download zoo tycoon 2 on a mac

Question

download zoo tycoon 2 on a mac

Hi!

I have a macbook pro running on Lion operating system version 10.7.2. I have a pc version of zoo tycoon 2 that I would like to play on my mac because i can't find a mac version anywhere. i've read many articles about download zoo tycoon 2 without a disk but most reference that their download (version 1.0 or 1.0.1 or 1.1.0) will work with mac version 10.2.8 or higher...which leads me to believe that things have changed a bit since then since my mac is many many updates later. basically, what should i do? i really want to get this game to work but i also don't want to download something that it turns out won't work with lion or will mess up my computer..

MacBook Pro, zune songs over to itunes

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Keith Barkley

Level 6

19,670 points

Dec 20, 2011 9:07 AM in response to clairebear524

I don't know if it will work on Lion, but there is a Mac version, just not all the expansion packs:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Tycoon-2-Mac/dp/B000BYRINM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324 400692&sr=8-2

No software can make a PC game run on a Mac, except using Windows in BootCamp or one of the other systems like Parrallels.

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Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

82,785 points

Dec 20, 2011 9:09 AM in response to clairebear524

You are correct in assuming the current Zoo Tycoon as far as:

http://roaringapps.com/apps:table/tags/_z/index_tags/_z

is not Lion compatible. To do the PC version, you'll probably need to run Windows in virtualization:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2741

Unless Zoo Tycoon is updated in the first link.

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Answer 3

Dec 20, 2011 9:54 AM in response to Keith Barkley

thanks keith!! yeah i found a couple like that myself, but im not really looking to spend $150 for a computer game 🙂

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Answer 4

Dec 20, 2011 10:09 AM in response to a brody

A brody:

thanks this is really helpful!! which virutalization method do you suggest i use for my computer? apple boot camp? and is apple boot camp really as easy to use as it sounds? (download the software onto a flash drive and plug it in whenever i want to play the game)

this also might get pricey though, right? sounds like i'd need to buy windows 7 home premium or professional (i don't think our pc runs on either of those)

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

82,785 points

Dec 20, 2011 10:08 AM in response to clairebear524

I'm not as well versed with Boot Camp as VirtualBox. VirtualBox from what I know is more flexible as to what releases of Windows it will accept as CDs if you already have a release CD for Windows. You can enquire in the Boot Camp forum which release of Windows will work with your Mac and Boot Camp version and if you can put it on a Flash drive. I do know that VirtualBox doesn't require rebooting, and unless it is something exceedingly complicated requiring specific GPUs, or specific RAM, it should handle most anything your processor could handle on a regular Windows box. I managed with VirtualBox to install a XP SP 3 OEM disc on my iMac 5,1 and my MacBook Pro 3,1 running Mac OS X 10.7.1.

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 20, 2011 10:15 AM in response to clairebear524

Virtual = VM

Boot Camp = running Windows natively

VirtualBox is free and good, but never for games.

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Answer 7

Dec 20, 2011 10:15 AM in response to The hatter

why is virtualbox not good for games?

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Answer 8

Dec 20, 2011 10:18 AM in response to clairebear524

Because it has to translate Windows OS calls into MacOS calls, which can slow things down. In bootcamp, you actually boot into windows. Your computer is 100% IBM PC.

Sorry I did not check the price, way out of line!

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Answer 9

a brody

Level 10

82,785 points

Dec 20, 2011 10:20 AM in response to Keith Barkley

Keith, Are you sure about that? I've never seen a problem like that happen when doing a Remote Desktop connection to a PC. And I connect to a PC through a 7Mbps cable connection, and handle sophisticated software such as ArcGIS & Microstation. I have to wonder if the issues you might have with virtualbox have more to do with the amount of hard disk and RAM you allocate the VirtualBox program than calls to the Mac operating system. With the additional pack I was able to address more VRAM among other things.

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Answer 10

Dec 20, 2011 10:20 AM in response to Keith Barkley

would i have to use bootcamp then? because we dont have windows 7...could i use windows xp with virtualbox for this game or are you saying it pretty much wouldn't work at all, or at least just be really slow?

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Answer 11

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Dec 20, 2011 11:59 AM in response to clairebear524

you are probably in need of Wikipedia and some Google to help with questions.

Running natively of course you have full hardware access and resources, not a guest OS that shares whatever processor (and cores) your system has, and therefore can handle games and 3D or anything really that is resource intensive.

And you can run anything, even Windows 95/Me/2K

Comparison of VMware Fusion Parallels VirtualBox

VirtualBox

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Answer 12

Dec 21, 2011 7:40 AM in response to The hatter

ok so i went ahead and tried virtualbox. It installed fine, with very detailed setup instructions. i pulled out our Window XP profesional disk that our PC runs on and put it in, but the little window says "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change may be the cause." whats the issue here? is xp too old? its from 2006

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Answer 13

a brody

Level 10

82,785 points

Dec 21, 2011 2:22 PM in response to clairebear524

The XP might have to be OEM, and not machine manufacturer specific. I used an OEM XP SP 3 that had no manufacuturer on the CD.

http://www.discountmountainsoftware.com/miwixpprofuv.html

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Answer 14

Dec 22, 2011 8:54 AM in response to clairebear524

XP professional didn't work for me so i pulled out some other software, xp home edition for use with dell computer. worked with virtualbox!! virtualbox probably works well with other programs, i mean i got the windows window up and running, but my goal is to get zoo tycoon 2 working and there's just too many issues. i'm assuming vbox needs to go through some updates...zoo tycoon 2 needs more graphics or drivers or something that i just couldn't figure out!

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