Choppy performance on macbook

[rakshak]

I used to play Planeshift on my 1.73GHz Dell without any 3D accelerator without a problem. But then I decided to go the Mac way, and I am trying to get Planeshift to work since the last three days.

I was able to get it working, fully updated yesternight... but the graphics are so slow. I mean, this is Intel Core Duo processor... supposed to be much better than what I was using earlier in Dell. I tried all possible combinations of graphic options, including downsampling by the maximum factor... but still the game runs choppy.

 

From what I have read after a lot of searching here, I think that's a Rosetta issue. But does Planeshift Mac version really use the Intel GMA chipset, or is it totally software-based? If it is the latter case, I dont' see any hopes of graphics improvement in PlaneShift unless it is written specifically as a "universal" binary. Secondly, has anyone tried the windows version of PlaneShift on windows installed on a Macbook? Please share your findings with me if you have.

Till then, are there any "tweaks" for performance improvement on MacTels? I don't mind using the most symbolic graphics in Planeshift, but at least the game should run smooth.

My specs:
Macbook White 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
2GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
Intel GMA-50 Chipset

[Cha0s]

Adaptive distancing is your friend (trust me it works wonders). Though I'd stay out of the plaza as much as you can. As for getting Planeshift to run natively on the Intel Macs... you have two options: compile it yourself, or buy dfryer an Intel Mac. I should have an Intel Mac to play with at the end of the year and I may look into it then... we'll have to see, though.

[rakshak]

Thanks Chaos, for the reply. I had tried "adaptive distance", but that seemed unhelpful to me. Again, I did most of my testing in Hydlaa Plaza, which I know is a resource-hungry area on the 3D part. I'll try to venture outside the plaza tonight.

I read somewhere on the forums that Intel macs don't go well with Planeshift... even when you compile them yourself. I think it is about Rosetta translation.

Which mac are you going to buy? 

[eldoth_terevan]

Someone else in here was saying they have no problem with it under Rosetta. So not sure if that is really it, I will try to get this installed on my Intel Mac over here (use PowerPC for gaming) and post something about performance back on this thread.

What I have tried that works, and usually my copy runs very well (kudos to devs for supporting OS X) is: Vertex buffering ENABLED, Texture downsampling to at least 1/2 or maybe 1/4, 800x600 on the resolution. It is possible that different system monitor color-depth and resolutions could affect how the game is drawing, so you might want to change those and check. Maybe it is actually Crystal Space having an issue with the Intel chips, rather than PS client itself?

My original comment here was probably slightly out of place. I asked how one would go about donating hardware to Atomic Blue. I am in the game a lot and enjoy both it and the community. I have posted myself elsewhere in the forum about contributions, PS actually saves me money IRL, and if one has the resources a project such as this is a write-off. I work software and it is very hard to produce and release software without proper hardware to flight it on at least, if not compile it on directly. You can do it of course, but there must be a first test, and it is better if one does not have to wait for results. Thank you.

[Cha0s]

I read somewhere on the forums that Intel macs don't go well with Planeshift... even when you compile them yourself. I think it is about Rosetta translation.

Which mac are you going to buy? 

GCC should compile universal binary, so if you do it yourself, you should get a native distribution. As for your question, I'm going to buy the bestest MacBook Pro available at the end of the year.

eldoth: thank you for even considering this! It would be a huge contribution. I know you're not sure, so don't think I'm going to hold you to it or anything. If you do decide you want to go ahead with it, talk to Talad. He's probably the one to handle this sort of thing.