Graphics difference - MBP 13" 2018 vs. Windows laptop

[hsgamerpl]

Hello,

Just out of the curiosity, I've started playing Borderlands 2 on my MBP 13" 2018 to join the playthrough of my friend who is playing on Windows machine with dedicated NVIDIA card.

Although I have the same video settings set as his (everything maxed out) the difference in quality is huge and visible on spot. My MBP is lacking of shadows most of the places, particles fx's almost does not exist.

Is it because of integrated graphics vs. dedicated which might support more effects?

Or is it because it's Mac OS which do not support DirectX and on bootcamp the game would look as on native Windows machine?

BR, Kamil.

 

[Janichsan]

The lack of shadows is weird, as I've never seen any differences between the Mac and Windows version of BL2 there.

The missing particle effects are due to the different GPUs and systems, though. The Windows version uses Nvidia's PhysX for this, and this is not only exclusive to Nvidia GPUs, but also not available for macOS.

 

[hsgamerpl]

This is interesting, I've already solved it 10 minutes ago. What seems to happen is that in config file (WillowEngine.ini) there are few "False" flags in the graphics settings which disables shadows, bloom etc. Setting them to "True" re-enables those effects in-game. I wonder why is it turned off by default, and there is no possibility to change with in-game menu.

BR,

 

[darksithpro]

Is it because of integrated graphics vs. dedicated which might support more effects?

Or is it because it's Mac OS which do not support DirectX and on bootcamp the game would look as on native Windows machine?

A combination of all of those things. Intel integrated HD anything just doesn't have the horsepower to run any modern 3D game at decent settings. Nvidia essentially has a monopoly on the 3D gaming market and they have some propitiatory technologies that only work on their cards. Also, games on the mac are probably an after thought when it comes to developers. Usually a half arsed port, that lacks some of the features the PC version has and runs at half the frame rates. Can't blame them though, since Mac doesn't have the Direct3D API, or the user base to make it profitable. Vulcan I guess could change that in the long term.

 

[Janichsan]

Vulcan I guess could change that in the long term.

That would require a full implementation of Vulkan for the Mac.