Mac Ops Survey

[PRIMEMOVER]

If I could impose on you Mac users to let me know what system you're running on (ibook, iMac, etc.) RAM, MHz, etc. and how well it runs for you.

I'm curious to know if my system (Imac, 512 MB, 700Mhz, OSX 10.1.5) is good enough or if there's something else I can do to soup it up.

Overall, the gameplay is fine, but there is some hesitation and slowness to the game around the 20th century mark and advisors pages.

Sometimes anywhere between 20-45 sec. delays between turns while the AI chews on what I've done....

Any thoughts?

 

[tao]

I'm running OS X 10.2.3 on my 2x1GHz MDD with 768MB and -- apart from some 10-20 second stall about once or twice per game -- everything runs very smooth. On this machine, I have switched on all animations, and between turn time is always less than 10 seconds, much less in early gameplay.

The best for Civ III however is my 1600x1200 20" LCD display. You can play 12 hours straight (or more, if you have no life beyond Civ III) without eyestrain.

PS: It's a Dell FP 2000.

 

[Beamup]

G4/450 PowerMac, 512 MB RAM, OS 9.2.2.

Runs great, no hesitation or pauses of any sort other than turn processing. That can take up to 20-30 seconds on a huge map in the modern era, but not more.

Note that the game was not designed to be played with more than 8 civs - anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a huge jump in turn-processing wait when you add in that ninth civ. It's just anecdotal, though, so YMMV.

 

[DiamondzAndGunz]

G4/450 PowerMac, 576 MB RAM, OS 10.2

Runs just fine, just the pause btwn turns later in the game, can take a minute or so sometimes on a huge map. Play it with all animations/sounds/etc.

 

[gfeier]

Dual 800, 1.1GB RAM, GeForce3. I get about one freeze per game that lasts about a minute (during unit movement), but, except for that, it runs very well indeed.

 

[Txurce]

G#/800 iBook, 256MB RAM, 10.2.3.

The game loads much faster than my previous laptop, a Powerbookwhich had half the processing speed and OS 9.1. I don't notice any hesitations except the aforementioned pauses while the AI deludes itself.

 

[dcaint]

G4 Powerbook 550mHz, 512MB, Jaguar. (great for long airport layovers!)

I think it's a RAM issue, nothing more. I ran smooth as silk with everything on but Quartz. However, when I tried my first Huge map, I ran into the same problem. Silk fixed the rendering issue (thanks Brad!) but I believe my next buying mission will be to max this thing out at 1.1GB.

The pauses between turns are imperceptible in the early turns, but as Diamondz and Beamup mentioned, in the modern era it can run up to 1 minute or so.

 

[dojoboy]

G3/333 iMac, 512 MB RAM, OS 9.2.2 and OS X 10.2 (just installed jaguar).

On standard maps, it runs well. Occasionally, I get the "please wait" in late-game stages which lasts about 5 seconds.

 

[heikeott]

eMac G4 700 Mhz 384Mb RAM 10.2.3
Civ III v1.21g

Before I downloaded the 1.21g patch it was horribly slow, especially with Quartz turned on.
Since I got the patch and turned Quartz off, it's pretty good although I do sometimes see "Please wait.." for a few secs right after I've hit enter for the next turn. That's on large map.
Heike

 

[PRIMEMOVER]

I'll throw in the fact that I tried playing after turning the quartz off...big difference! Give it a shot. Map scrolling was significantly easier too!

 

[frunobulax]

G3 500MHz PowerBook OS9.1... no probs since the 1.21g patch... kinda expect a few lags when AI is thinking, but rarely get any crashes...

I still have my old 7100 80MHz PowerMac and I wouldn't even dream of using that again (that's strictly for Civ2, on the odd occasssion)...

 

[n8mac]

It's gotta be a ram thing. I gotta g3 400 imac with only 192 ram. I need more ram and bad. I can't even finish a game on the huge map or with all civs, turns in modern age about 1.5 minutes each! To slow in OS X so I play in 9.2. I bumped up virtual ram a little just so I could play. But since the 1.21 patch I have never had a freeze, good ol mac.

 

[jpalacino]

Running 10.2.3 on a G3-600 iBook with 640mb RAM. I get the occasional stall on the really big maps (especially later in the game). Turning off Quartz and adding the extra ram really jump started the in between turn pauses.

 

[lateralis]

2 sytems: both with the lastest 10.2

dual gig tower (2002 QS), 1.5 gig ram

800 mhz tiook 768 meg ram

even though I have the tower, I use it mostly for work and do most of my gaming on the laptop, including civ. aside from burning my lap when playing, the tibook usually does fine with standard maps. it does however, take FOREVER when playing ahuge map with many civs on the laptop, for those games I usually switch out to the tower.

lateralis

 

[heikeott]

Originally posted by frunobulax
kinda expect a few lags when AI is thinking, but rarely get any crashes...

Do you really believe that the AI thinks, or were you just saying that for the sake of convenience?

Heike

 

[dcaint]

2 sytems: both with the lastest 10.2

dual gig tower (2002 QS), 1.5 gig ram

800 mhz tiook 768 meg ram


Must be nice, lateralis.
Anyone want a 266 iMac?

 

[MacBaldrick]

My latest system is a 17" iMac with 800 MHz G4 and 512 Mbyte RAM. Runs OS 9.2 (yes I still need it) and OS 10.2.

Compared to previous 400 MHz 'ruby' iMac with 384 Mbyte Civ 3 runs with little hesitation even on large maps which before were slow once the AI had lots of units to move about.

 

[PRIMEMOVER]

Maybe you can enlighten me on the OS for Mac...I'm running 10.1.5 and I've noticed a few of you all running 10.2 and other versions above my own...am I missing something by not having your 'upgraded' OS? How would I get it? Should I get it?

 

[dcaint]

Seems most people are running 10.2, or "Jaguar."

How do you get it? 1 of 2 ways:
1) Pay Apple $129.
2) Make friends with a teacher. They get it FREE.
(Also works for lots of other system and sware upgrades.)

 

[easy]

Get rid of saved games that you don't play anymore. That speed up my G3 fast.