OS X Command and Conquer

[eric/]

Hi guys,

I recent post I saw spurred nostalgia about old Command and Conquer games, and was wondering if anybody knew any ways of obtaining the older games which weren't native to Mac. I'd prefer not to have to boot up Windows or something to play them.

This could also be a general discussion about the old C&C games. I remember the very first C&C game was the first game I installed and played on a computer.

 

[jav6454]

Red Alert 2, I still have it, play it. Although I use the Windows counterpart.

 

[eric/]

Red Alert 2, I still have it, play it. Although I use the Windows counterpart.

I have so many good memories from that game.

 

[jav6454]

I have so many good memories from that game.

You and me both. Using Yuri Revenge expansion I even managed to create a scenario where no matter how much you try, you won't get past my defenses. I call it Zero Defense.

Only my brother has been able to take out 1 of 3 defense lines, and doing that took him all his cash reserves.

 

[Wardenski]

I remember playing CnC at a friends house on his Win 95 Compaq, I was overjoyed when I found out it was out for Mac, alas I was too late. I could not find the original Mac version...

...until I wandered into PC world with my Dad and discovered the Mac Blitz pack, which included CnC. Rejoice.

I completed CnC and was met with the Tiberian Sun teaser trailer at the end. Ah, reality set in as Tiberian Sun, Red Alert and Red Alert 2 never seen a Mac release. I played them later in life.

They should work fine in a virtual machine but I don't think there's a way to play them without Windows. I remember playing CnC on OSX but I can't remember if it needed the classic environment or not...but I remember when every time something exploded, it slowed down for some reason, my G5 just couldn't handle it.

 

[ScottishCaptain]

The original DOS versions of Command and Conquer and Red Alert run just fine in DOSBox and/or Boxer. By DOS, I mean DOS, not the Windows 95 or gold ports- but the honest to god DOS versions complete with the amazing graphical installers they came with.

Red Alert 2, Tiberium Sun, and Renegade all work fine under VMware Fusion, but you need a license for Fusion ($$) plus a copy of Windows to install inside the VM ($$$).

Red Alert 3 and C&C3 both have "Mac" ports, though they're really just the Windows game stuck in a crappy Cider port- they generally run OK (but not that well) enough that they're basically playable. Either game runs fine in VMware Fusion on a powerful enough Mac (sometimes better then the Cider ports).

You could try to run RA2 and TS inside Codeweavers' Crossover, but I've found that Crossover typically has random bugs everywhere and nobody ever seems interested in ever fixing them. For this reason I typically recommend running games inside Fusion or DOSBox/Boxer if you can. The absolute best way to run the **original** games is in Boxer, since they'll run at full speed and you get the whole retro experience that comes with that.

-SC

 

[Twimfy]

This guy does some amazing wrappers that work well. Pretty sure there's one for C&C.

http://www.paulthetall.com/page39/page39.html

 

[Kfreddy]

Boxer

The original DOS versions of Command and Conquer and Red Alert run just fine in DOSBox and/or Boxer. By DOS, I mean DOS, not the Windows 95 or gold ports- but the honest to god DOS versions complete with the amazing graphical installers they came with.

Red Alert 2, Tiberium Sun, and Renegade all work fine under VMware Fusion, but you need a license for Fusion ($$) plus a copy of Windows to install inside the VM ($$$).

Red Alert 3 and C&C3 both have "Mac" ports, though they're really just the Windows game stuck in a crappy Cider port- they generally run OK (but not that well) enough that they're basically playable. Either game runs fine in VMware Fusion on a powerful enough Mac (sometimes better then the Cider ports).

You could try to run RA2 and TS inside Codeweavers' Crossover, but I've found that Crossover typically has random bugs everywhere and nobody ever seems interested in ever fixing them. For this reason I typically recommend running games inside Fusion or DOSBox/Boxer if you can. The absolute best way to run the **original** games is in Boxer, since they'll run at full speed and you get the whole retro experience that comes with that.

-SC

I just took your advice using Boxer which I never heard of before...I tried running Master of Orion using DosBox and its very choppy and slow no matter how the cycles are set, using Boxer is great. The game runs at a good speed, thanks. I wish I could get my hands on the Command and Conquer for DOS.