Feedback: Guild Wars 2 Mac 64-Bit Client

[skydelirious.4185]

Same here! Takes forever to load into a map and then I must wait for another 5-10 mins for the characters and instances to load. Dragging the mini map is jittery :(

[EchoPadder.7546]

So I now have a serious crash, which prevents one of my characters to load into map completlty. It first crashed after entering one location in Domain of Vabbi and since then it crashes on character load every time. https://imgur.com/a/YHbsU

--> Crash <--Assertion: targetFile: \Users\buildsrv\Gw2\Live\NAEU\v2\Code\Gw2\Game\Effect\Cli\EfCliEffectModel.cpp(898)

[Jon Olson.8439]

@EchoPadder.7546 said:So I now have a serious crash, which prevents one of my characters to load into map completlty. It first crashed after entering one location in Domain of Vabbi and since then it crashes on character load every time. https://imgur.com/a/YHbsU

--> Crash <--Assertion: targetFile: \Users\buildsrv\Gw2\Live\NAEU\v2\Code\Gw2\Game\Effect\Cli\EfCliEffectModel.cpp(898)

This crash appears across platforms and is being investigated by the appropriate team.

[Killer Rhino.6794]

Game runs noticeably better. I reported earlier that the game's FPS was a detrimental 15fps (avg), but it now seems 2x to 3x better.

MacBook 2017 Kaby Lake3.1GHz; 16GBRadeon 560

PS.: I know this is super-premature: I have a eGPU breakout box that I hope to be able to utilize next year when Apple official supports external GPUs. I really hope to be able to play GW2 with support for gfx acceleration from that external card. You guys hiring OSX programmers? :3

[Kivexor.8596]

@Kivexor.8596 said:I've been playing on the 64b client the past couple of weeks and the performance is definitely not what I'd like; although it's not quite unplayable, in order to have a decent FPS I have to play on minimum settings, and even then it peaks around 30 and is usually around 20 or lower. That being said, I've never had the game crash, so stability issues seem to be fixed, which is good of course :)

Would definitely love to be able to play on decent graphics settings or at least get better FPS at minimum.

I'm on a mid-2015 15" MBP: 2.8 i7, 16 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M370X

As of today, I'm running on mid-high graphics at 50+ FPS--incredible! Thanks for all the work on the client :) :+1:

[Menadena.7482]

@DrMORO.4627 said:Hi all!Since there could be a potential solution mentioned here about moving the GW2 app to an external SSD drive might help improve Mac 64-bit client gameplay, I want to ask all well-knowledged Mac players, or even our ANet devs, if they could explain 'in detai' of which GW2 files, especially the entire game data files, are stored 'where' in the Mac system.And also, which GW2 files needs to be moved and how, if needed. In short, how does one play GW2 64-bit entirely from an external SSD drive?BTW, I do have both the 32-bit wrapper client which is 22.07 GB in size (HUGE!), and the 64-bit native client which is 128.4 MB only. I assume the first-installed 32-bit client stores all the large game data files, but not totally sure if this would needed to be moved or not. Maybe the 64-bit app automatically looks for the game data files within the 32-bit app? I also wonder if there is a way to specify from where the 64-bit app to look for such game data files. Maybe if none, if will download everything freshly to the SSD?I have an extra SSD which I can hook up externally with USB 3.0, and thinking of testing out the differences in performance with my not-so-optimal Mac system.Any insight and useful idea would be appreciated.Thanks!

I bought an enterprise-level 1/2 TB SSD from macsales, hooked it up to my usb3, and boot from that (yes, it will work, despite what the genius bar will tell you). As an aside I do a daily carbon copy of the SSD to a partition of my HDD and can boot from it in an emergency. Anyway, the 64 bit sits in the normal applications folder on my SSD and the 32 bit is in a folder on my HDD. When downloading files neither knows of the other, although it seems there is some crosstalk in their settings folders (in the library folder under your user folder) as the 64 bit inherited some settings from the 32 bit (like keybinds) but not all (like my having turned music off).

[Asfalon.5863]

Okay, so even after the last patch with the Mac client improvements, this game is still driving me nuts. I still encounter a load of problems: Invisible mobs and NPCs, sound lags, missing textures, loading screens of up to 2 minutes, skin/weapon preview screens at BL vendors not showing up at all etc. I have set all graphics to a minimum and still go with 10 - 15 FPS and less. I am really, really frustrated and I don't know what to do. At the moment, the game is mostly unplayable.Another strange thing I just recognized: It completely slows down my internet. When I minimize the game and open Safari, it takes seconds and seconds to load a page. My internet connection normally is super fast, and I have never ever before encountered any problems alike.

