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reemas · Oct 24, 2004, 04:29 PM

my question is what type of setting do you guys use for your games?
I have a 1.5 ghz, 15", 128 vram, and 1 gig ram PB.

i want to play the game XIII at optimal settings with a nice smooth framerate.

what settings do you use for resolution and what is anti-aliasing? do you use none, 2x, or 4x?

thanks for the help.

Xanadu · Oct 24, 2004, 04:48 PM

anti-aliasing is the process of smoothing the jagged edges of the polygons in games to make them look more realistic- give it a try on the various settings and try to find a compromise between detail and speed!
I play games occasionally on my 12" revision C powerbook, but its really let down by the fairly crap graphics card that is the fx 5200. If only Apple could have put the Ati 9700 in the 12" powerbook- it wouls have made such an amazing laptop (although I guess they didn;t though because it would have canabalized sales from the more expensive 15" and 17")

MilkmanDan · Oct 26, 2004, 08:39 AM

I too am let down by the rev c 12in's graphics card. But honestly, I've not had any major issues. I'm not a hard core gamer, but I do like to take a break every now and then. The fx 5200 does fine for most everything. Heck, XIII plays ok enough for me.

DeathToWindows · Oct 26, 2004, 08:45 AM

I've used my 12" a bit for games... UT2k4 is fine... Max Payne is fine... Giants is fine

But I really use my g5 for games...

maxx9photo · Oct 26, 2004, 10:58 AM

I've just tried halo on my PB 12' rev B, it's prett decent consider it's not game box (ps2, xbox,etc). Just to kill time at work or else.

DanWri · Oct 26, 2004, 08:30 PM

Call of Duty runs great on my 12" PB. Even the multi-player mode.

WOPR · Oct 27, 2004, 04:52 AM

Originally posted by DanWri:
Call of Duty runs great on my 12" PB. Even the multi-player mode.

Mine too, and it's only a Rev. a 867mhz model. What an awesome game CoD is! Mind you it does look somewhat nicer on my G5

jeffB · Oct 28, 2004, 10:06 AM

http://legacy.newdoom.com/legacy.php

if you really miss playing doom/final/2/hexen/et al

Mafia · Oct 28, 2004, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by WOPR:
Mine too, and it's only a Rev. a 867mhz model. What an awesome game CoD is! Mind you it does look somewhat nicer on my G5

same

JKT · Oct 29, 2004, 05:58 AM

Well, I just got Halo and after updating to the latest patch, I can play at full resolution (1280x854) with practically everything on the highest options** with (what are to me)* acceptable frame rates (for the most part - the only thing that really causes bad stuttering so far are the explosions from my Scorpion Tank cannon). Dropping down to 1024x768 resolution makes mostly everything silky smooth*. I have to say I was very surprised by this as I had been reading that Halo was a real problem at higher resolutions.

* I should clarify that this is based purely on perception - I haven't yet found out how to measure the actual frame rate. I suspect that the average is in the 25 to 30fps range.

** Everything on top setting except:
FSAA set at only 2x or off depending on my mood,
shadows off, and
one other setting I can't remember the name of, off.

Scooterboy · Oct 29, 2004, 01:24 PM

Jedi Academy plays great on my 17". Settings are 1024x768, FSAA 2, most settings at high quality. There is some stuttering with large outdoor maps but for these I just lower my settings temporarily.

I think a separate keyboard (I use the Apple bluetooth keyboard and a Logitech MX510 USB Mouse) and mouse are essential, and a nice 5.1 speaker system helps.

I'm glad to hear Halo runs well on PowerBooks. I think Halo is next on my game purchase list.

JKT · Nov 1, 2004, 05:51 AM

Originally posted by JKT:
Well, I just got Halo and after updating to the latest patch, I can play at full resolution (1280x854) with practically everything on the highest options** with (what are to me)* acceptable frame rates (for the most part - the only thing that really causes bad stuttering so far are the explosions from my Scorpion Tank cannon). Dropping down to 1024x768 resolution makes mostly everything silky smooth*. I have to say I was very surprised by this as I had been reading that Halo was a real problem at higher resolutions.

* I should clarify that this is based purely on perception - I haven't yet found out how to measure the actual frame rate. I suspect that the average is in the 25 to 30fps range.

** Everything on top setting except:
FSAA set at only 2x or off depending on my mood,
shadows off, and
one other setting I can't remember the name of, off.

Well, maybe I should have waited until I'd played the game some more

Just completed the single player and while the above is true for some parts of it, there are sections in the game where I had to drop down as low as 640x480 to get acceptable frame rates (however, that is with all features on top quality, with the exception of FSAA (2x) and lens flare (medium)). Running the time demo with the conditions in my original post showed the average frame rate to be about 15fps but again, some sections were noticeably stuttering whereas others were noticeably smoother. Having said that, I couldn't really perceive a great deal of a difference between e.g. 896x900 and 1280x754 while playing anyway.

JKT · Nov 1, 2004, 05:53 AM

Originally posted by JKT:
Well, I just got Halo and after updating to the latest patch, I can play at full resolution (1280x854) with practically everything on the highest options** with (what are to me)* acceptable frame rates (for the most part - the only thing that really causes bad stuttering so far are the explosions from my Scorpion Tank cannon). Dropping down to 1024x768 resolution makes mostly everything silky smooth*. I have to say I was very surprised by this as I had been reading that Halo was a real problem at higher resolutions.

* I should clarify that this is based purely on perception - I haven't yet found out how to measure the actual frame rate. I suspect that the average is in the 25 to 30fps range.

** Everything on top setting except:
FSAA set at only 2x or off depending on my mood,
shadows off, and
one other setting I can't remember the name of, off.

Well, maybe I should have waited until I'd played the game some more

Just completed the single player and while the above is true for some parts of it, there are sections in the game where I had to drop down as low as 640x480 to get acceptable frame rates (however, that is with all features on top quality, with the exception of FSAA (2x) and lens flare (medium)). Running the time demo with the conditions in my original post showed the average frame rate to be about 15fps but again, some sections were noticeably stuttering whereas others were noticeably smoother. Having said that, I couldn't really perceive a great deal of a difference between e.g. 896x900 and 1280x754 while playing.