Best way to run PowerPC game on Intel Mac

[Silly John Fatty]

Hello,

I have this game called "Driver: The Wheelman" which I would like to play on my Intel Mac Pro (see signature). I thought I would ask this question in this forum, as people may know better.

The game was released in 1999/2000 and had following system requirements:

• Any Mac G3 or G4 running OS 8.6 or higher
• 64MB RAM (w/128MB Virtual Memory)
• Any Rage Pro or better video card
• CD ROM drive

What would be the best solution to play this game on my current Mac?

I am using El Capitan 10.11.6. I tried downloading SheepShaver, but it doesn't work. It seems to be not compatible with my version of OS X, even though on the official page it says it's compatible up to OS Sierra.

Also, I am not sure if the game could be run at all with an Emulator, because someone once told me it wouldn't work because of the graphics card or something like that. Apparently, with those Emulators, 3D video games can not be played.

Another possibility would be to install another system on my Mac Pro. And older version of Mac OS, but I am not sure which.


Thank you!

 

[casperes1996]

Hello,

I have this game called "Driver: The Wheelman" which I would like to play on my Intel Mac Pro (see signature). I thought I would ask this question in this forum, as people may know better.

The game was released in 1999/2000 and had following system requirements:



What would be the best solution to play this game on my current Mac?

I am using El Capitan 10.11.6. I tried downloading SheepShaver, but it doesn't work. It seems to be not compatible with my version of OS X, even though on the official page it says it's compatible up to OS Sierra.

Also, I am not sure if the game could be run at all with an Emulator, because someone once told me it wouldn't work because of the graphics card or something like that. Apparently, with those Emulators, 3D video games can not be played.

Another possibility would be to install another system on my Mac Pro. And older version of Mac OS, but I am not sure which.


Thank you!

I don't think any emulator can help you here. Reason being the GPU as you say yourself

However! Going back to a previous version of OS X is a possibility (*not all PPC apps work). Rosetta (The Apple software that allows Intel Macs to run PPC software) was removed and no longer compatible with Lion and above, so you'll need Snow Leopard or older. Snow Leopard doesn't have Rosetta by default, but Rosetta works with it. Leopard and Tiger have it installed by default.
Hope that helps

 

[tevion5]

Does the game say it it's even supposed to work under early versions of OS X? Could be a classic only game that even required the use of OS 8, 9 or 10.0-10.4 with classic back in the day.

If it is OS X compatible, maybe you could downgrade a partition of your Mac Pro to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and try running it in Rosetta?

 

[casperes1996]

Does the game say it it's even supposed to work under early versions of OS X? Could be a classic only game that even required the use of OS 8, 9 or 10.0-10.4 with classic back in the day.

If it is OS X compatible, maybe you could downgrade a partition of your Mac Pro to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and try running it in Rosetta?

Yes - this is also something valid to consider. If it only rund in the Classic environment, well, I think you're out of luck

 

[akator]

This is a roundabout solution, but it might be easier to obtain the PlayStation version of Driver (it's the same game) and play that via a PlayStation emulator on your Intel Mac.

 

[0248294]

Maybe it is time to find a nice classic Mac, say an iMac G3, iMac G4, PowerMac G3/G4, or any of the G3 or G4 portables capable of running OS 9, and using that for classic Mac games such as the Driver game? I know that means purchasing another machine, but it's fun!

 

[vinylretina]

I have my Mac mini G4 hooked up to the TV in the living room that acts pretty much exclusively as a game console for older PowerPC games that never made it to Intel. Apple kinda quietly released one last PowerPC Mac mini in 2005 that has a 1.5 GHz G4 with Velocity Engine, Radeon 9200, up to 1GB of ram, and an 80GB hdd. It makes a really great system to play older games on for only around $50 on eBay.

In theory, I guess you could also run a VM of Snow Leopard (or Intel flavored Tiger/Leopard) on your Mac Pro and utilize Rosetta. A slight mod to Parallels will allow you to run non-server editions of OS X.

Driver is a fun game, btw. Lots of memories playing 1 and 2.

 

[Hrududu]

Thats a release date that makes me think that is a classic only game, and unlikely to even be Carbonized for OS X unless there was an update released at some point, even then Carbon apps don't have any guarantee of working under Rosetta. If you can't run it with an emulator, then you're just out of luck. You really need a machine that can boot classic Mac OS to run it.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm in agreement with the comments above.

