Challenges presented by Warcraft 2 on a G4. . . yes, Warcraft 2.
OK, so it's Winter break, I got a new Powerbook, and most of all, I'm really bored.
I ordered EI Universe 5 to do a 3D project, but it hasn't arrived yet, and I was searching through my CDs to see if I picked up a trial somewhere of a previous version.
Anyway, I dusted off an old copy of Warcraft 2 that I found in the CD bin. Software tends to come with base hardware requirements. It turns out that my powerbook is too fast. It's a challenge just to move around, since there's absolutely no degree of mouse control, even at the lowest setting. Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen causes the viewable window to jump off the map faster than you can say "ready to serve". Maybe I should upgrade to 3. I hear that sucks up CPU time like a champ.
I ordered EI Universe 5 to do a 3D project, but it hasn't arrived yet, and I was searching through my CDs to see if I picked up a trial somewhere of a previous version.
Anyway, I dusted off an old copy of Warcraft 2 that I found in the CD bin. Software tends to come with base hardware requirements. It turns out that my powerbook is too fast. It's a challenge just to move around, since there's absolutely no degree of mouse control, even at the lowest setting. Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen causes the viewable window to jump off the map faster than you can say "ready to serve". Maybe I should upgrade to 3. I hear that sucks up CPU time like a champ.
Comments
WC3 is a very good game. I would definately recommend it. But make sure you update it to the latest version right away(even for single player) especially if you are using OS X. Version 1.03 DRAMATICALLY improved performance in OS X. Now it is at 1.04 I believe, although they are continuously updating it.
You need to get the Battle net edition. The bug was fixed there. There are no plans of a patch for the non Battle Net version.
It should be cheap anyway. I picked it up for $20 canadian.
<strong>Yeah, but is it playable on a 400MHz PowerBook (8MB video, no QE support)?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Most certainly not!
WC3 is unplayable on an iMac 500 w/8MB R128pro, which is better than your PB.
<strong>
Most certainly not!
WC3 is unplayable on an iMac 500 w/8MB R128pro, which is better than your PB.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Not really, but regardless, I tried it out on a bunch of my machines for curiousity, and it's not very playable on anything that doesn't have a semi-decent graphics card. I think the lowest card you're going to want to have is a PCI Radeon. A friend has a Yosemite at something in the ballpark of 500Mhz (oc'ed from 450) and a PCI Radeon. It wasn't great, but then again, it wasn't bad. Interestingly, I didn't notice it doing better on a celeron 1Ghz desktop. (GF2MX, I think). It plays well on my new powerbook (1Ghz) though. It also ran quite well on a G4 dual 450 with Radeon 8500, and even on a G4 533 with Radeon 8500.
it is certainly a strange thing
I played WC3 all the way up till the second to last stage of the night elf campaign, that was when it got too laggy to play.
[ 12-20-2002: Message edited by: Wrong Robust ]</p>
This is a funny thing, I remember some apps that used to run way too fast on my 7500/100 because they were written for the assumption that cpus weren't going to go much faster than the 10 and 25 Mhz that they were before that. Characters zipped across the screen like they were on speed.
Anyway, your cpu is just too fast. (bet you haven't heard that about a mac in a long time)
[ 12-20-2002: Message edited by: muah ]</p>