Using Virtual Machines for Gaming

[vkd]

I like to play computer games but am limited to my iMac, I have no games console nor PC etc. I have successfully played the following Windows games in virtual machines (Parallels, VMware Fusion, VirtualBox etc):

Tomb Raider Underworld
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Tomb Raider Legend (yes I like tomb raider)
Dead Space 2
Assassin's Creed 2 and all subsequent up through 4
Tomb Raider 2013

Yes, most these games are not new, but they are quite graphically advanced, it all depends on your personal necessities. I have tried to get Rise of the Tomb Raider working but it will only run in Boot Camp on my setup. However, I have just noted on the VMware website product page for Fusion 8.5:

For DirectX 10 or OpenGL 3.3 support in a virtual machine:
Host OS:

• macOS 10.10 or greater

Hardware:

• Intel: HD4000 or newer
• Nvidia: 650M or newer
• AMD: HD 5770 or newer

Perhaps it will be possible to run ROTTR in a VM if your base system is macOS 10.10 or higher. Mine is not and I am loath to upgrade it at the moment. Anybody out there willing to take on the challenge and see if they can run it? Preferably if you are on a mid-2011 iMac i5 CPU (like me).

 

[antonis]

Why not use bootcamp and run the game you want and all the other ones even better/smoother ? The difference will be huge.

 

[imacken]

I like to play computer games but am limited to my iMac, I have no games console nor PC etc. I have successfully played the following Windows games in virtual machines (Parallels, VMware Fusion, VirtualBox etc):

Tomb Raider Underworld
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Tomb Raider Legend (yes I like tomb raider)
Dead Space 2
Assassin's Creed 2 and all subsequent up through 4
Tomb Raider 2013

Yes, most these games are not new, but they are quite graphically advanced, it all depends on your personal necessities. I have tried to get Rise of the Tomb Raider working but it will only run in Boot Camp on my setup. However, I have just noted on the VMware website product page for Fusion 8.5:

For DirectX 10 or OpenGL 3.3 support in a virtual machine:
Host OS:

• macOS 10.10 or greater

Hardware:

• Intel: HD4000 or newer
• Nvidia: 650M or newer
• AMD: HD 5770 or newer

Perhaps it will be possible to run ROTTR in a VM if your base system is macOS 10.10 or higher. Mine is not and I am loath to upgrade it at the moment. Anybody out there willing to take on the challenge and see if they can run it? Preferably if you are on a mid-2011 iMac i5 CPU (like me).

Like your other thread, I don't know why you keep on insisting that you can run any decent modern game in a VM. Use Bootcamp and save yourself a lot of grief!
However, the simple answer to your ROTTR questions is that no VM software, e.g. Parallels or VMWare, support DX11 even after around 9 years, so the game will never run on them as it is a base requirement.
Even if it was possible, it would be like watching Lara walk through treacle in lo-res!

 

[kiwipeso1]

I like to play computer games but am limited to my iMac, I have no games console nor PC etc. I have successfully played the following Windows games in virtual machines (Parallels, VMware Fusion, VirtualBox etc):

Tomb Raider Underworld
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Tomb Raider Legend (yes I like tomb raider)
Dead Space 2
Assassin's Creed 2 and all subsequent up through 4
Tomb Raider 2013

Yes, most these games are not new, but they are quite graphically advanced, it all depends on your personal necessities. I have tried to get Rise of the Tomb Raider working but it will only run in Boot Camp on my setup. However, I have just noted on the VMware website product page for Fusion 8.5:

For DirectX 10 or OpenGL 3.3 support in a virtual machine:
Host OS:

• macOS 10.10 or greater

Hardware:

• Intel: HD4000 or newer
• Nvidia: 650M or newer
• AMD: HD 5770 or newer

Perhaps it will be possible to run ROTTR in a VM if your base system is macOS 10.10 or higher. Mine is not and I am loath to upgrade it at the moment. Anybody out there willing to take on the challenge and see if they can run it? Preferably if you are on a mid-2011 iMac i5 CPU (like me).

Your best bet is to get a 1TB SSD in the spare sata slot in your iMac and dedicate bootcamp to the spare HDD. That is what I'm planning to do once High Sierra is released, as that permits fast enough windows use.

