Feedback: Guild Wars 2 Mac 64-Bit Client

[DrMORO.4627]

@Menadena.7482 said:

@Grande.1803 said:Hi there! Please help me. How can I change the install location on Macbook? I want install the game on my external HDD.

Just copy the app to another drive. Macs do not care if it is in /applications or not.

I am running the 64 bit on my SSD because I had plenty of room and am enjoying the speed boost. Back in the 32 bit days I just had it on one of my non-boot HDDs in a non-standard folder. Amusingly, when people were migrating to the 64 bit version (which used the old dat) I had to re-download the dat because the 64 bit version did not see it in the default location.

You can move/transfer the dat file 'inside' the 32-bit app 'into' the 64-bit app.If you started playing with the 32-bit app, then later played also with the 64-bit app, the 64-bit app will 'look for' the dat file 'inside' the 32-bit app first, and if found , the 64-bit app will use it. If dat file NOT found, then it will newly download everything and this will that a very long time. I was able to move/transfer the dat file from the 32-bit into the 64-bit app, and now successfully playing the 64-bit app with no 32-bit app, off an external SSD drive.

Good Luck!

[DrMORO.4627]

FYI, about playing off external SDD drives, I just bought off Amazon a Monster Digital Overdrive Thunderbolt (SSDOT-0240-A), a 240 GB SDD connected by Thunderbolt 2 to my Macs. The disk speed is VERY fast, faster than the USB3 external SDD drives I've tested so far. Minimum 2 times, maybe 3 times as fast. The game loads very quickly, with minimal wait time.

Did I say 'Macs'? Yes, I also love the portability. I can play at home AND at work (after-hours...) with all the same, and no need to download updates individually. Just plug into your Thunderbolt port, and zippy GW2 game play.(Well, still not anywhere up to the native Window$ app playing experience yet, which should become very close as the 64-bit Mac app matures. Let's hope it grows up quicker.)

Hope this helps.

[EchoPadder.7546]

@DrMORO.4627 said:

@EchoPadder.7546 said:I am running off APFS file system on the internal SSD and it is super fast. I am always the first one to load.

Annnnd, may I ask on how the performance of the 64-bit Mac app is on your Mac setup?And also what specifically is your Mac setup?

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) with 1TB SSD and Radeon Pro 580 8 GB, 4,2 GHz Intel Core i7......

[DrMORO.4627]

@EchoPadder.7546 said:

@DrMORO.4627 said:

@EchoPadder.7546 said:I am running off APFS file system on the internal SSD and it is super fast. I am always the first one to load.

Annnnd, may I ask on how the performance of the 64-bit Mac app is on your Mac setup?And also what specifically is your Mac setup?

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) with 1TB SSD and Radeon Pro 580 8 GB, 4,2 GHz Intel Core i7......

Thanks for your reply.Very nice system! (envy...)

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

A probably dumb question.I bought an SSD and external bay for it, plugged in by USB. It seems to be working pretty well except for lagginess during crowded events. (The bigger the crowd, the worse the lag.)Well, I just noticed that my Mac Mini has an actual slot in the back to plug in a SSD. Do you think I would get better performance with the disk directly plugged in? (Not totally sure I want to try, due to the fact that it's currently working okay, and also that my Mac seems to have some sort of huge issue with the disk if I leave it plugged in while not actually using it, which, if the problem persists when directly plugged in, would make it much more inconvenient to be always unplugging and re-plugging the drive in whenever I wanted to play or finished playing. Plus, it seems like the SSD would be in kind of a fragile position sticking out the back like that.)

[DrMORO.4627]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:A probably dumb question.I bought an SSD and external bay for it, plugged in by USB. It seems to be working pretty well except for lagginess during crowded events. (The bigger the crowd, the worse the lag.)Well, I just noticed that my Mac Mini has an actual slot in the back to plug in a SSD. Do you think I would get better performance with the disk directly plugged in? (Not totally sure I want to try, due to the fact that it's currently working okay, and also that my Mac seems to have some sort of huge issue with the disk if I leave it plugged in while not actually using it, which, if the problem persists when directly plugged in, would make it much more inconvenient to be always unplugging and re-plugging the drive in whenever I wanted to play or finished playing. Plus, it seems like the SSD would be in kind of a fragile position sticking out the back like that.)

