Jon Laughton Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hi Anyone using a Mac based simulator out there who would be prepared to recommend one / make a comparison on the capabilities / graphics etc compared to a PC Note I dont want to run Bootcamp on my Mac. Thanks Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Whittaker Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Ooh. That's a good idea. I'd like to know about Mac simulators, too. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiquated Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I know you don't want to run bootcamp - but would using Parallels be an option (that way you don't need to reboot to run the simulator)? I am using Parallels with a copy of Vista to run Phoenix, along with some other windows-only software such as the Hitec HP22 utility. I've tried VMWare and VirtualBox, but they didn't seem to produce a smooth emulation (pity, as VirtualBox is free). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew767 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hi Jon & Alex...Phoenix do a mac version....I know this because the rotters launched it 3 months after i'd given in and bought a PC laptop to run it on, having not being able to find a mac sim anywhere. Andrew Edited By Andrew767 on 01/05/2012 11:15:24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiquated Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Andrew, do you have a link to the Mac version - I can't find anything about it on the Phoenix web site? The only information I can find is about using bootcamp or a virtualisation program such as Parallels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Funnily enough my copy of Phoenix arrived this morning from Wheelspin models, great service guys only ordered it yesterday Anyway it says on the box PC/MAC as though both versions are on the DVD. I will try it later and let you know. Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Okay scrub that idea, I tried the DVD in my MacBook Pro and it doesn't read it Would have been nice to have been given the choice........ Ah well Bootcamp or Parallels here we come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiquated Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Is that version 4? If so I would be interested to know how well it runs under Parallels. I have a horrible feeling that it might be too slow, as V3 is only OK with some of the features turned off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew767 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Antiquated...I just remember seeing it on their site...maybe it would be best to contact Phoenix direct and ask the question.....Considering Macs are not that unusual anymore it's a bit surprising that sims are still so hard to find for them...Someone is perhaps missing a trick somewhere..Best of luck with your search. Sorry i can't be anymore helpful. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Laughton Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Guys, many thanks for all your responses. To be clear I will not run another operating system on my MAcbook Pro just run a PC version - this defeats the whole object of having a Mac! For those who don't have one and are lumbered with MS oeprating systems/PCs you will just have to take this on advice.... I was aware of the Phoenix version for Mac which is available on back order in the UK (Pegasus or Puffin Models may have been where this was but I am no longer sure) I am looking for someone who can relate their actual expeirence of using a sim with a Mac operating system and comparisons with the performance of pc based simulators. Hope this helps to clear things up Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bowker Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I don't think there are any sims for the Mac Jon, I have searched and searched. I'm sure you won't find anyone with any experiences other than what people have already posted. Phoenix were the closest but all they recommend on their website is to use a PC or for OSX to run under: • Bootcamp (recommended) • VMWare Fusion (latest version) • Parallels (latest version) I tried it with VMWare but it was useless, it didn't function properly. I can't find any mention of the Phoenix version for Mac's/OSX on the Phoenix website, can you post a link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiquated Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Well I managed to find one, Aerofly, and a few other open source flight simulators (but not RC ones). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bowker Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 That's great new Antiquated, do you use it yourself? I will check out their website to see if they offer a demo download and what the cost is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avtur Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 First I am a Mac fan, have been for many years, my personal computer of choice. However the reality is Mac is a minority product as far as computers (laptop/desktop) go. As much as we enthuse about our hobby then it is a minority compared with many other pastimes. Within the hobbby there is some interest in Flight simulation. Not surprisingly that means the number of Mac loving, model flyers interested in flight simulation is probably going to be a small number, as such I think its a market that probably is not catered for. I think Phoenix are a bit naughty with their advertising (I recently bought a copy and run it on a windows 7 laptop not my MacbookPro Laptop). Phoenix website and product packaging does state that it will run on a Mac, but only when running a Windows system over Bootcmap, Parallels, VMWare etc.. As a statement it is not entirley untrue, but using that logic you could say any program is Mac compatible. Not quite in the spirit of good advertising. I have no need to run PC software on my Mac therefore to run Pheonix on it I would have also had to purchase Parallels or the like and a full version of a Windows 7, that would all have worked out quite expensive. Luckily I have a Windows 7 driven laptop available to me so easiest thing was to run Pheonix on that, which worked well. Edited By avtur on 01/05/2012 17:29:38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazygit Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I run crrcsim , heli-x, and RC Helicopter Simulator (alphamacsoftware.com) on my mac. Crrcsim is very basic, Heli-x is limited though fairly reasonable and RC Heli Sim is ok but flying the sim is easy compared with the real thing. None of them are as good as Phoenix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrongway Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Jon, if you want to run Phoenix which, in my opinion is one of the best RC sims available then you need Windows. Full stop. I think you know the options of how to acheive this. If you want to use it on your Mac then it's either Bootcamp, Fusion or Parallels. If you don't then you buy a PC as well. I run a Mac Pro as well as a MBP, MB Air and a Mac Mini. The Air has bootcamp on it with Windows 7 on a partition. It doesn't "pollute" my Mac, the OS X operating system still runs without and interference from the partition that runs windows. I understand your comment about it defeating the idea of using a Mac, but ufortunately thats the way things are. Certain software, usually specialist stuff, has been written for the Windows OS. The authors wont do a Mac version because a) It's not financially worth it for thm at present b) They cant because its so Windowsified that it wont translate without a rewrite from the beginning. I run 2 PC's apart from the Mac's. One contains flight sims including Phoenix and a few other PC only things. The other is a very low power PC that runs a weather station 24/7 and monitors aircraft SSR. I would love to run all this on a OS X. More chance of winning the lottery. Like you I prefer Mac's. However I will still use PC, its just another tool. I would Bootcamp the Mac Pro but I want to use bothe at the same time Mac and PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artistic-Aero Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 I have a copy of Aerofly Pro Deluxe I have been running on my Mac. Its installed on my MacBook Pro and my iMac. I have to say I love it. Always been Mac as I am an Art Director so never owned a Windows machine. My friend has run Realflight through Parallels on his iMac and its a messy set-up, having to use two OS's is just not right! In terms of performanace both machines run Aerofly perfectly. The graphics are just excellent with special sites for helis and F3a as well as loads of planes to download. Its really helped me I have to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plummet Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 As a Linux user...* The only reason I have Windoze on my machine at all is for flight sim. I know that the Mac opperating system is now Unix based, like Linux, so I wonder if there is any hope for a good Linux based sim. Plummet * Yorkshireman! Pay for stuff when you can get better for free? No way! Edited By Plummet on 27/05/2012 11:52:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Jon Ive used Aerofly on my mac when running OSX and before that (before they shipped the mac version) I used it on the same machine but under Windows 7 via bootcamp. I have to say there were no real differences tha I noticed. It needs a good graphics card in the mac but that is the same for OSX or Windows. I ended up using Pheonix on Windows on a spare PC because, well, I just preferred it as a sim, nothing to do with how Aerofly performed on OSX though. I do think it's pretty cheeky of Pheonix to say their sim is 'mac compatible' sure, it's mac compatible if you go out and buy a copy of Windows, then install it on your Mac! I would be very interested in a REAL OSX version if they ever wrote one. Plummet, as a Linux user ( ok, mosty headless Linux but still...) that would be great, but OSX is BSD underneath not Linux, which is quite different. And any GUI apps would be using the Apple APIs rather than any open source equivalents r. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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