[CincyGamer]

I bought the game (Mac) and patched it yesterday. Specs of my machine: 1 GHZ TiBook (Radeaon 9000 64 MB), 1 GB of RAM, 10.3.5.

For those interesting in a user review: (I played for a couple hours)

Gameplay:
The controls are really difficult, until you figure out how to move forward. There are a couple of spots where it gets hard to move, because you are clicking and nothing is happening (partly lag). Searching corpses for loot can be difficult as sometime you have to move to another spot to click on a dead body.

Plot:
It started to get more interesting once the deeper you get. (I got to the end of the arena tournament). I was hoping to be able to kill the good guys on the starting scene / ship right away,but the game wont let you. It was nice to be a jerk to the Janitor. But I want to kill the janitor.

Graphics:

I was disappointed here.. My older PB can play Tron, Halo, UT2003,. COD much better than this game. I had to set everything to the lowest (except rez to 1024) and the game looks not very impressive like that. There is not much difference in slow down from 1024x768 and 800x600.

Just walking around the first city is not as fluid as I would like. There just doesnt seem to be a lot going on and cant explain the slow down. I havent tried playing it in a smaller window. So much for L3 cache. The graphics have some slow down /stuttering sometimes. I wish I knew someone with a faster mac, but I am the only Mac owner I know.

Value: I feel like this is a kick butt game. I cant wait to play it again after work tonight. I am ticked off I couldnt figure out how to use grenades. Going to try again tonight, you need those.

IM me at puppydogjacob if you want to talk about the game.
Thanks Aspyr for this gem of a game.

-Jacob (Way to go Kerry last night!)

[the_glassman]

Thanks for the review! Does it support controllers?

[danny_gasperini]

I agree with this review. Aside from Star Wars fans that will love it no matter what, I was really let down by all the hype. Even with all of the graphics options cranked right up, the game still looks pretty dull compared to say Neverwinter Nights, or Dungeon Siege etc. To achieve a relatively smooth gameplay, however, you have to drop off most of the graphics options, and then the game looks even worse. On a G5/1.6GHz with Radeon 9600 Pro, I would have expected better. Being a console port from the X-Box, I guess I shouldn't have expected too much........although, then again, Halo was simply beautiful. I don't think you can blame Aspyr for the port eeither, as the PC version looks equally as crusty. Just MHO.

[FlammableYurt]

Heh, I got a much different impression. My G5 DP 2.5/Radeon 9600 runs it as smoothly as I could hope for. I almost never notice any lag or chopiness, and most of the maps seem extremely detailed. I'm completely addicted to the game, and it's hurting my performance in school :-\. The plot is intriguing, I think (in the beginning it wasn't nearly so interesting), and I love how there are tons and tons of sideplots that you can choose to do or not to do - and most of them add a huge level of depth to the game.

I do agree that at first I could not control the game for my life. I was so confused because the controls are rather atypical for this type of game, but now that I'm used to them I think they're superior to most other games' controls. They just feel natural, now (I use mouse look with mouse always shown, but I mainly use A and C to move the camera). The game definitely gets better as you go along and you start to figure out what different things do and how to use them (ie grenades - i would have died many times if not for a well-placed frag grenade).

However, my biggest complaint is this: mines. I have NO idea how mines are supposed to be useful. You can set them during battle but I have yet to see results :-\. I'm thinking of just selling all my mines for a good chunk of cash...

[the_glassman]

Originally posted by FlammableYurt:
Heh, I got a much different impression. My G5 DP 2.5/Radeon 9600 runs it as smoothly as I could hope for. I almost never notice any lag or chopiness, and most of the maps seem extremely detailed. I'm completely addicted to the game, and it's hurting my performance in school :-\. The plot is intriguing, I think (in the beginning it wasn't nearly so interesting), and I love how there are tons and tons of sideplots that you can choose to do or not to do - and most of them add a huge level of depth to the game.

I do agree that at first I could not control the game for my life. I was so confused because the controls are rather atypical for this type of game, but now that I'm used to them I think they're superior to most other games' controls. They just feel natural, now (I use mouse look with mouse always shown, but I mainly use A and C to move the camera). The game definitely gets better as you go along and you start to figure out what different things do and how to use them (ie grenades - i would have died many times if not for a well-placed frag grenade).

