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Mjg69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 15, 2015
8
0
i just bought a new 21 Mac and was hopping I could play these older games...if I buy the download will these play ok on my computer? Anyone try them...
 

Algus

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2014
352
327
Arizona
No they won't. The versions that Blizzard sells in their store for Mac are for older PowerPCs Macs and will not run on a new machine. You can run Windows via Bootcamp, or even Parallels, and run them just fine. I play StarCraft on my Mac mini via Bootcamp and it runs great.
 

pmiles

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2013
809
676
i just bought a new 21 Mac and was hopping I could play these older games...if I buy the download will these play ok on my computer? Anyone try them...
Original Starcraft was PC only. Original Warcraft series was PowerPC only. A brand new Mac is incapable of running an OS older than the OS that shipped with it. Since you need Rosetta for PowerPC support, and it was dropped in OS X 10.8, you're out of luck.

Short of running Bootcamp and downloading a Windows version, the answer would be no.
 

Dirtyharry50

macrumors 68000
May 17, 2012
1,769
183
The original Warcraft as well as Warcraft 2 and its expansion can both be run on current OS X using Boxer as both are still obtainable via eBay, etc. in MS-DOS versions. Warcraft III and its expansion both work fine with Wineskin on current OS X as does the first Starcraft game and its expansion. Both Boxer and Wineskin are free.

So, there is no need for bootcamp for these particular games although it is simpler and certainly useful for many others. I have all of these setup in OS X myself though as I like to skip reboots when I can so long as a game works just as well setup in OS X by these means.
 

MichalM.Mac

macrumors regular
Mar 26, 2006
114
12
Original Starcraft was PC only. Original Warcraft series was PowerPC only. A brand new Mac is incapable of running an OS older than the OS that shipped with it. Since you need Rosetta for PowerPC support, and it was dropped in OS X 10.8, you're out of luck.

Short of running Bootcamp and downloading a Windows version, the answer would be no.

You are generally correct but you got few details wrong.
Original Starcraft was for both Mac (PowerPC OS 9) and PC. It got OS X PowerPC support later via patch.
Rosetta was droped in 10.7 not 10.8.
 

Mjg69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 15, 2015
8
0
Ugh..seems like too much hassle which kind of sucks as I really liked those games..simple, addictive fun..well I guess il try Starcraft 2 ...thanks so much for the feedback
 

Mattww

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2008
395
19
It's been a while since I last played them but I've had both Warcraft 2 BNE and the original Starcraft with the Broodwars expansion running in Wineskin wrappers for a while and it was really very simple.

The CD versions of these at least in my case were Mac/PC Hybrid discs so I just registered the keys with my account and downloaded the latest PC installers from Blizzard. Then with Wineskin I created a new wrapper for each and hit install. They installed just as on a PC and played fined.

The very first Warcraft was DOS based - I only have the demo but that installed and worked fine in Boxer (a version of DOSbox for OS X).

That all said Starcraft 2 is very good and will keep you busy for a while.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,658
4,060
New Zealand
Original Starcraft was for both Mac (PowerPC OS 9) and PC.
It depends on your definition of "original". The earliest boxed copies of Starcraft were only for Windows (I have one) and Wikipedia reckons that the Mac version wasn't available until the following year.

There was an updated installer that ran in OS X, but it didn't accept the old Windows-only CD.
 

Marshall73

macrumors 68030
Apr 20, 2015
2,679
2,775
I run Warcraft 3 and the frozen throne in wine skin which was easy enough to setup. There were rumours that blizzard had been hiring staff to update the older games to work on various new operating systems I just wish they did Warcraft 3 for the iPad, I would probably pay up to £30 for it, same with Starcraft and brood war.
 

Dirtyharry50

macrumors 68000
May 17, 2012
1,769
183
I run Warcraft 3 and the frozen throne in wine skin which was easy enough to setup. There were rumours that blizzard had been hiring staff to update the older games to work on various new operating systems I just wish they did Warcraft 3 for the iPad, I would probably pay up to £30 for it, same with Starcraft and brood war.

I've heard the same but forget where I read that now. I hope it is true. I would be updated versions of the Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 Battlechests without a doubt if they made them for Mac. Honestly, I'd be happy if they just did that and made them widescreen and good enough.
 

Ichkamo

macrumors member
Jun 13, 2013
78
2
World Wide Web
- Starcraft Brood War runs perfectly well until OSX10.6 Snow Leopard.
- Warcraft III even runs on El Capitan! You just have to install the game AND patch it to the newest patch (1.26...) on Snow Leopard. The game won't install on El Capitan (or post 10.6) but running a pre-installed game works perfectly. :)
One problem though, Warcraft III's multiplayer doesn't work, displaying an error dialog : "could not connect to the network". Did anyone find a solution to this?
I'm sending the pictures of warcraft III on my mac under Yosemite.
 

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Marshall73

macrumors 68030
Apr 20, 2015
2,679
2,775
- Starcraft Brood War runs perfectly well until OSX10.6 Snow Leopard.
- Warcraft III even runs on El Capitan! You just have to install the game AND patch it to the newest patch (1.26...) on Snow Leopard. The game won't install on El Capitan (or post 10.6) but running a pre-installed game works perfectly. :)
One problem though, Warcraft III's multiplayer doesn't work, displaying an error dialog : "could not connect to the network". Did anyone find a solution to this?
I'm sending the pictures of warcraft III on my mac under Yosemite.

I had the same, battle net is no longer updated on the Mac. I installed WINE and used the PC versions, they are up to date and multiplayer works fine.
 

Ichkamo

macrumors member
Jun 13, 2013
78
2
World Wide Web
I had the same, battle net is no longer updated on the Mac. I installed WINE and used the PC versions, they are up to date and multiplayer works fine.

Yeah I'm using a Windows VM to play multiplayer, this works too. Will blizzard fix this? Mmmh neh they've over things to watch.
 

Adam552

macrumors 6502
May 30, 2006
265
54
Liverpool, UK.
They said they were going to do some updates on the older games (from what I heard ages ago), although haven't heard anything from them since. Maybe there will be a surprise one day :D
 
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