Civilization 6 players

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Reddit user avonhungen says that it is here on a Mac:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Sid Meier's Civilization VI/Civilization VI​

​

and this Windows-centric Launcher bypass page shows how to ask Steam where the executable is instead:

https://steamsplay.com/sid-meiers-civilization-vi-how-to-bypass-the-2k-launcher/​

Bypassing the Steam launcher allows running Civ VI directly. That, plus galad's v-sync comment, seem like a good path forward which I'll try shortly.

Your link is about bypassing the 2k Launcher, not Steam.

 

[e645824]

I have a scroll-wheel mouse for my Mac. So I right-clicked on Civ 6 (1.3.13) in the Steam Library window (over on the left) then Properties. I disabled the two check boxes in the General tab. I put this into the Launch Options text field (with myusername set obviously):

/Users/myusername/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Sid Meier's Civilization VI/Civ6.app/Contents/MacOS/Civ6_Metal_Exe​

then I started Civ 6 using that Steam method (right-click, Play). I went to the Graphics Options, turned on the v-sync check box and set the frame limit to 30. Then restarted Civ 6 using the same right-click, Play method.

This seems to have helped quite a bit. The GPU is down considerably, and the CPU is similarly down. See the attached screenshot. This is Turn 1 after founding a city in the default location. The smoke and fire are still fluid, the palm trees are still swaying, and the water near the rock looks fine. Other than v-sync, the remaining settings are as per the two Ultra sliders.

However, it is clear that the developers could still do quite a bit of optimization. On this Turn 1, my GPU/CPU utilization is the same whether I am zoomed all the way in or all the way out. So they don't seem to be optimizing based on scale and it explains why Civ 6 uses more GPU/CPU later in the game even when nothing is happening. In a big map, we can't see sub-pixel swaying palm trees so there's no reason to sway them...

Thanks to all.

Scott

 

[galad]

Civ 6 already uses Metal by default, no need to add all those additional options.

 

[e645824]

Civ 6 already uses Metal by default, no need to add all those additional options.

I don't have any additional options, all of that text is a single line / single command that goes into the text box. The previous step-by-step said that it was necessary to bypass the 2K launcher. I am indeed running the Metal executable (there are two executables in that directory, Metal and non-Metal).

Thanks,

Scott

 

[SaMMyS]

I feel 30 fps games are too laggy. My eyes feel terrible after staring at screen with 30s fps for a long time, even with strategy games like Civilisation VI.
I love Civilisation Vi so much, and I hope Aspry can update the game to Apple Silicon native so it will run smoother.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I feel 30 fps games are too laggy. My eyes feel terrible after staring at screen with 30s fps for a long time, even with strategy games like Civilisation VI.
I love Civilisation Vi so much, and I hope Aspry can update the game to Apple Silicon native so it will run smoother.

Then you shouldn't do what I have done - Play it on my 2016 M3 Macbook.. We're talking 1/4 FPS at times..

 

[star-affinity]

I feel 30 fps games are too laggy. My eyes feel terrible after staring at screen with 30s fps for a long time, even with strategy games like Civilisation VI.
I love Civilisation Vi so much, and I hope Aspry can update the game to Apple Silicon native so it will run smoother.

Even the Intel and Metal version of the game runs massively worse in macOS (Monterey 12.6.2) compared to Windows 10 with DirectX 12 on the same hardware. I ran the graphics benchmark built-in to the game with the same graphics settings in both operating systems and there at the first scene (which is the most heavy in the test) the Windows version gets 58(!) more frames per second compared to macOS.

Hardware is a 6-core Mac Pro from 2010 with 32 GB RAM and AMD RX 5700 XT graphics.

Windows 10 with DirectX 12:

macOS Monterey 12.6.2 with Metal:

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Even the Intel and Metal version of the game runs massively worse in macOS (Monterey 12.6.2) compared to Windows 10 with DirectX 12 on the same hardware. I ran the graphics benchmark built-in to the game with the same graphics settings in both operating systems and there at the first scene (which is the most heavy in the test) the Windows version gets 58(!) more frames per second compared to macOS.

Hardware is a 6-core Mac Pro from 2010 with 32 GB RAM and AMD RX 5700 XT graphics.

How about with OpenGL? Can you run it that way?

 

[star-affinity]

How about with OpenGL? Can you run it that way?

Not sure if that is possible:

OpenGL will no longer be available for players on MacOS 10.15 and up. Civilization VI will default to Metal when launching.

https://support.aspyr.com/hc/en-us/articles/213487546-Civilization-VI-Mac-FAQ

 

[SaMMyS]

How about with OpenGL? Can you run it that way?

A couple of years ago I tried to play Civ6 with OpenGL, but it was very slow, much slower than with Metal.