To Mac or not to Mac - NOW: Mac Update AAR

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kbfchicago
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To Mac or not to Mac - NOW: Mac Update AAR

Post by kbfchicago »

After playing AE on Windows since it came out in 09 looking to end my eternal frustration with Windows and move to Mac. But not at the cost of losing AE...

Before I take the plunge any cautions I should be aware of from current WITP-AE Mac users?

I do have the following bookmarks lined up..
http://witp-ae.wikia.com/wiki/Running_t ... on_Mac_OSX
http://www.altinyay.com/home/witpae-resources

A specific question I don't think either site addresses directly. I currently have six AE installs in Windows, base line version and five spin offs of variants (DBBs, LST, RHS, which include ongoing games tailored to specific PBEMs). Can I do the same under Mac (multiple tailored installs)?

Any observations much appreciated...

Kevin
MacBook Pro / WITP-AE running in Parallels v15.x
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Disco Duck
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Disco Duck »

I am going to follow this thread closely. Are you planning to use Bootcamp, wineskin, Parallels or some other emulator?
There is no point in believing in things that exist. -Didactylos
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Admiral DadMan »

**EDIT: failed to read OP properly.
Scenario 127: "Scraps of Paper"
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

DD,

I've no experience with any of the emulation choices. My spouse has used a Mac for about two years but had no emulation needs when we migrated her, everything she needed ported into native Apple.

The info on the links for AE looks to favor wineskin. Am also getting advice around other applications that can influence this as well but the only "critical" app from Windows on this Mac will be WITP-AE... was hoping for some first hand observations here before making the leap.
MacBook Pro / WITP-AE running in Parallels v15.x
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Disco Duck
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Disco Duck »

The new Mac OS High Sierra Interferes with Bootcamp. I don't know about Wineskin or Parallels .
More info here.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09 ... ca-review/
There is no point in believing in things that exist. -Didactylos
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DRF99
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by DRF99 »

I've run AE through Wineskin on a Mac. It does work but is too unstable for my taste. Random crashes that means you have to start the turn over again. [X(]
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by jhoewner_slith »

I have been running WITP on Parallels for years. No problems, works fine, fast etc. You can even play it on an ipad wie Parallels Access.
Got sluggish with the Win 10 creators update, but Windows only users experience the same problem so its not a Mac thing.
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Mike Solli
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Mike Solli »

I've used a Mac since WitP came out in 04. Currently I use a MacBook Pro with Parallels and Windows 7. No issues at all.

Edit: Yes, you can have an many installs as you want. At one time I had 3, if memory serves me.
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by witpqs »

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I've used a Mac since WitP came out in 04. Currently I use a MacBook Pro with Parallels and Windows 7. No issues at all.

Edit: Yes, you can have an many installs as you want. At one time I had 3, if memory serves me.
The new Intel Monkey runs fine on Mac with Parallels too.
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Reg »


Other options not listed above are VMWare Fusion (commercial product) and Oracle Virtualbox (GPL licience).

These are virtual machines that don't require a dedicated Windows partition. You will need a Windows licence though. DirectX support may be problematic but you can run a version within the VM different from the host PC.

I have had WITP running quite happily under Win98 inside a VM. [:)]

Cheers,
Reg.

(One day I will learn to spell - or check before posting....)
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

****UPDATE****

Ok, jumped in with a MacBook Pro, Sierra OS, 15.4" Display, Intel Core i7, 16GB Memory, 256GB Flash Storage. I went with Parallels supporting a Win10 Home install. Having some tweaking issues..will update on success or not later this week.

An early lesson is I originally planned to port over my current Win10 image from my old Toshiba laptop, Parallels has a utility that allows you to do that. Size was an issue, it would have used over 150GB of space, even after I cleaned out old/unused apps and "less" used games. Tried to port just to see if I could get it to work, assuming I'd be able to further reduce space once ported over. Could not get the image to run after either a wireless direct transfer or an image transfer using a passport external drive. Punted to a "new" install vs. porting. A fresh Win10 install under passport required significantly less space (<10GB), Win10 installed without an issue, copied over my WITP-AE installed from legacy Toshibia installs (I currently have seven different versions), reinstalled (just the) based install - default location, mirrored my legacy Toshiba install, tested one of the modified folders (#5 LST's mod specifically) and it started just fine under Parallels/Win10 on Mac. Note that a fresh install did cost me a purchase of a new Win10 license. My Win10 install on Mac, a download from Parallel's site would not allow me to use the OEM license # from my Toshiba, which was an update received from MS when i upgraded to WIN10 last year under their "Free" update to Win10 program.

Having some performance issues, will be tweaking switch settings, Win10 and Parallels properties. Will update this post with results later this week.

