Quick, need ASAP help! (many questions)

Hello everyone...
I'll be leaving home in aprox 24 hours and will be staying in a home in the mountains in the middle of no where for the coming 31 days.

No internet, no telephone, and most likely no tv!

So... I just ran to the computer games store and purchased two games to kill time over there

I purchased the love of my life SimCity. Actually Two games, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition and SimCity Societies. Couldn't find mac versions so I got PC versions.

I have Windows Vista installed on bootcamp. My specs: Macbook 1.83Ghz, 2 gig ram, and 160gb hdd. SimCity4 should work no problems I guess. But I'm worried about SimCity Societies which requires 128 MB "ATI RADEON 9600 [ATI RADEON X600 FOR VISTA]. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but not supported."

So I guess this game will not work on my macbook?

Another thing, the touchpad acts up under windows (now on vista and before that when i had xp) and according to apple discussions its a known issue. So i'm thinking about avoiding this problem by running windows from mac OS itself. Like using Parallel or any other program. Can you name the programs for me? And are you aware of any of them being available for 30 days full functional trial version? And do you think the Sim socities will run okay under WinXP when running from the mac OS?

Thanks for your help. I'm waiting for replies

UPDATE

UPDATE...

Ok first off, Thanks to everyone posted here.
I've installed both games and ran them under BootCamp (win vista). SimCity Societies did run just fin on max resolution at full screen but every other setting was set on low. it wasn't that bad really. but i'm guessing maybe later on during game play when the map gets full with action it might start getting really slow. I tried the game on my desktop where I have GeForce 8800 GS and the graphics are really wonderful and nothing compared to the macbook's. but still its acceptable for a tiny laptop.

SimCity 4 also no problem.

Now, about the trackpad issue. I'm already planning to take with me a mouse. But i'm kinda curious. Is there away to update bootcamp? I downloaded bootcamp back when it was beta and I dont think i can download any newer versions without buying the whole OS.
So where can I find the driver? and what advantages will it add?

thanks again

 

The 9600 isn't a tenth as powerful as a 8600GT, so no worries there. No reason why Societies wouldn't work...
However whether your games will work in a Virtual machine is a different issue..

BTW, I've been spendig a lot of time in the back of beyond too, mostly for my summer internship... It's an enjoyable change...

 

Simcity Societies, wrong choice man.. wrong choice....

IMO: Civilization 4 would be the better time killer... SimCity 4 is not a bad choice oso.

 

However, the Macbook does not have a 8600GT. It has an Intel GMA 950 or X3100, which might struggle with those games especially under Vista.

You will most likely be able to play them, but not at very high settings.

The track pad issues can be solved by installing the latest Boot Camp drivers, v 2.1.

If you have a Macbook and not a Macbook Pro, and plan to play those games in a VM such as using Parallels or VMWare, the games will not run.

Both Parallels and VMWare have trial versions which you can download from their respective websites.

 

Agreed . I have also played Civ IV on a geforce 4 ti 4200 so I am sure integrated graphics now a days should be able to run it (if not, which would be pretty sad , there are plenty of options like turning off battle animations that should make the game run smoother)

 

Sorry to say that the 2.1 update does not fix the trackpad issues. Check out this thread and you'll see that this has been an ongoing issue that Apple seems to be ignoring. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1433222&tstart=0

 

yea, actually i'd like to know about this....
is the multitouch and the backlighting the main two things wrong with any bootcamp install?

 

uhh yeah the trackpad issue is NOT solved by any updates.

it probably won't be for a while. windows isn't apples top priority apparently. still wish there was decent trackpad support. get an external mouse to solve the problem.

 

It wouldn't make a difference. Running it virtually is just like running it through bootcamp. But as others have said the integrated graphics in the macbook wouldn't be able to handle the game through a virtual machine.

 

Say it isn't so!

 

you know, i guess the only time i really need to run windows would be in a game... so i'd be using a mouse anyway. what about brightness?

 

UPDATE...

Ok first off, Thanks to everyone posted here.
I've installed both games and ran them under BootCamp (win vista). SimCity Societies did run just fin on max resolution at full screen but every other setting was set on low. it wasn't that bad really. but i'm guessing maybe later on during game play when the map gets full with action it might start getting really slow. I tried the game on my desktop where I have GeForce 8800 GS and the graphics are really wonderful and nothing compared to the macbook's. but still its acceptable for a tiny laptop.

SimCity 4 also no problem.

Now, about the trackpad issue. I'm already planning to take with me a mouse. But i'm kinda curious. Is there away to update bootcamp? I downloaded bootcamp back when it was beta and I dont think i can download any newer versions without buying the whole OS.
So where can I find the driver? and what advantages will it add?

thanks again