Spiderweb Software Compatibility Guide

Spiderweb Software has been releasing games for well over a decade now. Sadly, as time passes and operating systems evolve, some of these games will no longer run (or run well) on newer machines. This guide will help you to determine what games will run on what systems.

In general, if you aren't sure if a game will run, the best thing to do is to download and install the demo. If the demo runs, the full game will as well. If your copy of the game is not running but it says here that it should, uninstall it and then download the newest version from our web site. If it still doesn't work, contact us.

Macintosh Compatibility

Exile 1-3, Blades of Exile, Nethergate (original) - These games will not run on Intel-based Macintoshes. They should function on earlier versions, though you may need to install Classic mode.

Avernum 1-3 - These games will only run on versions of the Macintosh OS prior to 10.7 (Lion). We are currently working on rewrites of these games that will run on the newer versions of the Macintosh operating system. However, the necessary revisions are extensive, and the process will take some time.

There is one workaround while the new versions are being developed. One user has altered the Windows versions of the early Avernum games so that they will work on newer versions of Mac OS X. You can download them here. Please note that Spiderweb Software has not tested these alternate versions.

In addition, if you purchase the Avernum Saga series from gog.com, it comes with versions of Avernum 1-3 that run on OS X 10.7 or later. These are the Windows versions and run under emulation.

If you are using Macintosh OS X 10.6, you will need to have Rosetta installed to run the Avernum 1-3 games. You can learn how to install it here.

Geneforge 1-5, Avernum 4-6, Blades of Avernum, Nethergate: Resurrection - These games are compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later. They will sometimes run on OS X 10.3.9.

Windows Compatibility

Exile 1-3, Blades of Exile, Nethergate (original) - These games should work on all 32-bit versions of the Windows OS, including Vista and Windows 7 32-bit. They are not compatible and are unsupported on 64-bit versions of the OS. However, you might be able to get them to run in Compatibility mode. To turn on Compatibility mode, locate the game in the Start Menu, right-click on it, select Properties, click on the Compatibility tab, and choose to run the game in Windows XP or Windows 98 mode.

Avernum 1-6, Geneforge 1-5, Blades of Avernum, Nethergate: Resurrection - These games are tested and functional on all versions of the Windows OS.