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How is playing games on the new MacBook?

Okay I actually aquired COD4 and tried out a bit. And I was able to turn texture settings to "extra" without getting a lag, exept for a few disturbances when you turn to a new scenery.

If I turn them down to "high" theres really not a lag at all.
However, I'm not impressed by the graphics for this game, I'm certain it looks better on the PS3. And the MacBook got quite hot on the left side of the keyboard when playing it.

Was kinda fun shooting etc with the new mousepad, just click wherever you want to shoot, and use two fingers for sniper.
 
ChrisN said:
Is multiplayer the same or does it lag more?

ChrisN
Click to expand...

I haven't tried that yet.
Kind of wierd though, is that you cant turn the graphical effects on anything more than "Normal". Looks like they've left that out for Macs :p
 
In playing around with the 9400M and the 9600GT on the MBP I actually determined that the 9400M may have been sold short by some people. The performance is excellent! I tried out COD4 and it ran fine at the suggested settings, and then did not see a big visual jump up when I engaged the 9600M. TF2 and Portal ran smoothly in crossover! If you are simply concerned about games being playable, the 9400M should last quite a while (the days of ever-growing high spec games are closing fast). I was impressed enough that I'm taking back my MBP and trading up for a MB. Since the GPU/expresscard is irrelevant, a better screen is no longer worth $400 and 30 square inches on the footprint. Hell, at this point forcing me into the 9600M for Windows is a DRAWBACK.
 
I have the standard Alum MacBook (2.0) with the default 2Gb RAM and using the 9400M I get very decent results in most games so far. I don't play a on of games on it but, I found the trick (if there is one) is just finding a "happy medium" to play at...

Fallout 3

1280x800, all settings/sliders on Medium, HDR on; 25+ fps

This will dip in some areas or when there are many characters on screen at once but, I felt that was o.k. in this game (with VATS). I found turning down the water and changing HDR to Bloom helped framrate for those cases but, I personally preferred the general look with those settings on.

Warhammer Online

1280x800, settings/sliders on Medium/High (autodetect), draw distance maxed, animation and shadows lowered; 30+ fps

These are the settings that worked the best for me. It almost never drops below 30fps even in the scenarios (which was one of the focuses for me) and I can live without the extra frames of animation or detailed shadows when playing on the laptop.

Left 4 Dead

1280x800, all settings/sliders on High/Extra High; 30+ fps

This is one bad ass game :) It will drop frames when there are 30+ zombies on screen at once but, not very often which was surprising but, Cool. I found that turning down the shaders helps framerate but, I really like the look on Extra High and felt the gameplay was already solid so kept it there. I should mention that this is while playing online in Co-Op with 4 other players and in voice chat. Excellent performance IMO.
 
The Source engine is getting dated, but goddamn does it run well on less-than-beastly PC's.

It's like the Anti-Crysis.
 
Valve has ALWAYS been good at that. Making their games run well on everything. Thats how it should be. Theres nothing fair about making a game like Crysis, that can't run on 98 percent of computers out there.

Thats why computers are a lousy gaming platform. No offence, but I've been a PC gamer for a long time, and now I'm just sick of it. It's all PS3 for me now.
 
Ramius said:
Okay I actually aquired COD4 and tried out a bit. And I was able to turn texture settings to "extra" without getting a lag, exept for a few disturbances when you turn to a new scenery.

If I turn them down to "high" theres really not a lag at all.
However, I'm not impressed by the graphics for this game, I'm certain it looks better on the PS3. And the MacBook got quite hot on the left side of the keyboard when playing it.
Click to expand...

What you're referring to there is not "lag" but the frame-rate dropping ;)

"Lag" is when your internet connection causes some sort of disruption and your screen action is not up with what is really happening. For example you shoot at someone and they fall dead 5 steps later from your shot.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine how the term "lag" has become misused by everyone over the years.
 
I think that you can use Lag for offline problems too, as there's no other word that describes it. It sure as hell is easier to say than "framerate dropping".

If you forget everything you know about this and look at the word Lag, something lagging behind, it can certainly be applied to graphics rendered offline as well. The graphics are lagging behind due to hardware limitations.
 
Ramius said:
I think that you can use Lag for offline problems too, as there's no other word that describes it. It sure as hell is easier to say than "framerate dropping".

If you forget everything you know about this and look at the word Lag, something lagging behind, it can certainly be applied to graphics rendered offline as well. The graphics are lagging behind due to hardware limitations.
Click to expand...

Well thats not true at all. Because they're not "lagging behind", frames are simply being dropped. Theres no speed loss or delay in gameplay or even delay in actions. Less frames are being rendered. Thats all. It's still running at the same speed and the reaction time and action on screen are all still running at the same speed. Nothing is lagging at all. You're just getting 25 frames instead of 30.
 
Or you can just consider the fact that you two goons don't ever read well-written reviews that can differentiate between lag and frame-drops (and clipping, etc.)
 
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