Gaming on MacBook - Civ IV

[SHowHawk]

Hello all. I am new to Macs and am preparing to purchase a MacBook (and waiting to see what Santa Rosa w/ GMA965-X3100 and/or WWDC updates, if any, might bring to the little white or black wonder). While I don't expect that I will spend a whole lot of time gaming on this MacBook (I intend it more for writing, photo/graphics work, and some home video editing), I do enjoy the occasional ongoing game of Civ IV, maybe Quake IV, UT 2004, Halo, Homeworld and a few others.

With Civ IV being the "newest" of those games, and seemingly the most taxing on a systems resources, I was wondering what experiences anyone has had with playing Civ IV on a MacBook. I know that the Intel GMA950 graphics are not listed as officially supported by Civ, but I have read reports elsewhere that many have been able to run Civ IV successfully on MacBooks. I also, however, read somewhere that the latest update to Civ IV "broke" it on MacBooks. Is that true?

While I know that a MacBook Pro would be a better gaming choice, with its ATI Radeon X1600 and all, I am not willing to fork out $400+ just so I can play a few games a little better (I know, there are other benefits to the MBP, but still... $400+ extra).

Any advice and or experiences with Civ IV on the MacBook?

Thanks!

 

[ghall]

Civ 3 is pretty graphic intensive, and my MacBook Pro bearly meets the system requirements. I wouldn't recommend playing Civ 4 on a MacBook, but I could give it a try if you'd like(I have access to a MacBook).

 

[scienide09]

I recently bought an MBP because the integrated GPU of the MacBook wasn't what I wanted. (I've had trouble with an integrated chip in the past, and have sworn them off.) Who knows if SR will be a marked improvement?

The friendly folks at the CivFanatics forums had a discussion about this a while ago, and I found it helpful to ask them questions as well.

If you don't want to read the entire thread, the general consensus was that CivIV is playable on a MB if you don't mind running the game with low to medium settings and dealing with occasional errors.

If you're not that into the gaming, the MacBook will suit your needs just fine. If you plan on any graphics-intensive gaming, CivIV included, you'll want the MBP.

 

[Eraserhead]

civ 4, plays but it is a bit chuggy on a Macbook, it's performance is similar to my iMac G5 which has an ATI 9600 Graphics card. It's certainly playable though, it is a turn based game after all .

 

[66217]

If you play trough bootcamp you wont notice any lag or slowdown. And you can play it with the graphics at high.

And the MB is perfect if you are not into games like Battlefield or that kind of games. (And who would like to play in a 13' display Battlefield?)

You would easily play games like Sim City 4, The Sims 2, AoE III, etc. The GMA950 isn't that bad after all. I've never understand why criticize so much the MB for that, it is not like everyone loves to play the newest games out there.

 

[66217]

Civ 3 is pretty graphic intensive, and my MacBook Pro bearly meets the system requirements. I wouldn't recommend playing Civ 4 on a MacBook, but I could give it a try if you'd like(I have access to a MacBook).

Civ 3 intensive? Or you meant to say Civ 4?

And your MBP should be able to play any of these games at top graphics.

 

[vga4life]

Civ4 plays fine on a vanilla Macbook in Boot Camp. Under OS X, not so good. Apple's 3D graphics libraries frankly lag those in Windows.

 

[CyberSheik]

MacBook Experience

I am running Mac OsX 10.4.9 on a (black) Mac Book (2 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB Ram).

Civ IV runs for me in OS X IF (and only IF) you don't install any patches (Rev B or C). It's slow and converts your notebook in a room heating unit. I highly recommend buying a system with dedicated graphic card or run it under Bootcamp (which runs just fine).

 

[winchest]

Side question. Does the retail version of Civ IV come with installers for both Windows and Mac so I can choose which OS to use?

 

[QCassidy352]

With all the settings turned down, it's ok in windowed mode in the early game. Late game on a large map, or with settings turned up, it's agony. This is a core duo macbook, 2 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, OS X.

 

[winchest]

With all the settings turned down, it's ok in windowed mode in the early game. Late game on a large map, or with settings turned up, it's agony. This is a core duo macbook, 2 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, OS X.

Wow that is an intense turn based game. I have not played Civilization since Civ I, but man that was one sweet game.