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Autumn · May 5, 2005, 11:11 PM

Diablo hasn't runned smoothly on Tiger. My machine is Ti-PB 1.0 Ghz, 1G ram, 64 Vram. The graphic is really choppy. Anyone else has the problem? It was running wonderfully on 10.2.8

Hopefully 10.4.1 will fix this.

a2daj · May 5, 2005, 11:50 PM

Do you have OpenGL rendering enabled? I'd recommend using software rendering. It should provide more consistent framerates.

armst · May 15, 2005, 10:46 PM

I have having the same issue. I've set all video options to lowest, and tried both software and OpenGL. I emailed Blizzard to see if there's a patch in the works, or if I should be blaming my video card.

mac freak · May 22, 2005, 05:19 PM

It should be running fine...does the choppiness happen in any other game, or just Diablo? Also, is it choppy like "runs at 5 fps" choppy or "intermittent pauses" choppy?

armst · May 26, 2005, 04:23 PM

So far the choppiness hasn't happened in any other games, but then again, Diablo 2 is one of the more video intense games for Macs. I just hope it doesn't happen when Sims 2 is out.
The choppiness is more of a low fps problem. At first, I thought it was lag on the battle net server that just wouldn't go away, but it's apparent in single player mode as well. It makes the game impossible to play, since things need to happen quickly.
I emailed Blizzard about it, telling them I've turned down all my settings, etc., and they send me back the standard FAQ about Diablo on a Mac that's out of date and had nothing to do with my problem.

Originally Posted by mac freak

It should be running fine...does the choppiness happen in any other game, or just Diablo? Also, is it choppy like "runs at 5 fps" choppy or "intermittent pauses" choppy?

Marid · May 29, 2005, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by armst

So far the choppiness hasn't happened in any other games, but then again, Diablo 2 is one of the more video intense games for Macs. I just hope it doesn't happen when Sims 2 is out.
The choppiness is more of a low fps problem. At first, I thought it was lag on the battle net server that just wouldn't go away, but it's apparent in single player mode as well. It makes the game impossible to play, since things need to happen quickly.
I emailed Blizzard about it, telling them I've turned down all my settings, etc., and they send me back the standard FAQ about Diablo on a Mac that's out of date and had nothing to do with my problem.

One of the most video intense? I started playing D2 on my 400 MHz G3. It is just an old game port from OS9. I played it this month on blizzard.net and had a good time. It ran fine with all options on in software rendering. I'm have a 1.5 GHz PB with 128 MB VRAM and 2 GB of RAM. But a lesser machine should have similar performance. How much RAM do you have?

armst · May 31, 2005, 12:33 AM

1.25 GB RAM in a 1.33 PB.
The performance was just perfect before this OS update.

Originally Posted by Marid

One of the most video intense? I started playing D2 on my 400 MHz G3. It is just an old game port from OS9. I played it this month on blizzard.net and had a good time. It ran fine with all options on in software rendering. I'm have a 1.5 GHz PB with 128 MB VRAM and 2 GB of RAM. But a lesser machine should have similar performance. How much RAM do you have?

Marid · May 31, 2005, 12:53 AM

Hmm. One thing I noticed last night was that running Limewire in the background seemed to cause stuttering in D2. Maybe you have another process interfering?

armst · Jun 2, 2005, 12:42 AM

Before I could have the entire Creative Suite running while I played. Since the update, I've shut down all other software before starting up... but maybe Tiger has some special processes running that interferes?

Originally Posted by Marid

Hmm. One thing I noticed last night was that running Limewire in the background seemed to cause stuttering in D2. Maybe you have another process interfering?

Marid · Jun 2, 2005, 02:41 AM

I'm running Tiger too. Are you sure you are running in Software Mode and not OpenGL Mode? The other possibility is that my definition of stuttering is a little different than yours.

JoshuaZ · Jun 2, 2005, 09:37 PM

Works fine for me on my 1.33 12in Powerbook.

rslifka · Jul 15, 2005, 09:45 PM

Just installed Diablo 1 on my 20" G5 w/2GB. Stutters as well. The gameplay just isn't smooth.

Wtf this game is 10 years old.

