Mac Source Ports – Run old games on new Macs
35 comments
·October 15, 2025reactordev
galad87
Yup, just right in the upper half of the page there is a big search box and an "sort by" popup button.
dbalatero
The main page has the search box & sort by: https://www.macsourceports.com/
The Games page does not: https://www.macsourceports.com/games
reactordev
I don’t see that on mobile. Just a list of games and a pager at the bottom that goes on for miles…
JKCalhoun
Glider Pro [1] (called Airfoil?) is on the list. I guess posting the sources on Github made that an easy matter.
I suppose I can point people to this when they ask me if there is a "Glider" on a modern platform. A lot easier than setting up emulators.
asveikau
This will be an off topic and kinda spammy comment, but thank you for that game. I played it a lot circa 1994. The level editor also kept it very fresh.
plmpsu
FAQ says:
"[...] a source port is just the executable code for the game, you still have to provide your own copy of the game's data.
So for example, using Quake III: Arena again, the game consists of both an executable and a set of data files (pk3 files, in this case). The download for ioquake3 is an executable that is up to date and has been maintained to work on modern Macs, but you still need to acquire the pk3 files from a legal source, such as an existing installation of the game from disc or Steam or GOG."bsimpson
I have original copies of a lot of these on CD, but even if it was easy to read CDs in 2025, that doesn't mean they're still in readable condition.
A lot of abandonware games have ISOs posted on the Internet Archive. There's a glimmer of worry in the back of my head about the safety of downloading random executables, but it seems like they're usually the real deal.
p0w3n3d
The executables are built from source if you use the OpenSource ports
p0w3n3d
It's quite funny, because this page accidentally serves as a list of open source ports for gaming on Linux too. I used to look for ports of games I had played as a child (even for windows, because they sometimes no longer work there), and never got any global headquarters on games' ports (like the winehq db for example, which is another chapter of pain and sorrow to run them on linux)
pmarreck
I would like Linux to be "the" home for gaming. With those other 2 OS'es as "also supported on"'s.
I think it's almost necessary that gaming's home needs to be on an open-source OS, where people make things work because they love to, not (necessarily) because they're paid to.
I have already encountered games that no longer run on Windows but run fine (great even) on Proton.
I wish Apple wasn't locking down their PC platform so much. I mean, Asahi exists, but they are given ZERO assistance except for what is essentially "Apple holding the door open for that and similar projects". Which can close at any time. Which is a serious problem (reminiscent of the ZFS situation with Oracle).
asveikau
Hadn't thought of Jazz Jackrabbit in a while.
IIRC that game was pretty impressive when you consider that similar games on consoles were using custom sprite hardware, and doing it on a CPU would have been trickier, even despite having much better CPUs than the consoles.
neckro23
Also one of the first DOS games that had Amiga-module-style music (mixed samples) instead of Adlib or MIDI. This later evolved into the UMX system used in Unreal and Deus Ex.
dbalatero
I wish there was a simple single page with all the game titles on it, so I could quickly scan thru the list without paginating. The `/games` page also doesn't have the filters that the root `/` page has.
PaulHoule
I'm absolutely impressed at how the M4 Mac Mini plays games -- if Apple were making a game console they could wipe the floor with XBOX and Sony.
ascagnel_
I'm hoping the rumored revision of the Apple TV can slot in as a game console. Apple has been pushing AAA games on iOS/iPadOS over the past few years, but there's no good user story if I want to have that traditional experience beyond playing Apple Arcade games on the existing (and outdated) Apple TV pucks.
There's some irony in that the one thing they haven't figured out (the living room) is the one thing their competitors in the space (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) _have_ figured out.
PaulHoule
Apple's in the tough spot (re [1]) that mobile games have already surpassed conventional PC and console games in terms of revenue. I don't know what fraction of that is the block crusher games that I see on everybody's phones and what fraction is the otaku who is serious about Umamusume, FGO, Arknights or Genshin Impact. Either way why would they want to jump onto what seems to be a sinking ship?
My take on the living room is that streaming boxes and most Blu-Ray players really suck these days (crappy little Sonys take 45 seconds to boot!) and if you want something to sit next to your TV to be a Plex client it should be a PS or XBOX.
snovymgodym
Console success hasn't really been about performance for some time now.
guestbest
Every general purpose computer eventually becomes a game console.
stared
Games are the crabs of software
tjpnz
I've been having a terrible time with Kerbal Space Program on my M4 based MBP. At the very least you could call it immersive when you're re-entering Kerbin and your knees are on fire.
Still manages to stay cool with games like CP2077 though.
alsetmusic
Having Carmageddon at the top is a good eye-catcher. My brother and I used to love driving around their open world and smashing into other drivers. I chose not to click through to see any of the media. I'm sure it's better looking in my memory.
JKCalhoun
Definitely. I want to determine what the best implementation of Carmageddon was and try to get that set-up — which a steering wheel, pedals… Kind of my fantasy.
bombcar
There's a lot of money to be made here; just like how the current hotness in classic cars is always what the now late-middle aged dreamed of when they were teenagers - you could sell custom "best of" rigs for games when they were released.
WesleyJohnson
Carmageddon, in part, paved the way for my Software Development career. Manipulating the text files to change a vehicles weight, speed, etc, just opened up a whole world for me. Awesome to see it here.
stared
I came there because I wanted to play Quake on Apple Silicon and looked for the best option - which turned out to be a cross-platform Vulkan engine https://github.com/Novum/vkQuake.
NoSalt
Nice, but what I REALLY want is the old Ambrosia Software games like Apeiron and Avara. Oh, and I would prefer they be on Linux.
HanClinto
I loved O.G. Escape Velocity and would love to replay that.
magnetic
You can find Maelstrom here: https://www.libsdl.org/projects/Maelstrom/
This site is difficult to navigate with just a paging list of entries with no order. Is there a search feature? Anyway to find old games without having to scroll through each page or write a python scraper? I love the effort. We should absolutely preserve old software and try to keep it working through various means. I just have a really hard time finding what I’m looking for on this site.