PowerPC for old games

[TSE]

Hey guys, Im considering getting an Apple computer, preferably laptop, that can run Mac OS 9 games natively.

Or is sheep shaver for my MacBook Pro up to snuff to run any game I download from Macintosh Garden and play it well?

 

[Altemose]

I believe that SheepShaver is free and therefore no risk to try. If you need a good PPC that runs OS 9, get yourself a Titanium PowerBook G4. They have quite a bit more power than an iBook G3 and run OS 9 well. I actually have a buddy selling a TiBook so PM me for details if you'd like.

 

[ptdebate]

The TiBook 1GHz would be the "holy grail" since it is the fastest OS9 laptop in existence.

The Pismo G3 is also a very good option as it is very easy to upgrade with options like a G4 CPU card and 1GB of ram. Even with the original G3 CPU it should run most games fine. The TiBook's 1MB cache definitely makes it a solid performer though. I was able to run Halo--a very CPU-heavy game--on medium settings on mine.

 

[garirry]

I may be wrong, but I think that certain OS X systems (up to 10.2 I think?) can run OS 9 in their classic mode or something. Either way, the newest computers that can run OS 9 are certain G4 computers and all G3s, I think the TiBook runs OS 9 and the earliest grey PowerMac computers (up to MDD I think, not sure).

 

[bunnspecial]

As others have said, the 1ghz TiBooks is the fastest laptop that will run officially run OS 9. The 867mhz of this same generation is also good, although one big benefit(for gaming) is that the 1ghz generally has 64mb of VRAM vs. 32mb in the 867mhz model.

The 867mhz and 1ghz models can also officially run Leopard(and run it well, too), which to me makes them very fun machines to have both installed. You can even install both in the same partition, although there are some advantages to having OS 9 in a separate partition.

The fastest desktop that can officially run OS 9 is the dual 1.25ghz Mirrored Drive Door(non FW 800), although many will argue that dual processors offer minimal advantage for OS 9(basically only in programs-like Photoshop 7-that can use both processors) and opt for the single 1.25 instead. These computer can also be upgraded with a dual 1.33ghz Xserve processor or dual 1.42ghz from the FW800 model(just be sure you get the copper heatsink). Some folks have also figured out how to install OS 9 on the FW800 models.

Aluminum Powerbooks and iBook G4s only offer OS 9 compatibility through classic mode, which is available through OS X 10.4. It's basically an OS 9 virtual machine running in OS X. I've found many games to be "buggy" under classic mode, so recommend native booting where possible.

 

[keysersoze]

Hey guys, Im considering getting an Apple computer, preferably laptop, that can run Mac OS 9 games natively.

Or is sheep shaver for my MacBook Pro up to snuff to run any game I download from Macintosh Garden and play it well?

You may want to keep in mind resolution issues too-- you may want to check that the games you want to play will have a good experience on a TiBook or Pismo or whatever. Personally I like the 3/4 screen. Not sure if you'd run into issues or complicate matters with a widescreen? Might depend on the game?

 

[bunnspecial]

You may want to keep in mind resolution issues too-- you may want to check that the games you want to play will have a good experience on a TiBook or Pismo or whatever. Personally I like the 3/4 screen. Not sure if you'd run into issues or complicate matters with a widescreen? Might depend on the game?

Very good point. Many old "fullscreen" games were designed with a fairly low resolution in mind and will tend to give a "window" on a larger screen.

I play some old games on my 800x600 Clamshell for this reason.

If you are playing a game that requires the CD to be inserted, try imaging the CD, saving the image to the hard drive, and using Toast to mount it. This will perk things up some(on whatever hardware you are using) by not having to read the relatively slow optical disk.

 

[keysersoze]

If you are playing a game that requires the CD to be inserted, try imaging the CD, saving the image to the hard drive, and using Toast to mount it. This will perk things up some(on whatever hardware you are using) by not having to read the relatively slow optical disk.

I tried that with Warcraft 2 a couple months ago, really hoping it would work, but it didn't. Maybe I did something wrong. Does Toast make it work correctly?

EDIT: Deleted Disk Utility reference. I didn't use Disk Utility. lol. I'll have to go back and see what I used.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Use DVD Extractor and its "Mount" command - it emulates a full on optical drive, rather than just mounting an image. It is successful for games that require the physical CD to be inserted.


For classic gaming, there are three "really good" options:
Power Mac G4 - lets you use whatever monitor you want, and you can upgrade the CPU and video card to be "fast enough to run any OS 9 game at maximum frame rates".
iMac G4 (the very original 2002 releases) - compact desktop, fast enough to run nearly every Mac OS 9 game at maximum frame rates.
Ti PowerBook G4 - ultra-compact form factor, like the iMac, can run nearly every Mac OS 9 game at maximum frame rates.


And a tip for older games that run small in the middle of the screen when full screen - manually lower your computer's resolution/color depth BEFORE running the game to make it fill the screen. My daughter played old Dr. Seuss games on an iBook when she was little, and the earliest of them were 640x480, 256 colors. So I just set the iBook to that. Obviously for best play of newer games, you don't want to LEAVE it in that, but if you manually set the resolution/color depth, the hardware will scale the game to full screen, rather than flaky game-level attempts.

 

[keysersoze]

Use DVD Extractor and its "Mount" command - it emulates a full on optical drive, rather than just mounting an image. It is successful for games that require the physical CD to be inserted.

Thank you, sir!

 

[bunnspecial]

And a tip for older games that run small in the middle of the screen when full screen - manually lower your computer's resolution/color depth BEFORE running the game to make it fill the screen. My daughter played old Dr. Seuss games on an iBook when she was little, and the earliest of them were 640x480, 256 colors. So I just set the iBook to that. Obviously for best play of newer games, you don't want to LEAVE it in that, but if you manually set the resolution/color depth, the hardware will scale the game to full screen, rather than flaky game-level attempts.

One issue with lowering the resolution on a laptop is that most LCDs(older ones especially) look like crap when run at non-native resolutions. One advantage that CRTs in this sense(whether built-in or discreet) is that they look good at pretty much any resolution you throw at them up to their max.

As for the colors-I've found that many old games will refuse to launch with more than 256 colors, or will automatically change the color depth when launched. LCDs do get a bit "blotchy" at lower color depths, but aren't terrible. There again, though, I do feel like CRTs handle this a little bit more gracefully.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

One issue with lowering the resolution on a laptop is that most LCDs(older ones especially) look like crap when run at non-native resolutions. One advantage that CRTs in this sense(whether built-in or discreet) is that they look good at pretty much any resolution you throw at them up to their max.

As for the colors-I've found that many old games will refuse to launch with more than 256 colors, or will automatically change the color depth when launched. LCDs do get a bit "blotchy" at lower color depths, but aren't terrible. There again, though, I do feel like CRTs handle this a little bit more gracefully.

Apple LCDs seem to smooth nicely.

 

[bunnspecial]

Apple LCDs seem to smooth nicely.

Maybe I'm just picky, but I can't stand running a TiBook at lower than native resolution.

I don't have one handy, as it so happens I started this post on my Quicksilver with an ADC HR Cinema display(1920x1200 native). Scaling it down to 1600x1000(the only option available that preserves the correct aspect ratio) makes everything blurry.