Mac users: Advice needed

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:00 pm

I'm about to make the switch from Windows to a MacBook Pro (2.2 GB, 2 GB ram, 128 MB Nvidia card). I understand NWN1 is available for Mac users, and I'm wondering whether that's wholly compatible with Avlis in terms of haks and such whatnots. I'd rather not use Parallels or Boot Camp, since in an ideal world I'm done with Windows. Any specific issues come to mind? Advice?

Cheers.

Aeveras · Post by **Aeveras** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:36 pm

I'm currently running NWN on a PowerMac (PPC processor) and a MacBook (Intel processor) without any problems. I play, I DM, and everything looks the way it should. What you have to understand is that because of the whole processor transition from PPC to Intel, some applications are compiled only for one processor or the other; those with both PPC and Intel code stuffed into the same app are called Universal binary. Well, NWN isn't universal binary; it's pure PPC code.

The good news is that Intel macs can emulate the PPC code, and they don't do that bad a job either. My MacBook does the job well enough, and it's a consumer-level laptop (as opposed to the MacBook Pro which is forâ€” well, you get the idea). It's still emulation though, so there's a slight performance hit.

Possibly the two things you're going to miss out on: 1). NWN Mac does not respond to copy & paste; 2). While you can switch between windowed/fullscreen, doing so requires rebooting NWN, and cannot be done mid-game.

- Aeveras

maxinion · Post by **maxinion** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:23 pm

Aeveras is right. Performance isn't *perfect* on an intel mac, but it runs acceptably. I run NWN in mostly windowed mode, and because of the performance hits, I need to turn off most of the fancy visuals to keep up with everything. When I go fullscreen, it's a bit better and I generally can turn most things on. In single-player, I certainly can play with most options on most of the way and not worry at all.

There *is* one final option to consider: Crossover. (here: http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/) You can buy NWN Diamond for $20 (unfortunately, Macsoft still charges $30 for each of the games, so it's $90!!! for NWN, SOU, and HOTU) and buy Crossover, and run NWN from inside there. It is more or less completely transparent... there's hardly any additional hassle involved. And the bonus? It runs at completely native speed. I ran it like that for a while during the free trial of Crossover, and it was much, much better than the current set up I have.

Really, it's between running it normally and Crossover. Either way, you'll be fine, but if you *really* care about those FPS and visual options, Crossover is the easiest and fastest way to get it.

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:21 pm

Wow, thanks guys. Crossover sounds pretty cool, especially if it will let me use my Windows version of NWN.

Arond · Post by **Arond** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:25 pm

I've been playing NWN1 on my old G4 Mac for almost 4 years. No emulations or anything else. It runs fine and from what I can tell it's overall performance is as good or better than comperable machines on the PC side.