There is NO dumb question.Be not ashamed to ask, and you escape a lifelong shame.

Well, I am not sure if understand your configuration of "my Mac Mini has an actual slot in the back to plug in a SSD", as I have never seen nor heard about such 'slot to plug in an SSD" with a Mac mini, or any other Mac.A pictures of the specific slot and SSD enclosure would be very helpful.

In any case, although depending on your Mac mini, USB port is not the fastest, unless you are sure you have USB 3.0 like the latest Mac mini. The older USB 2.0 is even slower and no suitable for SSD usage. For speed, at least USB 3.0, better USB 3.1, even better would be Thunderbolt 2, and for the latest the speediest would be Thunderbolt 3 connections, I presume.FYI, I suggest reading through this article to know about all the connections, names, and speed."Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, USB Type-C: Making Sense of Connections"

And Yes, if the crowd gets bigger, the load time will get longer, together with graphics getting a hit as well.

Hope this helps.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

@"DrMORO.4627" said:

Well, I am not sure if understand your configuration of "my Mac Mini has an actual slot in the back to plug in a SSD", as I have never seen nor heard about such 'slot to plug in an SSD" with a Mac mini, or any other Mac.

Never mind, I was confused. Just found out there was an SDXC card slot (which might have worked if the game could fit on it) and saw a bigger slot that looked about the same size as the SSD drive....but on review, that seems to be an air vent.

Believe it or not, I am considered the tech guru at my workplace. XD

[DrMORO.4627]

@"DrMORO.4627" said:FYI, about playing off external SDD drives, I just bought off Amazon a Monster Digital Overdrive Thunderbolt (SSDOT-0240-A), a 240 GB SDD connected by Thunderbolt 2 to my Macs. The disk speed is VERY fast, faster than the USB3 external SDD drives I've tested so far. Minimum 2 times, maybe 3 times as fast. The game loads very quickly, with minimal wait time.

Did I say 'Macs'? Yes, I also love the portability. I can play at home AND at work (after-hours...) with all the same, and no need to download updates individually. Just plug into your Thunderbolt port, and zippy GW2 game play.(Well, still not anywhere up to the native Window$ app playing experience yet, which should become very close as the 64-bit Mac app matures. Let's hope it grows up quicker.)

Hope this helps.

Oh, something new and SUPER-FAST just been announced at CES today.

"THUNDERBOLT 3™ 480GB NVME SOLID STATE DRIVE"

WANT!!!

[DrMORO.4627]

Has any 'lucky' one been playing GW2 Mac 64-bit app, on the all new iMac Pro???

Please please indulge us down here about how it plays with a supposedly wicked-fast iMac Pro.

[Asfalon.5863]

So, I just got a new Macbook Pro and believe it or not, the game runs better than ever. Loading times 5 seconds and less, no missing textures or sound lags anymore. Hell yeah!Only strange thing: I encounter some strange white graphic glitches for trees, cliffs etc. now and then. It's not a drama, but it looks odd anyway. I tried with different graphic options but I just can't seem to find the issue. Any ideas on that?

[DrMORO.4627]

@Asfalon.5863 said:So, I just got a new Macbook Pro and believe it or not, the game runs better than ever. Loading times 5 seconds and less, no missing textures or sound lags anymore. Hell yeah!Only strange thing: I encounter some strange white graphic glitches for trees, cliffs etc. now and then. It's not a drama, but it looks odd anyway. I tried with different graphic options but I just can't seem to find the issue. Any ideas on that?

Awesome! Good for you!And, great to hear there is light in getting a newer Mac system, to better play GW2 on a Mac.

