playing doom3 on a 15inch powerbook

[TheMonarch]

Some games, such as halo, ignore your power settings and run on highest even if you selected otherwise.

 

[crachoar]

If you need a portable computer for work and games - get a PC.

If you need a computer for games - get a PC.

If you need a computer for anything besides OSX - get a PC.



You will not be happy with gaming performance, especially Doom 3 on a Powerbook (or any mac for that matter - except for maybe a dual 2.7Ghz G5 with gigs of ram). The games are pretty sloppy ports, and they lack optimization. The only games that have ever really been optimized were the games by Blizzard and id Software (prior to Doom 3).

Anybody that argues the 'but it works for me' point, just doesn't appreciate games (has never played a 3D game that perfoms as it should) or will settle for anything a developer throws at them.

When I say 'sloppy port' - I don't mean 'OMG, I can't run it at 1280 x 1024 with Ultra High settings and 16x AA + Video Sync at 120FPS! That's gay!'

I mean, 'I can't run it at 640 x 480 with everything on low at anything above 12FPS - and I can't really 'play it' as much as I can 'watch it.''

So, if you're into watching slide-shows - get a Powerbook. If you're into playing games - get a nice PC notebook.

Halo was terrible for PC and Mac. Really, if you want either Halo or Doom 3 - get an Xbox. You can get them used for like $100 (if you go to a mom and pop type store - rather than an EB Games).

The only (somewhat) recent game I haven't had many problems with on my Powerbook is UT2k4 (despite the fact it is a prime example of a sloppy port).

But don't worry - within a year - we'll be able to enjoy Windows games on our macs (apparently, since they'll dual-boot). Until then, I'd shy away from getting a Mac if you're big into gaming.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Some games, such as halo, ignore your power settings and run on righest even if you selected otherwise.

Not true... I get better FPS depending on Highest, compared to Reduced.

 

[me2621a]

hi

Mechcozmo
are you going to answer my question about battery. i was told when gaming 2.5 to 3.5 hours.

ok just to clear this up so people dont waste time in the responses

i like halo for pc and mac ive played it on both systems

i like doom 3 for pc and ive seen it on mac

Any way when i talked to representitives from both mac and aspyre the both told me that playing doom3 at medium settings on a powerbook like the one im getting with shadows and fog turned off and playing the game at 896 x 600 or 720 x 480 will give me frame rates at about 19-27 persecond. is this true

 

[TheMonarch]

Not true... I get better FPS depending on Highest, compared to Reduced.

Were you runnig off the batt? On my PB (its plugged in most of the time) halo runs full speed no matter what I selected. At least thats what HALO does on my PB.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Mechcozmo
are you going to answer my question about battery. i was told when gaming 2.5 to 3.5 hours.

ok just to clear this up so people dont waste time in the responses

i like halo for pc and mac ive played it on both systems

i like doom 3 for pc and ive seen it on mac

Any way when i talked to representitives from both mac and aspyre the both told me that playing doom3 at medium settings on a powerbook like the one im getting with shadows and fog turned off and playing the game at 896 x 600 or 720 x 480 will give me frame rates at about 19-27 persecond. is this true

Sounds good to me. When I game on battery, it can vary a lot. From 1:00 to 3:30. But 2:30 sounds a good average. (Backlight, external mice, GFX settings, etc etc etc etc)

Were you runnig off the batt? On my PB (its plugged in most of the time) halo runs full speed no matter what I selected. At least thats what HALO does on my PB.

Yup, battery. That's why I was running Reduced. When I am plugged in though I'm set to Highest.

 

[chrisleeroth]

Why should you not ask this here??? I hate when people think that they are too good for some questions. Look up the word "Forum" and get back to me.

You shouldn't really ask it here. Launch the game and try for yourself. People have different points of view on the game's "playability/enjoyability". That's why you can modify game's graphics settings to fit YOUR needs.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Mechcozmo
Any way when i talked to representitives from both mac and aspyre the both told me that playing doom3 at medium settings on a powerbook like the one im getting with shadows and fog turned off and playing the game at 896 x 600 or 720 x 480 will give me frame rates at about 19-27 persecond. is this true

I really think that's quite sad. A top model laptop can give framerates of 19-27 at a piss poor resoution of 720x480 with the shadows and fog turned off. That's really bad. I wouldn't be happy unless I could run a game at 1280x768 on a widescreen computer or laptop with full graphics and an average of at least 30fps. Remember, 30fps is basically the slowest that things can look 'smooth'. 60fps is guaranteed to look smooth but anything below 30fps will be jerky and poo.

If you are desperate to play Doom 3 now then you're gonna need a pc or a pc based laptop. If however, you can wait a year until the Intel based systems come out (I know its a long time to wait to play a game) but then you'll be able to play it maxxed out, full res on your top spec Intel based Powerbook - especially since it'd be a year old.

I reckon in a year you'll be able to get a Powerbook with an Intel 2.4-2.6Ghz P-M chip and a Geforce 7800 Ultra Go. That would run Doom 3, Halflife 2 and pretty much any game you throw at it for the year following at full res with full graphics.

 

[chaosbunny]

You guys who say get a mac for everything else and a pc for gaming and maybe a console too surprise me every time. You have gold sh***ing donkeys at home or what? I saved half a year so I could buy the new powerbook in my sig and World of Warcraft runs very nice on it and I'm very happy with my machine as I use it for working/listening to music/gaming/etc. Yes, you heard right, I have one machine for all of theese tasks! I can't and don't want to afford a mac, a pc and a console. Let people play on their macs and enjoy it! And if your donkeys are heading for the toilet the next time, send me some of their sh**!

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I'm not saying at all that you should go and buy both a PC and a Mac but what I am saying is that if playing games is you're main want then you're gonna want a PC instead of a Mac. Which is sad.

 

[_pb_boi]

i keep getting mixed oppinoins.
when i spoke to an apple representitive he said that he was playing doom at max resolution at medium settings with fog and shodows turned off and he was only using a 1.5 g4 and 64 mb of vram.

Yeah? And what did you think he was gonna say? "Dude, our hardware sucks for the latest 3d games. Avoid like the plague!"

andy.

 

[_pb_boi]

You guys who say get a mac for everything else and a pc for gaming and maybe a console too surprise me every time. You have gold sh***ing donkeys at home or what? I saved half a year so I could buy the new powerbook in my sig and World of Warcraft runs very nice on it and I'm very happy with my machine as I use it for working/listening to music/gaming/etc. Yes, you heard right, I have one machine for all of theese tasks! I can't and don't want to afford a mac, a pc and a console. Let people play on their macs and enjoy it! And if your donkeys are heading for the toilet the next time, send me some of their sh**!

WoW and Doom 3 - two very different games, with very different demands on your hardware.

andy.

 

[Mechcozmo]

60fps is guaranteed to look smooth but anything below 30fps will be jerky and poo.

If you are desperate to play Doom 3 now then you're gonna need a pc or a pc based laptop. If however, you can wait a year until the Intel based systems come out (I know its a long time to wait to play a game) but then you'll be able to play it maxxed out, full res on your top spec Intel based Powerbook - especially since it'd be a year old.

Hehe... and the 24 fps of non-DV film is jerky and poo to you? Last time I went to a movie theater I saw my movie at 24 fps. Didn't look too shabby.

And nothing says the Intel based systems are going to:
A) Come out in a year
B) Have better GFX cards
C) Be bug-free enough to play on
D) Have Doom 3 available for native playing... you think they're gonna recompile and use split binaries? Maybe maybe not. If they don't use Xcode... their stuck.

And Halflife 2 isn't coming for the Mac, sadly.

 

[me2621a]

can you people answer with a yes or a no

1. can i play doom3 at low setting at low resolution with the frame rates staying above 30

2. can i play halo at high settings at ful resolution of the 15inch powerbook

3. can you play starwars battlefront a full res at max settings on 15 inch powerbook.

remember i am doing this on a
15inch powerbook
1.67g4
1.5gigs of ram
80gig hard drive
ati mobilty 9700 with 128vram

please answer these questiones woth a YES or NO

also is a mac bluetooth keyboard conpatable with a pc with bluetooth

 

[rickvanr]

Hehe... and the 24 fps of non-DV film is jerky and poo to you? Last time I went to a movie theater I saw my movie at 24 fps. Didn't look too shabby.

There is a big difference between 30fps and 24fps. You can notice the difference even if the human eye can only see 24fps, you still notice the difference.

 

[Mechcozmo]

There is a big difference between 30fps and 24fps. You can notice the difference even if the human eye can only see 24fps, you still notice the difference.

Which comes back to "How many FPS to you need to play?"

24 fps is fine for most people, some like 30-35 fps, and then there are freaks who complain if they can't get above 60 fps.

Whatever floats your boat and doesn't melt your graphics card, I guess.

 

[AdamR01]

Which comes back to "How many FPS to you need to play?"

24 fps is fine for most people, some like 30-35 fps, and then there are freaks who complain if they can't get above 60 fps.

Whatever floats your boat and doesn't melt your graphics card, I guess.

I think you are missing one very important fact. That movie you watch and looks fine to you and I is at a CONSTANT 24fps. A game may have an average framerate of 24fps but it may spike up to 35fps and drop as low as 5fps. Try to do anything in Doom 3 when 10 enemies appear and the framerate drops down to like 5fps.

 

[JordanNZ]

Everyone seems to have missed the point of the guys question completely.


Halo will run fine at full settings etc.. No problems.

Doom3 will run perfectly well at 800X600, and if you don't mind an average framerate of 15-30 (depending on whats happening) you will be able to run at the native settings.

Doom3 runs fine on my friends 1.5Ghz powerbook with 512megs of ra (64 megs Vram).. It will run even better on a 1.67.

Stop with the entire "it will be a slideshow" talk.. It will not be a slideshow, i've PLAYED it on a fast powerbook, its fun.

 

[AdamR01]

Everyone seems to have missed the point of the guys question completely.


Halo will run fine at full settings etc.. No problems.

Doom3 will run perfectly well at 800X600, and if you don't mind an average framerate of 15-30 (depending on whats happening) you will be able to run at the native settings.

Doom3 runs fine on my friends 1.5Ghz powerbook with 512megs of ra (64 megs Vram).. It will run even better on a 1.67.

Stop with the entire "it will be a slideshow" talk.. It will not be a slideshow, i've PLAYED it on a fast powerbook, its fun.

But have you gotten to the part where you first meet the spiders? Where there are tons of enemies and your computer is brought to its knees?