AppleInsider › Forums › Software › Mac Software › Diablo II....Plays OK...Reccomended Settings?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Diablo II....Plays OK...Reccomended Settings?

post #1 of 16
12/28/02 at 1:46am
Thread Starter 
Hi!

I used to LOVE playing Diablo with a buddy in school on his PC. I just bought Diablo II and installed all the patches to bring it up to date and to play in OS X. It plays pretty good...but it can get choppy during some battles. I am on a 667 MHz Powerbook with 1 GB of RAM, and I was wondering what setting people have used to coax the best performance out a similar (or lower powered) set-up. Many thanks. This is the first retail game I have bought since my Commodore 64 . Thanks for any replies. Laterz.

I.M. VanDeWaals
Computer: MacBook Pro 15.4", 2 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, SuperDrive, OS X 10.4.6

Internet: Verizon DSL (3.0 Mbps/768 Kbps), Westell 2200 DSL Modem, Netgear RP614v.2 Router, AirPort Express

"...
Reply
Computer: MacBook Pro 15.4", 2 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, SuperDrive, OS X 10.4.6

Internet: Verizon DSL (3.0 Mbps/768 Kbps), Westell 2200 DSL Modem, Netgear RP614v.2 Router, AirPort Express

"...
Reply
post #2 of 16
1/2/03 at 12:48pm
i dunno, i gave up on diablo2 when i got my new imacG4. it never performed well. battle scenes had way too much lag and it was no fun, if not impossible, to fight. oddly, it worked best on my decrepit powerbook G3 233mhz with a 2mb ATI card. i had no HD space to install the expansion pack, so i put it on the new imac to discover Nvidia didnt do the game any justice. never played the game again and i dont know how well it does with the newer ATI cards. however, there are a gazillion patches and you may just need the right one to get it working better. also, i am not sure if you can play the game in OS X (back then you couldnt), so try booting up in 9.
"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world
and suffer the loss of his soul?"
Reply
"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world
and suffer the loss of his soul?"
Reply
post #3 of 16
1/3/03 at 1:17am
OS9 is definitely better for playing the game. I tried it in OSX but it was just too slow, and choppy, too... no 'flow' to the movements.

In OS9 it performs really well, and that is the system it was designed for.
Original B&W G3 640M 20G Trackball Coolpix990 CDBurner Epson870 Snapscan1236 (Powerbook12" in six months)
Reply
Original B&W G3 640M 20G Trackball Coolpix990 CDBurner Epson870 Snapscan1236 (Powerbook12" in six months)
Reply
post #4 of 16
1/3/03 at 9:08am
Yup, diablo 2 LOD in OSX sucks, I'm afraid. Plays v. well in 9, though. Wonder why that is. I thought that with 10.2.3 some of that would have been resolved but I played it the other night and suffered ritual humiliation on the cow level by being killed 4 times in a row just after going through portal
My computer worked yesterday,
Today it isn't working.
Windows is like that.
Reply
My computer worked yesterday,
Today it isn't working.
Windows is like that.
Reply
post #5 of 16
1/4/03 at 4:22am
Simply overhead. They designed the program to work with the minimal overhead of OS9 behind the screens. With OSX grtabbing so much memory, using its own paging system and memory management it adds enough cycles of unseen activity to cause the game to behave slowly.

I never tried it on a fancy-golly-wow system, but it sure did bog down on my (almost) antiquated B&W at 350mhz...
Original B&W G3 640M 20G Trackball Coolpix990 CDBurner Epson870 Snapscan1236 (Powerbook12" in six months)
Reply
Original B&W G3 640M 20G Trackball Coolpix990 CDBurner Epson870 Snapscan1236 (Powerbook12" in six months)
Reply
post #6 of 16
1/4/03 at 6:14am
[quote]Originally posted by nosey:
<strong>Simply overhead. They designed the program to work with the minimal overhead of OS9 behind the screens. With OSX grtabbing so much memory, using its own paging system and memory management it adds enough cycles of unseen activity to cause the game to behave slowly.

I never tried it on a fancy-golly-wow system, but it sure did bog down on my (almost) antiquated B&W at 350mhz...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 16
1/4/03 at 6:18am
[quote]Originally posted by westie:
[QB][/QB]<hr></blockquote>

The Diablo II works fine in my G4 Imac flat panel, Did you guys download the Diablo II (Carbon) patch from Battle.net.
I've have so much fun everyday with my barbarian.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 16
1/4/03 at 12:35pm
Yeah, I've got flat panel as well with 512 mbs. D/loaded patch but runs like a dog at crucial moments.
My computer worked yesterday,
Today it isn't working.
Windows is like that.
Reply
My computer worked yesterday,
Today it isn't working.
Windows is like that.
Reply
post #9 of 16
1/4/03 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your replies...

