Tales of Monkey Island running on Windows 7

[Dyne]

Hello,

I have a new iMac 24'inch with the following specs:

Processor: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 6MB shared L2 cache

Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory.

Naturally, games aren't too friendly with the Mac operating system, so an alternative such as Windows is required for a larger selection of games to play.

For those that don't know, Mac's have a program called "Bootcamp," which allows the harddrive to be split into a separate partition to install and run Windows. Not being a huge fan of Windows, but wanting to play the new Monkey Island, I decided to install the free Windows 7 Release Candidate 32-Bit version. I was told that the 32-bit version was recommended over the 64-bit version.

Once Windows 7 was installed, I downloaded Tales of Monkey Island and booted it up. It opened up in the incorrect resolution for my screen, so I did some tweaking to get it in full-screen mode. Once the resolution was set I started a new file and was met with a very laggy experience with a choppy framerate. To get the game to run smoothly I needed to change the quality to "1".

Considering that my system passes the requirements to run this game, I'm confused as to why I can only run this game smoothly on the lowest quality setting. Is it something to do with Windows 7? Is there any known problems about this game running slowly?

Does anyone have any solutions?

Thanks.

[lawrencek]

Well, I originally had no idea what Bootcamp was until now (I assumed it was a Windows emulator before), but my guess would be your graphics card. Seeing as how ToMI isn't really processor intensive, the GPU would be my best guess, as I believe the 1-9 slider thing in the options set's shaders and extra graphical eye candy!

Other then that, my only guess is that since Windows 7 isn't officially out yet, Telltale couldn't have really created the game for it, which might be the main problem.

Also, have you ran other games through Bootcamp? Do you experience the same problems with other less graphically intensive games, or even more graphically intensive games for that matter?

[chrisff1989]

As far as I know Bootcamp really isn't anywhere good enough to run newer games well.

[thingalon]

I can confirm that it runs fine on Windows 7; I use it as my primary OS on my PC laptop. The whole game ran fine from beginning to end without a single hiccup.

I'd suggest you double check your video drivers and ask around to see if anyone else has gotten it working with bootcamp.

[Dyne]

Originally Posted by lawrencek

Other then that, my only guess is that since Windows 7 isn't officially out yet, Telltale couldn't have really created the game for it, which might be the main problem.

Also, have you ran other games through Bootcamp? Do you experience the same problems with other less graphically intensive games, or even more graphically intensive games for that matter?

Thanks for the reply.

I've only had the Mac for about a week, so Tales of Monkey Island was the first game I tried via Bootcamp. I'm guessing the issue might have something to do with Windows 7. I do have the original Windows XP disc, but apparently bootcamp requires the SP2 edition or later.

In the mean time I might try some other games and post their performance results.

[smashing]

An integrated graphic card like the 9400M is good enough for generic multimedia usage. But it will be a stretch to run 3d environment to the optimum level.

By the way, I run TMI on my PC (Win7) on the highest setting with no problem whatsoever.

[Aeterna]

Well, an onboard chip(obviously not THAT much power to it) and the fact that you're emulating an operating system to then on that run the game.

Emulating takes up a lot of resources and isn't nearly as optimized as running the operating system directly. So you lose out on a lot of resources ofcourse.

[thingalon]

Originally Posted by Aeterna

Well, an onboard chip(obviously not THAT much power to it) and the fact that you're emulating an operating system to then on that run the game.

Emulating takes up a lot of resources and isn't nearly as optimized as running the operating system directly. So you lose out on a lot of resources ofcourse.

I think you're mixing up Boot Camp and Parallels. Boot Camp helps you set up your machine to dual boot; when you boot to Windows, it runs natively on the hardware; not emulated.

Also: My laptop has an nvidia 8600M; a full generation earlier than Dyne's. Though mine has its own memory (not pooled) so maybe that makes the difference?

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Aeterna

Well, an onboard chip(obviously not THAT much power to it) and the fact that you're emulating an operating system to then on that run the game.

Emulating takes up a lot of resources and isn't nearly as optimized as running the operating system directly. So you lose out on a lot of resources ofcourse.

Bootcamp is not emulating, it is 'pure' native goodness. Therefore if it runs on a normal PC with Windows 7, it should work fine on your Macbook, provided the specs match, so I assume it is indeed your integrated chip.

I have a late 2006 black Macbook with both VmWare Fusion (virtualization) with XP SP2 as well as Bootcamp with XP SP2. My Macbook has an integrated Intel GMA 950 64MB graphics set (shared). ToMI runs 'okay' in Bootcamp, not so much in Fusion (as expected)

[thingalon]

I just had one idea that might help:

You say your graphics card has 256MB shared with main memory. Sometimes graphics cards that share with main memory can be configured to use more/less of it. Is it possible to tell it to use more main memory? Maybe that might help?

[DisizDream]

I have exactly the same configuration as yours, iMac 24" Early 2009 with 9400M and windows Vista Ultimate installed via BootCamp (which is not emulation at all for those who don't know)
Just Like you the game is very choppy if quality is set over 3...
Disapointing but I think we should have bought the iMac with atleast a Geforce GT120 or even better ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB....

