How to play Spasim on Mac
Game summary
Spasim (abbreviation of 'space simulation') was a 32-player 3D networked computer game by Jim Bowery involving 4 planetary systems with up to 8 players per planetary system, released in March 1, 1974. Jim Bowery claims that it is the very first 3D multiplayer game and has offered reward of US $500 to anyone who could document an example of a multiplayer 3D virtual reality game prior to Spasim. In Spasim the players flew around in space and to each other they appeared as wire-frame space ships. Their positions were updated about every second.
The game was played on the PLATO computer system, and was heavily influenced by another PLATO space multiplayer game Empire. Later 3D multiplayer games on the PLATO network included airace by Silas Warner that evolved into airfight (by Brand Fortner), and then spawned Panther by John Edo Haefeli at NW University. Atari, Inc had a PLATO account and Panther is said to be the origin of Battlezone while airfight led up to Sublogic's Microsoft Flight Simulator. Also, Panther was developed into the more sophisticated Panzer by the US Army.
First released: Mar 1974
Play Spasim on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)
The easiest way to play Spasim on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.
Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.
Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).
Spasim installation steps for Mac
Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Spasim like you would on any PC.
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