52 replies to this topic

[lobster-Johnson]

Got Quake 4?  Then please post your specs, FPS, and and general performance comments.

I'm especially interested in how this works on lower spec machines (like my 1.6 G5 tower) or if non-supported video cards work when the game is tweaked in the CFG.  At macgamer.com, one guy is running the game on a G4 1GHZ with a Radeon 9800.

Thanks

[steiner designer]

lobster-Johnson, on April 8th 2006, 11:38 PM, said:

Got Quake 4?  Then please post your specs, FPS, and and general performance comments.

I'm especially interested in how this works on lower spec machines (like my 1.6 G5 tower) or if non-supported video cards work when the game is tweaked in the CFG.  At macgamer.com, one guy is running the game on a G4 1GHZ with a Radeon 9800.

Thanks

sorry for the rookie question: How do you benchmark this game? I imagine that you open the console first (press the "~" key), then type showfps = 1, or something like that?

[kevind7195]

My 20inch Intel Mac gets 50-60 fps at medium settings and resolution 1280x1024 no AA. I have 128meg ATI video option and 1gig ddr ram.  Sometimes drops as low as 28-35 fps during heavy fight or outside.  Online play maps, my frames stay up over 60fps.   To check fps - open console (ctrl-option-~) then type com_showfps 1

[AussieMacGamer]

2nd gen Imac G5 runs it pretty well at 800X600 on  low...im scared to put it any higher

but well worth playing anyway i still love it!

[teflon]

just give it a go anyway. you can at least turn the textures up to medium for one thing. and if youve got lots of RAM try going at 1024x768 too.

[iRolley]

kevind7195, on April 9th 2006, 05:39 PM, said:

My 20inch Intel Mac gets 50-60 fps at medium settings and resolution 1280x1024 no AA. I have 128meg ATI video option and 1gig ddr ram.  Sometimes drops as low as 28-35 fps during heavy fight or outside.  Online play maps, my frames stay up over 60fps.   To check fps - open console (ctrl-option-~) then type com_showfps 1

Interesting. I also have a 20inch iMac, but I was playing on High at 1024 x 640 (widescreen) and my Framerate was usually around 30, oscillating between 24 and 60. I wasn't expecting much better fps in medium but I'll definitely try it if I can both up the resolution and get better frame rates.

What really slowed down the game wasn't how much action there was on the screen but more the use of some complex shaders, especially for shiny metal. I remember a very simple room where as soon as i looked at a metal terminal (or something) my fps would drop from 40 to 25.

Globally though, the performance is great (single player, haven't tried online yet). Even outdoor environment run very smoothly, that impressed me a lot. I wish there were more.

Those new iMac are finally fine gaming machines, although in a few months the X1600 will be a low-end card.

[leifishy]

Here is my system: PowerMac G5 1.6 ghz
                             ATI MAC/PC 9600 256 mb vram
                             1.5 gb RAM
My Settings are: 1024x768, Medium, No AA, Vsync Off, No shadows.

I am using various performance tweaks in the config file.  My framerates with no shadows ranged from the 20-60, falling in the low 20's during heavy fighting.  With shadows, it would drop by an average of 10-20 fps.

I've noticed a couple of strange things in performance.  I got higher fps at 1024x768 than 800x600, with the same settings.  I added  g_simpleItems 1 , r_lightDetailLevel 0 to my autoexec.cfg file.  I launched the game at  quick save point, shadows off,  and didn't notice any difference in frame rate or appearance.  I turned shadows on, returned to game and the lighting was still as bright(as if no shadows were turned on) yet there were shadows cast by objects and npcs.(as if shadows were on)  My frame rate only dropped by 4 fps.

I exited the game with shadows still on, relaunched to the same save point, and now the lighting looked like it should with shadows on and my frame rate fell as it should by 15 fps.  I turned shadows off, exited, relaunched, turned shadows back on, and had the same effect as previously stated.  It looks cool with the brightness and the shadows, and not take such a huge frame rate hit.  

Anyone else experience this?

[paulc]

I take it there's no "timedmo" built into the game?

[Amon CMB]

paulc, on April 14th 2006, 09:40 AM, said:

I take it there's no "timedmo" built into the game?