[jamesds]

FWIW, I played through it on one of the newer white Macbooks (9400M with a 2Ghz CPU) with the graphical level set to 7 and it was fine. That's running at 1280x720 on XP via boot camp.

Might be worth checking you've got the latest video drivers from nVidia's site, if you haven't already done that.

[Leak]

Originally Posted by smashing

An integrated graphic card like the 9400M is good enough for generic multimedia usage. But it will be a stretch to run 3d environment to the optimum level.

Exactly - to quote Wikipedia:

9400M G[36]

* 16 Stream Processors. (As opposed to up to 128 that nVidia desktop GPU chipsets have)
* Memory Clock depend on System Memory. (Aiiieee...)
* 64 bit memory interface (single-channel mode) / 128 bit memory interface (dual-channel mode). (Shared main RAM... ick.)
* Memory Bandwidth depend on System Memory. (Aiiieee^2...)
* 3.6 billion texels/s texture fill rate. ("Real" graphics cards have 10 to 20 times that fillrate... *hint hint*)

No, you're not going to get ToMI running at playable speeds, especially as that chipset doesn't have it's own video memory but has to share your main RAM, which kills any hope of 3D performance right then and there.

[guitarsareboring]

Would it be possible for you to pick up and install a graphics card? It'd help you for future gaming also and you'd get to play TOMI.

[Leak]

Originally Posted by guitarsareboring

Would it be possible for you to pick up and install a graphics card? It'd help you for future gaming also and you'd get to play TOMI.

Nope, that's one of the perks of Apple - graphics card upgrades cost twice to three times then the equivalent PC parts and you only get them for the Mac Pro line, which an iMac isn't part of...

Why do people buy crappy, non-upgradeable Apple products again?

np: Underworld - Moaner (Underworld 1992-2002 (Disc 2))

[bobhobbit]

That's sneaky... I didn't realize Apple was selling iMacs without dedicated video cards. I guess you'd have to get the next model up the iMac line to get an actual video card without shared memory. Which means you have to get a faster processor too. It's too bad the only computer they make that gives you any real options is the Mac Pro (nice but too expensive for me), because I really do like the Mac OS.

Good luck to you in getting the game running well...

[accolon]

I'm running Tales of Monkey Island on my MacBook Pro with Geforce 8600M GT using Windows 7, and it works perfectly at the highest quality setting. The game works well with older Intel onboard graphics on lower settings, so the 9400M should be able to run it just fine.

Btw, while the 9400 might be an integrated graphics card, it is still quite fast. Just look up some benchmarks. If it can run Doom 3 at 80 fps or more, TOMI with its simple graphics (no offense) should not be a problem.

Like jamesds said, make sure you have the right drivers installed. I don't know about the Bootcamp drivers that come with current iMacs, but I know that I took me some time to get Windows 7 running, since there's no official Bootcamp driver package as long as W7 isn't available at retail.

Did you try to install the Bootcamp drivers? Try to download the most recent graphics driver from the nVidia website.

Or you could take your XP disc and integrate SP2 (very easy to do with a tool called nLite, use Google to find it). XP is fully supported by Bootcamp.

[smashing]

Originally Posted by accolon

Btw, while the 9400 might be an integrated graphics card, it is still quite fast. Just look up some benchmarks. If it can run Doom 3 at 80 fps or more, TOMI with its simple graphics (no offense) should not be a problem.

Here's the recommended specs for Tales of Monkey Island (from http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...hots/Practice/)

Minimum Specs:
• Single-core CPU with 2 GHz
• 512 MiByte RAM
• DirectX 8.1 graphics card with 64 MiByte VRAM

Recommended Specs:
• Single-core CPU with 3 GHz
• 1024 MiByte RAM
• DirectX 8.1 graphics card with 128 MiByte VRAM

Here's the system requirement for Doom 3 (from http://pc.ign.com/articles/532/532023p1.html)

A 1.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500
384 MB RAM
2 GB hard disk space
An nVidia GeForce 3 graphics card or better; or an ATI Technologies 8500 or better

Is Tales any simpler than Doom 3 (a few year old game)? I doubt so.

I think players really need to shake off the mentality that adventure games will be forever compatible with slow machines. That is just not the case these days!

[Iron Curtain]

I have an iMac (this one, with 256MB of VRAM + upgraded to 3GB main RAM), and it dual boots with Windows XP Home Edition, and it runs ToMI fine. It just doesn't run it at the maximum level (and then again, maybe it shouldn't).

[Iron Curtain]

Why do people buy crappy, non-upgradeable Apple products again?

Because people like OS X, and can have the option of choosing windows? I know you could install OS X illegally, but that doesn't count. Besides, Apple tried licensing their OS a while ago, and it turned out their OS became more manageable and less buggy under their control, hence the non-upgradability.

True, I hate the non-upgradability, but given a choice between upgradability and ease of use, I'd choose ease of use.