Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Features
TUAW hands on with CrossOver Games
You can check out the hands-on after the break -- after installing CrossOver Games, I first tried to load up Guild Wars using their installer's package interface, and was able to get it working pretty well. I then tried one of my favorite games, Civilization 4, and unfortunately, that one didn't turn out quite so well. And just for kicks, I also gave F.E.A.R. a shot -- it's not on CrossOver's compatibility list at all, but I've had a copy sitting around for a while that I haven't played yet, so I let the virtualization app take a crack at getting it working.
The hands-on is in this simple and easy-to-use (which is more than I can say about CrossOver Games) gallery format -- just click the picture furthest to the left down there and begin our journey into the exciting world of virtualization and game installation. I can tell you're excited already.
Gallery: TUAW's Hands on with CrossOver Games
Update: Arjun found the problem with Civ in the comments; apparently only the Steam version is compatible. Which vibes with the rest of what I found: if you want to play any of the Steam or built-in games with CrossOver, they'll likely work just fine. But if you want to install another game from a CD (especially unsupported games), you're out of luck.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SlaunchaMan said 8:19AM on 4-17-2008
Well, trying Civ 4 doesn't make a lot of sense when there's a Mac-compatible version. CrossOver Games is more geared towards Half-Life 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2, etc. The games on their website rated Silver and above should be playable. Since the product has been out for less than a month, they haven't really added many games, but given some time it should be a viable option for Mac and Linux gamers.
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Dale said 9:49AM on 4-17-2008
Sure, if you are buying a game for the first time, you should go for the Mac version. But what if you're a switcher who previously bought the title for Windows? This is a great way to continue using it.
cromas said 5:15PM on 5-01-2008
And the Mac version is lagging behind in support and updates. The second expansion pack hasn't even been released for Mac.
geekjutsu said 8:35AM on 4-17-2008
I tried using Crossover before and it did the same thing for me too.
I would install something, it would work, and then the program would say I didn't have anything installed.
I eventually gave up trying to use it.
It's disappointing that the games version has similar problems.
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Ed said 9:04AM on 4-17-2008
I actually bought crossover games to use with TF2, and although it's not perfect (graphics quality is dx8 level which is annoying and the mouse scrolling and movement can be a bit dodgy), it's great. It runs at a good speed and lets me get my TF2 fix without restarting :) Plus, getting crossover supports WINE which will benefit everyone in the long run.
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Mike said 9:48AM on 4-17-2008
I had a very similar experience. I tried Deus Ex and Deus Ex2. DX2 installed and let me watch the opening video, but crashed after. DX1 worked fine. Forget Civ3 or Jedi Academy. CrossOver did not work as well as I had hoped, and I expected problems. Still, well on the right track.
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Dale said 9:53AM on 4-17-2008
Don't Crossover Games and Cider (the code EA's been using to port recent titles) have the same WINE origins? I was thoroughly impressed with some of the Cider titles (C&C 3 at 1440x900 with all settings maxed with almost no slowdown!).
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dropinthestream said 10:01AM on 4-17-2008
Nice review!
Mike, I was just wondering...
What's that awesome purple background you used in some of the shots?
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Mike Schramm said 12:08PM on 4-17-2008
I use Desktoptopia, which gives me great wallpapers like that all the time. The purple one is called "light tornado" by Juri Hahhalev.
http://desktoptopia.com/browse?artist=273
Michaelsviews said 11:03AM on 4-17-2008
I installed the latest crossover and than the Steam Acct and play TF2 with no problem at all. If any its traffic on the servers or elsewhere, but it works fine on my MBP
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AJB said 10:57AM on 4-17-2008
Good walkthrough and review; it's too bad CrossOver's performance is so spotty. I was looking forward to playing all of those overlooked Windows games that never made it to the Mac side of the force. The dream of virtualization for Windows games remains elusive . . .
At least we have Boot Camp!
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fabriceh said 11:26AM on 4-17-2008
Neat concept, but flawed implementation. Unfortunately Crossover does not do anything really well, it seems it does a mediocre job to let you run some PC games, with a sub-standard experience. This is how Crossover defines the user experience for Silver: "This application installs, and runs well enough to be usable. However we find it has enough bugs to prevent it from running flawlessly." Just does not make sense to me to pay $40 and go through the trouble of a flawed game experience (at best!), especially when I can get a similar (imperfect) level of game support through Parallels or Fusion, or full support through BootCamp or a Mac port of the game (if available). Unless Crossover lets me play new games, or plays DX9 games flawlessly, it does not seem to be a competitive solution offering something that the others don't.
