Mac FAQ - potentially...
resin:
I notice there is an increase in Mac posts on this site; here and elsewhere, it seems like the trend is moving more and more towards Mac gaming. This pleases me. Therefore, I would love to try to compile some basic and not-so-basic information in one place. Perhaps this thread? For my own part, I am a longtime Mac and PC user and am comfortable with either. I was impatient when TS2 came out and got it for my wife's PC. Now, I'm on the verge of getting Pets and wonder if I shouldn't just get the whole set again for Mac. I have one of my extremely rare disposable income moments right now, but even so, that's some money regardless.
So...
1) What are the general disadvantages of running the game on a Mac?
My understanding is that one cannot edit custom content. Also, SimPE will not work. However, if you partition your drive and install Windows, then you can do all of this on the PC side. Is this correct?
Also, are there Mac-specific bugs? Do all Awesome hacks work?
Are patches compatible?
2) What are the general advantages?
Do graphics run more smoothly?
Are load times faster?
Are some bugs avoided or hacks unneccesary?
3) What specs will allow the game to run with full detail and movies?
The minimum specs are easily available from Aspyr. However, what are the minimum specs for the full graphics?
For example, I use a 2GHz G5 iMac PowerPC with 1.5GB RAM. I use the standard built-in ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card with 128 MB VRAM. If I switch, will I finally see fingers? not to mention movies?
4) Are there any miscellaneous specific issues that someone getting this game for Mac should know?
Thanks for any responses both to these questions in general and mine specifically!
Venusy:
I don't know if this would be useful to anyone, but apparently this is a Mac package editor/Clean Installer.
Ayslhyn:
1. Disadvantages.
We wait longer for the release of new EP's. arguably this used to be an advantage because by the time re-coding was complete Aspyr had eliminated most known bugs.
Since the advent of IntelMacs and the Rosetta re-coding that no longer holds true. We get the EP's bugs and all.
The stuff-packs are not available to mac-users. Apparently excluded from the EA-Aspyr agreement these are not re-coded due to some sort of copyright dispute.
I do not know of any mac-specific bugs. From my own observations though macs tend to glitch on skins.
Only patches released by Aspyr are of any use to the mac.
2. Advantages
All I can really say here is that macs crash very rarely and cannot pick up viruses from downloading. It is arguable that the graphics are any better, load times faster or bugs rarer. Generally macs share the same bugs as the PC but are less likely to have fatal errors from them.
3, Specs.
Dunno. I personally use a 1.8 GHz Power PC G5 with 4 GB DDR SD-RAM and an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card. This shows every little detail but this machine always did even before I added RAM and upgraded the card. I cannot say where the graphics cutoff points are.
4. Issues.
Apart from the later release dates I can think of no specific mac-related issues.
Hope this was helpful.
seelindarun:
I cannot answer all your questions as I've never played TS2 on a PC, but I'll take a stab at some of them from a personal experience perspective, so consider that your mileage may vary. ;D
1) Not only do you have to play SimPE blind, but you'll also lack CleanInstaller and Homecrafter. You do get Bodyshop, however. If you're willing to install a Windows partition then you can avoid all of this, but then you can play your PC version of TS2 there, also! Why not try that first and see if the game is snappy enough before investing in the Mac native version?
There are some Mac-specific bugs I've heard of, but most of the problems I've had relate to the inability to change video cards or drivers. Mainly I've seen a growing number of graphical issues as successive EPs have outgrown the video card.
All Awesome hacks work, but not every Maxis patch is issued. In the past, there was a greater lag in the Mac versions of the game and I'm fairly certain that some patches were incorporated into the port. I've had to apply fewer patches and have never had some of the more egregious bugs reported by early adopters of Uni, NL, and OFB.
Pets for Mac came out very shortly after PC, and in this case I did apply all the MATY fixes and my experience with this EP has been similar to everyone else's.
2) Apart from what I wrote above, I don't think I can claim other advantages for running TS2 on a mac. Performance is very difficult to compare, since a PC with similar hardware specs running Windows isn't necessarily an equal platform to a mac running OS X. However, since macs come in far fewer configurations you can be fairly confident that if you get one around the same time as any given EP, your system will be up to snuff.
At the end of the day, you get a mac for its overall computing advantages, and not as the ultimate gaming platform. ;D
3) The mac you have will be ample if your current PC doesn't show fingers. :D Our oldest mac is a trusty little G5 Powerbook with less horsepower, less RAM, and a lower vid card (1.5GHz, 1.2GB, NVidia Go5200 64Mb). It still runs TS2 with all the EPs like a champ. It shows fingers and movies. It can take max graphics settings, but it does lag with lots of reflections on a large lot with more than 6 playable sims.
moniquinin:
This is GREAT! I will support any sort of Mac faq and will help as much as possible compiling useful info, and maybe not so useful info ;)
I run TS2 with all expansions on my Powerbook 1.5 GHz G4 with 1.25 GB DDR SDRAM. My video card is the one that came with it- ATI Radeon 9700. I run it on the best graphics setting, but I do turn off reflections and it slows a bit if there are several sims on the lot. I tihnk that the worst issue is the lack of Clean Installer, and no, that woohoo thing that was linked above has been defunct for months.
I can tell you that I got TS2 only a few months ago (didn't think it would interest me since I'm more of a NWN person) and I really did no research about all the bugs and the mods until after playing for a few weeks, during which, I never really experienced any of the great big bugs posted here and elsewhere that apparently are endemic in the PC version. Most, if not all, of the issues I've had have been of my doing. It's true that not every Maxis patch is issued, but I'm wondering if it's because they're not necessary.
The problem you will find with Pets is that all custom content has/had to be updated for the EP and there are updaters available, but only for PC. Since modders quckly came up with these user-end updaters, I've found that a lot of the creaters aren't bothering to update their stuff because I am guessing they're assuming that anyone who wants to use it can go through the trouble. A lot of these creators really don't keep us mac people in mind. What happens with this non updated stuff is that your sim pets will not be able to interact with the objects (destroy furniture, take baths).
The only other issue I've encountered is that some floor and wall tiles don't work because again, for them to work for mac they have to have a precise resolution (or something, not sure exactly) but this is not true for PC so if the creators weren't careful, they won't show up in the game correctly.
If I think of anything else, I will let you know.
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