Filed under: Hacks, Mac mini, MacBook
Run Spore Creature Creator on unsupported GMA 950 Macs
Quite a few users were frustrated to discover that the recently released Spore Creature Creator won't run on Macs with Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics (basically Mac minis and older MacBooks). An enterprising TUAW reader has come up with a solution. Clancy posted the following instructions:
- download trial
- click show package content
- open resources folder
- open tginstall.plist in Property List Editor (Having xcode installed helps)
- Click the root triangle
- scroll down to InsufficientRenderers
- Change Intel GMA 950 OpenGL Engine to Intel GMA 850 OpenGL Engine (or something lower)
- Save and run the installer
Update: It seems clear from the comments that this is only working on the Mac mini and not on the MacBook.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ben K. said 6:39PM on 6-17-2008
Sweet! I'll have to give this a go on my mid-2007 black MacBook. I'll let you know if this works!
Reply
tukan said 6:41PM on 6-17-2008
BRILLIANT find - just proves how stupid EA is :) Keep up the good work, Clancy
Reply
Zane said 12:21AM on 6-18-2008
Hah I've already made at least 50 creatures on the trial creator. At this point I can't wait for the actual game.
http://pixblix.com
Reply
Jason said 6:52PM on 6-17-2008
Thanks for these directions, it also helped me to run this on my non leopard mac! Instead of changing the renderer, scroll to the last line
'MinimumSystemVersion' - I changed this to 10.4.11 which is what I'm running. The install works but then running the game doesn't!
Simply find the Spore.app in your Apps folder. And open up it's contents (Show Package Contents) folder. Go to info.plst and do the same thing. To run the game click on tgUpdate in the MacOS directory.
Reply
Dan said 5:25PM on 6-18-2008
This worked to get it installed, but I get what people are calling the spinning galaxy of death.
Help?
Neil said 6:55PM on 6-17-2008
Mat, Mac mini STILL has GMA 950 graphics in 2008!
Reply
Mat Lu said 7:03PM on 6-17-2008
You're right! Fixed.
Garrett said 2:03AM on 6-18-2008
So annoying that it runs but EA doesn't want to support the barely older models. I mean come on a Mac Mini and Mac Book?
Reply
Brian said 7:09PM on 6-17-2008
As I noted on the other thread, this does not seem to work on a Macbook-- if anyone else gets it to work for them, though, please post!
Reply
TigerPro said 7:20PM on 6-17-2008
Right- on the older 950 MacBooks it doesn't seem to work. I extracted the Installer from the DMG, edited and saved it, installed it, and it didn't work. The game starts but it only shows the background (spinning spiral galaxy) of the menu. Also, I had uninstalled the previously installed version using AppZapper.
Brian said 7:48PM on 6-17-2008
Altho I do have to say, that spinning galaxy music is pretty soothing as I smash my head against the keyboard...
Clancy said 8:02PM on 6-17-2008
So, I've been able to recreate the "spinning galaxy of death (w/ awesome music)" problem. And to my surprise I've stumbled over something scary, this is not a "Mac" game. (this would also explain the lack of PPC support) Spore secretly runs under WINE. Deep in the framework files I found and .exe file. Call me crazy but this game is NOT native, nor is it emulation. It's based of WINDOWS libraries. I've uploaded pictures to my flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/clancemasterj/tags/spore/
Reply
jim said 8:20PM on 6-17-2008
I just threw up a little on my keyboard.
Brian said 8:22PM on 6-17-2008
#@$!&%#$*!
Macroy said 8:29PM on 6-17-2008
It's a Cider port.
http://www.transgaming.com/
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/15/will-wright-mac-users-will-love-spore/
Bootes said 8:30PM on 6-17-2008
Uhhh EA said they would release their games using Cider at Macworld when they announced publishing Mac games again...
Clancy said 8:36PM on 6-17-2008
That would do it.
Bob S. said 9:07PM on 6-17-2008
Aren't platform wars for 12-year-olds?
1up said 8:34PM on 6-17-2008
This is really a pain in the ass. Instead of having native Mac support, they use Cider, meaning that the millions of Mac owners with a GMA 950 (and likely members of the demographic most likely to buy the game) are completely screwed.
Even more frustrating because the game apparently runs silky smooth with the exact same hardware under Windows (and no, I'm not installing Windows under Boot Camp to run one game and nothing else).
Reply
atownjacket said 9:05PM on 6-17-2008
Can anyone find an email address that we can send our dissatisfaction? I couldn't find the MAXIS email, but I think if a lot of people send emails they may try and fix it to work on all Macs.
Reply