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janeo0o

Q: How do I play this really old game on my new Mac?

I have a couple of old games I would like to play on my new MacBook Pro. Why don't I have classic? Does anyone here know how I can get it or where to find an emulator that would help me enjoy my old games?
I've searched the web for an emulator and I can't find one/none of them work. If anyone can help me play "Amazon Trail II" from 1995 and "Wrath of the Gods" from 1994, that would be awesome. Whenever I look for classic downloads and emulators I get a lot of jargon that I don't understand. Can anyone help me and dumb it down so I can understand why my Mac is being so mean?
Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on May 29, 2008 5:10 PM

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Q: How do I play this really old game on my new Mac?

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  • by Limnos,Solvedanswer

    Limnos Limnos May 29, 2008 5:59 PM in response to janeo0o
    Level 9 (54,333 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2008 5:59 PM in response to janeo0o
    1994 and 1995 sounds like early OS8 vintage, though those would probably still run under OS9 natively.

    You don't have Classic because you are running Leopard. Classic stopped with Tiger.

    You could try running Sheepshaver which support OS 9.0.4 and earlier, but from what I have read about it it would be loaded with jargon and all kinds of stuff that require some expertise with computers and does not sound like what you want to start. If you really want to pursue that I would suggest posting a question on the Leopard forum about it. You can ask for a step-by-step procedure but I think it would be like step-by-step bypass surgery.

    A common response here to people wanting to run old games is go out and get a computer that dates from that era. You should be able to get one for free or really, really cheaply. Some of those games also do not run properly under emulators like Sheepshaver, or even under Classic. With your purchase of an Intel Mac and Leopard you really crossed the line as far as pre-OSX software.
  • by janeo0o,

    janeo0o janeo0o May 29, 2008 7:58 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2008 7:58 PM in response to Limnos
    Thank you! I guess I was just too lazy to get an old computer, but if they are cheap than I'm down. I think that sounds like the best solution, unless I can get one of my computer savvy friends to spend time with me... Thanks for the in depth response.
  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos May 29, 2008 8:15 PM in response to janeo0o
    Level 9 (54,333 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2008 8:15 PM in response to janeo0o
    Something like a solid, old G3 beige desktop would run OS8.6 through OS9.2.2 fine and your programs. I used to have 3 (down to 2 now) because people just gave them to me. I see them for sale on Craigslist here, but frankly when I see somebody asking, say, $50 for a beige I laugh because they should be paying whoever takes it for saving them a trip to the recycling facility. The same goes for early iMac G3s (have one in the attic right now waiting for its final journey), though the slightly later ones that can run OSX are still being held onto.

    The other thing to do is see if any new versions of your programs exist. There was a classic game from the late eighties that we were recently discussing, called Solarian II. This game was pretty much of a landmark in Mac games and after 15 years or so the incredibly loyal (to their fans) authors decided to rewrite it for OSX, but preserved its original appearance and you really wouldn't know you weren't playing the old Solarian II.
  • by Simon Teale,

    Simon Teale Simon Teale May 30, 2008 2:33 PM in response to janeo0o
    Level 5 (4,680 points)
    May 30, 2008 2:33 PM in response to janeo0o
    Now I know that I'm one of those "guilty" of advocating the purchase of a very cheap old Mac to run old software. Most of the time it is the best advice, for those that want to run OS9 software.

    1994 / 1995 is the time at the end of the life of the 68040 and the start of PPC. I remember the summer MacWorld Expo for those two years. System 7.5 was the big thing for one year. But I ramble. The good news is that for both games, they are FAT, that is they run natively on PPC and m68k. And that means that you can use an m68k emulator to play them.

    Something like Basilisk II, which I still use to play Chris Crawford games, Patton Strikes Back being a favourite.
    OK, so it's not Intel or UB, but it is OS X, and you'll have to emulate a 25MHz 68040 mac under Rosetta on your multi-GHz MBP. It'll be fast enough, don't worry.

    So google out Basilisk II. You'll also need a 68040 ROM, and a version of System 7 (download from Apple) to play it under. It should all be free, and take up only a few 10's of MB on your disk. Basically the hard disk images used by the 68040 under emulation are standard Mac disk images, so you can mount them in OSX add stuff, dismount them, fire up Basilisk II and run it.