Resolved Just bought Sonic Adventure DX for Windows on Amazon. Questions!

[alexreich]

Hello all, as the title states, I have purchased Sonic Adventure DX to try and re-live some old memories. As I could not find any legal ports of the game to OS X, I opted for buying the Windows version (game disc) on Amazon. Before it gets here, I would like to find out the best way to play this game with my Macintosh's current setup.

After some searching, I have found that these are the Windows spec requirements for gameplay:

OS: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Processor: Pentium III 600MHz Processor
RAM: 128MB
Graphics: 16MB Direct3D compatible Video Card
Hard Disk space: 700MB
Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound Card
Media drive: 12X CD-ROM Drive
Other: DirectX 9.0z, Windows Media Player 9
Input devices: Keyboard, Mouse

The specs of my Macintosh (they obviously meet and exceed game requirements):

OS: Mac OS Lion
Processor: 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
RAM: 8GB
Graphics Card: 256MB nVidia 320m
Hard Drive space available: Around 25GB
Media Drive: CD/DVD/DL-DVD/etc
Other: None of the mentioned in requirements
Input devices: I have Apple USB keyboards and mice as well as other Apple Bluetooth keyboards and mice.


My questions:

Should I load my Windows OS in a virtual machine, or a bootcamp partition (remember I only have 25GB of hard drive space left)?

Should I load XP or Windows 7?

Could anyone recommend a particular USB controller to use with this game (and others)? Perhaps one you've used with the game yourself or other games. Preferably a controller compatible with Windows and OS X Games, as I am increasing interest in computer gaming.

 

[MRU]

Parralels with XP, 1cpu & 1gb ram allocated, 128mb graphics allocated to it.

And if you really want to start gaming on your hardware and have access to the internet with decent speed, then consider the OnLive service. Lots of games, will work with your mac without having to install parallels or Bootcamp, and the 360 controller is supported.

Instant access to your games, no installs, no space taken up on your HDD, and no worries when it comes to game specs. You'll be able to run all the very latest games.

 

[alexreich]

Parralels with XP, 1cpu & 1gb ram allocated, 128mb graphics allocated to it.

And if you really want to start gaming on your hardware and have access to the internet with decent speed, then consider the OnLive service. Lots of games, will work with your mac without having to install parallels or Bootcamp, and the 360 controller is supported.

Instant access to your games, no installs, no space taken up on your HDD, and no worries when it comes to game specs. You'll be able to run all the very latest games.

Thanks for the quick response! I do have a question about something though. You recommend Parallels for Windows emulation on the Mac, but what are the advantages of that Application ($79.99) over something like VirtualBox (Free)?

 

[doh123]

You could try to port it yourself using Wineskin

You could try to run it with Crossover Games (free trial first)

Those 2 options do not require running Windows at all... if you can get it working.

Other than that, Parallels 7 is the best option for Windows 7 gaming in a Virtual Machine. Its much more compatible and handles graphics much better/faster than VMWare or VirtualBox.

 

[alexreich]

Thank for the input everyone. When the game arrives I will try it in VirtualBox first (my original plan), and if the experience isn't enjoyable I will buy Parallels and play the game with that.

 

[alexreich]

Victory!

Hi all, I don't mean to revive this thread but I've made a great discovery. After trying to run the game inside VirtualBox emulating Windows (and failing), I've managed to run Sonic Adventure DX directly in Mac OS Lion by referencing to a guide about running the game in Linux. I managed to get the game going using Wine and Wine Bottler. Everything works. Audio and video (with all the maximum settings and resolution). I'm about to create a guide on how to do it and post it to the forum. Once I post it, I'll put a link to it here.

Here is the How-To thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=14281685#post14281685

 

[MRU]

A lot of messing for a 12 year old game IMHO, but congrats on getting it to work via wine.

 

[Duouk2000]

Congrats mate, I remember playing Sonic Adventure on the DC, that first level with the whale blew me away back then.

 

[alexreich]

Thanks guys. I was really determined to play this game! I loved playing it on Dreamcast as a kid. It was all so amazing to me at the time. I played it over and over and probably beat it two times a weekend.

Being able to relive the memories on my Mac made the effort worth it. I actually finished Sonic's story last night and Tails' story tonight, along with most of Knuckles'. I need to complete Knuckles', Amy's, e102's, and Big's stories so I can play as Super Sonic against Final Chaos! Haha.