VOGONS


First post, by Nicht Sehr Gut

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Started this thread specifically for games that are difficult to run on Modern PC's, but run relatively easy within Mac Emulation. All are being run on Basilisk II for Win9x/NT unless otherwise noted.

Depending on the game, running the Mac versions of PC games can have added bonuses as well. Such as:
Higher resolution graphics
Better Audio/Music
Not having to mess with "PC Stuff" (IRQ, DMA, EMS, XMS, Drivers, etc...)

Of course, it's not always so rosy...But to start here's:

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary

I had heard a lot of "can't get it to run properly" messages about "Star Trek 25th Anniversary" on modern PC's, so I grabbed the Mac version on CD in the hopes that it would emulate properly.

Apparently, it does. Runs very smoothly under Basilisk II even the audio (the weak spot of Basilisk for Win32). Only played around the introductory portion, but everything seemed to work fine:

Graphics weren't enhanced (pixel-doubled from the PC's 320x200) but at least they weren't "badly touched-up" like in the early LucasArts games. Very nice.

<Mac Advantages> Primarily ease of install/running it.

Attachments

  • startrek25th-mac.png
    Filename
    startrek25th-mac.png
    File size
    41.57 KiB
    Views
    8114 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 1 of 28, by Nicht Sehr Gut

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Another World/Out of this World

Well-done conversion of the Amiga original. Like the Windows version this is 256-color desktop version where there is little-to-no difference from the original (Still...640x400 beats 320x200). Fortunately, they left the original polygon-based graphics alone. Runs a little fast, so you might want to choose a 68020 processor.

<Mac Advantages> The Windows version either has sizing problems and/or music problems. The DOS version is a real pig, (massive pain to get proper audio). Mac version gives you 640x400 fullscreen without headaches.

Attachments

  • anotherworld-mac.png
    Filename
    anotherworld-mac.png
    File size
    7.41 KiB
    Views
    8107 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 3 of 28, by Harekiet

User metadata
Rank DOSBox Author
Rank
DOSBox Author

The mac polygon games are pretty sweet that they can use 640x400 graphics for the polygons 😀 Tried alone in the dark a bit plays pretty nice.

Hmm just tried the prince of persia version too, that one really looks very sweet. The best prince of persia port i've seen yet i think.

Reply 4 of 28, by Stiletto

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

That reminds me...
PowerMacs could play Dark Forces in higher resolution than PCs could, too. 😀

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 7 of 28, by Nicht Sehr Gut

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Prince of Persia

Well-done conversion of the Apple II original (later there were DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, NES, SNES, GameBoy, Sega Genesis, Sega Mega Drive, Sega CD, Game Gear, Commodore 64, and FM Towns versions. Woof!).
Unlike most, this a complete graphic remake with 640x400 with 256 colors. This may be the best version of the original game out there (seen some very nice console versions).

Downside? Running this with both the music and sound effects seems to be more than Basilisk II can handle. Audio breaks up and/or stutters when the musical interludes kick in.

<Mac Advantages> Much nicer graphically than the PC version. Easy to set-up and run.

Attachments

  • princeofpersia-mac.png
    Filename
    princeofpersia-mac.png
    File size
    47.95 KiB
    Views
    8088 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 8 of 28, by Harekiet

User metadata
Rank DOSBox Author
Rank
DOSBox Author

Hmm prince of persia runs fine here, fury of the furries seemed to have some choppy sound at times though 🙁

Great highres intro picture though, should really try out some othere ports. I also saw some blackthorne and i dunno what else, wonder how they improved those.

Attachments

  • fury2.jpg
    Filename
    fury2.jpg
    File size
    48.28 KiB
    Views
    8077 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 9 of 28, by Snover

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Plug it in, plug it in! 😀

Someone wanna help me with an FAQ for 3 in Three? There isn't one (*gasp*) and it's rediculously hard for me. I guess I'm just not smart enough. 😒

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 10 of 28, by Zorbid

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Another World/Out of this World

What config and bios/MacOS version are you using? I can't get any sound with a Mac LCIII Bios and MacOS 7.6.1.
(Altough I get perfect sound in Alone In the Dark)

Reply 11 of 28, by Snover

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Try Executor. It doesn't use MacOS. Follow the instructions here, or, rather, the instructions at the site for the three games I mention in there by Cliff Johnson. 😀

If it STILL doesn't work right, we'll do some testing. 😁

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 13 of 28, by Nicht Sehr Gut

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Prince of Persia II: The Shadow and the Flame

Well-done conversion of the original game. Unlike most, this a complete graphic remake with "not quite" 640x400 with 256 colors (more like 512x406). This may be the best version of the original game out there

Downside? The game itself seems to run fine, but "ambient" music is terrible, with long delays between notes. Also the intro seems to load incredibly slow. Each part runs at the proper speed, but there's a delay between each transition that runs from 20 seconds to several minutes! These can be skipped, but it's a shame that won't run properly.

