Video card

[efrainoscar]

Hi everybody. I have a quick question. I just switched to a MacBook Pro after being an avid Windows user all my life, so I'm starting to find out what can I do with this game I love.
I'm not much of a gamer otherwise, so I bought an out-of-the-box 13" MacBook Pro with apparently everything set to play except for the video card, according to GameMatch.com.

My current video capabilities are "HD Graphics 4000, 512MB Video Memory", but I see that the game requires an ATI or NVidia card to play well. Is this true? Will I not be able to play it? Will the graphics look bad or will the game play slow?

My processor is "Intel Core i5 at 2.5GHz" with 4MB of RAM memory.

Thanks guys!

PS. Is there a difference if I buy the complete edition with BTS and all that, or should Vanilla play better?

 

[AlanH]

Haven't you tried it yet? What's stopping you?

I imagine the HD 4000 will work OK. There were earlier MacBook Pros with oder Intel integrated graphics processors that could never handle Civ4, but the HD 4000 is Intel's latest attempt to deliver reasonable performance.

You can safely ignore compatibility reviews for Civ4 and current hardware, as Civ4's last release was way before the current hardware releases.

There will be little difference in performance between vanilla and BTS, but BTS game play is way better.

 

[efrainoscar]

Just finished downloading it, and works great. Only thing is that, even in full screen mode, the game plays in 4:3 format instead of widescreen. Everything great though. See you guys in a few hours after I finish my first Civ IV Mac game!

 

[AlanH]

You should be able to select a better screen resolution if you hold down the Command key when you launch Civ4/BtS. That opens a dialog where you can select screen and resolution.