game ports?

[swwack91]

is there any way to use the program files from the Windows version of game to play it in OSX? I keep seeing emulators online that require the files from the original game to be placed into the emulators app bundle.

i'm wondering if the Windows files would work the same way?

i just don't want to install Windows on my MBP, but i really don't want to rebuy games that i already have for windows.

 

[72930]

Crossover or Cider is what you want. Not a huge compatibility list, but good for what they do

They work using WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator), and the compatibility list is growing.

 

[swwack91]

is there a free way to do this? i don't want to pay a monthly subscription to play games that i already paid for!

 

[Eric5h5]

Pretty much you're out of luck in most cases. Unfortunately most companies don't do Mac ports, so it's left to independent porting houses. This means the ports have to be considered different games from the originals for all intents and purposes. I know it's aggravating to have to "re-buy" games, but the Mac ports don't "just happen" either. They take extra work, sometimes a great deal of extra work. The porting companies don't get any money from the sales of Windows versions, so the only way to finance Mac ports is to have sales of the Mac versions.

The exceptions are games that have had their source code released. That means that people can port the game engine to any platform, if they have the inclination and ability. So you can find free Mac versions of some game engines, like most of id's older games (Quake 1-3, Doom, etc.), where you can plug in the game data from the Windows discs.

--Eric