Very happy about this news, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to support anything except very recent hardware which is a bit disappointing. Right now my 2009 MacBook Pro is the only laptop I own, and I don't plan on getting a Mac Pro until they update the line. So sadly I'll be playing this exclusively on PC for little while longer.
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Guild Wars 2 Arrives on Mac With Beta Client Release
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...yes?
The Macs that can run the game under Mac OS X can also run the game just fine under Windows.
The term "PC" is misleading. I'm tired of seeing games & programs for "Mac & PC". The platforms are Mac OS X (or "OS X") or Windows.
Virtually all PCs can run Windows, and many can run Mac OS X.
All current Macs run Mac OS X and Windows.
Games for "PC" almost always work on a Mac, and many users play "Mac" games on their PC.
You don't have to own a PC at all. You can just purchase the digital download version (rather than buying it in a store) - and in the process you set up a username/password.
Just log in with that username/password to download the Mac beta. (you don't even have to download the PC version)
No they assume that if you're interested in the Mac version you can purchase a license from them and use that same license on either a Mac client or a Windows client. This is the same model that Blizzard and Steam uses and it works fine. Do you feel some obligation to purchase a Mac version specifically?
Runs great on my 2011 21 inch iMac (couldn't get wine to give me playable performance, but now I get 60 fps - the same performance I was getting in Windows via bootcamp), and runs better than expected on my 2011 Air (I got 15 fps with Wine, and got 20-25 with this cider port).
I know I don't have an i5 (late 2010 MBA) but I'm giving it a shot anyways.
I have a dedicated PC at home that I've been playing GW2 on, but I use Macs exclusively at work, so I'll just use it for the TP, crafting and anything else where I don't have to move.
D.
I have a dedicated PC at home that I've been playing GW2 on, but I use Macs exclusively at work, so I'll just use it for the TP, crafting and anything else where I don't have to move.
D.
Great news!
I've played the orginal Guild Wars for like 6 years now, and find it a very immersive and great game.
That ArenaNet makes it available for Mac shows they care about gaming on Mac.
I'm even willing to buy a new Mac for this, actually...
(Unfortunatly it won't run on my 4 year old Unibody MacBook )
I've played the orginal Guild Wars for like 6 years now, and find it a very immersive and great game.
That ArenaNet makes it available for Mac shows they care about gaming on Mac.
I'm even willing to buy a new Mac for this, actually...
(Unfortunatly it won't run on my 4 year old Unibody MacBook
)
They had a lot of people who were running the game in Bootcamp (and a few people with a virtual machine or WINE).
As far as Cider, they kind of had no choice here. The game engine doesn't have an OpenGL version for one. The cost to port it over without using a wrapper would have been nuts (and likely prevent them from giving the Mac version away).
I'm just happy we didn't get the Cider port only as a desperate grab for more players (e.g. Warhammer). A Mac version about a month after the PC launch is actually pretty good turn around (admittedly beta but still). In my opinion this gives me the impression that they actually care about Mac more than quick money grab on the way out the door.
"Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time and you may be required to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game."
http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1119
that's kind of lame, are the requirements hard-coded in before the game even runs or something?
http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1119
that's kind of lame, are the requirements hard-coded in before the game even runs or something?
Hmm, on the GW2 page, under Mac requirements, they state it also would run on OS X with AMD 64!
As far as I know even a Hackintosh configuration with a AMD CPU is far from mainstream.
I am curious what ArenaNet is doing else? Secret Dev Lab for exotic OS X configurations?
// probably they just copied the CPU requirements from the PC - obviously they do not know how much room of speculation arises if you are putting AMD and OS X in context
As far as I know even a Hackintosh configuration with a AMD CPU is far from mainstream.
I am curious what ArenaNet is doing else? Secret Dev Lab for exotic OS X configurations?
// probably they just copied the CPU requirements from the PC - obviously they do not know how much room of speculation arises if you are putting AMD and OS X in context
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People have reported running it on Macbook Airs so I don't think they're going to say "Nope, we won't let you play." Essentially it is a you can try but don't expect it to work well statement.
Well I can confirm at least that it loads on unsupported machines.
Loaded it on my MacBook Air (specs in the signature) and it brought me to the character selected screen without warnings.
I haven't actually loaded into the game yet, so nothing to report there, but I fully expect it to run everything on max settings with 60 FPS. I shall complain if it doesn't. I shall Q.
D.
Loaded it on my MacBook Air (specs in the signature) and it brought me to the character selected screen without warnings.
I haven't actually loaded into the game yet, so nothing to report there, but I fully expect it to run everything on max settings with 60 FPS. I shall complain if it doesn't. I shall Q.