If it's a carbonized game, you might be able to get away with SL on a second partition or with doing something like this

Otherwise, for OS 9 I'm in agreement on getting an OS 9 system. If you want a laptop, look for a high-spec Titanium Powerbook. If you want a desktop, you can have a lot of fun building a G4 tower to suit your needs/preferences. This is one of my main gaming computers.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Hello and thanks for all your inputs!

Actually, I have different Macs that run/could run OS 9 (eMacs and old iMacs, and even older stuff). But they're all stored in the basement and would take up too much space if I had them on my desk. Especially if it was just for playing one game. So I was hoping to find a solution to play it on my Mac Pro.

How can I find out if it will work on Rosetta/OS X at all? A second partition with Snow Leopard or earlier and Rosetta would be ideal.

And BTW – It's not the same game on PS1. It's quite different actually. In fact, when the game came out, I had first played the demo on Mac, and then finally bought it on PS1. I was even a bit disappointed by many things that were different. What I want to play is the Mac version. Currently I am playing the PS1 version through an Emulator on my Mac, but it has quite some bugs and it's just not the Mac version.

The PS1 version came out in 1999, the Mac version was released a year later and had many improvements.

 

[casperes1996]

How can I find out if it will work on Rosetta/OS X at all? A second partition with Snow Leopard or earlier and Rosetta would be ideal.

And BTW – It's not the same game on PS1. It's quite different actually. In fact, when the game came out, I had first played the demo on Mac, and then finally bought it on PS1. I was even a bit disappointed by many things that were different. What I want to play is the Mac version. Currently I am playing the PS1 version through an Emulator on my Mac, but it has quite some bugs and it's just not the Mac version.

Trying it is really the only way to make sure, unless you can find reports from others who've tried.

What's different between the two versions?

 

[bunnspecial]

Here's your answer on Snow Leopard...

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Here's your answer on Snow Leopard...

View attachment 679425

I'm a bit confused, why does it say that the Classic Environment isn't supported?

Trying it is really the only way to make sure, unless you can find reports from others who've tried.

What's different between the two versions?

The graphics are much better and improved, there's many more cars on the road (PS1 = only two car models per city in the traffic), you can also select which car you wish to drive, you can drive in Newcastle without mods, you can use mods, and finally, many little details. Such as parked cars having an alarm when you hit them, garages having a barrier that you can destroy, etc. etc.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm a bit confused, why does it say that the Classic Environment isn't supported?

The short answer to this is that it's an OS 9(or earlier) native app.

Up through OS X 10.4 on PowerPC, you had something called "classic mode" which would run an OS 9 Virtual Machine inside OS X. With classic mode, a G5 Quad made in 2006 could run Macintosh software released in 1984.

With the release of the first Intel Macs, classic mode went away. Rosetta can emulate a PowerPC processor, but only in OS X.

What this means is that you need to either a. get Sheepsaver running(which may be less than satisfactory for a GPU intensive game) or b. Set up a Mac running OS 9.

 

[0248294]

If space is a concern, the Snow iBook G3, the PowerBook G3 Pismo, and the Titanium PowerBooks, are all good choices for that game and many other OS 9 games. They should have sufficient if not more than sufficient power to play most games, definitely Driver.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Hello,

I have this game called "Driver: The Wheelman" which I would like to play on my Intel Mac Pro (see signature). I thought I would ask this question in this forum, as people may know better.

The best way to play this game on a modern Mac is (ironically) not to use the Mac port of this game.

You will be able to play the Windows version (using WINE), or the PSX version using an emulator (like OpenEmu).

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Thanks guys,

so I suppose there's no way of installing OS 9 on an Intel Mac, right?

I tried installing Sheepshaver already, but it didn't work. Even though on the site it said compatible until OS Sierra. I use El Capitan. The app icon appeared in the dock and disappeared again. It could be a solution. I have a 12 core Mac Pro but a not-so-good graphics card (5870 1 GB). I had a 7950 3 GB which I had sent back to the company that sold it to me (Alternate in Germany), but they said they crushed it and could only pay me back a fraction of what it cost new. I'll see if I can get further in that case. Eventually I can get the same card again somehow and then there should be no problem to run Sheepshaver and Driver.

The PS1 version is like I said not exactly the same game, and I'd like to play the Mac version to see if there's any differences again. I also have the iOS version which is once again different, but based on the PC/Mac version.

