5 replies to this topic

[Teifus]

This topic has come up a number of times as there are quite a number of Mac users out there so I thought I'd share my experiences.

There are 3 options for running the game on the Mac.

• Bootcamp. This basically partitions your hard drive into a Mac and Windows partition and allows you to natively boot into Windows on your Mac. To do this, you will need a large enough hard drive and a Windows license. The biggest downside with this approach (IMHO) is that you need a dedicated Windows partition, and this is not always feasible when you are using an SSD. The big advantage is that you're running Windows natively so you get great performance and no issues.
  
• Wine. This is a Win32 compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows binaries on the Mac. There's a page on attempts to get this running with not much success. Keep in mind that the majority of Wine users run Linux, so running Wine on the Mac is even more of an unknown. I don't know if anyone has got this working, but the obvious advantage is you don't need a Windows partition or a Windows license. The downside should be pretty obvious.
  
• Virtualization. Running Windows in a virtual machine(VM) isn't as crazy as it sounds! You'll need either VMWare Fusion or Parallels. VirtualBox is free, but the 3D support is absolutely rubbish so don't bother attempting to game in it.

I had to go with virtualization as I don't have the disk space for a dedicated Windows partition, and my life is too short to faff about with Wine. In addition to that, being a developer I already had access to VMWare Fusion and some Windows licenses so I thought I'd give it a go.



Of the two products, Parallels runs the game a lot better than VMWare Fusion. With my 2012 Macbook Pro with an nVidia 650M, I'd average 60+ FPS in Parallels with the low preset at 1440x900. The same settings in VMWare Fusion produce about 40+ FPS. While both these numbers sound adequate, I noticed that the framerate would dip a lot more in VMWare Fusion. I've lost count of the number of times I've missed a shot because the frame rate dipped (I could also be a {Scrap} pilot, but let's assume I'm competent ). In terms of minimal frame rates, Parallels just seems much better and smoother.

Here's a screenshot of what the game looks like running in a VM.
Parallels. 60+ fps.



VMWare Fusion 6
40+ fps


Parallels is generally better for gaming. It supports DirectX 10, and you can assign up to 1GB of video RAM if your physical hardware supports it. VMWare Fusion is limited to 256 MB of video RAM and DirectX 9.

Hope someone finds this useful.

Edited by Teifus, 03 October 2013 - 04:43 AM.

[Catamount]

256MB of VRAM?! I'm astounded the game runs at all on that. That's probably why your game is stalling out in VMWare; you're filling up the frame buffer. IIRC, MWO can use a little more than 1GB or VRAM on the highest settings, but on lower-medium settings you should be fine with 1GB. Hell, if your GPU is giving 60+ fps, turn up the settings! The minimums are going to be CPU-bound, so those won't change.

Edited by Catamount, 01 October 2013 - 07:43 AM.

[Sen]

Also, would be helpful to list your spec. Are you on a top end iMac or a 2011 Macbook air? It does make a difference ;-)

[Teifus]

Updated to mention that I'm on a 2012 Macbook Pro with the nVidia 650m video chip.

[Teifus]

Catamount, on 01 October 2013 - 07:43 AM, said:

256MB of VRAM?! I'm astounded the game runs at all on that. That's probably why your game is stalling out in VMWare; you're filling up the frame buffer. IIRC, MWO can use a little more than 1GB or VRAM on the highest settings, but on lower-medium settings you should be fine with 1GB. Hell, if your GPU is giving 60+ fps, turn up the settings! The minimums are going to be CPU-bound, so those won't change.

My laptop has 1 GB of VRAM so I can't allocate all of it to the VM as some of that will be used by the host. Having it run at an average of 60+ fps just keeps things running smoother, especially when you're in the middle of a firefight.

[Heedlix]

Hi guys...

I've got a 2011 MBP with the Radeon 6750M and 1GB of VRAM, so I think I'll be able to run the game fine. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what size partition I need for Bootcamp. I tried 40GB, got through my Windows install, installed Firefox and MWO, but when I wanted to patch, it said I didn't have enough temp drive space. Do you know if I can put my temp drive on my mac partition?? I'd hate to have to resize the partition and start all over.

Thanks....