Civ4 in Windows Virtual Machines

[AlanH]

There seem to be no well-documented reports on whether the Windows version of the Civ4 product line can be run in Virtual Machines on a Mac. Now that Civ4 Complete has reached the price of a round of drinks in the UK, I thought I'd find out the answers for myself.

Here are my early impressions on buying, installing and playing Civ4 Complete (that's Civ4 + Warlords + Beyond the Sword) in Windows running in Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion.

My hardware and software are:

Mac Pro, 4 core 2.66 GHz, 4 GBytes RAM
GeForce 7300GT/256 MBytes graphics.
OS X 10.5.0 (Leopard).
Windows XP Pro SP2.
Parallels Desktop v 3.0 build 5540 Beta
VMWare Fusion v.1.1 Beta

It should be noted that both VM software products are betas aimed at Leopard, and Leopard compatibility is work in progress for both companies at the moment.

I installed Civ4 Complete on both Virtual Machines (VMs). In both cases the VM was assigned 512 MBytes of RAM. The DVD installed the latest versions of Civ4 and the two expansions:

Civilization IV 1.74
Warlords 2.12
Beyond the Sword 3.13

In all cases, when the software is launched, the DVD copy protection worked and I reached the main menu screens. I got a warning that the graphics "hardware" is below minimum specification, and the games were configured for minimum graphics requirements. This is not really surprising, since Civ4 requires DirectX 9.x hardware acceleration, shaders etc., and neither VM solution claims to meet these requirements yet.

VMWare Fusion failed.

I tried launching the three titles in the VMWare Fusion system, they came up to the main menu and I could select options etc., but all three hung when I actually tried to start a game after selecting the settings. I'll try some more with this config, but first impressions are that Fusion doesn't do the job yet. Not really surprising, as I don't believe it claims to.

Parallels Desktop worked.

I launched all three products in Parallels and they appeared playable over a few turns. I tried loading up a late game scenario in Beyond the Sword and it seemed pretty responsive. Zooming out to the satellite view caused a noticeable pause while the globe view was drawn.

Inter-turn performance was reasonable, even on late-game saves. This is a measure of the CPU performance rather than graphics. Since Parallels only uses one core for the VM, my results are probably not a lot different from those you would see on two cores, if you scale the CPU clock speed.

There were some strange visual effects. For example, the Warlords intro screen with the sword-juggling chieftain was black sometimes, with only his eyes visible, and leaderheads in all variants showed disembodied, animated, eyes and teeth - sort of "Invisible Man" effects (see screenshots for examples). I saw no other visual effects that would actually damage game play.

Sounds played during the intro screens, and I heard sound effects, but I did notice silences at some times during play.

Just for laughs, I tried turning Civ4 graphics settings up to High, and an early game was still very playable. The Invisible Men were still invisible, however.

Conclusion If you have an Intel Mac with a half-decent graphics card, and a copy of Parallels Desktop plus Windows, then you can experience the part of the product range that is currently missing from the Aspyr range. The performance is not great and there are some odd effects, but in my opinion, based on limited testing, it looks very playable.

 

[metalhawk]

Alan

Great to hear you're finally having some success! I've watched your posts here and in the parallels forums on the topic. I have both VMWare and Parallels on my MB Pro 17 (1st gen) and am going to finally give it a try.

I'm really quite shocked to hear you've gotten it going in Parallels, because I'd heard that people had had no luck. Perhaps the newer builds are doing better?

FYI - VMWare 1.1RC *does* claim limited DX 9.0 support. That's what I just installed, so I'm going to give it a try. I'm using parallels 3.0, build 5160, btw. I haven't tried in parallels yet (because I'd heard it didn't work..)

 

[AlanH]

I'm really quite shocked to hear you've gotten it going in Parallels, because I'd heard that people had had no luck. Perhaps the newer builds are doing better?

I'd seen isolated reports both ways, but could never get any hard facts. So I thought I'd better try it for myself.

As I only just get Civ4 Complete, and Parallels have claimed improved performance for their latest beta - build 5540, I didn't try any older versions. Build 5540 seems to be reasonably stable for me when running, although it has recently taken to crashing XP on Resume. I'm not sure what that's all about. I may have to reinstall it as it didn't have that trouble when I first put it on my system.

FYI - VMWare 1.1RC *does* claim limited DX 9.0 support. That's what I just installed, so I'm going to give it a try.

Let us know how you get on. I get an error message from Fusion when I try to start a game, and then it hangs. I force quit Fusion, and then I have to reboot my Mac to get back the use of the DVD drive.

 

[awb]

Any desire to try them out in boot camp or see how WINE would respond?

Also, I'll give Civ4 and the expansions a try on my sooped-up MacBook (though I don't think it'll be too promising).

 

[AlanH]

I'm quite sure that a Mac Pro running Windows in native mode would go like stink. However, I have no interest in bootcamp as I want access to my precious Mac at all times, so I haven't even tried it.

By WINE, I assume you mean Crossover? I tried that once long ago, and found it an unpleasant and unrewarding exercise. It couldn't even handle Civ3 at that stage. I'll be interested to hear what results you get.

 

[metalhawk]

My father plays it in Bootcamp on his MBP 17 which is identical to mine. As Alan has stated, it works perfectly in bootcamp. This exercise is to see if we can find a way to run it without having to boot out of the Mac OS.

