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Starcraft II Beta Has Begun!

Nvidia 9400M Alu Macbook user here, reporting on Mac Client Performance

Resolution: NATIVE!

Shaders must be set to LOW. This influences the graphics of the game the most. Anything higher then low results in a massive drop in frame rate. Game looks like a better looking version of Warcraft III like this. Every other setting can be turned all the way up, but it doesn't make too much of a difference when shaders are on LOW.

Even MEDIUM shaders (which makes the game look stunning) cause frame rate to drop to the point that is intolerable for me (probably 10-20 fps ESTIMATE)

Don't get me wrong, game plays perfectly, looks pretty good, just can't turn on shaders & thus can't turn on the beautiful new graphics.

If you've got the 8600M, 320M, 9600M, or 330M you're gonna be all set. medium shaders shouldn't be a problem, & the 330M could maybe pull of high (this is all educated guessing, haven't tried it myself yet)

i'll try tweaking some more tomorrow, have fun everyone :)
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
Nvidia 9400M Alu Macbook user here, reporting on Mac Client Performance

Resolution: NATIVE!

Shaders must be set to LOW. This influences the graphics of the game the most. Anything higher then low results in a massive drop in frame rate. Game looks like a "slightly nicer" looking version of Warcraft III like this. Every other setting can be turned all the way up, but it doesn't make too much of a difference when shaders are on LOW.

Even MEDIUM shaders (which makes the game look stunning) cause frame rate to drop to the point that is intolerable for me (probably 10-20 fps ESTIMATE)

Don't get me wrong, game plays fine, looks pretty good, just can't turn on shaders & thus can't turn on the beautiful new graphics. Gonna tweak more tomorrow & see if i can come up with better results.

If you've got the 8600M, 320M, 9600M, or 330M you're likely going to get great framerates with shaders set to medium+

i'll try tweaking some more tomorrow, have fun everyone :)
Click to expand...

You might be able to type in /fps to see your FPS, but that might not be in the beta.
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
Nvidia 9400M Alu Macbook user here, reporting on Mac Client Performance

Resolution: NATIVE!

Shaders must be set to LOW. This influences the graphics of the game the most. Anything higher then low results in a massive drop in frame rate. Game looks like a better looking version of Warcraft III like this. Every other setting can be turned all the way up, but it doesn't make too much of a difference when shaders are on LOW.

Even MEDIUM shaders (which makes the game look stunning) cause frame rate to drop to the point that is intolerable for me (probably 10-20 fps ESTIMATE)

Don't get me wrong, game plays perfectly, looks pretty good, just can't turn on shaders & thus can't turn on the beautiful new graphics.

If you've got the 8600M, 320M, 9600M, or 330M you're gonna be all set. medium shaders shouldn't be a problem, & the 330M could maybe pull of high (this is all educated guessing, haven't tried it myself yet)

i'll try tweaking some more tomorrow, have fun everyone :)
Click to expand...

Well that's depressing. I guess I'll have to buy a faster computer than I thought....

Is the new graphics card in the 13" MacBook Pro's much better?
 
Mac Player said:
Has anyone with a 2.16, X1600 128 MBP tested the game yet?
Click to expand...

Yep..run it with settings on low. Drop the res to 1280 (or something like that).

It will still give your card a workout. I don't remember hearing my fan so loud before.

*sigh* time for an upgrade I suppose.

It is pretty even if it is on Low settings though.
 
Great. Just logged in to my Battle.net account to discover that the Mac beta client is available.

Sadly, when I click it, I get a message saying "Access to the specified resource has been forbidden. Aaargghhh.

Could this be because I had already downloaded the PC client for use in Bootcamp ? Am I being punished for wanting it all ?
 
Dr. McKay said:
Great. Just logged in to my Battle.net account to discover that the Mac beta client is available.

Sadly, when I click it, I get a message saying "Access to the specified resource has been forbidden. Aaargghhh.

Could this be because I had already downloaded the PC client for use in Bootcamp ? Am I being punished for wanting it all ?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be. I have downloaded the PC client and the Mac client. Are you in the US? The beta for Mac is currently US only.
 
MR2Fast2Catch said:
Well that's depressing. I guess I'll have to buy a faster computer than I thought....

Is the new graphics card in the 13" MacBook Pro's much better?
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten to see any benchmarks yet but Apple claims the 320m in the new 13'' is "up to 80%" faster then the 9400m.

Because the 9400m can "almost" handle medium shaders, my guess is the 320m will be able to make it work!

*drool*

i want that new mbp!!
 
If you need a key, go to gamestop, preorder the game. they give every pre-order a beta key.

