[AussieMacGamer]

I was digging up some dirt on the Mac version of Guitar Hero 3 today. It doesnt seem to have hit a widespread audience yet (the hybrid version that is) so all i was getting was PC opinions. So far i am yet to see a very positive reaction.

This from a poster on Digg

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don't know guys, you might be pretty disappointed with the performance of it. Aspyr ported the Windows versions too, and it was very poorly optimized. Here's my system specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo e6300 @3.2 Ghz
2GB of DDR2-800 @1066
Geforce 7900GS OC'd @ 600/1600
2X 320GB Seagate .10 + 1x 500 Seagate .10
It doesn't run very well at all, it's playable, but it does give some lag when hitting the keys. My system can play COD4, Bioshock, and Dirt @1280x720 very nicely, but Guitar Hero lags. Hopefully you guys don't get as popsnizzlety as a port as we got.

This from the Gamespy Review (note they only tested the PC side of things)

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Unfortunately, you'll most likely feel compelled to turn those graphics down in a hurry, as we had issues with the game stuttering on our main test rig (an Alienware PC with a 2.66 GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB RAM, and a GeForce 8800GTX). Although the game ran fine about 95% of the time, it would often stutter a bit at the start of songs or at random moments throughout, a dealbreaker in a fast-paced rhythm game like Guitar Hero. Sadly, setting the graphics to low detail, turning off the crowd and physics and lowering the resolution to a prehistoric 800x600 didn't seem to help much, leaving us scratching our heads. This same machine has spent the majority of the past month running Enemy Territory, Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4 at 1920x1080 with barely a stutter, so the technical performance is a bit of a downer...
...Overall, the PC version of Guitar Hero III is a solid port of a fairly awesome game. If not for the high system demands and random slowdowns, it might actually compete with the 360 and Wii for the best version available

This video from an angry youtuber entitled "Guitar Hero 3 for PC SUCKS" outlines this most obvious problem with GH3. At around 1:00 in there are several Lag Fits which result in the player missing notes. The youtuber, "Bakudai" comments that "everyone who worked on it(the PC port) should seriously think about killing themselves.". Youtube has seemed to have become a small vehicle for users to vent their thoughts concerning the game. These comments come from a test video of GH3

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man... i got a Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2gb ram and Geforce 7300 LE, the game runs like popsnizzle xP..really suck.... when the game come up with 3 frets to press it freeze a lot....and it is running at the lowest config... =/

Back to a critical opinion.
Game spot mentions these points in its PC review

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Guitar Hero III delivers the rock to PC owners, but it does it with the performance capability of a second-rate bar band...
...One thing about the PC version of Guitar Hero III that makes it potentially more difficult than its console brethren is the generally slothful performance the game can turn in. The steep minimum system requirements include a 2.8 GHz dual-core processor, a gig of RAM (2 gigs if you're running Vista), and either a Radeon X800 or Geforce 7600 video card to run. On the two systems we tested, which both exceeded these statistics, we still ran into some general sluggishness with the game. The 360 and PS3 versions of Guitar Hero III had some notable frame rate issues, but nothing quite like this. Notes will sometimes seem to be behind the music, and it's not uncommon to see notes just skip on down the fretboard to catch back up. For a rhythm game this is a killer, since precise timing is needed for success. The Vista machine we tested on displayed issues like this only on a very infrequent basis, and with a bit of lag calibration, it mostly ran quite well. However, the XP machine we used (which included a Pentium D 3.40 GHz dual-core processor, a gig of RAM, and a Geforce 7800 GTX video card) became practically unplayable in spots, even with all the graphical effects turned to low and the crowd graphics turned off.

So far i have heard no comments on the mac port.

Another interesting point i noted down is that there is supposedly a lot of In-Game advertising that didnt seem to find its way to the Console versions one reviewer said he hoped these adds didnt come at the expense of performance.
I am looking foreward to seeing how performance turns out on Mac OS X, and i bloody hope Aspyr (for their sake) fixes these performance issues.
P.S i hope more that the hybrid version hits Aussie stores verry soon

[Nicholas]

I wonder how much of the problem is caused by Windows deciding to sort out the swap file, or some other multi-tasking program deciding it needs a bit more attention...

[AussieMacGamer]

a suspicious amount of the youtubers seem like they are pirating too, not to mention using the keyboard and mouse, not the official controller.
but if you watch the video's you'll see that there are certain effects that just chuck the video into a lag fit. i wonder if there would be a way for them to separate the Graphics proscesses by doing like a virtual Key of the fretboard and the main parts of the game and making the computer see that as the No1 priority, so if the visuals want to lag, they can, but the fretboard is forced into solid video performance?

[the Battle Cat]

The General forum isn't the place for the discussion of specific titles. Because this is about the Mac version based on the PC version I'm going to put it with the other Mac Guitar Hero stuff. So hold that note, we are going there now!

[QuantaCat]

Well technically, the mac version based on the console version, just like the PC version. Rock.

