Problems running Mac version of Civ VI

[Golden Skull]

I'm posting this on behalf of my wife - she and I are trying to get Civ VI working on her 2012 Macbook Pro. Based on the benchmark thread, it seems like she should be able to run the software, but the game freezes shortly after entering benchmark mode.

These are the specs for her machine:

El Capitan, 10.11.6
MacBook Pro, 15 inch, non-retina display
Processor: 2.3 GHz, Intel Core i7
Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Oddly enough, though, when she runs the game and goes into the Graphics menu, the GPU selection is set to NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M. That is the only option available when she tries to access the GPU drop-down menu.

It is really confusing to us that the game won't work. If we say that the video card is a GeForce GT, these specs seem very similar to what Oleary posted in the benchmark thread -- more RAM, even -- and Oleary's machine was able to complete benchmark mode successfully. It's also slightly lower in processing speed -- but again, with more RAM -- than oakdragon's machine, which was also able to complete benchmark mode successfully. If we consider the Intel HD Graphics 4000, the specs are very similar to two different machines of Oleary's, one posted by Siptah, and one by narmox, all of which were able to complete benchmark mode.

Do any of you have any ideas or suggestions for anything we might try? We have tried running in windowed mode and with graphics settings all the way down, but the game still freezes almost immediately in benchmark. We also are completely confused by the fact that the game shows a totally different GPU than what is listed in the machine specs. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Golden Skull]

Update: browsing through the MBP's specs, it appears that both the Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the GeForce GT 650M are listed as video cards. The GeForce is listed under a PCIe bus, which doesn't mean anything to me, but maybe will mean something to one of you all.

 

[AlanH]

Both graphics processors are installed in the Mac. It should choose the best one for the job when you start up Civ 6, which ought to be the GeForce one.

I can't help with the reason for your freeze, as I don't have a comparable setup. If others are able to run successfully on similar hardware, it may be worth contacting Aspyr support ... or even taking the Mac into an Apple Store for a health check.

 

[Xyth]

Both card are well below Aspyr's minimum specifications though, so I doubt you'll get much help from them.

 

[Siptah]

How is it when you are not going benchmark mode but play a normal game? Did you set all graphics to the very minimum and disable all shaders, AA etc. in the graphics menu? Because you won't get over minimum with both graphic cards.

 

[Golden Skull]

She started a new game, played a few turns, and it seemed fine -- all on the lowest graphical setting. I was going to have her load a copy of my saved game from about turn 250 in the first GotM challenge, to see how her computer handled a map that was quite a bit more full, but not at the level of benchmark mode. However, searching her computer, we couldn't find where the saved games were stored, or any of the game's data. I'm totally unfamiliar with Mac directory structures, but she knows her way around them, and was lost.

Siptah, I noticed that you had a machine with similar specs that you posted about in the benchmark thread. How did yours handle a normal game? Did yours run into problems with benchmark mode, or on later turns? It seems like yours was able to complete benchmark mode without freezing, from what you posted.

 

[oakdragon]

I have a similar machine with 2.6 Ghz and 8 GB of RAM, and haven't had any problems. I've never seen anything like that with Civ.

Are these simple vertical lines or polygons that come and go? Vertical lines might be a problem with the GPU, which I would take it back to Apple to check out. The polygons might be tearing, which the VSync setting should alleviate. At any rate, you might want to install the freeware utility, gfxCardStatus, which can force it to use the nVidia processor, in case that has something to do with it.

 

[oakdragon]

Oh, one other probably important question... is this 650M the one with 1 GB of VRAM or 512 MB? If it's the latter, that could be part of the problem. There are two versions, depending on which MBP she has, and Civ needs the 1 GB one.

 

[Golden Skull]

So to answer those questions in reverse order, the 650M is the one with 512 MB of ram. When looking at the other thread, I didn't realize there were two versions of the graphics card.

Back to your first question, there are no simple vertical lines, polygons, or other graphics artifacts. It just stops in benchmark mode, right at the beginning. We get the great artist moving, and then the game freezes as (I think) it is trying to move a bunch of traders. We never even see the little window showing average FPS, etc.

We could try that freeware utility, but I'm not sure if it would hlp to force it to use the nVidia processor. It already seems to be defaulting to the nVidia. Is the nVidia one really better, even though the intel card lists three times as much video memory? I know integrated chipsets aren't very good, but I had figured with 1.5 GB listed, it would be ok -- and more powerful than the 650M, at any rate.

 

[oakdragon]

So to answer those questions in reverse order, the 650M is the one with 512 MB of ram. When looking at the other thread, I didn't realize there were two versions of the graphics card.

Back to your first question, there are no simple vertical lines, polygons, or other graphics artifacts. It just stops in benchmark mode, right at the beginning. We get the great artist moving, and then the game freezes as (I think) it is trying to move a bunch of traders. We never even see the little window showing average FPS, etc.

We could try that freeware utility, but I'm not sure if it would hlp to force it to use the nVidia processor. It already seems to be defaulting to the nVidia. Is the nVidia one really better, even though the intel card lists three times as much video memory? I know integrated chipsets aren't very good, but I had figured with 1.5 GB listed, it would be ok -- and more powerful than the 650M, at any rate.

Ah, sorry, for some reason I remember reading something about lines.

Yes, the 650M is better, even with less VRAM. The Intel graphics chips are pretty bare bones. And you're right, in theory the 650M showing up means that's what it's using (and it shouldn't work with the Intel 4000 at all, AFAIK), but I wanted to eliminate that from the list of potential causes. I suspect that it's the 512 MB card is behind the problem, unfortunately.

 

[AlanH]

Re. Your issue with the location of save files, here is a copy of the reply I posted in the Civ6 Gotm forum on the subject:

For Mac players out there:

On my Mac the location is ~/Library/Application Support/Sid Meier's Civilization VI/Saves/Single

To open the hidden ~/Library folder in your home directory, hold the alt key down while you select the Finder->Go menu, and click Library.

 

[Xyth]

We could try that freeware utility, but I'm not sure if it would hlp to force it to use the nVidia processor. It already seems to be defaulting to the nVidia. Is the nVidia one really better, even though the intel card lists three times as much video memory? I know integrated chipsets aren't very good, but I had figured with 1.5 GB listed, it would be ok -- and more powerful than the 650M, at any rate.

The Intel card actually doesn't have any VRAM, it uses system RAM instead (up to 1.5GB apparently). That's one of several reasons why integrated cards are dreadful for gaming.

 

[Siptah]

Siptah, I noticed that you had a machine with similar specs that you posted about in the benchmark thread. How did yours handle a normal game? Did yours run into problems with benchmark mode, or on later turns? It seems like yours was able to complete benchmark mode without freezing, from what you posted.

Normal game works ok. It never stopped or froze. Of course, sometimes it's not really fluent in the late game / benchmark (~12fps). But I can always switch to strategic mode. But for me, it chooses the correct graphics card (only got one, the hd4000).