The kicker is you only need to give them $5 to pre-order. So even if you decide you arent going to buy the game, you've only lost a little lunch money. no biggie.

btw. sc2 looks AMAZING on a 24" imac compared to the pc version.
 
Got really excited when I found out the SC2 Beta was available for Mac last night... I'd been waiting for about a week, and decided on a whim last night to check to see if it was available. And amazingly, it was! I guess it had just been released because when I went to check the Battle.net forums, there was only one thread stating that the Mac version was available, and the seeders for the downloader were going way slow.

Anyway, I've been having problems during the gameplay. I've been playing the beta under Windows 7 on this same computer ever since Gamestop started giving out beta keys for reservations, and it's been running like a champ. Action will pick up on screen with no dip in framerate.

However, the framerate seems to be a good bit worse on the mac side. It'll run really choppily for about two seconds, and suddenly speed up for half a second or so, and then get really choppy again, and the pattern repeats itself.

I have this problem in WoW sometimes too, and I still have no idea what's causing it... and unlike WoW which doesn't require as much "twitch" to play successfully, this issue makes online games unplayable. Anyone have any insight?
 
lythium said:
If you need a key, go to gamestop, preorder the game. they give every pre-order a beta key.

The kicker is you only need to give them $5 to pre-order. So even if you decide you arent going to buy the game, you've only lost a little lunch money. no biggie.

btw. sc2 looks AMAZING on a 24" imac compared to the pc version.
Click to expand...

Don't be such a Mactard it's the exact same models and effects, why would the Mac version look better than the PC one? It's the exact same thing.
 
Meever said:
Don't be such a Mactard it's the exact same models and effects, why would the Mac version look better than the PC one? It's the exact same thing.
Click to expand...

maybe a totally newbish thing to ask, but how do you get access to the beta key? all i could dl was the system check, are all of the mac beta keys gone?
 
redraidermacman said:
maybe a totally newbish thing to ask, but how do you get access to the beta key? all i could dl was the system check, are all of the mac beta keys gone?
Click to expand...

they randomly email people beta invites. you can go to facebook.com look up STARCRAFT become a fan, they were giving away like 100 keys every hour. 3 times a day. i think tomorrow is the last day.
 
8600m

I tried the mac beta on my MBP with a 8600m... It stuttered a lot. Even at low settings. The beginning of the game was fine, but as soon as i had 40+ units the frame rate dropped. I wasn't even playing at native resolution...

Any suggestions?
 
whit3feather said:
I tried the mac beta on my MBP with a 8600m... It stuttered a lot. Even at low settings. The beginning of the game was fine, but as soon as i had 40+ units the frame rate dropped. I wasn't even playing at native resolution...

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Works good under bootcamp. The Mac client sucks in its current version... sigh.

Apparently I read an employee say that the OS X version uses twice as much VRAM for textures as the PC client which is why under bootcamp I can get away with high (where it says 512 is required, I only have 256) and in OS X on high it is terrible with my 8600 GT.

Hope it gets optimized.

FPS/Frame Rate Count is in the top left of the screen = Control + Option/Alt + F
 
On the Blizzard forums people are finding they greatly improve the performance in OS X if they go in to system preferences and change their energy saver to be in high performance mode.
 
redraidermacman said:
maybe a totally newbish thing to ask, but how do you get access to the beta key? all i could dl was the system check, are all of the mac beta keys gone?
Click to expand...

The easiest way to get a beat key is reserve a copy of StarCraft II at GameStop. You just have to put $5 down on the game and they give you a beta key.
 
This is pretty sad. I've been playing under boot camp Windows 7 and have been able to play on Ultra on my 27" quad core imac. Under OSX I have to play on high, which still looks amazing. I guess it's just a mental hurdle to overcome.

I'll try the Energy Saver method someone mentioned tonight
 
Yep, I've been playing it under Windows 7 as well and it performs WONDERFULLY(avg about 30-40fps). In OSX, I'm lucky if I get 15-20.

Kinda blows, but its still beta. I won't be purchasing it if it doesn't improve however.
 
shuurajou said:
On the Blizzard forums people are finding they greatly improve the performance in OS X if they go in to system preferences and change their energy saver to be in high performance mode.
Click to expand...

I don't see it under my OSX preference menu on my iMac?

I actually get better FPS on the OSX side than on my Windows 7 side, maybe i never downloaded the correct drivers for my Windows side :(
 
Cougarcat said:
"High performance mode" is only for laptops. Your CPU is always at its highest because it's a desktop--no need to run it slower for increased battery life.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I don't see it on my 13" late 09' Macbook Pro. After a bit of googling apparently it was removed in 10.6? Couldn't confirm it though.
 
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