I'm going to try to host a Giants multiplayer game fairly frequently on my G4/500 MP. IP is giants.ty-d.com if you'd like to join. Check it out to see if I'm up.
hey ender....didn't think Giants was doing multiplayer yet...do you have an updated copy?? haven't bought this yet as i won't have os x till i get my new iMac....but i thought that this may be the first title i get....how does it work on your system?? thanks g
The multiplayer (beta, but it works flawlessly for me) patch can be found on MacPlay's website in the downloads section. <a href="http://www.macplay.com/download,"; target="_blank">www.macplay.com/download,</a> I believe.
This patch seems to have addressed some performance issues as well. I used to get 20-30 fps on my G4/500 MP (512 MB RAM, 10.1.2, Radeon), but I now get in the 40s at most times. I play at 1280 x 1024.
The game looks *stunning*. The landscapes go on seemingly forever, and the gameplay, while not entirely unique, combines the elements of different genres so effortlessly that you simply have to see it to understand.
Also, the OmniGroup (who did the work on the port), actually was able to ADD multiprocessor support to the game. On their website they state that they get the same framerate on their G4/500 MP (like me!) as on their 1.3 GHz AMD Athlon w/ GF3. I really love the work the OmniGroup has done on all of their products, but perhaps Giants most of all.
As for single processor machines, I get acceptable framerates on my Ti PB 667 (Radeon Mobility, 512 MB RAM, 10.1.2), but only at 800 x 600. I haven't run the latest patch on this machine though, so it may have improved as well.
There were some major bugs in the original game, but those have all been resolved in the patches. The game has gone through a second duplication run, though, and shipped with the latest bug-fix patch already applied. All that is needed is to add the multiplayer (I think it was a 4 MB download). I would strongly recommend DSL/Cable or a higher connection to play the multiplayer. Otherwise ping gets too high and everything becomes jumpy.
do you think a new shipment of the giant cd will have the patch in the cd, or will i still need to download the patch?? i am getting a new iMac and was thinking of getting Giants when it comes (end of month)...do you think it will run ok on an 800 MHz single G4 with the iMacs video card?? thanks...hope you find some players...i live in the boonies and only have phone modem for a while (the cable company says they are bringing cable modem in the near future, but i will believe it when i see it)....have T1 or T3 at work....now that's fast...if i can get cable modem at home...wheeee that would be great....g
Like I said, MacPlay mentioned that they underestimated the first run and had to duplicate a second run. This second run (which is what you'd get if you ordered now) has the patch for the bug fixes, but not the patch for the multiplayer. So unless you needed the multiplayer, you shouldn't need to patch it (unless they update it again in the future, which is possible).
As for your iMac running it, I would say no worries there. 800 MHz will be very adequate, and it's GF2 32 MB DDR video card will run it just fine at the max resolution of the iMac (1024 x 768).
By the way, I haven't raved about the quality of the sound in Giants yet. It's really great, and the music is very appropriate considering the general 'feel' of the game. Voice acting is done well, and the humor is great (it's British humor, for the most part). I was absolutely laughing my ass off during some parts. It's pretty clean humor for the most part, though they make reference to the male genitalia rather often .
Such as "Ah, balls! There's been a bloody right cock up!" But all the swearing is bleeped out, and isn't used gratuitously in my opinion.
Oh, and my multiplayer will be up primarily from 3 PM to 6 or 7 PM eastern.
I'm organizing a Giants multiplayer game this thursday (Jan 17th) from 3 to 6 PM eastern time. All who are able, come on in for a few minutes or longer. The DNS is giants.ty-d.com.
I want to have 4 or more people so we can all get an idea of how great multiplayer is with lots of people. I have a 100k/sec upload connection, so lag shouldn't be too bad.
Let's give it a whirl. Feel free to spread the word.
Well, we all had a blast (there were 8 of us on my server last night at one point). Another guy and I have been running servers periodically, and we are going to try to put together a mac giants website and try to build a little community. He already has a PHP/Apache solution up that tells if a server is running multiplayer at a given time. Pretty neat.
I'm going to try to put together a little website and news page this weekend (10 hours in the car with my Ti... going to Tampa for an Ultimate tournament). Getting some community involvement would be way cool too.
Anyway, I still think that Giants has *the BEST* multiplayer of any game I've ever played. If you're running OS X and have a 400 MHz G3/G4 or better, you should definitely try this game. And it's dual processor aware. I get 40-60 fps on my G4/500 MP at 1024 x 768. The landscapes are STUNNING.
Comments
This patch seems to have addressed some performance issues as well. I used to get 20-30 fps on my G4/500 MP (512 MB RAM, 10.1.2, Radeon), but I now get in the 40s at most times. I play at 1280 x 1024.
The game looks *stunning*. The landscapes go on seemingly forever, and the gameplay, while not entirely unique, combines the elements of different genres so effortlessly that you simply have to see it to understand.
Also, the OmniGroup (who did the work on the port), actually was able to ADD multiprocessor support to the game. On their website they state that they get the same framerate on their G4/500 MP (like me!) as on their 1.3 GHz AMD Athlon w/ GF3. I really love the work the OmniGroup has done on all of their products, but perhaps Giants most of all.
As for single processor machines, I get acceptable framerates on my Ti PB 667 (Radeon Mobility, 512 MB RAM, 10.1.2), but only at 800 x 600. I haven't run the latest patch on this machine though, so it may have improved as well.
There were some major bugs in the original game, but those have all been resolved in the patches. The game has gone through a second duplication run, though, and shipped with the latest bug-fix patch already applied. All that is needed is to add the multiplayer (I think it was a 4 MB download). I would strongly recommend DSL/Cable or a higher connection to play the multiplayer. Otherwise ping gets too high and everything becomes jumpy.
-Ender
As for your iMac running it, I would say no worries there. 800 MHz will be very adequate, and it's GF2 32 MB DDR video card will run it just fine at the max resolution of the iMac (1024 x 768).
By the way, I haven't raved about the quality of the sound in Giants yet. It's really great, and the music is very appropriate considering the general 'feel' of the game. Voice acting is done well, and the humor is great (it's British humor, for the most part). I was absolutely laughing my ass off during some parts. It's pretty clean humor for the most part, though they make reference to the male genitalia rather often
Such as "Ah, balls! There's been a bloody right cock up!" But all the swearing is bleeped out, and isn't used gratuitously in my opinion.
Oh, and my multiplayer will be up primarily from 3 PM to 6 or 7 PM eastern.
-Ender
I want to have 4 or more people so we can all get an idea of how great multiplayer is with lots of people. I have a 100k/sec upload connection, so lag shouldn't be too bad.
Let's give it a whirl. Feel free to spread the word.
-Ender
-Ender
I'm going to try to put together a little website and news page this weekend (10 hours in the car with my Ti... going to Tampa for an Ultimate tournament). Getting some community involvement would be way cool too.
Anyway, I still think that Giants has *the BEST* multiplayer of any game I've ever played. If you're running OS X and have a 400 MHz G3/G4 or better, you should definitely try this game. And it's dual processor aware. I get 40-60 fps on my G4/500 MP at 1024 x 768. The landscapes are STUNNING.
-Ender