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Vmware Fusion 3D GCL


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Hey guys. I managed to get a hold of the build of Fusion that has 3D enabled like in the video circulating. I am interested in using this thread as a GCL (Games Compatibility List) once the build is released. Basically we can just post in the following example format (I made the info up BTW it is not accurate it is just as an example):

 

Game: Half Life

FPS: 90

Windows Version: WinXPSP2, Win2000, win98, Win2k3

Physical Hardware:

ECS 945P-A 1.1

Nvidia 6500

2GB of Ram

Other Notes: Runs well lower memory systems will suffer tho

 

I am finding that there are a decent amount of games that work on Fusion. Guild Wars is one of them. Despite being a DX9.0 game it seems to work even if a little buggy ( I will add details to the GCL shortly). As it will be released in a few weeks anyway with more updates than what I have presently, so everyone can generally wait for it. If the insanleymac project team needs proof of what I am saying they can PM me privately I can verify any and all claims I am making to them. I am posting this so people who want to can start testing once the new build is released.

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There is a performance hit for sure but if you are a hardcore gamer then you are really better off staying on windows and doing your gaming on a rig like that. For the most part Dual CPU systems will be taken advantage of in a VM so the performance will vary depending on the setup you have. I dont know how VMware built the Virtual Video card but I do know that it performs well on all the apple line machines. So I imagine the 3D is CPU dependent since the video cards are not high end on all the mac models.

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Game: Guild Wars (all expansions )

FPS: 20-80. Really depended on what i was doing on the host. But for the most part it ran at 30-40FPS

Windows Version: Win2k3 (eXperience edition) with DX9.0C With a Fix for crippled DX9.0c on server 2003 issue (see howto below)

Physical Hardware:

ECS 945P-A 1.1 Pentium D 805 Running with cpus=1 flag (no dual core here)

Nvidia 6500

2GB of Ram

Other Notes: Ran pretty good actually on this machine. a Few minor graphical glitches and occasional slowdowns but otherwise ok. I expect once the debug feature is removed (which is currently hindering performance) and general performance tweaks get applied that this will get better in general. The performance was playable despite my running one core. It was much more responsive once I stopped running the apps of course.

 

To fix DX9.0C to get server 2003 (best performing OS in the windows line atm) Download DX9.0B from oldversion.com and the latest DX9.0C redistrib.

Extract!! Do not execute them. In the DX9.0B also extract the redistrib file.

In the redistrib folder copy any file with setup in the name into the DX9.0C folder. Say yes to overwrite.

Open regedit and go to HKLM/Software/microsoft and delete the DirectX key only!!!

Run the DXsetup.exe in the DX9.0C folder and install **Please have VMware tools and 3D Acceleration enabled**

 

Here are some images. Like I said not perfect but playable :hysterical:

gwfusionsd8.th.jpg

As you can clearly see shaders are not exactly working.

gwfusion2kn5.th.jpg

Downloads went fairly quick

gw3fusionsb5.th.jpg

By default my settings were at medium. That seemed to have a pretty big impact so i cranked it down to where I could play at decent FPS.

gw4fusiondeskqu2.th.jpg

My VM desktop.

 

 

NOTE: The above howto WILL apply when the next beta comes out. It wont at this time with the current public beta out. I currently have a working build that supports what I stated. I will post screenshots soon. The Windows 2003 info can apply to a physical installation as well as the VM but the VM will probably be better off with the fix. This info can also apply to the other versions of VMware like workstation on Linux and Windows (though what is the point of that one eh?) I havent tested on those platforms so I cannot confirm.

Edited by opieum
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I am using Version 1.0b2 (40823) Like I said this build will probably be outdated eventually anyway when the next beta is released. I

 

 

I will be testing oblivion next. It will likley not work out of the box BUT I can get it to work using the oldblivion mod. That is supposed to downscale the graphics some. There are allot of games on my list that have that I am testing. As for Embio's question No Compiz and xgl will not work as that is Opengl not DX. I have tried this already :)

 

Oblivion w/ oldblivion mod (I will test without it just to see what happens tho)

Steam: CS2 HL2, ect.

