[nycdunz]

Here are the specs on my machine:

Dual 2.7GHZ G5
4.5GB Ram
30" Cinema Display
ATI Radeon 9650

I play the game with all the settings maxed out, full screen, 2056x1356 i think, it runs okay at 1st, but after awhile when more sims come in, it starts to slow down alot, especially if you have a house thats on a large lot and have lots of objects... I was wondering if gettin an ATI Radeon X800 XT would help this out at all? For those of you who have the x800 xt or the nvidia 6800 Ultra and are playing this game on a simlar setup like me, please post your results on your gameplay? I would like to make a decision to see if purchasing a new video card would help this out enormously for me... I want to be able to play the game in its full glory, large lot, lots of sims in my house at once, lots of objects without it choking...

[Horsepoo!!!]

I got a feeling all of these problems will be solved once the Macintels are out. Common and fast CPU architecture, common and fast videocards, common optimizations.

But all of a sudden, people are leading me to believe that once we're finally going to hit parity with the PC world in terms of performance, all the game developers will stop porting to Mac.

I'm saddened that the venerable Dual 2.7 G5 is having trouble with Sims 2. I have trouble understanding why there is such a difference in speed between certain games. I can't trust the developers because "it's never our fault, we optimized it as much as we could, it must be the hardware", I can't trust Steve Jobs because "the G5 is almost twice as fast as the fastest PC out on the market".

At least once the Mac is on the same CPU and videocard as the rest of the world, the comparison will become much easier and we'll know if game porters didn't do their jobs correctly.

An OpenGL game ported to OS X should technically run as fast in Windows as on OS X. We'll more easily be able to blame Apple's OpenGL implementation or the graphics card drivers when this scenario shows up.

I'll stop there because I went on an insanity tangent. Sorry.

All this to say, it's probably not a graphics card problem. The Sims 2 is probably CPU bound.

[GlendaAdams]

Originally Posted by nycdunz

Here are the specs on my machine:

Dual 2.7GHZ G5
4.5GB Ram
30" Cinema Display
ATI Radeon 9650

I play the game with all the settings maxed out, full screen, 2056x1356 i think, it runs okay at 1st, but after awhile when more sims come in, it starts to slow down alot, especially if you have a house thats on a large lot and have lots of objects... I was wondering if gettin an ATI Radeon X800 XT would help this out at all? For those of you who have the x800 xt or the nvidia 6800 Ultra and are playing this game on a simlar setup like me, please post your results on your gameplay? I would like to make a decision to see if purchasing a new video card would help this out enormously for me... I want to be able to play the game in its full glory, large lot, lots of sims in my house at once, lots of objects without it choking...

The Sims 2's 3D engine is VERY complex, and maxing out all of the settings will bring the fastest PC or Mac to its knees. It isn't really anything specific about the Mac version, you can just overload your video card and CPU with everything maxxed out. And to be honest, there isn't a lot of visual difference between medium and high settings.

PC's running 3.6 GHz and X800/6800's have trouble running the game in 1600x1200 with max settings, let alone a 2K resolution.

Glenda
Aspyr Media

[nycdunz]

well so you're saying the sims 2 is more graphic intensive then games such as Doom 3?

[a2daj]

Originally Posted by nycdunz

well so you're saying the sims 2 is more graphic intensive then games such as Doom 3?

http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/05/27/sims2/index.php

“This game uses the most sophisticated 3D graphics we’ve ever put in a game,” Glenda Adams, Aspyr’s director of development, told MacCentral. The detailed OpenGL shaders used in the game exceed even that seen in Doom 3, she said.

[iluvmymactoo]

I've been waiting for Sims 2 for ages, but apparently it's lousy on a PowerBook Looks like I'll have to settle with something else.

[Zubir]

It runs like crap at default settings on my A64 3000+ with a Radeon X700, so yeah, it's going to run like more crap on a Mac.

[Footy]

Originally Posted by a2daj

http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/05/27/sims2/index.php

“This game uses the most sophisticated 3D graphics we’ve ever put in a game,” Glenda Adams, Aspyr’s director of development, told MacCentral. The detailed OpenGL shaders used in the game exceed even that seen in Doom 3, she said.

Why must they make games that run like crap on anything but the highest end computers anyway! Geeesh! Hey I like eye candy as much as the next guy but give me game play.

I always loved Graphic Simulations F/A-18 Hornet series since it was easy on the eyes yet very playable on low end systems. Heck even the latest series of Hornet (OIF) is easy on the eyes, low on demand. Though they ruined the sim in other areas.

[herbsman]

dual 2.5, 2.5 gigs of RAM and a 6800gt. game runs great at max settings

[GlendaAdams]

Originally Posted by nycdunz

well so you're saying the sims 2 is more graphic intensive then games such as Doom 3?

Actually in some cases Sims 2 uses more complex OpenGL code than Doom 3. Kinda crazy but true!

Glenda

[Footy]

Originally Posted by GlendaAdams

Actually in some cases Sims 2 uses more complex OpenGL code than Doom 3. Kinda crazy but true!

Glenda

Hey Glenda,

Would you let Duane out of the dungeon to finish NASCAR Racing 2003 Season or are we not bothering with the final update. Also... Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield and Athena Sword have updates on the PC side that we are missing out on!

Teach you to stop by here!

[herbsman]

i take back my previous statement.

game runs GREAT on max settings when my character was a bachelor living in a tiny shack!

now he's an old man and a politician with a much bigger house and items, and the game runs like a dog!