If anyone has an idea how to fix that or what to do, I'm all ears. My specs are as follows:

macOS SierraVersion 10.12.6iMac (21,5", late 2015)1,6 GHz Intel Core i58 GB 1867 MHz DDR3Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

[skydelirious.4185]

If that one crash thing which says some tolerance_ radius or something could get a fix, the game would be pretty enjoyable for me :D

[NotQuiteCarlos.8569]

Anyone else have a total system crash followed by a "send crash report" every time you try to set up the new 64bit client for mac?

[skydelirious.4185]

So here's the thing : I keep getting the crash : tolerance , msphere radius; one which was mentioned in some earlier post in this section, occasionally while I'm playing supposedly on the client prior to 64bit. I downloaded the 64 bit and moved it into this folder. So when I launch this 64 bit client, I get all these issues which others have been complaining like : long loading times into a map, invisible or slow loading characters/ environment, fps drops every few steps etc! But good thing about this 64 bit is it has little to less crashes! What I really like is the supposedly the previous client and I think it's the 32 bit one? Wherein I just click on the guildwars2 (64 bit is in this folder btw) app icon and it takes me into the game. The game runs so smoothly with no fps drops no issues at all but this one crash occuring occasionally ruins that moment of the fun I promised myself !

[Naramoon.7146]

A couple issues I'm having are:When logging chars into game and changing maps it takes forever to load (up to 2 mins every time). This prevents me from joining groups as they are long gone by the time everything loads. Very frustrating.When I get on my mounts I now sink into the ground (up to my waist) and have to wait at least a minute for it to load properly. This delay prevents me from getting out of the way quickly which gets me killed.The general graphics in the maps don't always load completely and some things are invisible as others have mentioned. This doesn't always happen but makes it unplayable when it does.I only have the 64bit mac version installed.That's pretty much it.

macOS Sierra version 10.12.6iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)3.4 GHz Intel Core i58 GB 2400 MHz DDR4Radeon Pro 570 4096 MB

[skydelirious.4185]

Hey devs! I just wanted to ask if that " msphere_radius tolerance " crash is gonna get fixed? Things are running smooth in the 32 bit itself other than this crash. I am wondering if there ever will be a fix to either this error or to the ones in 64 bit (which others have been mentioning) :tired_face: in either case now, it has been a negative experience so far! And yes, the crash occurs mostly and frequently when I'm in a squad of like 10 or more people. Other than that, it occurs sometimes.

[Tharizdun.3654]

Load screens take forever, objects/npcs/ground effects are either invisible or take extended time to load, graphics settings aren't holding.

I paid for the expansion out of good faith that you were working on a stable Mac client. I find the game unplayable until fixed.

[Smenkhara.6129]

I got one problem : The speed of loading. Load screens take so much time, as it have been said before my post. More than with the 34-bit-beta version, in fact. Map, characters, preview on stuffs, et cetera. Load screens take almost 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes, maybe more, and that is really too long and frustrating. When the load screen disapears, that is the turn of the map and characters. Of course, I have no crashes, but this issue is a waste of time. I cannot play properly. I tried to play the prelude of Path Of Fire, but unfortunately, I have never finished it, because I cannot see the enemies, who kill me even though they do not show up in the battlefield before a couple of minutes.

Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6iMac (21.5 inches, late 2013)2.7 GHz Intel Core i58 GB 1600 MHz DDR3Intel Iris Pro 1536 Mo

[Naramoon.7146]

I've come across another bug since my last post above. When I go into the dye window to change dyes on my mounts or clothing the cursor does not line up on the chosen dye. You have to move it down almost to the dye below the one you want before you click on it to get the right colour. This started after the last update this week.

I really appreciate all the time and effort that you have done to bring us a dedicated Mac client. Hopefully these issues can be fixed before too long. As it is now I can no longer join groups, do events etc due to the graphic issues and loading times. Even playing solo is a pain now. I love this game and is the only one I play so please look into this.

[Kisylla.4359]

I deeply appreciate that you devs are improving the Mac client - I only had bootcamp installed on my computer because of GW2. However, there is still work to be done.I've played for about an hour after completely restoring my disk into one partition (I went out of disk space and couldn't download Windows afterwards, sighs), and I made some observations regarding a few issues I had:

1. Loading in general. I've seen several people complaining about how it could take up to 10 minutes for a map to load. As for me, a map like Crystal Oasis gets me looking at the loading screen for about 5 minutes. That's a lot compared to what I used to wait when I played Guild Wars 2 on Bootcamp. It takes too long for mobs to actually appear on screen and ability effects to be cast. I have to wait a really long time in order to have my ability animations fully loaded, as well as seeing the enemies I face.
2. Graphics. I don't know if I can explain this really well, but the graphics on the Mac client seem a bit odd. SMAA antialising leaves everything "pixelized", and shading seems a bit too harsh/dark on characters, especially on humans and norn, leaving them way less realistic in comparison to characters running on the Windows client.
3. FPS. I actually think FPS is fine, I get an average of 25 on mid graphics setting, which is totally bearable and playable. My only complaint is that sometimes the screen "freezes" for a second and jumps frames, making gameplay a little bit stiff and annoying.

