Any Games Incompatible with the SE/30?

[Tempest]

This may sound like a dumb question, but are there any classic Mac games that will run a 68000 Mac but not on the 68030 SE/30? I know the Atari Falcon (a 68030 machine) had all kinds of compatibility issues with games written for earlier 68000 based Atari ST's, and I'm wondering if the SE/30 has similar problems. If so I'd probably be better off with an SE.

Tempest

 

[Dog Cow]

Probably anything that didn't follow Apple's programming guidelines and made undocumented Toolbox calls and the like.

 

[Scott Baret]

I know for a fact Dinosaur Discovery Kit (from First Byte) doesn't work on SE/30s. This was explicitly stated in the third edition of the Macintosh Bible. (It supposedly only works on 68000-based compacts--I used it on Pluses in grade school). I'm not aware of any others offhand.

 

[Dog Cow]

Just as the opposite example. Missile Command is a game written in 1984 for the Mac 128k and System 1.0. It also runs on the latest Power Mac G3 system with OS 9.2.2.

 

[trag]

Magaroids will only work on a Mac 512KE and earlier. It won't even work on a Plus.

I think that Arkanoid won't work on anything later than an SE (maybe a Classic).

 

[Tempest]

Ok so far no big losses. I guess I'll stick with my SE/30.

 

[JDW]

Yes, quite a number of games that work on my Mac 512k (with 64k ROMs) will not work on the SE/30 under any OS. But some games that will work on the SE/30 under System 6 will not work under System 7. The older the game, the less likely it will work on the SE/30. I cannot remember off the top of my head, but it's either Harrier Strike Mission or Falcon that has problems. Both of those were my favorite games in years past.

Also keep in mind that some very old games technically "function" on the SE/30, but they are just too fast. That holds true even for games that have a "Slow Down" feature in the menus. And if you've got an accelerator in the SE/30 like I do (a 50MHz DiiMO), then there is no hope to slow some games down to an acceptable speed (save removing the accelerator, which I am not about to do).

This is why, if space allows, it's nice to have more than one classic Mac. You can have a Mac 512k or Plus along side an SE/30. My preference is a 512k with 64k ROMs and the SE/30. Since the games that are too new for the 512k and its stock ROMs often work fine on the SE/30. And some of the earliest games were made to work with the 64k ROMs, and they have a little trouble with the 128k ROMs of the 512ke or Plus. Again, sorry, I cannot remember the names off the top of my head, but it is true.

 

[Tempest]

I wish there was a list somewhere. I mostly play RPGs, Puzzle, and Adventure games, I wonder if any of the better known ones (Bards Tale, Wizardry, Ultima III, Fools Errand, Gunshy, etc.) have issues? I have a choice between an SE and an SE/30 and I'm wondering if it's worth bothering with the SE/30 if I'm just going to play 'classic' games in System 6. Maybe I should just stick with the SE?

EDIT: I was just playing around with some of the games I have on my HD. Not only do they load faster (which I'll admit is nice), but they play MUCH faster too! Some games this didn't make much of a difference in (like my RPGs), but some games like Social Climber are almost unplayable. Looks like I need to go snag a regular old SE for my classic gaming goodness. Maybe I can stick System 7 on the SE/30 and play some of the later more advanced games (the ones that don't require color that is).

Tempest

 

[JDW]

Honestly, if all you want to do is play classic B&W Mac games, a Mac 512k, Plus, SE or even a Classic running System 6 will serve you well. You see, a lot of those very early games were tied to the system clock, so they of course run best on a machine slower than the SE/30. I like my SE/30 mainly because I don't use it merely to play games. The greater speed of the SE/30 let's me do many things that earlier compacts either could not do or would be too slow to do.

 

[Tempest]

Bumping my old topic.

I may pull out my SE/30 to replace my Classic now. I've noticed that some games play alright on the Classic, but they're slooow. For example, I was playing Bards Tale last night and although it worked just fine, there were noticeable delays between clicking on an item and moving it to another person. It also seemed to take an eternity to load the town map. I noticed something similar when I played Wizardry on the Classic, it took about 10 seconds for the screen to come up. But when I tried it on the SE/30 it was almost instantaneous. Since I mostly play RPGs and adventure games, I think the SE/30 is the better choice.

One game I do wonder about it The Fools Errand. I know it has some action puzzles in it and I'm wondering if they'll be too fast on the SE/30. Anyone ever try this? What about Sufflepuck Cafe? I think I tried it out and it seemed to run ok, but I can't recall.

Was a slow down option a common feature in later Mac games? Is there a program that can slow the mac down if you need to (a classic mac version of Slo Mo)?

Tempest

 

[Tempest]

Oh and is there any reason to go with System 7 over 6.0.8? I don't know how the compatibility is with games. I know some games need System 7 and I assume some won't work with anything higher than 6, but is it a wide spread problem or just older shareware type stuff? I generally stick to the more mainstream and popular games.

Tempest

 

[JDW]

There were "mainstream and popular games" for System 6 as well as System 7. You will be surprised at what still runs under System 6. For example, Deneba Canvas 3.5 runs wonderfully under System 6.0.8! System 7 may open compatibility to certain "popular" games that won't run under System 6. But you get a lot more speed out of System 6 than you do with 7.

But there's no need to just worry over it. Just put System 6 and 7 on your machine and switch between them as needed! That's what I do via System Picker. It's easy and convenient.

 

[Tempest]

But there's no need to just worry over it. Just put System 6 and 7 on your machine and switch between them as needed! That's what I do via System Picker. It's easy and convenient.

System Picker you say? Never heard of that before. Tell me more...

Tempest

 

[JDW]

System Picker you say? Never heard of that before. Tell me more...

These two links tell all:

LEM "System 6 or 7?"

Macintosh Garden System Picker Download Page

 

[Tempest]

The download link is broken.

Tempest

 

[JDW]

http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/download/system_picker_1.1a3.sit.hqx

 

[Quadraman]

I highly recommend anyone following the link to Gambas' site should grab whatever information or files they may need while they still can. Most everyone here knows this already but for those who don't, Gamba has been dead for several years now and the hosting has been kindly maintained by his family because they realize what an important resource the site is to others like us but it may go offline at any time without warning if they decide keeping it online is too much trouble.