Killer Boo Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Hi all, just thought I'd stop by and ask you guys about this... first off I have been playing GR since GR1 although I mostly got in to GR2 and GR2SS and now the GRAW and GRAW2 etc. but getting a little tired of it and since there is always been a nice community I though I'd side-step and try it on the PC and see how I get on. Now the question is really about PC requirements, I don't have one, and the reason is that I am a Apple Mac engineer and Macs are all I have and although it might be a good idea to get a PC I don't really want to do that just to play games on, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience on running GRAW2PC on an intel Mac under BootCamp or any other virtualization package on a Mac? I don't want this post to get into the PC or Mac debate, it's just a question of can it be done, has anyone tried it etc. I will thank you in advance for any help/replies Kia. - AKA Killer Boo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROCO*AFZ* Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Cell*AFZ* played on his mac in GR1. problem was though the video card built in was an ATI 256mb that kinda sucked (800x600 mode) Pm him. If i see him later tonight i'll flag him your post. He now has a PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kretzj Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Hi all, just thought I'd stop by and ask you guys about this... first off I have been playing GR since GR1 although I mostly got in to GR2 and GR2SS and now the GRAW and GRAW2 etc. but getting a little tired of it and since there is always been a nice community I though I'd side-step and try it on the PC and see how I get on. Now the question is really about PC requirements, I don't have one, and the reason is that I am a Apple Mac engineer and Macs are all I have and although it might be a good idea to get a PC I don't really want to do that just to play games on, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience on running GRAW2PC on an intel Mac under BootCamp or any other virtualization package on a Mac? I don't want this post to get into the PC or Mac debate, it's just a question of can it be done, has anyone tried it etc. I will thank you in advance for any help/replies Kia. - AKA Killer Boo Wow, lots of potential issues here. I'm not versed on BootCamp, but here are some off the top of my head: BootCamp MUST * Support emulation of or direct access to video hardware that is DirectX 9c. I know most Macs come with the hardware to do this but I don't know if BootCamp provides an emulation layer to the Windows environment or if BootBamp actually allows Windows to talk to the native video hardware... * Processor - You best be running this on a fast Mac to ensure BootCamp provides adequate performance * Memory - Again, your native Mac platform had be come with a decent amount of RAM... Windows platforms are huge memory pigs compared to Mac platforms. ...there are lots of potential technological "gotchas" embedded with your question, but my gut feel is that if you can answer the first bullet, and you can ensure the second two are okay, you might be successful. -John K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 (edited) What Intel Mac would you be running? Post all your specs if you can. Did you ever play any games on the Mac side? I use to play my games on the Mac, RvS / GR1 / BF 1942, but after a long period where there were no good Mac games and finally the Intel mac was released, it was time to try some Windows games. I played a whole mess of games on my Intel mac for about 8 months. The only game that I had to tune to med-low settings for me to get decent frames was GRAW1. Games that ran excellent with top resolution settings and most other settings on med to med-high were BF2, BF2142 & CS:S. So yes it works, and well. I'm not sure you will get the same results with something like parallels. I would think running 2 OS's at the same time would cause some memory issues. I have the first Intel imac - Intel Core Duo, not the 2 duo, @ 2ghz with 2gb of 667 DDR2 SDRAM and the ATI Radeon Mobility X1600 256 Intergrated graphics. The install of Bootcamp was pretty straight forward. Burn all the Hardware drivers for windows during setup, and must have Windows XP SP2. I think Not sure if Vista works with it yet. Also make sure your Firmware is up to date. With Bootcamp, you are actually creating a partition on your HD, or if you have a Mac Pro, you can install it to a secondary hd if you have one. Once all is setup, you hold down the Option key on startup to reveal your bootable drives, you will get a list, say Mac OSX and one that will say Windows. Choose Windows, and Windows will boot. Not a virtual environment. Actually booting into Windows. EDIT: "You’ll need XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2, WIndows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate. (No upgrade or multi-disc versions)." Bootcamp is the way to go. There have been some new releases of games for the intel macs that are Mac Universal Binary ready for the new intel macs, and I heard they run like crap. BF2142 ran great going the Bootcamp route for me, so I would install Bootcamp and run games on Windows rather than buying any Mac OSX games. Boot Camp If you happen to have a MacPro, I'll bet you'd get some real nice performance, depending on your video card. As far as Graw2 is concerned, the general feeling is that this game is more optimized than GRAW1 and therefore runs better/smoother. I would think you would have no problems running/playing and enjoying GRAW2 on your Intel Mac. I doubt you'll be running it in all its glory, with all settings