Kind of irritating G3 limitation (THPS4)

[coolbreeze]

Well, since I'm the type of person who never reads instructions, I just got finished downloading and trying to launch Tony Hawk PS4 on my iBook 900 (640MB Ram). Well, as you may know, it will only run on a G4 chip (despite the fact that a G4 can have less mhz and less vram).

So did Aspyr write this using AltiVec or something? The G3 900, although lacking AltiVec capibilities, is pretty darn quick...and add 640 ram, and the 32mb vram, this should run THPS4 fine. But when I try to launch it, all it does is bounce and then disappear from the dock. Annoying waste of a 96 mb dowlnload.

Just aggravating that my brand new laptop won't run a game becuase it's outdated. Boo-hoo.

Back to work-
-Breeze

[crenz]

I saw a post on how to make Soundtrack run on a G3, either here or on macosxhints.com. It had to do with modifying a property in an XML file inside the package. Might be worth a try, although the game might just crash if you do it. But then, there's nothing to lose...

Also, you might want to start up the System Console and look for the error message that the game printed before it quit. HTH.

[frescies]

with a bit of reverse engineering this may be an easy fix. It's quite likely that the altivec code in the game was written as an excellerator to the base code and can actually be removed as a component.

[Dont Hurt Me]

i wouldnt tell anyone to get a g3 it is simply outdated.

[coolbreeze]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
i wouldnt tell anyone to get a g3 it is simply outdated.
Gee thanks for the tip. I'll give that a try:rolleyes: (you mean you only have a G4?? That's soo Motorola....) :D

Guess I'll have to keep up with the jones' and run pick up a G5.

[Daveman Deluxe]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
i wouldnt tell anyone to get a g3 it is simply outdated.

You have GOT to be kidding me. The PPC 750 is doing just fine. It doesn't have AltiVec, but the heat issue makes it great for a consumer notebook. IBM is still working on future incarnations of the PPC750. The 750 GX is slated for Q4 2003 and will feature a 200 MHz FSB, twice as much L2 cache, and a higher core frequency. There is talk of the 750VX which will include AltiVec instructions and top out at 1.4-1.6 GHz.

The G3 is FAR from outdated, mostly because IBM is willing to put the R&D money into improving it. I think the G4 is outdated compared to the G3.

[MacsRgr8]

G4 is NOT outdated, G3 is NOT outdated.
G5 is outdated 'cause VPC won't run on it.... :rolleyes:

G4 has the altivec unit. It was added for good reason. Some applcations use this feature, some don''t, and some NEED it. Some even use Level 3 cache...
It is strange that a brand new iBook with enough RAM cannot play this game. But it also won't run Final Cut Pro, or iDVD.
The first PowerBook G4 cannot use Quartz Extreme, or play Tiger Woods 2003, because it doesn't have 32 MB VRAM. But your iBook will be able to play the same Tiger Woods 2003.....

[FattyMembrane]

you can try what crenz said and poke around in the .plist files within the package, but i'd also recommend searching www.macosxhints.com, as i remember some tricks involving messing with the hex codes (for drivers and finalcut pro) that allow you trick some apps. it's a bit more dangerous, but could prove useful.

[Daveman Deluxe]

Originally posted by MacsRgr8
The first PowerBook G4 cannot use Quartz Extreme, or play Tiger Woods 2003, because it doesn't have 32 MB VRAM.

Where do people get the impression that it takes 32 MB VRAM to run Quartz Extreme? Apple's own website says it takes 16 MB. I've heard this so many times it isn't funny anymore.

[zer0army]

I might be totally off here but I noticed you said

"But when I try to launch it, all it does is bounce and then disappear from the dock"

I had this similar problem when running THPS3 on an iBook 700 640 RAM 16 VRAM. However the computer was not the problem, it can run the game fine. I found that whenever I had a USB controller plugged into the iBook the game would not run but just bounce in the dock. To this day I have still not found a controller that will allow the game to start when plugged in. Kind of sucks but at least I got the game working. So if you do have a USB controller plugged in try taking it out first. If I remember correctly THPS3 also said it needed a G4 to run.

[MacsRgr8]

Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
Where do people get the impression that it takes 32 MB VRAM to run Quartz Extreme? Apple's own website says it takes 16 MB. I've heard this so many times it isn't funny anymore.

I didn't express myself clearly enough:
The PowerBook cannot use QE. <There should have been a period here> .....because it only has 8 MB VRAM ATi Rage grfx card.
The PowerBook cannot play Tiger Woods because it doesn't have 32 MB VRAM

That's better. Sorry for the misleading post.