<Mac Advantages>
Much nicer graphically than the PC version. Easy to set-up and run.

Attachments

  • pop2.gif
    Filename
    pop2.gif
    File size
    64.66 KiB
    Views
    7994 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 15 of 28, by Stiletto

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

*finds jaw somewhere on the floor, picks up, reattaches it, jaw slams through the floor breaking a jaw-shaped hole in the floor*

gAAAh!

It'd be interesting to submit bug reports to Christian Bauer (Basilisk II) or ARDI (Executor) to see what they say about things like this.

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 16 of 28, by Stiletto

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

BTW, I request Dark Forces next. 😀

It'd be cool to do screenshots of the PC version, too, and put it beside all the ones you've done already in this and other threads, but that's a lot of work. 😀

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 18 of 28, by Nicht Sehr Gut

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Stiletto wrote:

Sorry, I keep forgetting DF was PPC-only.

Actually, no. It could run on a 68040, but there are still two problems.

1) First you have to get it to work in emulation. The demo crashed my Basilisk every time I tried it (maybe demo was PPC only? Hrmmm.).

2) I've found that 68040/PPC titles usually will just barely work and that the code is obviously not optimized for 68040's. DukeNukem3D will run fine, but horribly slow. (Which is a shame since it works without "tinkering", has a digital soundtrack, and easy MultiPlayer support).

If only someone could convince Basilisk that it's a really fast 68060 (75MHz or more), I'm willing to bet those 68040 titles would fly (but I'm also willing to bet it "breaks" the OS).

Reply 19 of 28, by Stiletto

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Actually, no. It could run on a 68040, but there are still two problems.

[/B]

Great!


1) First you have to get it to work in emulation. The demo crashed my Basilisk every time I tried it (maybe demo was PPC only? Hrmmm.).

😀
Nope - see here:
http://www.kearney.net/~mhoffman/basiliskII/pesonen.html

OSEH: I have noticed that a few games (such as Dark Forces) refuse to run under Basilisk II. Do you have any ideas as to why?

LP: There are some bugs (but not many) left in the UAE CPU core. The one I'm hoping to have the time to attack soon is the one that prevents QuarkXPress 4 from updating the text boxes properly.

Dark Forces gets stuck in one memory copying loop and eventually overwrites the stack, causing a crash. I don't know why, perhaps something is still wrong in handling the CPU flags.

Note that this interview is dated a few years ago. Perhaps, with a CYGWIN-compile of the Linux version (you'd have to kiss the configurator bye-bye, I think) it would run. I'll ask some guys who run the Linux version of Basilisk II.

I know a guy (not Lauri) who's steadily working on compiling Basilisk II with CYGWIN, but he's working from the ground up... don't expect it for a while, unless Lauri miraculously updates the WinNT port.

2) I've found that 68040/PPC titles usually will just barely work and that the code is obviously not optimized for 68040's. DukeNukem3D will run fine, but horribly slow. (Which is a shame since it works without "tinkering", has a digital soundtrack, and easy MultiPlayer support).

If only someone could convince Basilisk that it's a really fast 68060 (75MHz or more), I'm willing to bet those 68040 titles would fly (but I'm also willing to bet it "breaks" the OS).



Not that you'd think. See this:
http://cloanto.com/amiga/forever/emulation.html

As for the 68K CPU type, the Amiga emulation software supports the instruction set of the Motorola 68020 CPU with FPU (floating point unit), which makes it possible to run even programs designed for newer CPUs, since they share the same instruction set as the 68020 (which had major additions since the original 68000). A few new instructions and addressing modes have indeed been added to newer CPUs of the 68K line, but there is no known 68K Amiga software on the market which requires these without also being available in a 68000 or 68020 version. To the contrary, certain instructions which run properly even on the 68000 are "illegal" on the 68060, which results in many applications (including old versions of the Amiga OS) failing to run on the 68060. This explains why several owners of Amiga computers with a 68060 CPU resort to an emulator to run old software which would otherwise fail. Regarding different 68K microprocessors, such as the 68030, 68040 and 68060, it should be kept in mind that the major performance boost comes from the improved speed and efficiency of the newer microprocessors, and not from new instructions. Again, this increase in computing power can be provided not by emulation, but by a faster host CPU. Both the Fellow and UAE emulators come with special options and versions so that some very old software which absolutely requires a "pure" 68000 (and not a 68020) can run on the emulator.

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto