Red Alert 3 experiences and ?

[smacky!]

Hi all
So...I'm considering installing 10.5.7 (curr. 10.4.11) mainly for RA3, but before i do so, i have one major sticking point (and i did a bit of research b4 coming to ask, so i apologize if it's noobish, because i missed it here or something):

I LOVE Zero Hour, mostly due to the mods - C&C3 was a huge disappoinment, mostly because of the game, but also because loading mods was out. KW was ok, but again; no mods!

Since i don't have RA3, the questions begs itself: can the OS X version load mods or not? (either thru the game itself or manually)

And, i looked at the EA mac games forum (really, they should be ashamed of themselves - can't they hire, even p/t, ONE person to handle that forum???), insanelymac, macologist, google, and here - bupkis!

The mods at moddb for RA3 look awesome - if i can't get the mods, then the OS X version is O-U-T for me; and it's bootcamp all the way.

Finally, i read somewhere here that it runs well in the latest version of crossover - can anyone verify that for me, realworld? if so, i'm buying both today, installing Leo and off i go!!

MBP CD 2.16 (1,2), 2G ram, x1600/256k vram, 20G space left on HDD.
ps - i read about the x1600 graphics bug/fix, so TIA!

 

[Stijlloos]

The MAC OS X port works badly, but if you run it via boot camp in xp it runs super smooth on max settings.

MBP 2.4 nvidia 9600

 

[jakeguy99]

Dont buy it, waste of money. Played the demo on XP and it was trash. The units get like highlighted when you select them. Looks absolutely horrible.

 

[masterofbuckets]

i played it on my iMac with 8800GS and initially had performance problems but figured out that keeping Shader detail to Medium, I can get other other settings maxed out and get good performance at a descent fps of 25+.

Don't know if mods can be applied as I already finished it and got my ass smacked online enough so uninstalled it

 

[Stijlloos]

@ OP: Mods won't work via OS X version.... you also cannot use the map builder nor the mod sdk package. I strongly recommend to play it under boot camp, then.

However, for just singleplayer and original multiplayer you can play the OS X version as I do. I avoid going to Windows whenever possible, but if I want to make maps. yes, then I have to start windows..

 

[Stijlloos]

Dont buy it, waste of money. Played the demo on XP and it was trash. The units get like highlighted when you select them. Looks absolutely horrible.

Nonsense, it is most likely your macbook that makes it look bad. Because it runs perfectly for me under XP and on max settings (with 256mb 9600GT).
The water is the most realistic I have ever seen and the rest of the gfx is also pretty impressive.

The mac os x port, however, makes you play the game on medium and then it will of course look less fancy.

 

[larrymarshall2]

I was skeptical about running RA3 through bootcamp...I mean c'mon, the average user would expect the game to run well in OSX.

My mac is a new 2.93ghz with the ATI 4850 card. RA3 in OSX is "alright". It runs everything on max settings except shadows to off pretty well, but it clearly gets bogged down when larger battles happen and if the map is large. When I say bogged, I mean things take 2-3x longer to happen than they do with things are running smooth (I'd guess 30-40fps).

Now in XP with SP3, the game runs smoother with everything maxed out (including shadows) than it does in OSX with some slow down occuring then in large battles. With shadows at medium, my iMac eats this game. A solid smooth gameplay that is probably 60fps+. I have AA set to 4x and 8x, I don't notice a slowdown between them.

I'm installing Sims 3 for XP, seeing how that differs.

 

[Ol3s]

Its more/less fine. Consider the fact that this is a strategy game and does not need good graphics. Hm, wait actually it does as i did not feel like there was much strategy, more like send your soldiers to die and hope they dont. I found the game boring, play cossacks if you bootcamp, plenty of mods for it too.

 

[smacky!]

Thanks everyone!

For all the replies so far, v. helpful!

another ?: MODS; so, i'm assuming the mod placement is thru the actual game UI similar to CnC 3:TW, yes? - this would mean definitely no mod placement. dang, if so. Thx for any confirm on this!

i kinda figured it would play better in XP (REALLY hoping Snow Leo makes a diff. game-wise on my MBP); ZH does, too.

oh well. my clan prefers ZH anyway...we just wanted to see the War Bears...it's really disheartening that i have a $4000 (at the time) MBP and a new iPhone can play RA3 better.

Still, that iPhone can't run all CS3 suite apps all at once, so...haha! i guess.

 

[Stijlloos]

As far as I know, I cannot run mods via RA3 MAC version.

Concerning Leopard and gaming, yes it sucks big time.
How much we may hate Windows, for gaming matters it is just simply outperforming Mac releases.

A reason for this is that games are written specifically for Windows (of course 98% of the world uses it) and are often just ported, cider or whatever. the Ports are often buggy and the cider ones require extra cpu/gfx demands and double up the performance needs. Which sucks!!!

I still prefer to play RA3 multiplayer through MAC OS X on lowest settings and RA3 single player on max high settings via XP.