Ghost Recon in Fusion XP VM

[TBarth]

Hello,

I have given up on getting the Mac version of the original Ghost Recon to work in OS X the way that I need it to. (I use too many mods that I don't feel like converting.)

Fusion to the rescue. Or not?

I have a feeling that it will work, however when I try to start the game from a fresh install it fails to launch. I've attached the appcompat error log that Windows generates.

When I patch the game to it's current version, it fails to launch but does not generate an error report.

I'm using Fusion 1.1.1

Can someone shed some light on this? I can't stand the thought of using Boot Camp simply to run an old game.

Thank you,

-Travis

[borisdusek · Accepted solution]

The game requires DirectX 8.0, Fusion has experimental support for 9.0 and stable for 8.1 AFAIK, so the question is: did you enable 3D acceleration in Fusion menubar > Virtual Machine > Settings > Display?

[TBarth]

Thank you for that. I'd intentionally left that disabled since it specifies only DirectX 9, and I know that this game predates 9 by yonks.

Now that it's running, I'm finding it impossible to use the mouse. No matter how little I move the mouse, it jumps about an inch at a time. I can't even navigate the menus. That's another thing actually... if I navigate the menus by keyboard, neither enter key, nor with the use of any modifier keys, will work in the game menu as they should. The arrow keys work fine for moving to different menu items, but nothing on the keyboard will actually activate the item. Space bar, tab, left of right arrow, neither enter key, etc.

Hitting google....

-Travis

[TBarth]

Looks like removing VMWare Tools supposedly fixes it. Too bad you can't just disable the mouse portion of the tools and keep the rest.

[borisdusek]

Without VMware Tools as a whole, there will be no 3D acceleration, no display autoresize - are you sure you want this?

Also, I clicked Fusion menubar > Virtual Machine > Install Vmware Tools, the installer appeared, I chose to "Modify" (not "Repair", not "Remove"), and then under VMware Device Drivers, you can choose (in your case uncheck) specifically the Mouse driver, among others.

[TBarth]

I discovered the no acceleration bit. (Even though the 'Use Acceleration' checkbox was still checked and implying that the feature was in play.)

Thanks for the tip on disabling the mouse, that worked.

Well, almost there. Horrible frame rates. Is there any way to install a better video driver in a VM? This game is really old and will run like lightning on an Etch-A-Sketch, so I had higher hopes for it in a Fusion VM. Am I at a dead end?

[borisdusek]

I discovered the no acceleration bit. (Even though the 'Use Acceleration' checkbox was still checked and implying that the feature was in play.)

Well, almost there. Horrible frame rates. Is there any way to install a better video driver in a VM? This game is really old and will run like lightning on an Etch-A-Sketch, so I had higher hopes for it in a Fusion VM. Am I at a dead end?

I am a bit confused about what you mean with the "no acceleration bit" ;-). If you are sure 3D is enabled and the performance is still horrible, you can either try native Windows XP in BootCamp, or checkout CrossOver Games for a 7-day trial.

[TBarth]

Heh, I just meant that I'd discovered the lack of acceleration with the tools uninstalled. (Though the checkbox was still checked as though the feature was still active.)

I'm really trying to avoid Boot Camp just for a game. I'll check out Crossover; I didn't realize there was a Mac version.

I'm bummed out that the game won't play well in Fusion, but I'm only disappointed in the circumstances of it, not in Fusion itself. I'm very happy with the product as a whole.

Thanks again for all the replies.

-Travis