However, my biggest complaint is this: mines. I have NO idea how mines are supposed to be useful. You can set them during battle but I have yet to see results :-\. I'm thinking of just selling all my mines for a good chunk of cash...

I would certainly hope that it runs smooth on your top of the line Power Mac!

[Rev-O]

Runs just fine on a DP 2 GHz G5 with a 64 mb Radeon 9600 as well. Has been a hoot so far, tho I've not had much of a chance to waste massive amounts of time on it yet!

[U n i o n 0015]

I'm running the same basic setup as the first poster (1Ghz G4, Radeon 9000 64MB, 10.3.5., but with less RAM at 512MB).

I couldn't stand playing the game for two minutes. Just walking through Ender Spire was all sorts of choppy. I probably wasn't getting anything higher than 20fps, more like 10-15 fps. There's virtually no difference in performance between 1024 x 768 stretched and 800 x 600 stretched, either. I had all the fancy options turned off.

I'm running the base requirements, so I wasn't expecting a smooth experience, but I did expect at least similar performance to the XBOX version (20-30 fps consistent). Unfortunately, I'm not getting anywhere near that. Too bad.

[a2daj]

I wouldn't equate Xbox KotOR to running the same as a bare minimum system, especially considering the technical issues with the R200 chipsets (Radeon 8500-9200) and vertex shaders. The GF3 is much more capable of handling larger vertex shader instruction sets which are to big for the R200s, thus systems using R200s have to run certain vertex programs in software mode. For TiBook owners with the R9000, it's a double whammy. Crippled graphics card and bare minimum CPU. Plus Xbox KotOR was optimized for Xbox (lower res than the PC/Mac version among other things).

And for an RPG 12-15 fps is easily playable. It's not Unreal Tournament or Quake 3, after all. I've played a lot of NWN so I figure what's playable on NWN is playable on KotOR. But KotOR is has much more going on. It requires Vertex Shaders for one, and makes heavy use of Pixel Shaders. Unlike Halo, it has pixel shader paths for the R200 chipsets (which the R300 class chips, Radeon 9600+, also use). In both PS and VS, the R200s are behind the GF3 and 4Ti chipsets which would equate to better performance.

I have played the game in a dual 1.2 Quicksilver with a PCI 9200 (just to see how it ran). I can feel your pain.

[deadpuppet]

I think I'm just going to get this on xbox instead since it will only cost about £15

[riotge@r]

KOTOR running well on a TOL PowerMac isn't anything to write home about. It runs well on a $150 console. When Doom 3 comes out we'll see how PowerMac owners without a Nvidia 6800 card or greater feel.

[CincyGamer]

I stopped playing this game because further in the game in the sewers part, it is too slow to play as it just is frustrating.
Looking at the gallery of game pics on www.insidemacgames.com, its apparent that I am missing too much of the experience. The worlds dont have all the textures and the landcapes are not lush with everything off.

So, in the meantime, I am going play some of my other games I bought and havent finished. I'm disappointed, but glad there are games that use the hardware. Tron 2.0 plays awesome ont he PB btw. That is a great game.

[MilkmanDan]

when lacking smooth graphics, return to the basics. Pong. Makes my 12in Powerbook feel better.

[urrl78]

Wonder if it plays well on a 1.5 Ghz Powerbook. Never heard of the game but it sounds like fun. I may opt for Tron though since some say it plays well.

[hyperb0le]

The game is playable on my Powermac G% 1.6 GHz, 1.2 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200. I could certainly stand to get a few more fps, but I can still play and enjoy the game.

[Luca Rescigno]

It doesn't even run that well on my 2.0 GHz Athlon 2400+ with a Radeon 9600 Pro and 512 MB of RAM. It's not a super high end PC but generally games run very well on it.

Well, I turned it down to medium detail and turned off a few of the extra features, and it's generally very good now. The only problem is that it still slows down when there's fog on the screen, or in fast action. Still pretty good, more than playable, but not quite what I'd expect from a system that even runs Doom 3 fairly well at medium detail.

Anyway, it's a fun game. It starts out slow but I'm getting better at it.

[phillryu]

Playable with high details generally on my 1.33ghz 12" powerbook. And the game absolutely rocks.

Seriously, I was sucked in for 7 hours straight, and I just got off the first planet (it probably took me way longer than it should've )

But get it. It's an awesome game. And thanks for the good port, I guess it runs much better than I expected here, and it's pretty seamless (changing details, resolutions, etc. is quick, and without that ugly orange screen, etc.)

