M. Bates Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Just got a 2nd hand iMac, the screen res goes up to 1024 x 768, is that considered "hi-res" enuff for Combat Mission play? Also, what is the best graphics card to buy for a Macintosh at the moment? ------------------ Rugged Defense England Team Website: http://combatmission.portland.co.uk For all our AARs ------------------ "I drive over farmyard animals in my farmyard tractor, then I laugh afterwards."--CavScout [comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.war-historical] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapdragon Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Originally posted by M. Bates: Just got a 2nd hand iMac, the screen res goes up to 1024 x 768, is that considered "hi-res" enuff for Combat Mission play? Also, what is the best graphics card to buy for a Macintosh at the moment? Yes, that is plenty hi -res, and the Imac does not need a graphics card, nor can it install one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow 1st Hussars Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Just so you know iMac's are not good computers. They may look good on the..no wait...they don't look good on the outside..anyways, if you want high-quality mac gaming you need a G3 tower or a G4. The guy at the computer store I get my computer stuff at describes them as "beginner computers". They lack many things, espcially in the way of upgrades. You can't have an iMac with a super duper 22" flat panel $6000cdn LCD screen. You'll probably see some "fuzzyness" in the screen due to the lack of Hz in the screen. ------------------ Charlie don't Surf shadow@jagdtiger.de <A HREF="http://www.orbitonline.ca/~Shadow/index.html " TARGET=_blank>http://www.orbitonline.ca/~Shadow/index.html </A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karch Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Hussar... most of what you said is not true. Just so you know iMac's are not good computers. -that is not true. They are great computers. A fantastic value for the money. They may look good on the..no wait...they don't look good on the outside..anyways, -Yeah, says you and I say they look better than any PC you can buy. if you want high-quality mac gaming you need a G3 tower or a G4. -Not true. I play CM on a G4 at work and iMac and iBook at home. They work great. Better than lots of medium range PCs you could compare them too. They are very good game machines. The guy at the computer store I get my computer stuff at describes them as "beginner computers". -Spoken like a true salesman that makes more money from a high end computer than a low end one. We use them for high end servers and lots of other uses at our office. They lied to you or are ignorant They lack many things, espcially in the way of upgrades. You can't have an iMac with a super duper 22" flat panel $6000cdn LCD screen. -Aside from an external display, I don't know of ANY devices you can not connect via FireWire or USB. Even legacy serial or SCSI devices can be hooked up with adapters. You'll probably see some "fuzzyness" in the screen due to the lack of Hz in the screen. -iMacs have some of the highest refresh rates for their screens i"ve ever seen. 117hz at 640x480 95hz at 800x600 75hz at 1024x768 These are VERY respectable refresh rates. Check out the refresh rates on your monitor to see how they compare. Aside from which, fuzziness on your screen has nothing to do with refresh rates. Slow refresh rates will make your screen look like it's flickering, while really fast refresh rates are easier on the eyes for extended periods of time because of the lack of visible flicker. Please check your facts before slamming a computer you know nothing about. It's tough enough converting PC users back to a Mac without all the untrue myths about Macs that are perpeptuated. scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 As an FYI, a revision A or B 233 Imac can accomodate a iMac GameWizard 3DFX Voodoo II w/ 8MB Vram in the mezzanine slot. The card you need is in limited production and can be found at: http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC.taf?_process=additionaloptions&Type=Acceleration&Model=61 the price today is 84.95. This is a fairly old card and the company that originally developed it is now gone. If you go to the Tech forum there are several references to useres some of whom have had success with it. The revB iMac is adequate for most any scenario, you will want to upgrde the memory if it has not already been done. A 128 meg chip is @$80. Look at Ramseeker.com for the best prices. It is kind of a tedious install but done in 20 miniutes. Good luck. Karl Mead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 I have to chime in here, the iMac is clearly a starter computer that has many limitations. The thing is it is an excellent computer and very reliable. My kids have been using our rev B iMac for over two years every day, installing their own software and so on. It hasn't broken, nor crashed very often and has not required system reinstalls. I am a designer and among my many duties is software and hardware testing and specification for my department. I have 11 hot NT systems, several plebian Win95 corp spec machines, 3 iMacs and 14 G4s. Of all these machines the iMacs (running 20" Moby CRT) have been the most reliable and trouble free. My G4 with a 22 CInema Display (its great to be King) has been great but it is much newer so I wouldn't expect anything less. The NTs need constant tinkering and maintenance and the software problems we have are huge. I can't wait for OSX and Maya to arrive so I can dump the NTs once and for all. Don't sell these little machines short, are they the be all or end all of computing, no. Tehy will play most of the available Mac games adequately including Driver and the recently released Rogue Spear. They are not great gaming machines, but they are more than adequate for 90% of the tasks average users need a computer for. [This message has been edited by kmead (edited 02-01-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 A 128 meg chip is @$80! Living in America! Madmatt