Mac Emulator?

[realtaylor]

I've never built a MAME so I apologize if this is a stupid question....I've been looking online for an emulator that will run on a MAC. Any recommendations?


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[mahuti]

You can try RetroArch: https://www.libretro.com/index.php/getting-started-with-retroarch/

You download an img for OSX. From within Retroarch you can download/install cores.

Once you have some cores running and tested, you could try to set up Attractmode front end for mac. http://attractmode.org. I've tested it on a mac. Works well.

If you don't need/want to run emulators for NES, SNES, etc, you can use SDLMAME for mac. http://sdlmame.lngn.net

Though I'm a mac guy of old, I don't do any gaming on my mac.... i do it all on crappy old PCs and raspberry pis I have laying around. Other than knowing about a few of the things available, I can't help much.

[ark_ader]

Which mac?  Color or monochrome?

I use Basilisk 2.  It is a great emulator for early macos. Then you have vmac for classic macos.  Then pear pc for ppc up to g3.  I run basilisk on my mac, and vmac on the raspberry pi.  Whichever emulator you use, please be mindful that the roms are still covered by copyright.  Personally, once you have the physical roms you are golden to download a set.  I just located a set on ebay for $40.  I have a working quadra, that is too huge to use any more, but it is great to get it out of storage and play around with Pagemaker now and then.   

[realtaylor]

Which mac?  Color or monochrome?

I use Basilisk 2.  It is a great emulator for early macos. Then you have vmac for classic macos.  Then pear pc for ppc up to g3.  I run basilisk on my mac, and vmac on the raspberry pi.  Whichever emulator you use, please be mindful that the roms are still covered by copyright.  Personally, once you have the physical roms you are golden to download a set.  I just located a set on ebay for $40.  I have a working quadra, that is too huge to use any more, but it is great to get it out of storage and play around with Pagemaker now and then.   

It is a 27" iMac (2008 I think) that I no longer use. Not worth selling so I'd like to try and set it up for MAME....but again....never done it before!


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[mahuti]

Code: [Select]

Which mac?  Color or monochrome?
I believe OP's asking about running emulators ON a mac... not emulators OF a mac. In which case... ark_ader, your point for this thread is mostly moot.

If you want to do just MAME... like I said, SDLMame is the way to go. You can run it via terminal.app or via something like AttractMode. I Think the 2008 was intel right? I can't remember when they stopped doing PPC. In any case, SDLMame is intel mac only.

[realtaylor]

Code: [Select]

Which mac?  Color or monochrome?
I believe OP's asking about running emulators ON a mac... not emulators OF a mac. In which case... ark_ader, your point for this thread is mostly moot.

If you want to do just MAME... like I said, SDLMame is the way to go. You can run it via terminal.app or via something like AttractMode. I Think the 2008 was intel right? I can't remember when they stopped doing PPC. In any case, SDLMame is intel mac only.

Yes it's intel.  Has anyone tried to use an iMac in an arcade cabinet?


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[mahuti]

I used a Mac Pro for awhile.  But I had installed Windows on it. If you didn't want to have a bootcamp partition set up you could run on the Mac side with Attract Mode front end.

Personally though I would just convert it to a Windows box

[lilshawn]

27" imacs didn't hit the market until late 2009. if it is indeed a 27" then it has somewhere between a core 2 duo 3.06ghz processor and a i7-860 2.8 ghz. (assuming day one release of the system.)

I can't remember when they stopped doing PPC.

November 2003 was the release of the last Power PC processor system (iMac G5)

[GeoMan]

I used a Mac Pro for awhile.  But I had installed Windows on it. If you didn't want to have a bootcamp partition set up you could run on the Mac side with Attract Mode front end.

Personally though I would just convert it to a Windows box

Seconded! With the addition of an SSD it will make a good arcade/emu box.

Keep in mind that these Macs can still be upgraded with latest OSX so don't hurry to get rid of it. I have a few of them in the office running latest Adobe CC software and they work fine after replacing the slow 5400rpm HDs with SSDs.

[Locke141]

I'm a little late to the party but wanted to add a bit of info for others looking to do this. On an intel based Mac you need to run SDL mame. Read more hear

I like Attract mode for Mac if your doing a dedicated cad build.

If not just go get openEMU experimental. It uses mame 149 rom set.

[ark_ader]

OK so we are not emulating a MACOS on a Mac, but why go to all that trouble when you can use boot camp and TinyXP.  I mean you just have two states.  Productivity and Entertainment.