AAR to this point:
- Parallels install was very easy (cost @ $80)
- Porting my legacy install of windows and software using Parallel's utility did not work
- Be prepared for Win10 License cost (@ $100)
- Fresh install (vs porting from legacy) used far less space - LESSON: if you are bringing allot over to run under windows (much more than WITP-AE) go with 512GB vs 256GB storage on Mac
- I copied over my WITP-AE installs using an external passport drive - no issues, both Mac and Win10 under Parallels saw the files and copied without issues.
- Assumed I did need to "install" so Windows registry et.al. on the Mac Win10 VM could run WITP-AE, so installed over my "basic game" which for me was the default install and path.*
*NOTE: A note on my WITP-AE installs. My first folder is the basic game, installed on default paths - never touch or change this install. My first update is "copy" of this install, same general path, updated game folder with a "(1)" at the end. The "1" copy is a copy of the default folder updated with the latest production patch and art mods I like to use. Versions (2), (3), etc... are my DBB, LST, et.al versions. When entering a PBEM game that game also gets it's specific folder/version in case we decide on in game updates or I want to experiment with updates in a separate folder before applying in game.
LESSON: Using the same path on the Mac VM was not a problem and caused no issues - using a different path "may" cause you issues, did not validate impact of changing paths!
- Parallels allowed me to mirror my original WITP-AE install (C:\ path), which for me was default, on the Mac. Assume that allowed all my versions to work once I reinstalled (only) the basic game version on the default path in the Mac Win10 VM.

(more to follow...) - added 31 Dec 17;

After completing the default installs was seeing some @ 3 second lag time, enough to make the game unplayable. The following are the settings I ended up with, no longer see any lag time;

In Parallels Control Center - maximized resource usage for this VM (8GB memory, 4 processors, HiRes graphics). Everything else in Parallels is set to default.
For the WITP-AE shortcut icon properties;
- I did NOT check any options under the compatibly tab (tried most to see impact, little or none noted)
- My switches ended up as follows: "C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition - Copy (5)\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -SingleCpuOrders -cpu2 -dd_sw -wd -px 2880 -py 1800 -altfont -archive -deepcolor -fixedArt -noFire
- As noted in other posts… I was seeing a very minor and sporadic lag without the single cpu or the cpu2 switch active. Playable but annoying. Adding those switches seems to have resolved
- I also noted sporadic issues with my mouse - clicks not registering or delayed. I was using the Apple wireless mouse, switched to a standard wired mouse (via USB) and issues went away. Note I also saw mouse issues in my legacy windows based desktop publishing program (San Serif) which is running under the same Parallels VM. Swapping to a USB mouse also fixed aberrant mouse behavior (pointer jumping around, not being precise in movements) in that program. Will try another type of wireless mouse at some point in the near future.

&#8232;BLUF:
- Game runs without issue, Retina screen really makes the colors “pop” off the screen.
- The side to side/top to bottom scroll is “clunky” and under the Mac have switched to using arrow keys to scroll off the viewable area.

Potential future updates:
-Install of High Sierra OS and any impacts
-Alternative (non-apple or other apple model) wireless mouse
-Also trying to get Distant Worlds to run on Mac…no joy there, will post at some point in that forum but if you are a DW player look to that forum as there does not seem to be an Apple option that works (or is as easy to setup as WITP-AE was)



Kevin
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kbfchicago
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

Updated to High Sierra last night, no issues with Parallels or WITP-AE.
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Vinco
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Vinco »

Hi everyone,
I was a regular player of witp:ae on Mac, either with bootcamp, or using parallels. Since last summer and windows 10 updates, I have run into major problems (both in bootcamp and with parallels). The game crashes after intro videos while/after loading, without much explanations. I had thought I had found a way around this by installing Windows 7 in a new Parallels 12 VM but the problem comes back. Anyone else encountering major problems (I have tested on 2 iMacs, one on Sierra, the other High Sierra..) ? Any info welcome !
Vinc.
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

Vinco, not seeing any crashes (have about 100 turns in at this point), difference would seem to be I'm using Win10 under Parallels Version 13.2.0 (43213).
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by BBfanboy »

ORIGINAL: Vinco

Hi everyone,
I was a regular player of witp:ae on Mac, either with bootcamp, or using parallels. Since last summer and windows 10 updates, I have run into major problems (both in bootcamp and with parallels). The game crashes after intro videos while/after loading, without much explanations. I had thought I had found a way around this by installing Windows 7 in a new Parallels 12 VM but the problem comes back. Anyone else encountering major problems (I have tested on 2 iMacs, one on Sierra, the other High Sierra..) ? Any info welcome !
Vinc.

Windows uses a different video program than Apple machines. AFAIK Apple uses Quicktime and Windows defaults to Window Media Player, but can use some other third-party video players.

Try putting -skipVideo in your startup icon switches so the video does not try to play.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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kbfchicago
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

8 Months later, many 100s of turns, no crashes. Updated to 13.3.2 for Parallels along the way.
MacBook Pro / WITP-AE running in Parallels v15.x
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Disco Duck
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by Disco Duck »

I finally got Windows installed via boot camp. Now I can't connect via wifi to update the software. Any Suggestions? I don't even get the option for WIFI.
edit

I installed Windows Professional 64 and have tried connecting directly to the ethernet port.
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kbfchicago
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RE: To Mac or not to Mac

Post by kbfchicago »

Updated to Parallels 15.1.0. No issues
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