D.
SWEET!
now I just need apple to release my new iMac!!
Come on where is the release news on the new iMac haha
now I just need apple to release my new iMac!!
Come on where is the release news on the new iMac haha
It's important to note that many dynamic events are often part of a dynamic event CHAIN. Too many players simply finish a dynamic event and then wander off to do something else. Often, if you stick around for a short while, the just-completed dynamic event will set in motion another dynamic event (although someone may have to do something to trigger it, like talk to an NPC).
One small example is in a low-level Norn area:
- There's a quest to obtain meat for some guy's smokehouse. Once you finish that, he remarks that he needs a ram's head to mount near his smokehouse.
- One of his kids, listening nearby, gets the idea that he'll help get the head for his father, and then starts talking to various nearby players, asking for help. If you talk to the kid and agree, you trigger off the next dynamic event.
- Once that's done, the kid runs back to his father, with the ram's head. The father mounts the head to the wall, and the kid runs back to the other kids.
- ... who, in the meantime, while you've been off doing the other events, have been trying to perform a ritual to summon a single bear for them to wrestle (yeah, these are strong, viking-type kids who like to do things like that). Unfortunately, this triggers off the next dynamic event, where they end up summoning a metric *ssload of bears, who have to be killed. At the end, there are bear carcasses littered everywhere.
No, that just means that future versions may or may not require better hardware to get a decent framerate.
You're free to install and run GW2 on lots of different systems, but you may not enjoy the experience if you do not meet the minimum recommended hardware requirements.
Been playing since the last couple stress tests and have already taken one character to 80 in the Live game.
On Windows 7 64-bit Professional in Bootcamp, I run at max settings (everything cranked except for I think AA is on medium) and I get smooth play on my Mac Pro with 3GB of RAM, Radeon 5870 1GB.
On Windows 7 64-bit Professional in Bootcamp, I run at max settings (everything cranked except for I think AA is on medium) and I get smooth play on my Mac Pro with 3GB of RAM, Radeon 5870 1GB.
Thanks, couldn't remember the name. It is disappointing it's not a native port. Macs could be great gaming computers if people & companies ported natively. I'm no gamer so I don't have much experience, but I'm sure someone would bring something up about Apple's OpenGL drivers.
If I dislike MMOs, will I enjoy this? Never played GW1.
For the record, I felt like Diablo III was decent but not great. I liked the flexible spell system, but the game lacked variety in almost everythingspells, environments, events. It was also too short (and don't get me started on the story.)
For the record, I felt like Diablo III was decent but not great. I liked the flexible spell system, but the game lacked variety in almost everythingspells, environments, events. It was also too short (and don't get me started on the story.)
Alright. I downloaded this and played for about an hour on max settings. It runs a little bit more sluggish than when in bootcamp but better than when in parallels.
I typically go into bootcamp (windows 7 64 ultimate) and have everything on high with no issues. Sometimes if I'm wanting to just pop on for a few minutes I'll use parallels 7 to grab my bootcamp install and run GW2. It runs okay on that (enough to do some quests at least).
On the Mac side I have everything up but am seeing lower fps and an occasional slowdown, but nothing gamebreaking. I could lower settings and be fine as I'm not someone who "needs" to have the highest settings on my games. I'll continue to test and provide some more accurate comparisons (such as FPS in the world and in the city on windows vs mac either tonight after work or tomorrow).
I have the 27" 2011 iMac, 3.4 GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 2TB Hard Drive (no SSD), 2GB AMD Radeon HD.
I'll also test on my 2010 i3 iMac when I get a chance (just the mac side though as I do not have bootcamp on that).
Late 2011 15" Macbook Pro (probably in sig... don't remember).
Looks good, totally playable, as far as I can tell. Running at 1680x1050. Textures and stuff are maxed. Shaders, shadows, reflections and stuff on about medium. FXAA on. Getting about 30fps. Will see how dramatically it drops with a lot of action on screen.
It obviously doesn't run as well as it does in Bootcamp (Windows 7 64 Pro). But, for the luxury of not having to reboot to play, I'm quite happy to sacrifice a bit of performance.
Looks good, totally playable, as far as I can tell. Running at 1680x1050. Textures and stuff are maxed. Shaders, shadows, reflections and stuff on about medium. FXAA on. Getting about 30fps. Will see how dramatically it drops with a lot of action on screen.
It obviously doesn't run as well as it does in Bootcamp (Windows 7 64 Pro). But, for the luxury of not having to reboot to play, I'm quite happy to sacrifice a bit of performance.