The only thing is it doesn't seem to autosave progress after important parts like it says it does. I lost about my last hour, hour and a half of progress cause I forgot to save, after I was in the hanger of the Ebon Hawk or w/e. I had completed that quest in the grove to purge evil, and was coming back, and was killed by dogs. Forgot to save Oh well...

But you know, I had expected it to save say, after I had gotten to Dantooine, or gotten my lightsaber, or places like that

[a2daj]

Did you download the patch? That's suppose to have fixed the autosaving.

After typing papers in high school and college on lab computers, I've gotten use to saving frequently in everything I do.

[phillryu]

Is this patch 1.03a? That's what I'm running I believe.

[Luca Rescigno]

There is a quicksave feature you know.

BTW, I'm now on Dantooine, kicking ass with a lightsaber. I did the first round of quests there and now I'm a full Jedi. Fun stuff.

[KeyLimePi]

Okay, let me start as I always do by saying "I'm not much of a gamer, but..."

I loved the Star Wars Jedi games that have come out in the last couple of years. After Halo they are my favorite FPS, so when I saw Knights of the Old Republic on the shelf at the Apple store this weekend I was very happy. But after spending nearly and hour with the game last night I am totally confused. This game plays well on my old dual 1G/GeForceTi, but the game play is very weird. Nothing at all like the other Jedi games. Of course I'm still on the early stage but the whole thing with the 'X' appearing over objects you interact with, and having to click though menus just to activate something in your inventory or fight a sith. This is too much for my tiny, non-gamer brain.

I guess what I'm asking is, does the game ever get more like the other Jedi games? I just want to slash guys with my lightsaber and choke them with the force.

[Rev-O]

Ummm... no. It's an RPG, not a FPS. Sorry.

But give it a chance! What it lacks in hack n' slash, it makes up for in storyline.

[Weezer]

Originally posted by Aspyr Guy
The minimum specs for KOTOR are just that - the minimum. As far as performance goes, anything below a Radeon 8500 is out. All the nVidia cards will run it. However, there are many cards that will suffer: the Radeon 8500, 9000, 9200 will fall back to software vertex shaders on some levels. The GeForce 2MX, 4MX and FX 5200 will also perform badly. The Radeon 9600/9700/9800 and up (including mobility), the GeForce 3Ti and GeForce 4Ti will all run the game great.

933 G4, 768 megs of ram, Geforce4Ti, and I would hardly say the game runs great. It is playable, but definitely stutters at times

[a2daj]

Originally posted by Weezer:
933 G4, 768 megs of ram, Geforce4Ti, and I would hardly say the game runs great. It is playable, but definitely stutters at times

You're also below the minimum CPU spec. Aspyr should have put up some recommended specs. Unofficial recommended CPU is 1.6 GHz. That's how it is for the PC version and I'd say it's the same for the Mac. Brad mentioned the same thing over at the IMG forums.

[Rev-O]

Well, Kotor has been a blast up until now. Finally got a chance to play the game, and made it to what I assume is the end of Taris (invading the Sith base). Nice graphics, nice gameplay, cool story line.

And then the game quits working. Won't even launch. Tried doing the obligatory repair permissions. Nothing. Reinstalled game. Nothing. Ran extended hardware test on my G5, and everything checks out ok.

So I sent off a bug report to Apple and to Aspyr. S'pose I'll have to see what comes of that.

[a2daj]

Anything in the crash logs? Did you try dumping the preferences (~/Library/Preferences)? Dumping the prefs won't affect the saved games since they're saved in a different location.

[phillryu]

Ahhh I am SO devestated. I accidentally lost my save file when I was backing things up /reinstalling the OS. I was about ten hours through (more like 15+ if you count a few backtrackings + early restart). God. It was getting so good too

[Rev-O]

Originally posted by a2daj:
Anything in the crash logs? Did you try dumping the preferences (~/Library/Preferences)? Dumping the prefs won't affect the saved games since they're saved in a different location.

Duh... didn't think of the prefs. That was it! You are officially my hero! A thousand thank yous!

[phillryu]

Is there any kind soul here who would like to share their progress files after they pass the first star map? Preferably after they beat the water world one too? (I was on Tatooine).