Rob

Marid · Jul 15, 2005, 09:59 PM

I think one really needs to quit internet applications like Safari and Limewire. I've been playing a lot lately, and the performance is irregular. Sometimes it's fine and sometimes not. You definitely want a wired mouse too. Any mouse lag aggravates the in-game stuttering. I wanted to toss my BT Logitech MX900 in the trash after playing D2. I bought a wired MX500 and I'm much happier. I have a pair of hardcore characters at level 37 and 38 so the game is definitely playable.

I wish Blizzard would tweak the OSX executable, but I don't have much hope of that.

rslifka · Jul 15, 2005, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Marid

I think one really needs to quit internet applications like Safari and Limewire. I've been playing a lot lately, and the performance is irregular. Sometimes it's fine and sometimes not. You definitely want a wired mouse too. Any mouse lag aggravates the in-game stuttering. I wanted to toss my BT Logitech MX900 in the trash after playing D2. I bought a wired MX500 and I'm much happier. I have a pair of hardcore characters at level 37 and 38 so the game is definitely playable.

I wish Blizzard would tweak the OSX executable, but I don't have much hope of that.

Hmm... I'll pull out the ol' one-button monster and see if that makes a dent in it.

I would be surprised if quitting idle applications (Safari is all that's open - with no windows open) does the trick. What the hell, I'll try though.

Rob

rslifka · Jul 15, 2005, 10:03 PM

The CD spinning up/down constantly makes me wonder if that might have something to do with it too.

By the way, is it possible to play these games from images on a Mac? I used to do that all the time on my PC with D-Tools (Daemon tools) and it helped a hell of a lot.

Rob

Marid · Jul 15, 2005, 10:19 PM

Yes, but I don't think a DiskTools image will work. I used Toast to make my image. I wish it was possible with all games, but some seem to figure out the difference.

rslifka · Jul 16, 2005, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by Marid

Yes, but I don't think a DiskTools image will work. I used Toast to make my image. I wish it was possible with all games, but some seem to figure out the difference.

Gotcha. I have Toast full, so I'm OK there.

What's the process for doing this? On the PC I would mount it virtually with Daemon Tools, run the installed and voila - it would run from the virtual drive.

Is it the same on the Mac?

Rob

Marid · Jul 16, 2005, 02:30 PM

Once you make the image, you simply have to double click on it. When Toast opens click the "Copy" pane and click the "Mount" button. There is also a utility for doing this without Toast. I think it is called "ToastMount" or something. Let me see if I can find it.

Originally Posted by rslifka

Gotcha. I have Toast full, so I'm OK there.

What's the process for doing this? On the PC I would mount it virtually with Daemon Tools, run the installed and voila - it would run from the virtual drive.

Is it the same on the Mac?

Rob

Marid · Jul 16, 2005, 02:32 PM

Here it is:

http://toastmount.sourceforge.net/

I'm not sure, but maybe this is even necessary for some games.

phillryu · Jul 16, 2005, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by rslifka

Just installed Diablo 1 on my 20" G5 w/2GB. Stutters as well. The gameplay just isn't smooth.

Wtf this game is 10 years old.

Rob

If you're on Tiger, you might want to turn off widgets in the Dashboard. Those can take up some CPU and memory.

In addition, Spotlight indexing can cause some slowness. There are ways to shut that off as well if you want (but it requires a restart to show effect). Search MacUpdate for an app that does it.

rslifka · Jul 17, 2005, 05:18 AM

I tried a couple of things all at once, so I can't be sure which one solved it

(1) Installed the latest Diablo patch.

(2) Clicked "quit running applications" at the startup screen.

Works flawlessly. Thanks everyone!

Rob

rbarris · Jul 18, 2005, 12:23 AM

subject says it all - were you running the 1.0 version from the CD or had you previously patched to 1.10 or better ?

rslifka · Aug 2, 2005, 11:00 PM

[sigh]

Diablo 2 worked great, now with the 1.11 patch I'm in stutter city baby. Freeking awesome. The extra bosses just aren't worth it. Guess I'll have to uninstall since there's no way they're releasing a 1.12.

Rob

Marid · Aug 8, 2005, 04:04 PM

The nutty thing is that 1.11 seems to work better for me. I still have to quit Safari to avoid the jitters.

rslifka · Aug 8, 2005, 04:50 PM

Forgot to update this... I just needed a reboot to solve my stuttering. 1.11 working great!

LoD comes in the mail this week. Hopefully that doesn't cause any problems...

Rob