[teflon]

the problem here is that its a port from the X360 version... which obviously pushes everything to the max on that system, and will be far beyond what quite a few PCs will be able to manage simply because they dont have 3 3.2Ghz cores or a GPU that is tailored to that system, not to mention that the game will be optimised to use every nook and cranny of that system, which isnt possible on PC which needs to accommodate a large number of configs...

of course, that doesnt really help console you when you cant hit the notes in sync with the graphics which are lagging as a result of some kind of CPU based lag... which is quite disappointing really.

[QuantaCat]

..although it would be funny if it would run better on mac than on PC, simply due to less hardware configs around. I would laugh. Not that I hate PC or PC games, but TAKE THAT, JOBS!

[AussieMacGamer]

i am verry eager to hear about mac performance

[Whaleman]

the Battle Cat, on December 13th 2007, 04:30 PM, said:

The General forum isn't the place for the discussion of specific titles. Because this is about the Mac version based on the PC version I'm going to put it with the other Mac Guitar Hero stuff. So hold that note, we are going there now!

It would make more sense to move it and the other guitar hero topics to arcade gaming where it belongs

[Lemon Lime]

A port is still a port, never quite as good as the original thing regardless at how meticulously it was ported. It's like this in all games, just a heck of a lot more noticeable when you NEED to maintain 60FPS with 0 lag in order to play successfully.

[AussieMacGamer]

so a port is still a port even when your getting lag well within the Recommended system requirements?

[bobbob]

Lemon Lime, on December 13th 2007, 09:36 PM, said:

just a heck of a lot more noticeable when you NEED to maintain 60FPS with 0 lag in order to play successfully

Lag and FPS aren't totally important. The synchronization is, and a constant low FPS and few tens of ms lag would be OK if the music and video are still in synch with a fudge factor for that lag.

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Notes will sometimes seem to be behind the music, and it's not uncommon to see notes just skip on down the fretboard to catch back up.

Whatever the FPS, that doesn't look like proper synch, and I'm guessing Aspyr couldn't quite handle it.
Just looking at one of those 'reviews':

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man... i got a Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2gb ram and Geforce 7300 LE

The PC box says min. Geforce 7600, so good luck with that. Aspyr had to concede the 7300 for the Mac version because of the Mac Pro, but I doubt it would be OK there, either.

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advertising that didnt seem to find its way to the Console versions

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One thing the PC version doesn't have (yet?) is access to the guitarhero.com online community. This web tool, that pools stats and organizes tournaments from the Wii, PS3, and 360 titles, is a great addition and sorely missed on PC.

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The co-op quickplay and boss battle battle gripses were patched on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but no patches have been released as of yet for the PC. This lack of patches raises an interesting point for the PC version. Patches, it seems, start first on the consoles. We assume they'll make it to the PC version eventually, but who knows?

Boo! Hiss! Oh, and the lack of downloadable tracks and the non-working multiplayer are real bummers. Patches coming soon, Glenda?

[AussieMacGamer]

Just read the IMG review, and there is absolutely no way i am buying it until all the technical issues are ironed out

[bobbob]

I'm going to go with "Aspyr is teh FAIL". Even if they do fix everything they need to be fixing ASAP, the game is like the Doors after Morrison, Queen after Freddie, Metallica after the black album, ...

NSFW
http://www.escapistm...Guitar-Hero-III

They should have backed the horse with the track record and done Rock Band.

[Nicholas]

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Patches coming soon, Glenda?

Do I see a pig around here ? Spider-pig...

[seven]

The question is why would they port the xbox360 version...maybe a PS2 port would be playable on the PC or Mac.

[Eric5h5]

seven, on December 15th 2007, 09:46 PM, said:

The question is why would they port the xbox360 version...maybe a PS2 port would be playable on the PC or Mac.

'Cause then there would be endless complaining about how PC users were getting second best and how dare Aspyr pull such a lame stunt when they could have ported the Xbox360 version, etc. etc.

--Eric

[rob_ART]

For the record, the GH 2 guitar for the Xbox 360 works on my Macs.

I noticed GH III for the Mac sets the Graphics defaults differently, depending on the Mac. For example, on the MacBook Pro, it sets it to 800x600, low graphics detail, no crowd, physics off, lens flare off. On the iMac Core 2 Duo 2.8, it defaults to 1024x768, low graphics detail, normal crowd, physics on, lens flare off.

In either case, with default settings, I got some stutter that made me miss notes. And if I increased the quality of graphics settings in any way, it got worse.

I haven't tried the 8-core Mac Pro with the Radeon X1900 XT yet. If it can't keep up, that's going to be pretty sad.

[Auron]

I'm kinda confused as to why they chose to port the 360 version. Why not port the PS2 version, with less spiffy graphics, and maximize your audience? Seems like a major mistake on their part. Its not Call of Duty 4 or something here, you don't need the most amazing graphics for guitar hero.

[bobbob]

Auron, on December 17th 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

I'm kinda confused as to why they chose to port the 360 version. Why not port the PS2 version, with less spiffy graphics, and maximize your audience?

Or, instead, why not make an engine that scales down to PS2-levels to be playable (if that's what it takes)?