Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Hey folks, long time no see. I see the forum is awash with people still playing these classic games. :)

As my old computer has long ago hit the skids, I am in the process of trying to get at least IWD + HoW up and running for a nostalgic jaunt through the game. In the meantime, technology has long ago outrun my knowledge and I am also now using a Mac instead of a PC. I have acquired Parallels desktop and an old copy of XP. Parallels allows the use of a virtual machine on a Mac that can run a Windows OS. Are there any tech or other issues I should know about with this setup when running/playing IWD? I saw something in another thread about running IWD in Windows XP compatibility mode, is this something I ought to be doing, or does running it on a VM (albeit with XP as the OS) solve any issues with that? If I have to run it in compatibility mode, how would I go about doing that?

Also, I am seeking to run this in fullscreen mode, but a quick look shows that the picture is awfully small - presumably some fiddling with graphics ought to fix this, but can anyone save me a few minutes and let me know how to optimize my gameplay?

Cheers!

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

IWD should run on a VM without any problems. You should not have to resort to compatibility mode.

Not sure what you mean by your second question. What do you mean "picture is awfully small"?

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

I'm guessing the VM runs in a window... so if IWD is also running in a window... then it might look rather small.

It might be that you can run IWD in full screen, and then make the VM window bigger. That might give an acceptable viewing area.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Awesome, thanks guys. Seems I'm that much closer to getting this going...

Now that you mention it, I suspect that even though I'm running the VM in fullscreen, IWD isn't being run in fullscreen. I will check into that.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

IWD is in business. I altered the resolution from 800x600 into the officially unsupported resolutions, and that solved the viewing issue.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Another stupid question...

My Mac mouse has only one button. The way the interface is set up in IWD there is are functions for a second mouse button (R-click is used to open item descriptions, cancel selected spell, open bags, etc). How do I do those things without the second mouse button? I already looked through the Config options but didn't see anything that seemed to fit.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Shift+F10 should do it.

ALERT!!! This is wrong, my bad. To r-click with an Apple mouse you should CTRL+click. Sorry, I couldn't find a way to do it with just one hand.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it, but it didn't work. Any other suggestions?

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Only thing I can suggest now is to run 2 mice. I myself run a wired and a wireless mouse. Hope this helps.

Re: Tech Questions: Running IWD on a VM with Windows XP
 

Thanks. I thought I might have to do that, and now I will. :)