BTW, FOI (For Our Interest), and even more FFR (For Future Reference), could you elaborate a little more about your new MacBook Pro's actual 'spec'?15 inch, or 13 inch? Touch Bar? Hard drive or SSD, and how large? CPU speed, memory amount, discrete GPU or not, etc., etc.?

Thanks for sharing, in advance!

[DrMORO.4627]

@DrMORO.4627 said:

@DrMORO.4627 said:FYI, about playing off external SDD drives, I just bought off Amazon a Monster Digital Overdrive Thunderbolt (SSDOT-0240-A), a 240 GB SDD connected by Thunderbolt 2 to my Macs. The disk speed is VERY fast, faster than the USB3 external SDD drives I've tested so far. Minimum 2 times, maybe 3 times as fast. The game loads very quickly, with minimal wait time.

Did I say 'Macs'? Yes, I also love the portability. I can play at home AND at work (after-hours...) with all the same, and no need to download updates individually. Just plug into your Thunderbolt port, and zippy GW2 game play.(Well, still not anywhere up to the native Window$ app playing experience yet, which should become very close as the 64-bit Mac app matures. Let's hope it grows up quicker.)

Hope this helps.

Oh, something new and SUPER-FAST just been announced at CES today.

"

THUNDERBOLT 3™ 480GB NVME SOLID STATE DRIVE

"

WANT!!!

And it seems like even more & more super-fast external drives are to be available for Mac, as it says in many Mac news site talking about the on-going CES.

WANT!!!!

[Sammiches.8127]

So I bought and dropped in an NVME drive and dropped the game on there... still seeing loads of disk io but now it's quite speedy xD

[Supercluster.7159]

I really like this idea of running things from an external SSD drive. GW2 loads and runs faster for me and the internal temps are close to 10c cooler because of it.. I may be moving other things besides GW2 to an external drive.

[BlackCloud.7480]

I just got a Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Kit in the mail today. Hooked it up to my MacBook Pro Early 2015 13" (256 gig SSD), and it seems to working. "About this Mac" reports "Radeon RX 580 8 GB" under Graphics and I receive nice scores under Cinebench, but it doesn't seem like the GW2 Mac Client is picking up the card. As I understand it, by default any fullscreen GL application that's on the connected monitor should be processed through the eGPU. Am I missing something?

[Lin Siniang.9460]

every since the last updates iv had a big drop in FPS on the 64 client am i the only one here ? went from 40/50 fps to like 13/17 fps ......

[Subzero.1756]

I noticed that the resolutions available in the client don't correspond to the logical resolution set in the settings. I use a MacBook Pro 2016 15'' with an external display with a 1680x1050 resolution. Today when I played with the built-in Retina display with a logical resolution of 1920x1200, it was not possible to play with this resolution in full screen. I have the DPI scaling option enabled. It was set to the same resolution played with the external display, as already said 1680x1050 in full screen. However, the interface was blurry. Disabling the dpi scaling was improving the blurriness at the expense of the interface, which was too tiny to play comfortably with. I had to keep the DPI scaling enabled and change the resolution to the native one, 2880x1800 to have a sharp image and a correct interface size. I remember having the possibility to set the resolution to 1920x1200 in full screen and keep a sharp display and a normal-sized interface. Is there a way to have it as it was before or not ?

[sunrun.4521]

@"sunrun.4521" said:Another update on my High Sierra performance problems: same thing happened again, terrible performance after leaving MacBook Pro closed for a while and coming back to it. A restart fixes it. Must be a bug in High Sierra. Groan!

Edit: I've created a radar bug report with Apple about this issue. Will see if I get a response.

Hi all, I wanted to provide an update on this High Sierra bug, where letting a 2016/2017 MacBook Pro go to sleep was destroying graphics performance. After being on the beta releases for a while now, it appears this bug has finally been fixed as of macOS 10.13.3. beta 3!

So if you have a 2016/2017 MacBook Pro with Radeon GPU and have been experiencing terrible GW2 performance that's temporarily fixed by a restart, it looks like relief from the issue will be on the way in the public release of macOS 10.13.3.

