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Took the Bootcamp plunge!!!
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Agent Xena
Doomheim
#1 - 2013-03-25 03:41:55 UTC
Ok so I've been having a lot of issues with the Mac client. Performance is bad, lots of unexplained bugs that linger for months, some stuff gets fixed only to be reintroduced later, and I just don't feel confident that everything will work properly, especially after a patch. If you warp in on a large fleet, forget it because a freeze is imminent. Note that my system is no slouch (Late 2010 iMac 27 inch, Intel i7, 16GB).

So I installed Bootcamp with Win7 last night to see if the difference is notable. OMG! The difference is absolutely SHOCKING!!! Two clients with nearly maxed settings running at full res (fixed window mode) on 27" and 24" monitors running at 60 FPS consistently. No slowdowns, no freezes, not a single glitch. Switching between clients is seamless (on Mac it requires multiple clicks to activate other window).

Of course it's less convenient to have to reboot, but IMHO it's worth it. No going back for me! If you're struggling with the Mac client, definitely give bootcamp a try!
Nihassa
RvB Industries
#2 - 2013-03-27 13:18:56 UTC
Yup have to agree, I battled with EVE on a mac for a few years, until it just became impossible to enjoy the game, and warped my desk with the heat produced from my MBP.
Only got on to bootcamp for EVE, however, oddly that opened up so many more games to play, I ending up playing EVE less!

CCP your mac client is so bad it doesnt do your game justice, you should offer reduced subs or something as the service you provide to Mac users and PC users is worlds apart. (I havent obv thought this through it just a thought). I still love EVE and now run bootcamp on all my macs, so thanks for the motivation!

I cannot stress enough to any Mac users that are finding the mac issues reduce game quality, bootcamp is so easy to setup on any mac made in the last 3-4 years and the performance boost is super.
Darryn Lowe
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2013-03-27 19:12:13 UTC
The other thing to try is run a Parallels (not VMWare or VirtualBox) virtual machine. I do that often and it works a treat.

The problem with the Mac client is that it is not actually a Mac port. It's the Windows client wrapped in a technology called Cider which translates Direct X calls to OpenGL on the fly. This causes a performance hit because it means the translation is done while playing.

Parallels does the same thing but it does it slightly differently in that the Windows drivers are actually calls to OpenGL but letting the hardware do the work as opposed to Cider which does it all through software.

My request to CCP is actually build a proper OpenGL client for Mac OS X with no Cider anywhere near it. Yes I know this requires more staff to do but the results will be worth it.
Trion Roles
Sons of Bistot
Intaki-Business Logistics Union
#4 - 2013-04-04 01:45:59 UTC
It ran too slow on parallels for me.
Hemirr
Viziam
Amarr Empire
#5 - 2013-05-05 16:11:14 UTC
Darryn Lowe wrote:
The other thing to try is run a Parallels (not VMWare or VirtualBox) virtual machine. I do that often and it works a treat.

The problem with the Mac client is that it is not actually a Mac port. It's the Windows client wrapped in a technology called Cider which translates Direct X calls to OpenGL on the fly. This causes a performance hit because it means the translation is done while playing.

Parallels does the same thing but it does it slightly differently in that the Windows drivers are actually calls to OpenGL but letting the hardware do the work as opposed to Cider which does it all through software.

My request to CCP is actually build a proper OpenGL client for Mac OS X with no Cider anywhere near it. Yes I know this requires more staff to do but the results will be worth it.


Agreed.

IMO, developers who resort to Cider should be beaten repeatedly with a Nerf bat. If you can't build a proper Mac client, then don't do it at all.

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." - John F. Kennedy 
Moira Rin
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#6 - 2013-05-07 19:34:40 UTC
I had to take the bootcamp plunge too, although I felt a twinge of betrayal doing so.

Issues under OS X were:
Logitech USB Headset microphone did not work under EvE Voice.
Hot Keys would not work 100% of the time
Fans would scream even at the lowest graphic settings.

After bootcamp and under Windows 7 this is the result:
Headset / EvE voice work fine
Hot Keys work fine
I can run full screen and the temp / fan speed is much lower
I get about a 20% improvement in frame rate over the OS X client

Please CCP given the fact that Apple is grabbing a share of the home computer market, write a proper OS X oriented client.


Early 2011 Macbook Pro 15"
4 GB Ram
500 GB SSD
Eoka
Arcwright Industries
#7 - 2013-05-08 09:41:35 UTC  |  Edited by: Eoka
In the past I've had similar issues running EVE, but on my new iMac its been running without any framerate issues apart from some lag in the station environment - running EVE on the highest settings for space, and medium for the station environ

If your Mac is getting too hot, you could try running Macs Fan Control or smcFanControl and force your fans into full speed whenever you play. Could also try running Crossover (or standard Wine if your familiar with the commandline), in the past I've got much better performance by using a custom Wine configuration than with the official EVE Mac client - Cider does suck.

+1 for a proper OpenGL'd Mac client!
Ivana Boom-Boom
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#8 - 2013-05-08 17:19:39 UTC
Eoka wrote:
... in the past I've got much better performance by using a custom Wine configuration than with the official EVE Mac client - Cider does suck.

+1 for a proper OpenGL'd Mac client!


I also suspect Cider being the problem...Installing Wine with brew here and we'll see...Do you have any suggestions for a stable Wine configuration?
Renix Xerar
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
#9 - 2013-05-09 02:57:01 UTC
I've been running a windows partition for about 6 months now, out of the 500GB HDD I have I only devoted 100GB to the windows partition, so I don't run EVE on it. I only run a few games; Heavily modded Morrowind, Sins, PS 2, and the old fallout series. Roughly 85% used up there, so not enough room for a full EVE install.

I personally haven't had any problems with the EVE Client in my mac partition so I can't really justify deleting anything to move it over to Windows. The computer runs hot, but that's with any game. It's a laptop not really meant for gaming.

Boot Camp is delightful for the myriad of game options it opens up, though.
Jet Fuel
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#10 - 2013-05-20 13:05:45 UTC
I have been running eve on a new 27" imac without any issues. The eve client on for windows does run smoother, but my mac version runs very well. I bought a mac because I like Mac OS. If I wanted to play in windows I would have bought a windows machine.