My dilemma - Page 2

washishu · 10-04-14, 07:55 AM

I’ve not been here for quite a while. The reason is that I was playing SH3 (GWX3) and SH4 on my MacBook laptop through Bootcamp, with XP installed and it all worked just champion. Then my Mac died and I had to get a new one. Bootcamp on this one doesn’t support XP, so I’ve not played for nearly two years.

Ok, so, last night I saw on the TV an ad. for my local computer store and they’re having a sale; one of the machines they’re advertising as “perfect for laptop gaming”—I recognise that it’s ad-speak but I got to pondering; I could afford that price; I could play SH again. But it’s Windows 8 of course. So I start to look on SubSim and other places for guidance and I’m more confused than ever. Although I’ve been a Mac-user (graphics) for 15 years or more, when it comes to Windows machines I am, I admit, a complete and absolute dummy; really; no kidding about. D-U-M-M-Y, dummy.

So I find people saying both SH3 and 4 work fine in Win.8 and others saying they can’t even get it to install. I find talk of something called starforce (beam me up Scotty) and that early “old box” versions won’t work at all in Win.8 and then that you have to remove starforce but. . . (insert a variety of buts and yes-buts here). And that something or other (I’m not sure what) depends on whether it’s US- or Euro-version (I'm in the UK). Then there’s all that sound card/graphics card compatibility malarkey.

I looked at my CD boxes to see if they are old-box or new-box and guess what? it doesn’t say. There’s a ©2005 on the SH3 box and a UK address and a ©2007-2008 on the SH4 with a US address. I also had Sub Command working fine with Bootcamp, (©2001, UK only), and although that’s not essential, It’s entertaining to venture into the nuclear world occasionally.

So, given that if I buy a new Windows laptop, I would want to use it for very, very little else other than SH, it occurs to me that I could just install the old XP from the CDs I still have. Is that possible on a new machine? I have no idea.

Would the sound/graphics stuff in a new laptop be compatible with the (nearly) ten-year-old CD. I have no idea.

Would it be better to do that or leave 8 as it is and struggle through this compatibility thing? I have no idea.

Or, should I forget the Windows machine, buy a copy of Windows 8 and use Bootcamp again? I have no idea.

And would that work, given that it would be in Win.8 on a Mac, through Bootcamp? I have no idea.

After quite a few hours of rooting around, the only thing I’m not confused about is that I would really, really like to play SH again.

10-04-14, 07:55 AM	#1
washishu Mate Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: England Posts: 54 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	My dilemma I’ve not been here for quite a while. The reason is that I was playing SH3 (GWX3) and SH4 on my MacBook laptop through Bootcamp, with XP installed and it all worked just champion. Then my Mac died and I had to get a new one. Bootcamp on this one doesn’t support XP, so I’ve not played for nearly two years. Ok, so, last night I saw on the TV an ad. for my local computer store and they’re having a sale; one of the machines they’re advertising as “perfect for laptop gaming”—I recognise that it’s ad-speak but I got to pondering; I could afford that price; I could play SH again. But it’s Windows 8 of course. So I start to look on SubSim and other places for guidance and I’m more confused than ever. Although I’ve been a Mac-user (graphics) for 15 years or more, when it comes to Windows machines I am, I admit, a complete and absolute dummy; really; no kidding about. D-U-M-M-Y, dummy. So I find people saying both SH3 and 4 work fine in Win.8 and others saying they can’t even get it to install. I find talk of something called starforce (beam me up Scotty) and that early “old box” versions won’t work at all in Win.8 and then that you have to remove starforce but. . . (insert a variety of buts and yes-buts here). And that something or other (I’m not sure what) depends on whether it’s US- or Euro-version (I'm in the UK). Then there’s all that sound card/graphics card compatibility malarkey. I looked at my CD boxes to see if they are old-box or new-box and guess what? it doesn’t say. There’s a ©2005 on the SH3 box and a UK address and a ©2007-2008 on the SH4 with a US address. I also had Sub Command working fine with Bootcamp, (©2001, UK only), and although that’s not essential, It’s entertaining to venture into the nuclear world occasionally. So, given that if I buy a new Windows laptop, I would want to use it for very, very little else other than SH, it occurs to me that I could just install the old XP from the CDs I still have. Is that possible on a new machine? I have no idea. Would the sound/graphics stuff in a new laptop be compatible with the (nearly) ten-year-old CD. I have no idea. Would it be better to do that or leave 8 as it is and struggle through this compatibility thing? I have no idea. Or, should I forget the Windows machine, buy a copy of Windows 8 and use Bootcamp again? I have no idea. And would that work, given that it would be in Win.8 on a Mac, through Bootcamp? I have no idea. After quite a few hours of rooting around, the only thing I’m not confused about is that I would really, really like to play SH again.