desert fox Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 Dear BTS, just got the game...however I have seen it on an IBM with a G-force image card and it looks much better than my imac's image capabilities. My imac makes the graphics look blotchy (smoke looks like beta demo smaoke). Should I get a new graphics card like a nexus 32Mb card or a 16Mb rage orion card for my mac. Which card would give me the best detail..color...shape..ect. Currently I have an imac with a virtual memory of 997M, it seems to play the small maps the best, graphics wise, otherwise when i play the large med and huge maps the tree and everything else look extremely block like. I'm sure I need a new card, but does anyone know which one will give me the absolute best results? Also, what pixel resolutions should the cards be able to get up to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 How much VRAM do you have, and what kind of graphics card? I play on a iMac DV SE with 196 megs RAM and a 16 meg VRAM ATI 128, and the graphics look very good. I'm not sure, incidentally, that you can actually install a different graphics card in an iMac. Bottom line: Faster cards, with more VRAM, = better CM play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert fox Posted June 25, 2000 Author Share Posted June 25, 2000 I have a regular Imac, and i dont think that it gets nearly as much vram as a imac dv special edition. Is their any upgrade to get mine up to speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 I don't know the answer to that question. I sort of suspect that you can't upgrade the graphics cards on iMacs. They didn't make the machine that easy to upgrade. My machine actually indicates it only has 8 megs VRAM, but I could have sworn the DV SE's had 16. Could be I'm wrong, or the System Profiler is set for older iMacs! In any case, it seems to work fine, but does slow down during very large scenarios, or when there's lots of smoke. But the graphics look fine. Sounds like you may have a good excuse for buying a new computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Grenadier Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 I have a g3 233 desktop.... its aging but far from poor play, i have 128 megs of ram, ATI Rage Orion. So i am just dandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommanderC Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 I would take that imac, wrap the cord around it, and drop-kick it out the back door. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Galanti Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 The iMac DV's have Rage 128 cards, but only 8 megs of VRAM. The older iMacs come with either a Rage II or a Rage Pro. If you have an original iMac (when they first came out) it'll have a Rage II, about the only thing you can do is try to dig up a Microconversions Voodoo 2 card for it. If yours is one of the later iMacs with the Rage Pro, you can get some more VRAM for it, which will help, or you could again try to get the Microconversions Voodoo 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted June 25, 2000 Share Posted June 25, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by desert fox: My imac makes the graphics look blotchy (smoke looks like beta demo smaoke). Should I get a new graphics card like a nexus 32Mb card or a 16Mb rage orion card for my mac.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You can't change the card on a iMac. If it's an older model, you might be able to add vram, as Ben already suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Buckeye: My machine actually indicates it only has 8 megs VRAM, but I could have sworn the DV SE's had 16. Could be I'm wrong, or the System Profiler is set for older iMacs! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Your system profiler is correct - the iMac DV SE comes with 8MB VRAM, non-upgradeable. I know, b/c I have one and I checked the Apple TIL. The reason for that is that Steve Jobs (aka Li'l Bill) has decided that 8MB is enough. So there. If I land the job on Wednesday, I will have a G4/500 before the year is up. Desert Fox, any idea which generation iMac you have? Is it slot-loading CD, what colour, what processor speed (you find the latter in the System Profiler in your Apple Menu). ------------------ Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mirage2k Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 The first line of iMacs (through Rev. D, I believe) had a tray-loading CD-ROM drive and either a Rage II[c?] or Rage Pro graphics card. I have one with a Rage Pro and 6MB of VRAM. Smoke looks fine. I would guess that you have a Rage II. The only thing you can do is add more VRAM, try to find Microconversions GameWizard Voodoo II, or buy a new computer. -Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mirage2k Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 Also...you say you've got virtual memory set at 997MB? Turn it DOWN, man. That'll give you serious speed issues. Are you running with just the preinstalled 32MB of memory? If so, set your virtual memory to 64MB, at the most. If you get more memory (like 128MB or so), set virtual memory to just 1MB above your physical RAM. -Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MantaRay Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 I say get a PC and then you will have a much better CM experience! Ray ------------------ When asked, "How many moves do you see ahead?", CAPABLANCA replied: "One move - the best one." MantaRays 5 Pages Hardcore Gamers Daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 The Microconversions Voodoo card is available for $95 at the folowing site: http://shop.macsales.com/macsales/XLR8yourmac/XLR8yourmac.taf As pointed out by PFord, another Imac user. the install is somewhat daunting but not that difficult. It is an orphan product so it won't be very well supported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted June 26, 2000 Share Posted June 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by desert fox: Dear BTS, just got the game...however I have seen it on an IBM with a G-force image card and it looks much better than my imac's image capabilities. My imac makes the graphics look blotchy (smoke looks like beta demo smaoke). Should I get a new graphics card like a nexus 32Mb card or a 16Mb rage orion card for my mac. Which card would give me the best detail..color...shape..ect. Currently I have an imac with a virtual memory of 997M, it seems to play the small maps the best, graphics wise, otherwise when i play the large med and huge maps the tree and everything else look extremely block like. I'm sure I need a new card, but does anyone know which one will give me the absolute best results? Also, what pixel resolutions should the cards be able to get up to? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hi 'Fox: I've been a Mac user for some time. I'm also a certified Apple Product Professional. There are also a lot of other Mac users here too. I'm sure one of us can get you working properly. The iMac has more than enough power to play Combat Mission fully. Let's start with the basic stuff. What iMac do you have? - Is is a "DV" model? - Processor speed? - Memory? (Not your Virtual Memory setting - the amount of real RAM you have installed) As Mirage 2K pointed out, you should not have your Virtual Memory setting as high as 997M. Click on "Use Defaults" in your Memory control panel, and leave it alone. Check your Combat Mission settings. You can adjust the detail of the smoke and tree graphics. Make sure they are set to what you want. Once you reply with the type of iMac you have, we'll know what we're dealing with, and can help you further. There should be no reason you need to change the video card in your iMac to play Combat Mission. ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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