Mac and PC Are Having a LAN Party

July 18, 2007 7:24 AM

Looking for multiplayer, low system requirement Mac or PC games for LAN and network play.

I've got a Macbook (2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, and 64MB onboard graphics) and my brother has a PC. We're looking for some games we can play together through LAN. His computer is fairly powerful, so the real problem is on my end.

I'm looking for games that are either compatible with mac (preferably intel) or pc (I can run these in bootcamp) with relatively low system requirements so that my computer can handle it. Right now the only games I have are Civ3 and Age of Kings/Conquerors, which I play in bootcamp. I'm open to any genre but I mostly like first-person shooters or RTS/strategy games. Preferably games with bots or computer players, so it will not just be 1v1. We'd play games like CS or TFC but those games don't have bots.

posted by oranges to sports, hobbies, & recreation (13 comments total)

Hello, friend!

Well, I grew up on Blizzard games, so every so often I go back through those and load them up and play them at LAN parties, etc...

Warcraft 3 requires a bit of 3D-acceleration, but is still both a) beautiful and b) a blast to play. Your MacBook, while it doesn't have a lot of horse power, is certainly up to the task.

I also recently went back and played some Starcraft and Starcraft:BW with some friends, and while it's a little weak graphically (we're talking about a game with a fixed 640x480 resolution), I still found these games a blast to play.

Both Starcraft and Warcraft III have bots as well.

Another game to consider is Diablo 2. It's some fun, and isn't really killer on the system requirements.

The best part about these games is that, although they're old, Blizzard really does aggressively update them. I had some issues with Stracraft (which were resolved through compatibility mode options), but otherwise, everything worked fine under Vista.

Anyway - obviously these are all Blizzard titles, and there are many, many other games to enjoy out there that fit your criteria, but I'll keep the list small to start.
posted by kbanas at 7:47 AM on July 18, 2007

Not sure if Halo: Combat Evolved allows Macs and PCs to play against each other. Might be worth looking into.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:52 AM on July 18, 2007

It doesn't exactly fit into your genres, but Worms (or any of its sequels) is absolutely hilarious. Blowing up your opponent with a flying sheep guarantees a good time.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:12 AM on July 18, 2007

well, there's the old standbys of doom 1&2, quake 1&2, and duke3d. Should run fine on anything available today. the sources for them have been opened, so enthusiasts have been busy working on updating the engines. I know that Bungie has released Marathon for free (both pc & mac), so If you were into that, it may also be a good choice.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:18 AM on July 18, 2007

Cube/Sauerbraten -- OK free FPS, they offer a mac version in the download section which I haven't used personally. (Like AgentCorvid touches on, this was originally based on the now open Quake engine... although they've made considerable changes.)
posted by anaelith at 8:19 AM on July 18, 2007

Openarena.
posted by cmiller at 8:22 AM on July 18, 2007

HOTU: Multiplayer Games is always a good place to start.

I would've suggested UT2K4 due to the amount of game modes and bots, but 64MB in the video department probably won't help you out too much.

If you are into space sims FreeSpace 2 is amazing and missions can be flown cooperatively in multiplayer, I've only played through it once in single player but it is an intense campaign and it'd only be better with a wingman. Gamepads/sticks would be required however. It should run suitably on your machine.

Worms is always a staple, however some people reject the turn based system outright.

Dungeon Keeper is one of my all time favorites but the AI is pretty horrible and you'd basically be stuck with head to head multiplayer which can be tedious... worth checking out though.

I would recommend nQuake (formerly eQuake) as it will run screaming fast on any system these days. There are a million bots/mods and combinations of the two available for it and you two will easily find some sort of game mode that's interesting to you. People still play it online so if you get your skills polished up past the bots you can take it to the next level. This may be the most open option but it is also the most technically oriented, you will have to manipulate some folder contents and configuration files to get things installed and set up the way you would like, although the new frontend makes it much easier! You could even play through the game in cooperative mode if you acquire the original *.pak files.

Albatross 18 is a free online golf game you both might have some fun with when you get tired of other titles, very low learning curve and it can be a fun distraction.
posted by prostyle at 8:47 AM on July 18, 2007

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posted by dance at 9:00 AM on July 18, 2007

Liquid War, is a ridiculously fun and simple strategy game, and it runs on anything. Bots available, but really not needed. 1v1 is a good enough game.
posted by Arturus at 9:02 AM on July 18, 2007

Defcon. It's a blast to play, comes from a great company, and you get to nuke things.
posted by craven_morhead at 9:08 AM on July 18, 2007

Aleph One is the open source, modern OS version of Bungie's Marathon series of first person shooters. These are Doom I & II era games, so the system requirements are minimal, but Marathon is a BLAST for multiplayer carnage and mayhem. It's free to download.
posted by mauglir at 9:47 AM on July 18, 2007

Not sure if Halo: Combat Evolved allows Macs and PCs to play against each other. Might be worth looking into.

They definitely do play together via the Internet; not sure about LANs.
posted by neuron at 3:38 PM on July 18, 2007

The original Unreal Tournament is still quite fun, if you can find it.
posted by panic at 7:41 PM on July 18, 2007