# Why is Halo Running Real Slow!



## bkaron (Jan 29, 2004)

It's running real slow, very laggy. Look at my computer specs. Is this normal


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## drunkmac (Jan 29, 2004)

Halo lags for me too and I have only Halo open, a 1ghz powerbook, 512mb of DDR Ram and OS 10.2.8


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## bkaron (Jan 29, 2004)

My firend said that I had a medeoker card. Is this trure?


GeForce4 MX:

  Type:	display
  Bus:	AGP
  VRAM (Total):	32 MB
  Vendor:	nVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID:	0x0179
  Revision ID:	0x00a5
  ROM Revision:	2030

Display:

  Type:	display
  Display Type:	LCD
  VRAM (In Use):	32 MB
  Resolution:	1024 x 768
  Depth:	32-bit Color
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes

NVDA,Display-B:

  Status:	No display connected


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## Arden (Jan 29, 2004)

Probably something lackluster in the video card area.  Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get a better card for a Powerbook, at least on par with a G5 with a Radeon 9800.


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## drunkmac (Jan 29, 2004)

I remember the guy at the Apple store was like "Thats so abnormal." and talked about how he had Halo on a G3 processor running in a "playable" state. That a 1ghz G4 would be great....anyone got Quake 3 Gold?


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## jonmichael23 (Jan 29, 2004)

I have a 1 ghz iMac with 512 mb ram, and nvidia geforce 4 mx with 64 mb and I've only experienced lag once, on the 8th level where theres those two bridges, and the covenants on one and the flood on the other and theyre both shooting and everything.And I don't know why it lagged there, I've been in more intense situations. Anyway, I heard panther is definately recommended, and that it can be anywhere from 25 to 50% faster on panther, depending on your configuration. So I'd get panther. It's a lot better then jaguar.


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## MBHockey (Jan 29, 2004)

I have a 1GHz TiBook and 512 megs of ram.  I also have a decent video card (ati 9000 64mb) and halo runs very poorly.  I think it is just a bad port.  Max payne, which i think has better graphics, runs great on my computer.


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## cellfish (Jan 29, 2004)

I'll tell you why Halo is running slow... cause you're using a Mac!


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## MBHockey (Jan 29, 2004)

cellfish said:
			
		

> I'll tell you why Halo is running slow... cause you're using a Mac!



Yeah, but i wouldn't be gloating with the set you've got   

I have a machine i built a year ago that's real good for games, although i use it more so for video editing

AMD Athlon XP 2800+
1024 mb pc3200 ram
ati all in wonder 9700 pro
two raided 60 gb hd's

 ::ha::


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## cellfish (Jan 29, 2004)

Wouldn't gloat with an Athlon 2200+? Why would I want to gloat? This thing still performs way more than beautifully for everything I do. In fact, it'll probably last me a couple of additional years.


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## MBHockey (Jan 29, 2004)

I'm just playin relax


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## Arden (Jan 30, 2004)

Oy... it's Cellfish.  

Want Halo to run like a champ?  Get a G5!


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## drunkmac (Jan 30, 2004)

I got Halo running perfectly. Just turn down your details a bit and Vertex Shading off. Sure the ground doesnt really have much detail now, but who cares when you get 0% lag! Wheee!


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## cockneygeezer (Jan 31, 2004)

drunkmac said:
			
		

> I got Halo running perfectly. Just turn down your details a bit and Vertex Shading off. Sure the ground doesnt really have much detail now, but who cares when you get 0% lag! Wheee!



Indeed. Initially, I had all the graphics setting on high and it was very sluggish. I then set the monitor to 1024x876, turn down most of the detail and turn off the dynamic lighting etc.

The game now runs fine 

Machine spec below...

Oh, you might want to appliy the updater as well. This might speed up the game...


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## Viro (Jan 31, 2004)

Get an XBox if you want to play Halo.

Halo's performance sucks on most machines because it makes use of vertex (sometime pixel) shaders, a feature found on the GeForce4 (non MX) and up. If these aren't present, the vertex shaders are emulated and thus you get very slow performance.

Try looking at the options and turning off stuff like dynamic lighting, pixel/vertex shaders, shadows. That should speed things up.

Or just buy an XBox. They're pretty cheap these days, and run Halo beautifully.


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## lilbandit (Jan 31, 2004)

Gave up on non-console games a long time ago, you buy a new machine and it cannot play this game or that game within a relatively short period of time. It makes more sense to buy a relatively cheap console every 2 or 3 years. I currently own a playstation 2 with a dozen or so good games, I'll get a playstation 3 within 6-8 months of it's release when the price comes down. Broadband is relatively rare in Ireland (this is changing) so that's not a concern right now. When I get broadband I'll just connect the console. Buying a console means that hardware requirements are irrelevant!


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## Pippin (Jan 31, 2004)

Cant belive anyone thinks a video card under a radion 9600 is a "Decent" video card. The old Ti is alright and the 5200fx is kinda pants, but on these cards you should have no trouble running it. maby a bit crappy on the 5200 mind. Anything like a 9000 64mb sdram will just be PANTS running halo if you are looking for any good sence of gameplay, so i dont just meen "I have a 9000 and it runs" cause its pants on any of these obslete gfx cards. 
Just another reason for apple to start shipping good gfx cards for once.


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## speedfreak (Jan 31, 2004)

lilbandit said:
			
		

> Gave up on non-console games a long time ago...


I dont try to work on my game maching why try to game on my work machine?  
Xbox for me -  Halo is awesome on Xbox.