Alan, so far, I've gotten it running under Fusion 1.1(rc), but I get the "Black terrain" issue. Otherwise, it seems pretty snappy. I'm checking it out under parallels 3.0 as soon as I get a chance, and will try again in Fusion now that the official 1.1 seems to be out..

 

[MacBaldrick]

I have a new 24" iMac (2 Gbit RAM) with external 22 " TV/Monitor and loaded CIV 3 complete and Civ IV 1.61 under bootcamp. Both (plus CIV 1 & 2) were on an omnibus collection for around £20 ! However, I also now have Parallels (1 Gbit RAM assigned) with XP SP2 Home and both can be run from the Parallels window (I used the bootcamp partition for Parallels) on the external screen.

Cannot comment on the speed for this hardware combo as I am still trying to get the hang of Civ 4 - Civ 3 Complete seems OK but I can run that from the Mac so of little interest.

Attempting to change the screen resolution within Civ4 froze the Parallels / XP. Also I updated to the 1.74 version which now refuses to load - missing D3DX9_32DLL so perhaps the upgrade changed Direct X usage ?

PS I cannot find an uninstaller for the CIV4 upgrade so I can reload the old 1.61 version - ideas ?

 

[AlanH]

Attempting to change the screen resolution within Civ4 froze the Parallels / XP.

I think I saw that. The problem may relate to running in full screen mode. If you do that, and you change the resolution within the game, then that resolution change has to be reflected out to Parallels so that it can change the XP screen size, and that may well be fatal. I can't recall whether I tried that in window mode.

Also I updated to the 1.74 version which now refuses to load - missing D3DX9_32DLL so perhaps the upgrade changed Direct X usage ?

My experiments were all in 1.74, since I don't have an older version on my Civ4 Complete DVD. It worked OK for me, apart from the odd effects I mentioned. I assume you have enabled the DirectX shader support checkbox in Video options for your Parallels VM?

PS I cannot find an uninstaller for the CIV4 upgrade so I can reload the old 1.61 version - ideas ?

The obvious answer is to re-install 1.61, choosing another location so that you don't overwrite your 1.74 installation. Then you can try either just by launching the appropriate exe file.

 

[MacBaldrick]

Thank Alan

Note my resolution change attempt was done in window mode not full screen. I have found parallels full screen works on the external monitor - result ! However, I note on startup the game window size changes several times as Civ goes through its startup screens. After reloading 1.61 I will try again.

 

[MacBaldrick]

Drat - the Installshield wizard detects the later version and would instal. I will try renaming the .exe file name (have already changed the folder) and try again

 

[MacBaldrick]

Download latest DirectX 9.0c (Nov 07) and I now can run 1.74 OK

 

[rmac]

Am able to run Civilization vanilla from Fusion 1.1(62573) w VMWare Tools reading from a Bootcamp partition on an MBP 2.4GHz w/ 256 MB Graphics card.

Told that my graphics card did not meet minimum requirements (HA!!!), even though Fusion creates a 128MB VMWare SVGA II graphics card.

As a result, the terrain in the game is black (so really playability is going to be limited unless I drop natively into Bootcamp).

Will experiment more with this, but looks like BTS might be in my future!!!

 

[narmox]

Successfully ran BTS 3.13 under Parallels reading from my Bootcamp partition. Started a game, didn't notice any graphics bugs, but only played one turn.

Was unbearable slow on my Macbook CoreDuo 2 GHz. 1 GB of RAM allocated to the virtual machine, and 16 MB video card haha. didn't try to up the settings, I opted for Bootcamp

Patrix

 

[rmac]

I would love to play natively in bootcamp, but I am afraid of melting through my table.

If anyone has info on Windows software for MacBook Pro fan control, I would appreciate a shout out.

 

[seahawk37]

I've been running CIV in Bootcamp for a few weeks now, and other than it being a pain in the butt to reboot and switch OSs, it works fine. Rebooting doesn't take as long as I was led to believe it would, but it *does* take time, and of course all of your Mac apps shut down in the process.

There is some quirky stuff with the Mighty Mouse; the game will suddenly quit recognizing the right button, so you have to click the "MoveTo" button to move units. That is very annoying, but it is sporadic and one can live with it.

I don't know where the concern about overheating comes from; I don't notice my MB Pro 17" running any hotter in Bootcamp mode than otherwise.

 

[Welnic]

I would love to play natively in bootcamp, but I am afraid of melting through my table.

If anyone has info on Windows software for MacBook Pro fan control, I would appreciate a shout out.

I have a Rev A Macbook Pro which I worried a lot about the heat when I first got it. I did find some windows program that let me crank the fan up when in XP. But at some point the fan seemed to come on more on its own in windows, I think that there was a change in the boot camp window drivers that run the fans earlier. This also happened on the OSX side of things. The laptop does still run hot, but the fan at least runs at full speed now which keeps things okay.

I feel that it runs about the same temperature running Warlords in OSX as BTS in XP, you should just try it out.

 

[NSPaintball]

did anyone use other games(looking for 3D graphic ones) that were successful in operating?(specifically-World in Conflict, Company of Heroes)

 

[GenMarshall]

All I have to say is hope that better and more improved virtualization software would soon catch up to Civ4's graphics requirements do you don't have to see the invisible people.

 

[NSPaintball]

Im playing a game that says it can supports my Ati Radeon X1600 card and it still tells me that it fails to find a supporting hardware rendering device any hints?

 

[NSPaintball]

It also says that it requires DirectX 9.0c which it says that its included on the installation disc and i am having the problems plus i have Parallels 3.0 built 5582 now