Dead Space 3 on a 2011 MBA

[radiohead14]

Just wanted to know if anyone has tried it on bootcamp. If so, could you please let me know how it runs? Looking to get the game, but wanted to make sure it'll run smoothly first. The only other game I have running in it is Skyrim, and it's laggy, but I heard that DS3 is a bit more forgiving of weaker GPUs. Thanks!

[radiohead14]

gonna answer my own question here:

yes, it does work on low settings on my mba with the hd 3000 on bootcamp (win 7 32bit). 4 hours in, and just as playable as skyrim on low. graphics still look good with everything turned down low or off (looks on par with console graphics). medium graphics still playable, but laggy and freezes from time to time. anyone with a newer mba with the hd 4000 should be able to play through with no issues.

[Ricanlegend]

I never understand people buying MacBook air or pro for gaming when its clearly not a gaming laptop, heck for $100 you can get a 360 or PS3 and it will look the same and much cheaper

[EthanNixon]

Originally Posted by Ricanlegend

I never understand people buying MacBook air or pro for gaming when its clearly not a gaming laptop, heck for $100 you can get a 360 or PS3 and it will look the same and much cheaper

No one in this thread, or any other thread on MacRumors, has ever stated they purchased a MacBook Air for the sole intent of gaming.

It's a computer with reasonable specifications, and with Intel focusing a lot on their GPU, Ultrabooks (MacBook Air included, because there is nothing special about it from a hardware standpoint) have proven to be able to play almost any game on the current market.

[2IS]

Originally Posted by Ricanlegend

I never understand people buying MacBook air or pro for gaming when its clearly not a gaming laptop, heck for $100 you can get a 360 or PS3 and it will look the same and much cheaper

I wouldn't understand it either if that's what was actually happening here.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by Ricanlegend

I never understand people buying MacBook air or pro for gaming when its clearly not a gaming laptop, heck for $100 you can get a 360 or PS3 and it will look the same and much cheaper

Say what you want, but Alpha Centauri and Civ4 play well on mine!

[eric/]

Originally Posted by David58117

Say what you want, but Alpha Centauri and Civ4 play well on mine!

Sid Meyer's alpha centauri? If so, do you play on OSX or do you run Windows to play it? I'd be interested in finding out where you acquired it if you run it on OSX.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by eric/

Sid Meyer's alpha centauri? If so, do you play on OSX or do you run Windows to play it? I'd be interested in finding out where you acquired it if you run it on OSX.

Yep!

OSX native. Gog has it for 5.99 or so.

[eric/]

Originally Posted by David58117

Yep!

OSX native. Gog has it for 5.99 or so.

what is Gog?

edit, nvm found it. That's great. Thanks

[radiohead14]

Originally Posted by Ricanlegend

I never understand people buying MacBook air or pro for gaming when its clearly not a gaming laptop, heck for $100 you can get a 360 or PS3 and it will look the same and much cheaper

the fact that i am smoothly playing a newly released game on the Air makes your statement a bit ignorant. if an MBA with the HD 3000 can run it, then the Pro with the dedicated cards will be able to run it on high-very high settings. also, even on low settings, the graphics are slightly better than the consoles, so you're wrong again on that one.

there are a lot of people out there who just want to game here and there. why spend extra when your current notebook is able to handle it?

[2IS]

I can think of plenty of games that will chew a Retina MBP up when ran on their highest settings.

[David58117]

I was playing starcraft 2 on low setting with 55-68 fps. I only had about 20 min of game play before being completely overrun and killed (haven't played in years..), but... That's pretty exciting for an 11" base configuration notebook!

[akdj]

Originally Posted by 2IS

I can think of plenty of games that will chew a Retina MBP up when ran on their highest settings.

And how is that relevant in the least to a thread about a 2011 Air? As well, I'm sure you're having a tough time finding ANY computer in the market that can play ANY game @ the rMBPs native resolution...on their 'highest settings', eh?

Sorry bud. Wrong thread to brag about your Windows gaming machine

J

[2IS]

Originally Posted by akdj

And how is that relevant in the least to a thread about a 2011 Air? As well, I'm sure you're having a tough time finding ANY computer in the market that can play ANY game @ the rMBPs native resolution...on their 'highest settings', eh?

Sorry bud. Wrong thread to brag about your Windows gaming machine

J

I can think of even more games that will bring an MBA to its knees... Do you feel better now?

I only brought up retina because the thread starter mentioned MacBooks with a discrete GPU. But nonetheless less, I modified my statement to make it relavent and the end result is the same. Pretending they are gaming laptops is laughable.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by 2IS

I can think of even more games that will bring an MBA to its knees... Do you feel better now?

I only brought up retina because the thread starter mentioned MacBooks with a discrete GPU. But nonetheless less, I modified my statement to make it relavent and the end result is the same. Pretending they are gaming laptops is laughable.

I game on mine.

Games didn't just come into existence 2-3 years ago.

Some of us had Voodoo 3's etc in our gaming rig years ago. The current crop of MBA beats the pants off of those systems, just because it doesn't play the most recent game on max doesn't make it any less.

I'm perfectly happy with 50-60 fps on Starcraft 2, on my "laughable" gaming laptop..