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utterer said 11:33AM on 4-17-2008
I really hope that this 200 word post is not considered a review of the product. I mean it mentions 3 games (one of which isn't even supported by the product) and doesn't include any other information beyond such in depth analysis as "I then tried one of my favorite games, Civilization 4, and unfortunately, that one didn't turn out quite so well."
Where are the benchmarks? Where is the run down of the installation and setup process beyond some cropped screen shots? At least it is not called a "review" in the actual article itself (just form some commenters), but i wouldn't even qualify this as a "hands on."
I hope CrossOver didn't entrust you with the review copy of the software.
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Tim said 11:40AM on 4-17-2008
I've been using CrossOver for a year now, but not for games - just to run MS Office XP. For that, it works really well - zero crashes, and absolutely acceptable speed It's a much better solution from my point of view than Parallels or VMWare, much less Boot Camp, for a few simple reasons: (i) you don't have to have a copy of Windows to run the program - that alone is a huge plus; (ii) it runs the programs in standard OS-X windows, which makes it easy to navigate between OS-X native apps and Windows apps; and (iii) it's relatively straightforward to pull data between OS-X and Office using the standard Mac clipboard. Finally, there are no funky workarounds for creating separate partitions or workspaces on your HD for your Windows apps - they just work as normal Mac OS-X files. I haven't played with VMWare, and I stopped using Parallels last year (I know it's improved since then) because some of these issues were a hassle to resolve if you were actually running two concurrent OSs on the same machine. The nice thing about CrossOver is that if your Windows needs are fairly simple, it does the job through an emulation/translation layer without a lot of obvious processing power loss and with zero hassle.
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Geoff said 11:52AM on 4-17-2008
Tell me you didn't just test CrossOver Games on a Mac Mini, with its GMA950 graphics, like your gallery comments indicate. I doubt that's even supported, officially, much less a fair way to conduct a hands-on.
While some of the glitches, like keeping track of your bottles and executables, are certainly the fault of CrossOver games, the failure to launch or run appropriately could be entirely due to the Mini's lack of an ATi or Nvidia card as that relates to DirectX in WINE, OpenGL, etc.
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Mike Schramm said 12:13PM on 4-17-2008
To CrossOver's credit, Guild Wars worked just fine on my mini. Games supported by their client (which includes all the Steam games) will play just fine, and for those games it's definitely a worthwhile solution.
But when you try to go off the reservation and install something extra, in my experience you start to run into trouble. Yes, if I'd had a faster Mac, maybe it would have worked better. This wasn't a review or a benchmark, it was just a hands on -- I used the software, and let you know what the experience was like.
Braindead said 12:55PM on 4-17-2008
Hi just for the info..I had give FIFA 2008 a shot...and yeah crossover is unable to find it...but i found a work around or rather a straigthforward approach...user/application/
this is where an alias to the game is created(i dnt know if its an alias or wat exactly..).Since Fifa is unsuported it installed with the name unnamed product and clicking on it launches the program..I as able to get decent game experience..obv on low setting but its still quite good.
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Arjun said 1:12PM on 4-17-2008
Well, I think I found the Civ4 problem. From their website:
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/group/?app_id=1728
"Steam version supported in CrossOver only. Other versions of this game are unsupported at this time."
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icepulse said 9:36PM on 4-17-2008
I don't get it...
Why not just run BootCamp? I run Oblivion, DX2, HOMM5, Fallout: Tactics, Far Cry, BioShock, Silent Storm and more, without a hitch. Simple as copping a new copy of XP Pro on Ebay and loading up on cheap-ass PC games from last year!
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Alex said 12:26AM on 4-18-2008
Would people please stop referring to this as a virtualization app? It isn't. At all. As Dale said above, this is based on WINE which again is not a virtualization app or an emulator or whatever other incorrect label you want to give it. It's a set of libraries and other binaries intended to provide the right environment for Win32 binaries to run on other platforms, in this case Mac OS X.
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