AoE III for MacOS in VM (Launch Error)

[Yaxche]

Hello Everyone,

I have tried my best to resolve this issue on my own, and I understand that this forum is primarily focused on the PC version of the game, but I figured I would ask here just in case someone can help...

I have been playing the Mac version (by MacSoft) of AoE III for many years and with the recent discontinuation of 32-bit support in MacOS 10.15, I have hit a bit of a wall. Since it is a 32-bit app, it only runs on old versions of MacOS.

I have seen that many people are installing old versions of MacOS in virtual machines to run their old 32-bit apps, so I figured I would give it a try with AoE III. Unfortunately I have been getting an issue when trying to launch the game, that I never experienced on any of my old Macs running versions of MacOS earlier than 10.14. When I launch the game, I get a pop-up that says, “An unrecoverable error has occurred, and Age of Empires III cannot continue.” The game then quits without launching.

I have tried two different setups and get this issue each time. One is a MacMini running MacOS 10.14 in VMWare, and the other is a MacBook Air running MacOS X 10.7 on Parallels.

From what I have read about this issue, it seems to have something to do with the game checking for proper graphics cards requirements before starting. I couldn’t find much about this issue on Mac, just Windows. Nevertheless, I have tried some of the solutions that worked for the Windows version with no success. I tried editing the NewProfile.xml file for both the resolution and the window mode. I also have fiddled with the VM settings by turning on 3D graphics acceleration, adding additional graphics memory (up to 512MB), and making sure to have installed VMWare tools and Parallels tools on the guest OS.

It seems like it just simply does not want to play nice with the Virtual Machine, and I can’t figure out how to trick it into launching...

I would just run Windows through the VM, purchase the game on Steam, and play that way... but of course that would Costner money for the Windows licenses and the game, plus I would lose my home cities etc. In fact, if I can’t solve this, it may come to that eventually.

In the meantime, I would appreciate any suggestions you all have. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and for any comments you may have!

[harcha]

You might have a better chance asking someone who has experience with VMs on Mac

P.S. you can probably get a free windows key from some friend who is in college/uni/w.e as many education institutions give free keys to students.

[forgrin]

Paging @Mitoe , the resident AoE3 Mac expert.

Likely your best bet would be using Wine or a similar compatibility layer (you might know CrossOver) with a Windows version of the game.
I wouldn't recommend running through a VM directly, using a compatibility layer is better.

Sorry I don't know any more for Mac, I run the game on linux so some things are familiar but not all.

[edeholland]

I also don't know much about Mac, but if you decide to use Windows you can probably migrate your home cities. If not, there are easy ways to instantly get all your home cities to level 100 (in both single player and multi player).

[Yaxche]

Thanks everyone for your replies! It definitely sounds like an issue with the VM. I will take your advice and run the Windows version (either using the guide here with WineSkin or getting a license for Windows). I’m glad to know that I can migrate my home cities, or at least use the same tricks I did on my Mac to level them up

Once again, thanks for your suggestions! I know that the MacSoft version is pretty much the outcast of the AoE III family lol