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## MBHockey (Jan 31, 2004)

pippin i'm assuming that comment on the 9000 is directed towards me.  I really don't mind though, i didn't buy my mac to play games, i'm not a giant computer game nerd as you seem to be.  I was only commenting on the gameplay on my powerbook because i was trying it out on the same model at the Apple store.  i don't know why you are investing so much money in a mac gaming machine when there's very few good games for mac.  And what's with 'pants'? makes you sound like you're 12


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## nb3004 (Jan 31, 2004)

> Anything like a 9000 64mb sdram will just be PANTS running halo if you are looking for any good sence of gameplay


..i assume PANTS means good


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## chevy (Jan 31, 2004)

cellfish said:
			
		

> Wouldn't gloat with an Athlon 2200+? Why would I want to gloat? This thing still performs way more than beautifully for everything I do. In fact, it'll probably last me a couple of additional years.



I agree, the Mac is optimized for professional work in video - sound - image editing and in news paper edition - press work, its processor is optimized for scientific computation and modeling. The PC is better for gaming and admin work.


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## a2daj (Jan 31, 2004)

On Macs, always play with Light Flares on Low or Medium.  When set to High or Extreme, the game will lag heavily, particularly in areas where there's a lot of lights.  Right now, apparently the Light Flares are done in software because Apple doesn't have the necessary extension(s) available in OpenGL.

Technically, Vertex Shaders should be much faster than No Shaders when the option is available and you have the bandwidth to keep the card filled.  In Halo, The Vertex Shaders Only option will only show up if a card that supports it is detected, so you don' t have to worry about the sw emulated VS being used.  But for whatever reason, the Radeon 8500 and 9000 cards seem to be performing much slower than expected on the few systems I've seen performance numbers for.  My brother has a Radeon 8500 in his 1.4 GHz upgraded Sawtooth and he has to play with No Shaders.  This may be due to the 2xAGP port and the 100 MHz system bus.  Since Halo is so much more GPU dependant, it's important to keep the card filled, so for once, the AGP bandwidth actually matters a bit.

There are plenty of good games for the Mac.  Most of the big name games get ported.  Sure, we miss out on some of the big ones, but we still have our fare share of big name ports.  More than enough to fill my free time.


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## Viro (Feb 1, 2004)

You play Halo with no shaders at all? Ewww.... ;P



> ..i assume PANTS means good



Pants = sucks.
I think its mainly used in the UK. I've never seen it used in any other place.


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## mindbend (Feb 1, 2004)

Rumor has it that 10.3.3 has game-related OpenGL optimizations. I don't know if this will help Halo, but it sounds promising. Every litle bit helps I guess.


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## a2daj (Feb 2, 2004)

Someone in another forum mentioned that it fixes the zoom bug when using NV Shaders, a GF3 or GF4Ti, and OS 10.3.2.

BTW, since I've seen so many people ask the same questions over and over again in various forums, I put together a quick Halo performance info page.  It's not close to done, but currently provides some information about the graphics options.


http://homepage.mac.com/a2daj/HaloPerfInfo.html


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## Richman67 (Feb 7, 2004)

Hi all,

Halo runs fine for me on my 1Gz 12" PB...very playable, and this is from a guy with a XP Gamers box on his desktop (AMD 2400+, 512MB and GeForce4 128MB).

Make sure you download the updates.

best,
Rich


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## Ricky (Feb 13, 2004)

The story behind Halo as I've been told...

Halo was originally being developed for Mac, by Bungie, before anything else.  Microsoft bought Bungie and used an ActiveX(?) engine to run the game on the Xbox.  The game was converted so that it would play beautifully on a home-console system.

When Microsoft released the game for Windows, PC users complained just like we did here that the game was barely playable.  It lagged like crazy, and PC users with even the highest end graphics cards found themselves with 640x480 resolutions, barely reaching 30 fps.

Then we got the port, just as crappy as the PC users got (if not crappier, as the machines are faster than they were one or two years ago).  The reason is that the graphics engine is largely unoptimized for anything other than a home gaming console.  The very same machines that are getting 15 fps in Halo are getting 200+ fps in other [comparable] first person shooters.

Just my opinion, but I think they crippled the engine to sell more Xboxes.  :\


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## Viro (Feb 13, 2004)

Its a DirectX engine, not an ActiveX engine  Halo isn't that bad on a highend PC/Mac. Just don't bother playing it on the machines like what I got.


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## Arden (Feb 15, 2004)

Yeah, no kidding.  Halo = t3h 0wn1j on a G5 (from experience), and crap on most G4's from what I hear.  Though it plays well on the 1.7 Ghz computers at Nexus.

The Mac version of Halo is a port of a port of a port of what was originally intended to be a Mac/PC native hybrid.  Stupid Microsoft.


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## Zammy-Sam (Mar 5, 2004)

did anyone ever tried the same like in UT2004Demo? Just to turn off the sound..


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## Viro (Mar 5, 2004)

Look, you're not meant to encourage them


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## Zammy-Sam (Mar 5, 2004)

lol


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## Pippin (Mar 6, 2004)

Hrmm directed to wards you... What makes you so special? Oh you have a 9000 so in turn I must have meant you. Good Logic. And I am not a gaming nerd as you so eloquently put it, I dont point anyone out in the forms cause thats just lame thing to do. The fact of the matter is that no matter how much you can debate over halo, its crap on most graphics cards.


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## Zammy-Sam (Mar 7, 2004)

Pippin said:
			
		

> Hrmm directed to wards you... What makes you so special? Oh you have a 9000 so in turn I must have meant you. Good Logic. And I am not a gaming nerd as you so eloquently put it, I dont point anyone out in the forms cause thats just lame thing to do. The fact of the matter is that no matter how much you can debate over halo, its crap on most graphics cards.


Huh  
Did I miss something? If this is a reply to my post, then I really have no idea what you are talking about


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## Pippin (Mar 8, 2004)

No its not sorry, i was so angry with MBhockeys post that i forgot to quote, whoops -sorry


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