As an aside, I've noticed increased "hitching" in the game as of a recent update, which appears to be something lots of other people are experiencing as well and which doesn't look like it's related to this High Sierra issue.

[Xillllix.3485]

Hey, getting a Mac Pro soon... Does the mac client support dual gpu and cpu? It has 6 x 3.5ghz cores, 64gb ram, 2 GPU with 3gb of ram each.

[Xillllix.3485]

@Jacques.8170 said:My only two complaints so far on the 64bit client are what I would call 'chugging' and generally low fps. I've not had any keyboard issues or issues with textures / map loading.

The chugging is what I feels like a wading through mud every 5-10 seconds. Everything lags a bit then returns to normal, this happens constantly.

FPS is just low at about 15fps in unpopulated areas. I'm not running max settings, medium to good. Ambient Occ is turned off.

Mac Pro (2010) dual 2.93Ghz six core Xeons (170% cpu usage while gaming)48GB ramnvidia GTX 680 (2GB)SSD game drive<100ms ping10.12.6 Clean install.

Wow 15 fps for these specs...

[HippieJoel.9537]

@Xillllix.3485 said:Hey, getting a Mac Pro soon... Does the mac client support dual gpu and cpu? It has 6 x 3.5ghz cores, 64gb ram, 2 GPU with 3gb of ram each.

Don't - the Mac Pro is about 4 years old now and you'd be much, much better served by an iMac (even the standard 5k one - not the Pro), especially for gaming as the higher clock speed will give much better single-threaded performance (which matters for Guild Wars 2).

Personally I'm using a hackintosh but if I was using a real Mac I'd almost certainly go for the 5k iMac.

[Xillllix.3485]

@HippieJoel.9537 said:

@Xillllix.3485 said:Hey, getting a Mac Pro soon... Does the mac client support dual gpu and cpu? It has 6 x 3.5ghz cores, 64gb ram, 2 GPU with 3gb of ram each.

Don't - the Mac Pro is about 4 years old now and you'd be much, much better served by an iMac (even the standard 5k one - not the Pro), especially for gaming as the higher clock speed will give much better single-threaded performance (which matters for Guild Wars 2).

Personally I'm using a hackintosh but if I was using a real Mac I'd almost certainly go for the 5k iMac.

It's for work... And for what I do it's a better deal and more appropriate. I produce music and the fact the mac pro is super quiet is a priceless necessity. I already have a iMac and when the fan starts it's like a plane is taking off.

[jimjam.5390]

Upgraded to High Sierra and it killed GW2 performance...game became extremely choppy even in lowest settings. Reverted back to El Capitan for now and performance is acceptable on lower settings.

MacBook Pro late 20132.3 GHz i716 GB 1600 MHz DDR3GeForce GT 750M 2048 MB500 GB SSD

[sunrun.4521]

I really wish there'd be some improvements to the "hitching"... it's making the game so jerky when new models/shaders/whatever are loaded/compiled. It seems much worse now than it was previously.

[Noschiii.6819]

Hello,First of all thanks to all the people who are writing about their experiences with external SSD. Sound like I'm going to try that. I have a fusion drive and if feels like GW2 was placed on the SSD for a short while but isn't anymore. I wish I could decide what programs are placed on the SSD.It's been a while since I reported the state of the client on my iMac late 2012.The game is playable. But different from day to day. On some days I get above 30 frames (in non crowded areas) and can play without any problems. It's always stuttering if something loads in but I can survive that.The weird thing is on other days the performance is horrible. Nothing is loaded after 3 minutes of loading screen. All UI elements take ages. And the fps is roughly 5 for the first 5 minutes of the game. When this happens the whole play session will be stuttering the whole time and I can't play with enjoyment.Lately the good days happen more often than the bad so that's good.But I feel like many windows user have weird performance issues too. In their cases it's from 90 frames to 60 and not 30 to 5. But I'm positive the client will get better and better. I'm grateful to be able to play this game.