Parallels 3.0 and game compatibility...

Galactic Civilizations 2, no dice

MacBook Pro (3GB, 2.33GHz core duo 2), enabled directx and at least got the start screen...

Initially got a warning that my video card might not have enough memory to play...

After selecting "start new game" (music was playing ok), it hung with a very slow galaxy spinning around, and eventually crashed out FWIW, just like on my Dell, the fan really kicked in fairly quickly in GalCiv (very heavy hungry on the processor)

(Also this was for Dark Avatar, all up to date via stardock central)

Hopefully they will improve compatibility soon!

 

Enormous disappointment

So when the ads promised 3D gaming support I thought maybe it meant that I could run 3D games in 3.0. As others have said, Oblivion and GalCiv are disasters, and really those are the only two games that matter to me at all at the moment.

I realize that we take a risk when pre-ordering to save some cash, but in this case I feel like I was robbed. 3.0 offers no new features of any value except 3D support, and that support is not working.

Yes, I enabled DirectX in the VM prefs, yes I made sure DirectX was installed properly, yes I have a legit license... No, I will not accept shoddy software - this is inexcusable.

Parallels - what is your plan for giving us real support and/or refunds?

 

Civ4 failure details

MBP C2D, XP -- same result as above with Civilization 4 (intro plays fine, crashes on trying to launch main menu). Event viewer shows this error:

"Faulting application civilization4.exe, version 1.6.1.1841, faulting module msvcrt.dll, version 7.0.2600.2180, fault address 0x00037094."

 

Enabled DirectX3D support in 3.0, but cannot run Joost (not a game, but a video app that requires DirectX) nor can I run "7 Wonders of the Ancient World" - a simple Bejeweled like puzzle game.

 

On a (Quad) Mac Pro, Boot Camp partition, 2GB of RAM and an ATI X1900 XT:

EverQuest 2 runs satisfactorily, though one has to crank their graphics options virtually to the minimum. Major graphical issues at character select screen.

Battlefield 2142 doesn't even load for me - screen goes black, then it terminates. No errors, just desktop.

 

I was able to install and play 'Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis' with very good speed. I think its the same speed as when I tested it with BootCamp when it was first available.

I know its an old game.. but that's the only one that I have for PC.

 

Good news, upping VRAM to 64MB got it past the check. I read that that didn't matter thought as it accessed the VRAM directly, and the VRAM slider was for resolution only.

Bad news, still get the same error message!!!

 

Civ Iv

Actually, if you follow the hints from earlier in the thread about going into your VM settings and enabling DirectX, CIV IV will load...but on my macbook pro core 2 duo 2gig ram, windows xp home on parallels 3.0 it says that my graphics capabilities are way too low, sets EVERYTHING to low and then is unplayably laggy....

I wonder if anyone knows of other settings to tweak to make sure this games plays....

 

I'm trying to get Deus Ex working.. anyone here managed to get it to work well? please share your experience

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R loads fine, and runs.. a bit slow though. Not had much time to check it.

 

Cannot get Vanguard SOH to run. I posted about it on a previous post but basically when it boots into bootcamp... no issues. When it loads up from Parrelles, the Catalist drivers don't properly load ( i guess they there is a different driver set up) and the shaders are not up to the level that Vanguard requires. If anyone else has got this to work in parrelles I would love to know your fix. Btw, i can get all the way up to the character selection screen then the game bombs out... Also, is there a way in parrelles to get it to use all the VRAM that an Intel Imac has? I max out at only 64MB which is half of its total??? Thanks in adavace

 

mac pro (quad) 5GB ram, x1900 graphics...

call of duty 2 plays very poorly... i was hoping for a lot more but i guess we will just have to wait

 

MacBook Pro C2D Running WinXP

Game Support

• GTA: San Andreas - No (Crashes VM back to OSX desktop)
• Lord Of The Rings Online No (Cannot find desired display mode)
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary Yes (Only when VM is fullscreen. Very very very slow)

 

Civ3 Fixed

I've found a fix. I had KeepRes=1 set in my conquests.ini file. This tells the game not to change XP's configured screen resolution when it starts. I changed that back to its default of KeepRes=0, and Civ3 Conquests now runs fine again.

 

Civ4 and GalCiv

Same as others. Civ4 loads then crashes as the game menu appears.

GalCiv won't even run.

On a MBP 17" 2.33 Intel, 2GB RAM and 256 Video Card.

I was gonna try WOW just for kicks. I mean the Mac client for WOW is dame good. But what's the point? I doubt it'll work. And even it it did, all the settings turned down and the low FR will kill it.

I'll give you guy some time before I drop this software all together. Looks like back to Boot Camp for the time being

 

BF 2142 Doesn't Work

Well the one game i was hoping work doesn't seem to work. It start the game and then the screen goes to black for maybe 20 - 30 seconds and then it just goes back t the desktop. I have checked the direct x box and turned video memory to 64mb (even though you said it doesn't matter). I'm assuming its because the version of direct x is only 8 (according to a previous post that ran a benchmark) Any word on when direct x 9 support will be incorporated?

 

Just reporting in on what games I've tried so far:

Thief - Installs and runs, but is unplayably slow

Thief II - Installs and runs, but it unplayably slow

Thief : Deadly Shadows - Installs, but crashes out to the desktop after the intro FMVs

Half-Life : Works fine in both OpenGL and Direct3D

Chessmaster 10th Edition - Installs, but runs only in OpenGL mode (Graphical corruption in Direct3D), but performance is absolutely perfect in OpenGL mode.

Grim Fandango - Installs and runs, but is quite laggy.

 

Dear customers
Please, remember, what Parallels Desktop 3.0 is the first released virtualization software to deliver 3D support to the Mac. There are still some limitations on using the 3D support, please consider the following:
° The current version have been tested with and has the confirmed 3D support for the limited number of applications listed in the Release Notes (Macintosh HD - Applications - Parallels - Release Notes.pdf). It doesn't mean that the program not in that list won't run, but we can't guarantee the 3D support for it.
° Parallels Desktop 3.0 virtualizes both OpenGL and DirectX 3D support, but you should enable the DirectX support manually in the VM configuration in order for it to work. Open the VM configuration - click on the "Video" option and make sure that "Enable DirectX support" is checked.

-- Removed part about copy protection issues
-- Reason - violation of Parallels official postion
-- Andrew @ Parallels

Please excuse us for the inconvenience, we are working hard on solving the issues above. The minor (free) update will be delivered for Parallels Desktop 3.0 soon and it should help you with the problem.

 

Is there any noticeable difference for between boot camp and a virtual disk when it comes to running games. Is one better than the other?

 

System:

Mac OS X 10.4.9
Intel CoreDuo 2,0 GHz
1,5 GB Ram

Parallels 3.0 - Windows XP SP2

Carmageddon TDR 2000 - No
Diablo 2 Classic - No
Diablo 2 : LoD - No