own.

[Idrisguitar]

lol that basket case (i said it) doesn't look very well ventilated