Some information about my computer:macOS Sierra 10.12.4iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)1.4GHz Intel Core i58 GB 1600 MHz DDR3Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB.

Thank you so much for making this thread so that we are able to give feedback. We all can work together for a better performance client :)

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

Don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I'm trying the 64-bit client again and came up against a really, really inconvenient feature. When you are holding down the left control key to see item names, and you hit the left movement arrow...you exit out of the game screen to the main screen. Hitting the right arrow while holding down the control key takes you back to the game screen.While I have often wished I knew a way to temporarily exit the game apart from typing /wiki, this is not good. It happened to me when trying to figure out where an orichalcum node was hiding while dodging a couple of pesky inquest golems in Dry Top. Suddenly I was staring at my desktop while my character was being invisibly hammered by the Inquest.Holding down the control key is vital in Dry Top, and very useful in many other places, and if hitting a basic movement key at the same time takes you out of the game, it makes that control key very dangerous to use.(Yosemite 10.10.5 on a late 2014 Mac Mini)

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

To add to the last post--holding down control and hitting the up arrow key not only bumps you out of the game screen, but when I come back, my character is in some weird mode of permanent running sideways, which can't be turned off with the R key.

[sunrun.4521]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:To add to the last post--holding down control and hitting the up arrow key not only bumps you out of the game screen, but when I come back, my character is in some weird mode of permanent running sideways, which can't be turned off with the R key.

I don't think GW2 can override those shortcuts, because Control + Arrow Keys are system keyboard shortcuts for moving between Spaces (left and right), Mission Control (up) and Application Windows (down). If you never use them you can turn them off via System Preferences -> Keyboards -> Shortcuts.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

@sunrun.4521 said:I don't think GW2 can override those shortcuts, because Control + Arrow Keys are system keyboard shortcuts for moving between Spaces (left and right), Mission Control (up) and Application Windows (down). If you never use them you can turn them off via System Preferences -> Keyboards -> Shortcuts.

Thanks, I turned them off as you said, problem solved. Still there must be some way to override them, since there was no such problem in the 32-bit client.

[Figlilly.3907]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" you may know this and there might be a good reason you have it switched off but you can select 'show all useable object names' under Options. The item names display all the time then and you don't have to hold down Control.

[Galmac.4680]

BTW, as I read that some of you use SSDs: I cannot change my hard drive easily, so would it help to start the game from a fast USB3 stick? Is that faster than a normal hard disk?

[PiXY.6841]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

@sunrun.4521 said:I don't think GW2 can override those shortcuts, because Control + Arrow Keys are system keyboard shortcuts for moving between Spaces (left and right), Mission Control (up) and Application Windows (down). If you never use them you can turn them off via System Preferences -> Keyboards -> Shortcuts.

Thanks, I turned them off as you said, problem solved. Still there must be some way to override them, since there was no such problem in the 32-bit client.

There is a difference in the implementation, since the new client supports native fullscreen it automatically brings along all the other benefits of a native fullscreen application. In your case it's unfortunate that it disturbs your game but I'm glad for my part that I can have different workspaces and can easily switch between Wiki and game and won't want them to get rid of it (disclaimer: I'm not using the arrow keys for movement but WASD and I have 'show all useable object names' turned on).

[Figlilly.3907]

That is what I have @Galmac.4680 . I got a Samsung T5 but it is connected via the usb 3 port. My computer is a 2012 model and I couldn't use the fastest connection without additional cables or something (i.e. stuff I don't understand). It is still blindingly fast compared to using the hard drive. I understand that constantly accessing the hard drive is what causes the lags and stutters in GW2. Hopefully this will be corrected in time but, in the meantime, the faster external SSD does the trick.

My next computer will have the built in SSD for sure.

[littlemure.7851]

I definitely don't have as many crashing issues with 64-bit as the 32 (which can crash every 10 minutes at times) but the ground takes a looooong time to load in (sometimes up to half an hour) and even then there will be integral bits of scenery that just won't appear for me.

Having said that the graphics are GORGEOUS when everything loads in, and the gameplay is smoother. Just hard to appreciate when you can't see where you're going, hah!

oops forgot to add:iMac (late 2015)OS Sierra (version 10.12.6)2.8 GHz Intel Core i58GB 1867 MHz DDR3Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 1536 MB