 

[imacken]

..... once High Sierra is released, as that permits fast enough windows use.

What does that mean?

 

[kiwipeso1]

What does that mean?

I'll rephrase that in simplified English.
Once High Sierra is released, I will wipe the HDD and install bootcamp on it, as that is fast enough for gaming.

 

[imacken]

In simplified English, I have no idea what you are talking about!
macOS version has absolutely no affect on the performance of Bootcamp whatsoever, so your comment - '...once High Sierra is released, as that permits fast enough windows use' - is a mystery to me.

 

[kiwipeso1]

In simplified English, I have no idea what you are talking about!
macOS version has absolutely no affect on the performance of Bootcamp whatsoever, so your comment - '...once High Sierra is released, as that permits fast enough windows use' - is a mystery to me.

If you are unable to follow two ideas, then you are the problem, not basic English.

 

[imacken]

If you intended to mean that your HDD was fast enough to run Windows and not - as written - to imply that High Sierra was, then it is your basic structuring of the English language that is at fault.

 

[kiwipeso1]

@imacken If you need an English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher, my brother has places available in his classes for the 2017/2018 school year in Taiwan after summer space camp is over.
As for my linguistic abilities, I am fluent in four European languages and literate in 3 others, with English as my native language at a tertiary level since age 7.

 

[imacken]

@imacken If you need an English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher, my brother has places available in his classes for the 2017/2018 school year in Taiwan after summer space camp is over.
As for my linguistic abilities, I am fluent in four European languages and literate in 3 others, with English as my native language at a tertiary level since age 7.

Pity you didn’t demonstrate your language abilities in your first post. If you had, we wouldn’t be having this stupid conversation.
Anyway, I’m out of here. Good luck!

 

[vkd]

Why not use bootcamp and run the game you want and all the other ones even better/smoother ? The difference will be huge.

Your best bet is to get a 1TB SSD in the spare sata slot in your iMac and dedicate bootcamp to the spare HDD. That is what I'm planning to do once High Sierra is released, as that permits fast enough windows use.

Not interested in rebooting, rebooting, rebooting, rebooting. I like to stay in the one environment and keep my apps up and running.
[doublepost=1499086475][/doublepost]

However, the simple answer to your ROTTR questions is that no VM software, e.g. Parallels or VMWare, support DX11 even after around 9 years, so the game will never run on them as it is a base requirement.

Is DX11 widely used nowadays? (Please forgive the obvious ignorance). AFAIK DirectX is a set of techs for different interface elements, not all of them get updated simultaneously, so you may be "on DX11" but 75% of your DX11 may be DX10, for instance. They may update one element and bump up the number for the set but no real change in the software.

Even if it was possible, it would be like watching Lara walk through treacle in lo-res!

That is speculation. Tomb Raider 2013 runs smoothly no problem on an old machine (2011) old tech (DX9).

 

[WhiteKnightMac]

Assassin's Creed 2 and all subsequent up through 4

Attempted to run these games before in a VM with no luck, if you don't want to reboot into Bootcamp or refuse to use Windows, which I don't blame you, terrible OS. I suggest you look into using a Wine application.

Most applications running in a Wine environment run nativity without the need for rebooting or running a Windows environment in the background.

 

[vkd]

I tested out putting 10.12.5 Sierra fresh install with latest Fusion 8.5.0 and tried installing ROTTR. As imacken pointed out above the game bailed out, crying for DX11. Finally put a fresh install of Windows 10 in Boot Camp and ROTTR is running in there no problem. Have to use a USB audio card though, as Apple is refusing to update drivers for the inbuilt audio chip for W10, they only offer support up to W8.1 on this machine. Grrr

 

[WhiteKnightMac]

Perhaps it will be possible to run ROTTR in a VM if your base system is macOS 10.10 or higher. Mine is not and I am loath to upgrade it at the moment. Anybody out there willing to take on the challenge and see if they can run it? Preferably if you are on a mid-2011 iMac i5 CPU (like me).

I'll give this a go though Crossover and see what I can do to modify the bottle. I run a 2011 model iMac but its the i7 variant. I'll let you know what i come up with.

EDIT: Turns out ROTTR runs in Direct X 11/12 so Crossover is unsupported.