[2IS]

I'm not sure what voodoo cards have to do with anything. I replied specifically to the thread starter talking about a "newly released game" implying that the MacBook is more capable than it is. While I'm sure there are "Newly released games" that will run adequately, there are also plenty that won't. Is funny how the fanboys go off on some tangent no one was even discussing. Either way, glad you're happy.

[hkim1983]

Originally Posted by 2IS

I'm not sure what voodoo cards have to do with anything. I replied specifically to the thread starter talking about a "newly released game" implying that the MacBook is more capable than it is. While I'm sure there are "Newly released games" that will run adequately, there are also plenty that won't. Is funny how the fanboys go off on some tangent no one was even discussing. Either way, glad you're happy.

It was a pretty poor analogy, but I think you actually understood the point he was trying to get across.

2IS is generally right about this though, the Air is not really a "gaming" laptop, although it is a laptop capable of playing most games at low or even medium settings. Most people who buy "gaming" laptops aren't really satisfied with that...

[David58117]

Originally Posted by 2IS

I'm not sure what voodoo cards have to do with anything. I replied specifically to the thread starter talking about a "newly released game" implying that the MacBook is more capable than it is. While I'm sure there are "Newly released games" that will run adequately, there are also plenty that won't. Is funny how the fanboys go off on some tangent no one was even discussing. Either way, glad you're happy.

The voodoo 3 comment isn't an analogy, moreso a reminder that "gaming" is more than just modern, AAA blockbusters.

It's aimed towards the person who stated the MBA is "laughable" for gaming.

And yes, this is irrelevant to the OP title, but it's a correction to something irrelevant that was stated previously.

[radiohead14]

Originally Posted by 2IS

Pretending they are gaming laptops is laughable.

Originally Posted by 2IS

I replied specifically to the thread starter talking about a "newly released game" implying that the MacBook is more capable than it is. While I'm sure there are "Newly released games" that will run adequately, there are also plenty that won't.

the others are right.. your posts are irrelevant considering no one here is touting that the MBA is a powerful gaming laptop. why do you think i asked in the first place before getting the game? i know that it won't be able to run every modern game out there. i only brought up dead space and skyrim.. both that i know for a fact the 2011 MBA is capable of running.. when did i ever say that it is "more capable"? didn't i mention that it can only run it on low? yes low.. but Dead Space 3 runs at a steady 30fps, on par with the consoles and with a bit better graphics at that. i haven't had an issue with slow downs or freezing when i encounter multiple enemies at once.

i'm sure there are other casual gamers out there who wouldn't mind this info.. to know that the lowly HD3000 is capable of running this game.

[2IS]

Originally Posted by David58117

The voodoo 3 comment isn't an analogy, moreso a reminder that "gaming" is more than just modern, AAA blockbusters.

It's aimed towards the person who stated the MBA is "laughable" for gaming.

And yes, this is irrelevant to the OP title, but it's a correction to something irrelevant that was stated previously.

The voodoo comment was pointless and corrected nothing.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by 2IS

The voodoo comment was pointless and corrected nothing.

A high end gaming system once consisted of a voodoo 3 graphics card.

I won't connect the dots any further, but hopefully the person who made the "laughable as a gaming system" comment makes the connection themselves..

[2IS]

Originally Posted by David58117

A high end gaming system once consisted of a voodoo 3 graphics card.

I won't connect the dots any further, but hopefully the person who made the "laughable as a gaming system" comment makes the connection themselves..

Well allow me to take a stab at this...

It's currently the year 2013, the OP has a 2011 MBA and he referred to a "newly released game"

Voodoo 3 (which isn't present in the MBA) was released in what, 1999? (I doubt anyone would refer to a game of that era as "newly released")

Your dots don't connect unless you jump in your DeLorean with your MBA and go back in time 14 years.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by 2IS

Well allow me to take a stab at this...

It's currently the year 2013, the OP has a 2011 MBA and he referred to a "newly released game"

Voodoo 3 (which isn't present in the MBA) was released in what, 1999? (I doubt anyone would refer to a game of that era as "newly released")

Your dots don't connect unless you jump in your DeLorean with your MBA and go back in time 14 years.

Um - I was specifically replying to someone who made a statement calling it "laughable" as a gaming machine.

What they meant to say, was - don't expect new games to run on high. NOT "it's laughable as a gaming machine.."

I'm perfectly happy with my 50-60 FPS on Starcraft 2.

[akdj]

Originally Posted by 2IS

The voodoo comment was pointless and corrected nothing.

Wow...took me a while to get back to this thread...but who invited you to participate? 'Fanboy'? Why use that comment in a reasonable thread inquiring about whether or not a machine can handle a game?

YOU have been pointless in this thread. ONLY you...not anything anyone else said...just your responses which have no bearing on the question at hand

I remember my Voodoo 3dfx...32mb of RAM. At the time, it WAS the card!

J

[2IS]

Originally Posted by akdj

Wow...took me a while to get back to this thread...but who invited you to participate? 'Fanboy'? Why use that comment in a reasonable thread inquiring about whether or not a machine can handle a game?

YOU have been pointless in this thread. ONLY you...not anything anyone else said...just your responses which have no bearing on the question at hand

I remember my Voodoo 3dfx...32mb of RAM. At the time, it WAS the card!

J

So let me get this straight...

You think an invitation is required on a public forum
You think your Voodoo card has some bearing on the question at hand.

Such a daft response I've rarely encountered. Perhaps you should have not gotten back to this thread at all.