Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

OS X Games not working on new mac

D

DraconisV

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
5
0
Hello everyone,

I bought a new Macbook air in March 2012 (Had 2010 model Pro beforehand). I used to play SimCity4 and Tropico3 on my macbook pro, but when upgrading to the Macbook Air the games wouldn't work.

I think it was due to a newer OSX version that wouldn't play powerpc games. Not entirely sure.

Recently I have been looking on the MacAppStore and have found Tropico 3:Gold Edition. Will this work on my machine. I'm worried about wasting the money.

Thanks for any help.


Cheers,
Chris
 
antonis

antonis

macrumors 68020
Jun 10, 2011
2,085
1,009
DraconisV said:
I think it was due to a newer OSX version that wouldn't play powerpc games. Not entirely sure.
Click to expand...

Yes, PowerPC support (known as Rosetta) was dropped from OS X 10.7 and beyond, assuming that your previous laptop was running 10.6.

However, I think you can still install & boot 10.6 from an external USB stick, in case there is a favorite game that you cannot find for Intel platform.
 
El Awesome

El Awesome

macrumors 6502
Jul 21, 2012
471
0
Zurich
I guess your new MBA is running a HD3000.
The games you play are some years old, maybe they simply don't work with integrated graphics?

And yes, since 10.7, there is no Rosetta anymore...

But the App Store was introduced in Lion, so if the App Store sells Tropico3, and your MBA can handle it hardware-wise, it will definately work.

I chekced the system requirements: Do you have at least 4GB RAM? If yes, you'll be fine.
 
C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
There's an intel patch available for simcity 4 you can try, but it doesn't really work. You are probably better off getting Simcity 5 when it comes out in a few months. Tropico 3 Gold should be fine on low settings.
 
A

Aspyr-Blair

macrumors 6502
Aug 20, 2012
319
35
Austin Tx
DraconisV said:
Hello everyone,

I bought a new Macbook air in March 2012 (Had 2010 model Pro beforehand). I used to play SimCity4 and Tropico3 on my macbook pro, but when upgrading to the Macbook Air the games wouldn't work.

I think it was due to a newer OSX version that wouldn't play powerpc games. Not entirely sure.

Recently I have been looking on the MacAppStore and have found Tropico 3:Gold Edition. Will this work on my machine. I'm worried about wasting the money.

Thanks for any help.


Cheers,
Chris
Click to expand...

Hey Chris, head over to GameAgent.com and setup an account so you can use the MacMatch feature. MacMatch will pull your system profile and compare it to the minimum system requirements on over 200 games, letting you know which should run on your machine. GameAgent also price shops for you and lets you know where to get the best deal :)
 
Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,483
26,600
The Misty Mountains
antonis said:
Yes, PowerPC support (known as Rosetta) was dropped from OS X 10.7 and beyond, assuming that your previous laptop was running 10.6.

However, I think you can still install & boot 10.6 from an external USB stick, in case there is a favorite game that you cannot find for Intel platform.
Click to expand...

As I have some docs written in Appleworks, and I don't want to convert, I'd be interested in this and found this macs.about.com article written for Snow Leopard. Maybe I'll try that and then upgrade to Mountain Lion.
 
antonis

antonis

macrumors 68020
Jun 10, 2011
2,085
1,009
Huntn said:
As I have some docs written in Appleworks, and I don't want to convert, I'd be interested in this and found this macs.about.com article written for Snow Leopard. Maybe I'll try that and then upgrade to Mountain Lion.
Click to expand...

I think it'll work for you, OS X is very flexible for such matters, it can boot from anything. Mind also that, if I'm not mistaken, Snow Leopard's latest upgrade enables Mac App Store too.
 
C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
Huntn said:
As I have some docs written in Appleworks, and I don't want to convert, I'd be interested in this and found this macs.about.com article written for Snow Leopard. Maybe I'll try that and then upgrade to Mountain Lion.
Click to expand...

Pages will open AppleWorks 6.2.9 word processing documents.

New macs can't run Snow Leopard, so relying on it isn't a long-term solution.
 
Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,483
26,600
The Misty Mountains
Cougarcat said:
Pages will open AppleWorks 6.2.9 word processing documents.

New macs can't run Snow Leopard, so relying on it isn't a long-term solution.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, but I have a lot of unique outline formatting that does not cross over to Pages exactly right. In the near future that will be academic as I no longer will need the docs in question so it may not really be an issue for me. Right now pondering if I should upgrade to M.L. Yes it would be nice to have all my devices synched up and have access to apps on my laptop. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom