So...any chance on a mac mini?

[Kryianna]

My husband and I have mac minis that we bought last summer. I'm not sure of their full specs off hand; they were the normal configuration, though, nothing out of the box. If we turn all the settings way down, is there any hope that we can play Civ IV on them?

If the answer is "not sure", do you think it would even install so that we can try it? I've bought games in the past for the PC where if the machine was under specs, the game wouldn't even install. I don't want to open the package to try to get the game installed, and then have it refuse to install, and not be able to return it because it's open.

 

[enkiduMT]

well, it depends upon your definition of 'play'
you prolly have the G4 mini w R9200 32MB
it 'should' 'play' but expect it to be jumpy/choppy on pans/zooms and crash a bit (new patch should help on both accounts?)

see my thread re: under spec machines
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=177048

bottom line: it will install, and it warns you it won't play on your machine, but it will 'play' (ps - u can get rid of the not min spec machine warning by editing the .ini file) just... very... slow... ly...

hey Brad! can we get a 'snap-to zoom/pan' to speed things up?
my system spends all its time chunk chunk chunking

 

[Cougarcat]

I wouldn't bother. In late games, Civ is almost too painful on my 1.67 Ghz Powerbook w/ a substantially better graphics card than your mini. With only 32 MB of VRAM, the mini would choke. However, Brad did say that the sound issues were also causing performance problems on PPC macs, so maybe once the patch is released things will improve.

 

[Welnic]

I'll be posting some stats on how long it takes for a late game AI turn on a variety of Macs sometime this week, including both an Intel and G4 mini.

 

[ChiefSparkY]

I'd still be interested in this information if you could supply it. Thanks!

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

I think that a real constraint will be the size of the map you can play on more than the number of graphical goodies you can have turned on.

For example, I'm playing the Earth scenario (huge map with 8AIs) on a more or less top of the line MacBook Pro and it stutters in the late game. The actual time for an AI move isn't too bad. But panning over the map and opening unit and city windows is jerky. Turning down the graphical goodies doesn't really have much effect on this.

Thus, if you are happy playing on small maps (and maybe if you can get that conquest victory by 0AD) you might be happy. But I can't imagine the end game on a large map being playable (on the most generous definition of playable possible) on a Mac Mini.

 

[bio_hazard]

Skippy-
Just wondering if you're experience is pre- or post- beta patch? The patch has improved play for many of us below recommended specs, although I'm not sure how much this has been tested on large/huge maps. I'm on a large map now at 1600AD and it is pretty slow (but not unbearably so), but I'm on a 1.5ghz powerbook so well below minimum specs.

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

Skippy-
Just wondering if you're experience is pre- or post- beta patch? The patch has improved play for many of us below recommended specs, although I'm not sure how much this has been tested on large/huge maps. I'm on a large map now at 1600AD and it is pretty slow (but not unbearably so), but I'm on a 1.5ghz powerbook so well below minimum specs.

Post patch. There was an improvement in performance post-patch (I was only running at 100% rather than 180% for starters). I'm not sure exactly where in my game I applied the patch but I think it has given me performance around 1850AD similar to that which I was getting pre-patch in 1700. But it is all pretty subjective. And things really do grow exponentially in the late stage.

 

[ancestral]

I just bought Civ IV and I can successfully play it (well… at least so far…) on my Mac mini which I bought last summer, probably same/similar spec (1.42 GHz PPC, 32 MB Radeon 9200 with 1 GB RAM). You may want to max out your RAM if you can, I'm sure it will help.

I went straight to applying the beta patch. I have similar issue with some sounds not playing (which shouldn't be hardware related), but it's not a deterrent. I haven't gotten very far at all yet, which is probably what would clinch how well it performs, but so far no complaints, it is playable. Best run at 1024 x 768 in a window with all graphics options at lowest (as defaulted).


If someone can post a late game, I'd love to see how much my machine would crawl.

 

[ancestral]

Just tried this (http://sampo.ru/~headden/Harkonnen AD-1961.Civ4SavedGame), someone's game in the 1930's. No problems, it's surprisingly responsive even with what appears to be 11 alive opponents and I think a huge world map. I'm getting many confirmation sounds in the late game I hadn't heard before, and hearing music at the same time, no distortion or anything.

If you keep the graphics all the way down, no animations, you shouldn't run into problems. At least, I haven't, and it seems that the latest beta patch has addressed many issues people were having.