I just posted this in mysimBrenda's thread but thought it may help to have a dedicated thread with instructions as more and more Mac users are realising that the game only truly works properly under Windows. Snapdragon has also provided a fantastic link to an external site detailing how to do the installation:
http://macs.about.com/od/bootcamp/ss/Using-Boot-Camp-Assistant-To-Install-Windows-On-Your-Mac.htmYou will need a retail copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 to install into Boot Camp and a blank CD or USB stick (Fat 32 formatted) to save the Support Software onto.Boot Camp partition size:
Lots of people ask this but it's up to you to work out how much space you should give the Boot Camp partition as everyone's games are different. As a general rule go with the following:
Add up the following:
1. Base game requirement size + All EPs and SPs you have + 20Gb for Windows OS
2. The size of your current Sims 3 folder in OS X. This is your user data. To find the size: Documents > Electronic Arts then select The Sims 3 folder, hold down CMD and press i
3. And then add 10Gb on top so the Boot Camp partition isn't full. Or 20Gb/30Gb if you have the space for any future CC/downloads/big save files/EPs/SPs.
4. Want to install CAW? Then add another 5Gb or so.
Copying over your user data from OS X:
Snapdragon has posted about what you should and shouldn't copy over, and why, here:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/15/579888.page#9358121
You can access your data from the Windows side - no need for an external drive to copy and paste - by going to My Computer > Macintosh HD > Users then navigating to The Sims 3 folder in your Documents folder. You can then copy and paste data or drag it into the relevant folder in Windows.
Getting Started:
Make sure any peripheral devices connected to your Mac are unplugged (thanks suepea!)
Applications > Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant
I strongly recommend you print off the Installation & Setup Guide:
Make sure both boxes are ticked:
If you already have a Boot Camp partition installed and want to get rid of it and start again you will get this page instead:
THE most important bit (you can always reopen Boot Camp Assistant and re-download these if you bypass this step by accident) :
Downloading the Apple support software:
After it has finished the download it will then ask you how big a partition you want for Windows:
Chose the partition size and leave it to do it's stuff. When it boots into Windows you will need to reformat the Boot Camp Partition as NTFS as your Mac has formatted it as Fat 32.
After it does what it needs to it will restart into Windows. It is at this point that you install the Package file you burnt to disk or saved onto a USB stick.
You do not need to download anything else from anywhere online to get the installation to work properly.
Once installed properly you will see this in a Finder window in OS X:
And similar under My Computer in Windows. You can read to the Boot Camp partition but not write to it, and vice versa to the Macintosh HD when you are in Windows (great for accessing screenshots you took in game in Windows and editing them in iPhoto).
Hope this helps a bit
*04.09.14* adding in the link to Apple's Boot Camp page for further help on installing from ISOs -
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1461
Comments
wouldn't that be pointing out an unmentionable flaw though?
But I understand the strategy. As long as it doesn't stick this thread will have to be kicked with our Bootcamp boots.
BTW, talking about flaws, I just got a minced mail from EA. I think it's a friends request. At least it seems to be one among all those heaps of html code that got through. If it's from someone reading this thread, sorry, but I don't participate in that aspect of the site. Actually I thought that my profile is hidden, apparently it's not.
1 - After you've partitioned your HD in this step:
just let the Assistant do it's stuff. Your Mac will boot into the Windows partition automatically and start the installation.
2 - When it's booted into Windows it will complain that it can't find a suitable drive to boot into. This is because your Mac has formatted the Boot Camp partition as Fat32 when it should actually be NTFS for Windows. Follow the instructions on page 6 of the guide that Snapdragon posted:
http://macs.about.com/od/bootcamp/ss/Using-Boot-Camp-Assistant-To-Install-Windows-On-Your-Mac_6.htm
Once it's reformatted the Boot Camp partition it will be happy and you can proceed.
3 - After Windows has finished installing it will restart your Mac again and automatically boot into Windows. You'll notice that it all looks a bit crap graphics wise and your keyboard and mouse probably won't be as responsive as they should be. Now you want to double click on the .package file that you downloaded onto disc or USB stick and let the Apple installer run and do it's stuff. The Mac will restart again, boot into Windows and everything should look normal.
4 - Your Mac will now be set to automatically boot into Windows instead of the Mac OS each time you restart it. To change that back to Mac OS do the following in OS X:
System Preferences > System > Startup Disk
Then select the Macintosh HD:
Your Mac will always now boot into OS X unless you tell it otherwise.
5 - To boot into Windows turn the Mac off. Hold down the Option (Alt) key until you get the grey screen showing 2 or 3 partitions, depending on what version of OS X you are running (3 for Lion and Mountain Lion, 2 for Snow Leopard and Leopard). Double click on the Boot Camp/Windows HD icon and it will then boot into Windows.
After all the trouble that you have had I am glad to hear that you have got everything working, this is really encouraging. The thing that is putting my off doing this straight away is the cost of Windows itself...really begrudge paying that much for an OS I dislike...the things we will do for our Sims :P
Thanks.
You cannot switch from MacOs to Windows "on the fly". You will have to restart the Mac everytime.
Thanks Snapdragon!
I have one more question. After installing my expansion packs I now have all the icons on the desktop. On my other computer which is just Windows I usually right click and then delete them. But it won't do that on my Mac when in Windows. I don't want to get the desktop all cluttered with icons I don't want.
But mind you this is from my memory, as I use a five-button Microsoft mouse for TS3.
Thanks again Snapdragon! I've now done that and got rid of the clutter on the desktop.
I saved my Sims3 folder off my other computer onto an external drive so do I just place this folder into my documents and I'll get all my saved games, mods etc when I load the game up on my Mac?