Red Faction

Lego Star Wars 1 and 2 (since they support GeForce3 cards it is a possibility that this one may work)

Final Fantasy 11 (someone on the VMware forums reported getting this working in Workstation on Linux some time ago I imagine there may have been improvements since then so hopefully I will have more luck especially since I play this one)

 

And alot of my old favroites like Interstate 76 and others that have shoddy support on XP/2003.

 

I will be testing these games on Windows 98 and windows 2003 (Some games may require the legacy support. Once the build is released I am hoping more people will post their experiences here).

 

I have alot of games I have acumalated over the years so I am looking forward to testing them on a VM. Gives me a reason to try them out :unsure:

Edited by opieum
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I am using Version 1.0b2 (40823) Like I said this build will probably be outdated eventually anyway when the next beta is released. In the meantime I will just post games I get working in here and hope

 

Wow, that's quite a jump from 36932 the beta I'm using. I'm excited to see the differences. Right now, on an Imac C2D 2ghz, VMware is running a bit faster for me (in general) than Parallels. I tried enabling DX8 on 36932 and was successful with DX8 games. I'm glad you're testing some games out... it will be exciting to see the added functionality and sudo DX9 support in this build. Thanks for the efforts!

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Virtualization will never get hardcore gamers the framerates they push. VM can never get native performance, especially with the rise of DX 10 gaming.

 

I cannot totally agree with you. If the guest system uses the same code compiled for the host CPU, which is the case when Windows runs in Intel Mac, theoretically the visualisation performance can be almost equal to run natively. The problem here is how open the hardware companies and OS companies are to expose their kernals, special security resitricts, and special processor instructions, etc. If one day the visualisation software, such as Parallels or VMWare can totally take over the hardware in the host system, things may change. For example, when the user switch to a fullscreen visualistaion OS window, the host system suspends, and the visualisation software hand over the guest system to the machine, performance will be almost the same to run natively.

 

Unfortunately, most of current visualisation software is not designed based on this infrastructure.

Edited by dragonpool
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Well none in the build that I have. It doesn't mean they aren't working on it tho. Hopefully we will see it soon.

 

Oh and to answer the question,

 

No oblivion does not work. Even with the oldblivion patch :D

 

I was saddened to see that. That said tho I did not test heavily either. So I may try again at a future date.

 

FFXI failed...Playonline worked tho but it was super slow. So there may be something there i need to look at as well.

 

Steam games are still installing in my VM once those are up and running I will start testing and let you know how it went.

CS:S and HL2 are supposed to be able to kick back to DX7 from what I have heard so if that is the case then DX8.1 should not be an issue. But one can only hope.

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Well none in the build that I have. It doesn't mean they aren't working on it tho. Hopefully we will see it soon.

 

Oh and to answer the question,

 

No oblivion does not work. Even with the oldblivion patch :)

 

I was saddened to see that. That said tho I did not test heavily either. So I may try again at a future date.

 

FFXI failed...Playonline worked tho but it was super slow. So there may be something there i need to look at as well.

 

Steam games are still installing in my VM once those are up and running I will start testing and let you know how it went.

CS:S and HL2 are supposed to be able to kick back to DX7 from what I have heard so if that is the case then DX8.1 should not be an issue. But one can only hope.

Yep. At least DX7 or DX6 IINM. My last time rig is 9200ATI, i need to reduce to DX7 to gain performance..

Edited by vin
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The build you are using does not support 3D. Wait a few more days it is set to release pretty soon. The 3D support is coming in the beta2 build. The build I have has the 3D in it but is somewhere in between beta1 and beta2. Oh and for those asking me in PMs for a copy....please don't I am just deleting those types of requests.

 

Shaders dont work very well but I am finding some DX9 games like Max Payne 2 actually do work. It is sort of hit or miss there it seems. There are soo many games to try. Again if you are a casual gamer then this is a viable option. Hardcore gamers who must have SLI and such stick with windows.

 

I am a hardcore gamer and I have a machine dedicated just for games. My Mac (hac) is a backup machine and one I play with to learn hardware/software.

Edited by opieum
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CS:S gave me a BSOD on 1st attempt, then I tried forcing it into windowed mode and this time VMware itself crashed! So looks like HL2 and games based off it won't work in Beta 2! B)

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