Note: This is copied and pasted from my previous post on the DA:O pre-release forums which will be taken down on Monday. So... for people that are interested, here is this topic preserved.
I've seen a few people asking around in this forum and other forums about running DA:O on Mac. I'm creating this thread as a serious answer that doesn't dabble in piracy or uncertainties or whining about "please port this to the Mac!" I kindly ask replies to this topic remain, well... on topic rather than degrade to childish "Macs are better! No Macs, suck! PC's rule! No PC's suck!" type debates. It has been proven that Windows performance on Mac's is, at the very least, the same as on PC machines so please don't come with the tired old "Windows doesn't run well on Macs!" argument. It does. And any other fanboyish arguments that are not really tied to the topic should also stay away, thanks.
So, in order to run DA:O on a Mac you will need:
-A up-to-date Mac (Click "Software Update" in your Finder Apple menu for those who are a little slow
)-A legal copy of Windows XP SP3 (SP2 is the minimum to install on Bootcamp BUT SP3 is required for installing DA:O) or Windows Vista (or Windows 7, I guess; Apple is releasing "support documents" for running Win7 on Bootcamp)
-Your Leopard/Snow Leopard installation disk (the OS one, not the bundled applications one)
-A legal copy of this (supposedly and I hope it's true) super-awesome game called Dragon Age: Origins
-A few hours/a good book/another laptop to netsurf while you install
You will also need to take a look at the game's system requirements which, out of the kindness of my heart, I'll post here:
Windows XP Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows XP with SP3
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
RAM: 1GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
Windows Vista Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows Vista with SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 2.2GHZ or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
Recommended Specifications
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
AMD Phenom II X3 Triple-Core 2.8 GHz or greater
RAM: 4 GB (Vista) or 2 GB (XP)
Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
Once you've looked over the requirements and gone over to your "About This Mac" option in the Apple menu and clicked "More Info..." and taken a look at what you have and is required/recommended, you can look forward to installing Windows, or not, whatever your preference is. Special note about this: the game WILL NOT RUN on integrated graphics cards. I've tried running the Character Creator on my 3 year old Macbook and it did not run. So, those of you with Mac Mini's and Macbooks are out of luck unless someone figures something out. A decked out Macbook Pro will probably run it. Also, please be honest with yourself: do you really want to buy this game if you only barely meet the minimum settings?
(Personal note: I am buying it for both my 360 and for PC. I am an active modder and my iMac exceeds all the requirements except the graphics card which is just above the minimum. So I will be getting the PC version to mod and test while I will be playing the Xbox one for my own entertainment. You might say "I don't have money to do that!" and that's fine, then it's your choice. I just didn't buy one of my psych course-books for this year and in one go allowed myself to buy both versions.
)Okay, now that you've gotten all the things you need ready and that you've checked that your mac indeed does meet the requirements for DA:O, it's time to get installing.
Go to:
Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Bootcamp
Once you're in Bootcamp, partition your drive to whatever space you want (keeping in mind that DA:O requires 20GB of HDD space and keep some space for the expansions/mods you'll want to download/add). I had enough space so I made mine a healthy 50GB partition. Follow the instructions and you'll be fine!
Important Note on Installing XP: Installing WinXP can be troublesome if you don't know a few tips. So here they are!
-Make sure to select the partition that says "Bootcamp" on it (otherwise you could be erasing all your files)
-Make sure that when it asks you if you want to format the drive you select the option that says "Reformat using the NTFS file system"; Do not skip formatting! Do not select "Quick Format!" And if I remember correctly, do not select FAT32 if your partition is greater than 32GB (though i could be wrong on this one.)!!! This is important. WinXP doesn't like the format job OS X did so you'll have to redo it.
-In the middle of installing XP, it will restart your computer; do not get confused, do not press any key, let it do its thing!
-This is where the book comes in handy. I spent a good 3 hours installing XP because I didn't know some of my tips. Also, reading is cool!
Important Note on Installing Vista: I don't have any. I don't like Vista (I don't like windows period) and I'd rather put XP on my Mac than Vista. I'm only using Windows for DA:O!
However, for the sake of completeness, if anyone has any tips, please share them below.Okay, now you've installed XP with SP3 (or Vista or Windows 7). Everything is lovely!
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NOT! There's no drivers! That's okay, just insert your OS X install disk in and follow the steps. If it doesn't auto-run, check Apple's knowledge base for solutions, they have everything you need. Once you've this and the drivers are installed, you can then safely install DA:O and get to playing.
Notes:
-Unless your computer exceeds the recommended requirements by a LARGE margin, I wouldn't recommend running DA:O in a Parallels/VMWare type environment due to performance issues, and even then, running it in a native OS is better than a virtualized one.
-I love DA:O.
-I Love Macs.
-I Love Terry Pratchett.
Well, if there's anything left to add, please feel free to add it.
Much excitement,
The Vile Mr. Dark
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