DirectX in Parallels?

I am trying to run Neverwinter Nights 2 on my iMac.

1. I cannot use the Mac version as I also need the expansion pack Mask of the Betrayer, which has not been released for the Mac.

2. I tried Crossover, but it does not run. It installed fine but cannot find the disk in order to run - something to do with the copy protection system.

3. I tried Parallels, but it does not seem to have DirectX. The Parallels website indicates that some games do run on their system, so is there something I have not done in order to get DirectX installed?

Having read further on the Parallels Forum, it seems that the advertised support of Windows Games is more or less a crock.

There are lots of posts there about games which do not work in Parallels. Although the advertising implies that lots of Windows Games are supported, in reality they only support up to DirectX 8.1, not DirectX 9 (let alone DirectX 10). Even that support seems rather patchy.

Let's just say that their advertising claims are rather optimistic. Once you get the application installed, it actually shows the DirectX support as 'experimental'.

As with Crossover Games (and probably VMWare - not tried that yet), it would appear these are still early days and a long way to go. The difference is that Crossover are a little less misleading in their claims.

Nighthawk4 said:

Having read further on the Parallels Forum, it seems that the advertised support of Windows Games is more or less a crock.

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There is very limited support for 3D acceleration in virtualization products, period. They can play *some* games, but very few modern ones.

There are lots of posts there about games which do not work in Parallels. Although the advertising implies that lots of Windows Games are supported, in reality they only support up to DirectX 8.1, not DirectX 9 (let alone DirectX 10). Even that support seems rather patchy.

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Absolutely. This is why you'll notice that most guides and FAQs recommend Boot Camp for any kind of serious gaming.

Let's just say that their advertising claims are rather optimistic. Once you get the application installed, it actually shows the DirectX support as 'experimental'.

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Yup, same with Fusion.

As with Crossover Games (and probably VMWare - not tried that yet), it would appear these are still early days and a long way to go. The difference is that Crossover are a little less misleading in their claims.

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Crossover is spotty in terms of support too - even more so than VM products like Fusion or Parallels, since you're not even running Windows - basically just using software tricks to emulate Windows APIs. If you want to play games, install Windows via Boot Camp and you'll never have to worry about compatibility.

I have now tried VMWare Fusion - same result in that.

Clearly nothing yet has the required level of DirectX support, apart from Boot Camp of course.

Thanks cwa107 - that seems to be the situation.

How difficult is it to setup Boot Camp?

Nighthawk4 said:

Thanks cwa107 - that seems to be the situation.

How difficult is it to setup Boot Camp?

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Not very difficult at all, providing that you have the needed installation media as Boot Camp is somewhat picky.

If you're using a Windows XP, it must be an installation disc that has SP2 integrated (at a minimum). Also, it can not be a reinstallation CD from another computer. Any version of Vista should work, again providing that it's not a reinstallation CD from another computer.

Once you have that and you've made a backup of your system, you'll need to start the Boot Camp Assistant from Applications => Utilities. From there, everything should be pretty self-explanatory, just make sure you print the instructions out when prompted.

Thanks.

The only problem is that I don't have access to a printer. Is there anywhere I can get a pdf or some other sort of electronic copy of the instructions please?

Then I can use a different PC on which to read the instructions once my iMac is committed to the partitioning and installation. This sounds like one of those processes which need to go all the way through once started.

On the other hand, I have partitioned disks in Windows and Linux and installed dual-boot systems before - just not with a Mac. How different is it likely to be?

Nighthawk4 said:

Thanks.

The only problem is that I don't have access to a printer. Is there anywhere I can get a pdf or some other sort of electronic copy of the instructions please?

Then I can use a different PC on which to read the instructions once my iMac is committed to the partitioning and installation. This sounds like one of those processes which need to go all the way through once started.

On the other hand, I have partitioned disks in Windows and Linux and installed dual-boot systems before - just not with a Mac. How different is it likely to be?

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Not terribly, just be careful to select the partition that the Boot Camp Assistant created. You can very easily nuke the wrong partition if you're not paying attention. Also, at the end of the installation, once Windows comes up, you'll need to pop your Mac OS X Installation Disc. Windows will mount it and install the needed drivers specific to your Mac's hardware.

Make sure you have 'enable Direct X' ticked in the Virtual Machine preferences. It is not ticked by default.

Still, even with the box checked while DirectX is "supported," there is no 3d hardware acceleration which is what most people are really looking for when they ask this question (and similar questions about Vista Aero, etc.). No virtualization product currently supports that. If you need that, you need to use boot camp (and in fairness to Parallels and VM Ware, they don't claim it). Virtualization is just that - a very useful tool for running multiple OS's simultaneously, including running individual Windows applications on the Mac desktop without seeing the whole Windows interface at essentially native speeds. That is a pretty impressive feat but useful mostly for business and productivity applications.

If you are a gamer, you should use Boot Camp and run Windows natively (assuming the hardware otherwise supports your games), and reports are that works great.

Cheers