I downloaded the OS X patch, along with the 1.09 patch for the game (needs to be installed before the OS X patch). Anyway...I've found that there is an option to use Open GL for the graphics...or to render in "software". The software option is MUCH smoother. I also tweaked the graphics down in terms of lighting, etc. In really intense battles (lots of bad guys swarming) it gets a little choppy..but not bad! And this is on a revison B TiBook.

I.M. VanDeWaals
Computer: MacBook Pro 15.4", 2 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, SuperDrive, OS X 10.4.6

Internet: Verizon DSL (3.0 Mbps/768 Kbps), Westell 2200 DSL Modem, Netgear RP614v.2 Router, AirPort Express

"...
Reply
Computer: MacBook Pro 15.4", 2 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, SuperDrive, OS X 10.4.6

Internet: Verizon DSL (3.0 Mbps/768 Kbps), Westell 2200 DSL Modem, Netgear RP614v.2 Router, AirPort Express

"...
Reply
post #10 of 16
1/7/03 at 6:57pm
Diablo II definitely plays best in Software mode in OS X for both ATI and NVIDIA cards, and when using anything NVIDIA related, in both 9.2.2 and 10.2.3. RAVE under 9.2.2 is alright with ATI cards, but IMO runs better in Software mode. Software mode offers lower peak framerates but more consistent framerates.
In OS X, software mode for everything. The OpenGL renderer has serious issues. Whether it's Blizzard's fault, Apple's fault, or a combination of both, that's up in the air, but Blizzard points fingers at Apple and OpenGL's texture loading/unloading performance. DII has to load and unload textures constantly on the fly.
DII Carbon seems to fly on dual proc machines in software mode. I haven't played with it enough through the various levels since I don't own a dual proc system yet.
IMO, best experience you're going to have playing Diablo II on a Mac requires OS 9 and a 3dfx Voodoo 3,4, or 5 as the engine was designed with Glide (3dfx's 3D API) in mind. When I know I'll be playing a bunch of Diablo II, I boot my G4 867 into OS 9 and use my Voodoo5. I can play with everything turned on high quality and everything runs great.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 16
1/8/03 at 7:56am
DII runs well on my GHz powerbook. I wanted access to my browser while running Diablo, so I ran it in windowed mode (command-M) and framerates jumped through the roof. Dramatic performance improvement.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 16
1/8/03 at 4:15pm
[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>DII runs well on my GHz powerbook. I wanted access to my browser while running Diablo, so I ran it in windowed mode (command-M) and framerates jumped through the roof. Dramatic performance improvement.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I believe Diablo II (Carbon) defaults to OpenGL mode with your Powerbook, which is complete crap in terms of performance. By switching to windowed mode, the render switches to software mode, thus the leap in performance.

BTW, for those that don't know how to check your framerates in Diablo II, hit Enter to bring up the chat box, then type "fps" with out the "s. Hit enter again, and some data should appear at the top of your screen. Along with your fps (which is updated every few seconds), you should see your Ping and which renderer you're using. If you play in Single Player mode, your framerates will cap out at 25 fps. All the multiplayer modes have uncapped framerates.

[ 01-08-2003: Message edited by: a2daj ]</p>
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 16
1/8/03 at 7:13pm
It runs bad in OpenGL mode in OS X.

I heard that the 1.10 patch for Diablo II will improve the performance, but nobody really knows when that will be released aside from "when it's done".

It was supposed to come out in April, and the date kept getting pushed back and it's still not out. I hear it's supposed to be close though.

Until then, I just run in software mode.
Prosecutors will be violated
Reply
Prosecutors will be violated
Reply
post #14 of 16
9/26/11 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paramedic12 View Post

First, sorry for bringing up an old thread but I am currently playing the Diablo 3 beta and I am wondering what are the best/recommended settings for the game.

As you may know, the Diablo 3 beta has just been released ! I got my hand on a beta key and I finished the beta with most of the characters so far. Also, Blizzard announced today (on the official battle net website) that the official release will be earlier in 2012. They announced some other news such as the new barbarian skills system, and the introduction of the new runestones.

Any Mac users in the Diablo 3 beta so far? If yes, shoot me a PM!

There was absolutely no reason for you to necro a nine year old thread.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
post #15 of 16
9/26/11 at 8:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

There was absolutely no reason for you to necro a nine year old thread.

Yeah, I don't get it. Why not just start a new thread? Something smells fishy here. A bot from within Blizzard?
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 16
9/27/11 at 7:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tonton View Post

Yeah, I don't get it. Why not just start a new thread? Something smells fishy here. A bot from within Blizzard?

In retrospect, I'm pretty sure it's just spam. I don't play any of their games, but that link of his raises SO many red flags to me.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Mac Software
AppleInsider › Forums › Software › Mac Software › Diablo II....Plays OK...Reccomended Settings?