Any word on if Quake 4 supports dual-CPU?

[Quicksilver]

paulc, on April 14th 2006, 09:40 AM, said:

I take it there's no "timedmo" built into the game?

  

No, there isn't a built in demo for you to use.  You'll either have to create your own or download someone else's.

Amon CMB, on April 14th 2006, 05:39 PM, said:

Any word on if Quake 4 supports dual-CPU?

Not on the Mac yet, but the SMP patch should be out by the end of the month (according to Aspyr).


By the way guys, I have a performance tip for you: try telling Quake 4 to cull (ie, not draw) everything behind you.  This can noticeably increase performance without any visual quality loss--however, certain systems will show some pretty interesting visual anomalies with it on, which is why backface culling is disabled by default.

To enable backface culling, bring down the console, and type:

cm_backFaceCull 1
(0 is off--which is the default)

If you see anything weird (it'll be blatantly obvious), then turn it off.  Otherwise, enjoy the increased performance!  Note:  unless you create a .cfg file, you'll have to enter this command every time you quit and reopen Quake 4.

[steiner designer]

running through the first level, I'm falling between 40-60 fps.

That's with 1600 x 1200 on high quality.

Pretty darned sweet!

[teflon]

that is NICE! just wait till you get that SMP patch, then well see if your CPU "limited" (hah! yeah right... quad 2.5?!?).

[dj phat 2000]

steiner designer, on April 14th 2006, 04:27 PM, said:

running through the first level, I'm falling between 40-60 fps.

That's with 1600 x 1200 on high quality.

Pretty darned sweet!

That actually sounds pretty good for the resolution and quality you have it at for a 2.5GHz CPU.  Being that the SMP patch should pretty much keep you at 60 the entire time.  That patch supports HT and Dual Core, so you have 4 real ones, the boost should be up to 87% or more (I'm guessing based off the PC side). Which means this game will  KICK major Butt for you

I'll wait till the patch.  I want to play this on my Mac as well.  But, I'm not going to even bother without the SMP support first.

[bobbob]

Quicksilver, on April 14th 2006, 03:49 PM, said:

try telling Quake 4 to cull (ie, not draw) everything behind you
...
To enable backface culling, bring down the console, and type:

cm_backFaceCull 1

That's not culling everything behind you, that's culling everything that's facing away from you.

[Quicksilver]

bobbob, on April 15th 2006, 11:10 AM, said:

That's not culling everything behind you, that's culling everything that's facing away from you.

Ah, I misunderstood.  Thanks for the correction!

[Thinine]

Quicksilver: Do you have to issue a vid_restart for the culling to take effect or not? I didn't notice any difference when I tried it, but then I wasn't restarting the vid.

If someone can find a way to make reproducible demos, I'll be all over it.

[iRolley]

I tried recording my own timedemos

recorddemo demo1
stoprecording
timedemo demo1

but it always freezes when loading the level for the demo. Has someone else succeeded ?

[Quicksilver]

Thinine, on April 18th 2006, 11:55 AM, said:

Quicksilver: Do you have to issue a vid_restart for the culling to take effect or not? I didn't notice any difference when I tried it, but then I wasn't restarting the vid.

  

I don't think that you have to restart it, but then again, the performance increase has a lot to do with your system specs and how much stuff is being culled at your current location in the game.

iRolley, on April 18th 2006, 12:14 PM, said:

I tried recording my own timedemos

recorddemo demo1
stoprecording
timedemo demo1

but it always freezes when loading the level for the demo. Has someone else succeeded ?

There is no demo1.  You have to make your own demo or download someone else's.

[Huntn]

kevind7195, on April 9th 2006, 06:39 PM, said:

My 20inch Intel Mac gets 50-60 fps at medium settings and resolution 1280x1024 no AA. I have 128meg ATI video option and 1gig ddr ram.  Sometimes drops as low as 28-35 fps during heavy fight or outside.  Online play maps, my frames stay up over 60fps.   To check fps - open console (ctrl-option-~) then type com_showfps 1

I assume this game was released as a universal binary?
Thanks

-Hunt'n

[teflon]

you assume right.