 

[bunnspecial]

Not to hijack the thread, but I had a recently "retired" Quicksilver(or at least retired from daily service) and decided that I couldn't stand to leave it idle .

I had tricked the computer out for OS X which limits its OS 9 utility, so I opted to revert it to a high end OS 9 configuration. It is a factory dual 1ghz. I put in a Geforce 4Ti(to replace the Radeon 9600 I was using) and reinstalled the Airport card.

In any case, I've been playing the specified game on that computer. I'm using a Logitech USB game pad, and everything runs great.

I'm just going to make another endorsement for running it on a dedicated OS 9 computer. For a c.1999 game the 4Ti really is overkill, but you can never have too much GPU.

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks guys,

so I suppose there's no way of installing OS 9 on an Intel Mac, right?

I tried installing Sheepshaver already, but it didn't work. Even though on the site it said compatible until OS Sierra. I use El Capitan. The app icon appeared in the dock and disappeared again. It could be a solution. I have a 12 core Mac Pro but a not-so-good graphics card (5870 1 GB). I had a 7950 3 GB which I had sent back to the company that sold it to me (Alternate in Germany), but they said they crushed it and could only pay me back a fraction of what it cost new. I'll see if I can get further in that case. Eventually I can get the same card again somehow and then there should be no problem to run Sheepshaver and Driver.

The PS1 version is like I said not exactly the same game, and I'd like to play the Mac version to see if there's any differences again. I also have the iOS version which is once again different, but based on the PC/Mac version.

1) OS 9 won't run on an Intel Mac, no.

2) If it's only compatible with OS 9 and not OS X PPC, Sheep Shaver won't do you any favours anyway

3) Did you open the app by right clicking/alt-clicking and selecting Open? Might make a difference. Also try holding shift while opening it.

4) Hold on... The company crushed your card and won't give you your money back? That's the worst customer service ever. If they bricked it and not you, it's their responsibility.

5) Why would a new GPU make any difference. It's not like your computer isn't capable of running the game hardware wise.

6) As someone else said, if you can get the PC version that could still work. Otherwise, dedicated hardware.

 

[macmee]

I recently had this problem with The Sims 1, and I fixed it by using the Windows version of The Sims 1 and installing Windows XP in VMWare Fusion (but you can use virtual box for free).

Your game has a Windows version too so you should be able to do this same approach.

 

[casperes1996]

I recently had this problem with The Sims 1, and I fixed it by using the Windows version of The Sims 1 and installing Windows XP in VMWare Fusion (but you can use virtual box for free).

From my experiences, Virtual Box will crush performance too much to work, so VMWare or Parallels are the only real options for any usage. Even a game that old wouldn't run well with Virtual Box, because of latency I think.

 

[macmee]

From my experiences, Virtual Box will crush performance too much to work, so VMWare or Parallels are the only real options for any usage. Even a game that old wouldn't run well with Virtual Box, because of latency I think.

I have also had better performance from vmware fusion specifically over parallels, vbox and even ms virtual pc so yeah - highly recommend vmware fusion

 

[Ben888]

I don't think any emulator can help you here. Reason being the GPU as you say yourself

However! Going back to a previous version of OS X is a possibility (*not all PPC apps work). Rosetta (The Apple software that allows Intel Macs to run PPC software) was removed and no longer compatible with Lion and above, so you'll need Snow Leopard or older. Snow Leopard doesn't have Rosetta by default, but Rosetta works with it. Leopard and Tiger have it installed by default.
Hope that helps

My copy of Snow Leopard has an installer for Rosetta in a folder entitled "additional installs". I have found that installing snow leopard on an additional partition has caused my Mac Pro 3,1 to not want to boot back into my El Capitan partition.

 

[casperes1996]

My copy of Snow Leopard has an installer for Rosetta in a folder entitled "additional installs". I have found that installing snow leopard on an additional partition has caused my Mac Pro 3,1 to not want to boot back into my El Capitan partition.

Tried clearing NVRAM? Do you hold Option during boot up? The menu in System Preferences isn't guaranteed to work from older OS versions.
Is Rosetta working for your use case? – A virtual machine might also work for you

 

[amagichnich]

My copy of Snow Leopard has an installer for Rosetta in a folder entitled "additional installs". I have found that installing snow leopard on an additional partition has caused my Mac Pro 3,1 to not want to boot back into my El Capitan partition.

is that a call for help or a warning? Or both of it?