lock it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Okay so I was wrong, the lowest price was $43 plus shipping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Kmead, ohhh pleaseee! (Cheap). I live in Europe ( Hmmm I think so) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 M. Bates, Though a stock 233 MHz iMac doesn't even meet BTS-prescribed technical minimums for system specs, I can assure you that it will run CM quite well and solidly. Mine is a Gen One machine which has 64 MB of RAM (added 32 MB) and the original ATI RAGE Pro (2 MB VRAM). With it, I'm able to run at 640 x 480 only, but it still blows the minds of my PC using friends. I believe this is some system default. I'd love to play at higher resolution, but that would take that card someone described and maybe more RAM to boot. I'm not presently using any mods other than the explosion and smoke mod subsequently used by BTS. Here are some things which will help. You'll need to get SoundSprockets, and you want the early version. I believe it's 1.03. It's available for free from www.apple.com. You don't need GameSprockets, though. Another thing which'll save you some grief is to always remember to change resolution to 640 x 480 before starting the game. Otherwise, the automatic reset will mash together your Desktop icons, and you'll have to untangle them. Be sure to revert to 800 x 600 before sending E-mail turns out, etc. Finally, a search under "iMac" will turn up a bunch of useful posts which will further enlighten you. Some of them are mine. Welcome aboard! John Kettler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Just out of curiousity, how much is RAM where you live? Just so you know, your name is no indication of your current locale, so kindly tone down your sarcasm. I was just rying to be helpful with a litltle info I know. Have a nice evening. Alright, so I should have looked at his signature line, my stupidity. I do have one question, why are your prices so high? [This message has been edited by kmead (edited 02-01-2001).] [This message has been edited by kmead (edited 02-01-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 John, Hi res mods? Just asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Kmead, sorry if I was rude. There is no RAM where I live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 And, yes, Im MAC user! STOP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Ales Dvorak, I'm not quite sure I follow you, but not only are there some Mac mods, but CMHQ has two different utilities which convert Windows mods to Mac graphic format. I've gotten as far as downloading them, but have yet to download and install any mods. Be sure to explore other sites on the CM WebRing, like http://cm4mac.tripod.com, for one. From what I can tell, if you have enough RAM and VRAM you'll be able to run even the high res mods, but you'll probably take a big performance hit. This is because you're pushing hordes of polygons in order to provide all that immersive detail. Hope this helps. Regards, John Kettler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 John tx! Which sky mods do you use ?(if ( for example) I have to renumbered Garry 's sky mods . it is OK pbm ( hi res?) for PC, but not for MAC. (Garry sorry) 1430 bmp.... OK, Im drunk! Regards AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Bates Posted February 2, 2001 Author Share Posted February 2, 2001 Sorry guys, did not make myself clear, and Slapdragon should take some of the blame for making it sound like I have the Summer '98 iMac... I actually got an iMac DV, 256MB for a very reasonable price. I'm sure that these are upgradable! The forum users here seem to be graphics card whizzkids, so what do you recommend? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 M Bates: The iMac DV is a good mac. Unsure of your mhz, but I am pretty sure your model has 8 mb of v-ram. That will be adaquet for playing CM, and probably for some cool mods, including some nice hi-res ones as well. (Tiger's Panther and Tiger hi-res mods are beatiful & stunning) All iMacs are upgradeable in processor and memory. Only the first rev. a & b models as stated in an above post are upgradeable with the special Voodoo II card hookup. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 double post. [This message has been edited by Freak (edited 02-02-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Originally posted by M. Bates: I actually got an iMac DV, 256MB for a very reasonable price. I'm sure that these are upgradable! I have the first iMac DV SE G3/400, 256MB RAM. Apart from upgrading main memory there is nothing you can (or need to) do. End of story. Check the Mac tech support files at Apple's website. ------------------ Andreas Der Kessel Home of „Die Sturmgruppe“; Scenario Design Group for Combat Mission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmead Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Yes if you have a DV there is little you can upgrade. Main system RAM, the hard drive, and thats it. The newer iMacs are effectively a closed system as the video circuitry is mounted t the motherboard, there is no slot to install anything into. Now if you had one of the old G3 PCI desktops (beige or blue) you could install on of the PCI based Radeon 32 Mb cards... (and sometime soon the NVidia Gforce2s). You are in luck in that you do at least have a video out to run a larger monitor if you want : ) Sorry for the news, but don't despair as your iMac will serve you well for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mikey D Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 G4 towers with OS9 have been known to spontaneously lock-up and crash while playing CM. Hell, they spontaneously lock-up and crash using simpletext! (don't mind me, i'm just bitter) imacs are great computers for what they are. Not everybody is going to be manipulating giasnt graphics files in photoshop. Debating imacs with techno-freaks is like trying to convince a motorhead that your Ford Escort is a perfectly adequate car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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