juiced, but you can find a happy medium where you can getting running smooth enough and visually appealing enough. Make sure you run post effects on low. All in all, it works great. Eventually I built my own PC specifically for gaming, and still have my Mac for all work related issues. Feel free to post any questions. Edited October 8, 2007 by Cell*AFZ* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks for the relies guys, The Macs I have are a MacBook 2.16CD/4gb/120gb and iMac 2.16CD/4gb/250gb they only page 3gb for the memory but putting in the extra help the paging etc. As for playing games, I have never played games on my mac due to not being interested and not many titles out there that got my attention, although about 2 days ago I tried to run AA 2.5a and the frame rate sucked! then I read in forums that it was an issue so tried AA2.3a and that wasn't any good either, then once again I tried AA2.8.2a within Parallels and that seem to work much better, but there were 'glitches' where the mouse pointer would disappear so didn't get a chance to play but will look into it again maybe today. BootCamp, I know all about it but never had the need to test it out so now I have a copy, and will try it out today if I can get a copy of XP later today in the shop. I can imagine this is the way to go so will have my iMac doing the gaming on and my MacBook as my office, as it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks for the relies guys, The Macs I have are a MacBook 2.16CD/4gb/120gb and iMac 2.16CD/4gb/250gb they only page 3gb for the memory but putting in the extra help the paging etc. As for playing games, I have never played games on my mac due to not being interested and not many titles out there that got my attention, although about 2 days ago I tried to run AA 2.5a and the frame rate sucked! then I read in forums that it was an issue so tried AA2.3a and that wasn't any good either, then once again I tried AA2.8.2a within Parallels and that seem to work much better, but there were 'glitches' where the mouse pointer would disappear so didn't get a chance to play but will look into it again maybe today. BootCamp, I know all about it but never had the need to test it out so now I have a copy, and will try it out today if I can get a copy of XP later today in the shop. I can imagine this is the way to go so will have my iMac doing the gaming on and my MacBook as my office, as it is now. From what I heard AA 2.5 runs like crap in Mac OSX on an Intel Mac. PPC (G4,G5), it runs great. Makes no sense, since the Intel processor is much faster, but that's just the way it is. AA 2.8.2 through Windows via BootCamp runs great. You see increased performance through parallels, and you are running 2 Os's at the same time. Think how much better it will be when through Bootcamp, booting directly into Windows, you are running only 1 OS. Hopefully you have the 256 intergrated graphics for either your MacBook or your imac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 I think I will go the BootCamp way and as I'm being told it's not bad performance wise so it's good for me. I will try to get a copy of GRAW2PC in the coming days and will try it out, maybe see you guys online ) I will use my iMac 2.16CD for gaming and stuff like that and keep my MacBook for my work. What is GRAW2PC like on the PC over the 360 verion? Kia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I think I will go the BootCamp way and as I'm being told it's not bad performance wise so it's good for me. I will try to get a copy of GRAW2PC in the coming days and will try it out, maybe see you guys online ) I will use my iMac 2.16CD for gaming and stuff like that and keep my MacBook for my work. What is GRAW2PC like on the PC over the 360 verion? Kia. I have a 360, tried the demo for GRAW2 for like 10 minutes, promptly deleted it. Personally I like the gameplay much better on the PC. Not that I really gave the 360 version that much of a chance, but I would rather have my 1600 x 1050 res and mouse and keyboard anyday. Plus the PC is a completely different version of GRAW2 from the 360 version. You will probably like it. Hopefully there will be more official content soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 The 360 version it pretty god, but I want to get away from the run and gun that's around, so thought I'd give it a go, the game is pretty cheap now for the PC and I have the hardware so I thought I'd go for it. The only thing that it a little worrying for me on the PC version is the mods that people do, although this is what I have heard so haven't obviously seen it first hand, 'mod cheating' and having the upper hand if you have modded the game to 'your advantage is there a mechanism to stop that in the PC version? I don't want to come into this game playing in MP and getting my ass kicked because others have moded the game. I like to think I was a good player on the 360 and done pretty well, mainly played MP, so would be good to carry that over. Kia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 The 360 version it pretty god, but I want to get away from the run and gun that's around, so thought I'd give it a go, the game is pretty cheap now for the PC and I have the hardware so I thought I'd go for it. The only thing that it a little worrying for me on the PC version is the mods that people do, although this is what I have heard so haven't obviously seen it first hand, 'mod cheating' and having the upper hand if you have modded the game to 'your advantage is there a mechanism to stop that in the PC version? I don't want to come into this game playing in MP and getting my ass kicked because others have moded the game. I like to think I was a good player on the 360 and done pretty well, mainly played MP, so would be good to carry that over. Kia. That is not something you have to worry about. Whoever gave you that impression was misinformed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROCO*AFZ* Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 If you had a mod installed it would not allow you to join a non modded server and vice versa. We have seen one instance of a weapon hack but all the major servers have the guy banned (non ubi servers) Also we saw 1 acid walls hack which was picked up by the auto screenshot feature Some servers may have maps though that you don't have (custom maps) You can download them here at gr.net or that clans website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great! I think that has calmed my fears about cheating ) I hope to be on this week... I got BootCamp now and working on puting on XP right now! so will pick up a copy of GRAW2PC and I'm set to go. Thanks again guys! Kia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kretzj Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great! I think that has calmed my fears about cheating ) I hope to be on this week... I got BootCamp now and working on puting on XP right now! so will pick up a copy of GRAW2PC and I'm set to go. Thanks again guys! Kia. Please drop us a quick note saying whether it worked or not. Seems I have a friend (a Mac guy) who asked me the very same question last night about using GRAW2 and BootCamp. -John K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great! I think that has calmed my fears about cheating ) I hope to be on this week... I got BootCamp now and working on puting on XP right now! so will pick up a copy of GRAW2PC and I'm set to go. Thanks again guys! Kia. Please drop us a quick note saying whether it worked or not. Seems I have a friend (a Mac guy) who asked me the very same question last night about using GRAW2 and BootCamp. -John K. Will do... no Problem Kia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR6 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 The Macs I have are a MacBook 2.16CD/4gb/120gb and iMac 2.16CD/4gb/250gb they only page 3gb for the memory but putting in the extra help the paging etc. Hey Boo, good to see you back. I'm curious how things turn out running GRAW on your MacBook, as I'm seriously considering getting one since it can dual boot to XP nowadays Saw your specs above, but did you mention what integrated graphics chip you have, and if there's dedicated video memory or does the graphics chip share memory with the CPU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) Good to be back mate On the MacBook the memory is integrated with the main memory and I have 4Gb so should be fine, but I have decided to use my iMac (same specs as my MacBook) to run the games on. but when I have the time I will try it on the MacBook also and test it, I am having problems with the MacBook as I have the drive almost full so going to install a new OS on an external drive and test it that way instead of running it on the internal. I am also having problems with installing Windoz on the iMac but I will 'Soldier on' (punt intended!) I also hope to get a copy of GRAW2PC today if I can get to he shops in time... working for yourself is not easy Kia Edited October 10, 2007 by Killer Boo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR6 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I just checked the specs for a MacBook Core2 Duo 2.16 and it says: "Intel GMA 950 graphics 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared memory" So unfotunately, I'm predicting very poor performance for GRAW2. The integrated Intel GMA 950 isn't really for gaming, and Intel even has a page about how it works with GRAW1 here: http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/inte...b/CS-023532.htm Also, GRAW2 ideally uses 256-512MB dedicated graphics memory. Now, if you happen to have MacBook Pro that came with a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM, you might have better luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) Boo, you said Macbook 2.16 Core Duo with 4gb of RAM? You sure its not a Macbook Pro? I didn't think the MacBook could support more than 2gb of RAM. And is it a Core Duo or Core2 Duo? Go into your system profiler and give exact specs if you could, including your gpu's. If it is a MacBook Pro, the minimum gpu they give you is a 128MB. Edited October 10, 2007 by Cell*AFZ* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Boo Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) Deff. a MacBook Apple tels you that you can't use more than 2GB because of dual threading memory, it actualy pages 3GB hence the Apple 2GB thing, but I have 2 x 2GB chips adding 4GB I will try it out anyway and to be honest if it runs and runs fine then I am not worried about the way it looks more into how it plays, so it the only way to to try it I guess. Kia. PS. I have been a Mac Engineer for the past 20 years Edited October 10, 2007 by Killer Boo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cell Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Deff. a MacBook Apple tels you that you can't use more than 2GB because of dual threading memory, it actualy pages 3GB hence the Apple 2GB thing, but I have 2 x 2GB chips adding 4GB I will try it out anyway and to be honest if it runs and runs fine then I am not worried about the way it looks more into how it plays, so it the only way to to try it I guess. Kia. PS. I have been a Mac Engineer for the past 20 years Ahh niiice. GL. Let us know how it works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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