Hi,
After 2 weeks struggling with fps rates & lags, I decided to make this thread & provide the few tips i have to improve/enhance game performance on Mac version. This thread won't provide tips for Bootcamp, only Mac Osx. Keep in mind that those are only tips, & that the game obviously need to be reworked.
/!\ PLEASE read this before writing any sentence : I'm not here to argue about Windows being better or not & i really don't care. Ain't a pro mac (AT ALL), just making this thread to help people who are stuck on mac & can't bootcamp it. My config isn't clearly the best config at all, & i'm not here to compare config or D sizes. Some people can't afford both pc & mac because like me they bought a mac for Work. BUT i managed to run the game around 30 Fps (Which is a real improvement considering that fps was around 5-8 at the beginning) . This thread purpose is only to help people with Macs. Please let's not make this thread another "Fudge you mac windows is better :)" "get windows :)" like the billions we can already read everywhere on internet.
Give this thread a bit of feedbacks if those tips worked for you, & feel free to ask anything...
Mac Config :
Processor 2.4 Ghz core i7
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graph AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1G
Upgrade & Update your OS :
Recently i noticed that Yosemite despite the awful feedbacks on it... eh well Yosemite is pretty decent & far better than maverick/mountain lion/skydiving gorilla(okay i'll stop with those stupid jokes...:roll eyes:), performance wise. You just gotta learn how to make it run smoother, yes it's always the same issues with Apple anyway, they add too many useless features at each new OS they make.Also, I don't know if SE updated or fixed stuffs with Heavensward, but i was quite surprised when i saw that i could raise the graphics above standard without any FPS loss or stuttering. I'm usually all grumpy after installing new Mac Os, but this time i'm glad i did & it feels smoother & better. Try it out, you can still downgrade to Maverick in worst case, though i doubt you'll have to if you follow those tips :
1. Start by downloading & installing Yosemite. Install will take around a full big whole hour, not the "24 mn" written.
2. Do NOT activate the Firevault, it's another "hipstergeniusmart" apple feature.
3. When you're done, time to use this ol good disk utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) : verify & repair the permissions. Also, Verify you disk !
http://s10.postimg.org/iz2g91rnp/Scr...t_19_33_16.jpg
4. Go in System Preferences (by clicking the Apple, left upper corner on your screen) > Accessibility : In Display tab, & check Reduce transparency
http://s29.postimg.org/jow676vub/HTD...ansparency.jpg
5. Reduce Spotlight items : Go in System Preferences > Spotlight & Uncheck everything.
http://s18.postimg.org/ooppul1g5/HTD_Spotlight.jpg
Check in the basic tips, there's a way to entirely disable the spotlight.
Basic tips
1. Clean your desktop. Yes, this is a silly tip. but a tidy desktop = better performance.
2. Free some space : Time to delete all those .rar & .dmg you downloaded & left everywhere, those Game of Thrones episodes you already watched & the apps you're not using anymore. The more space, the more perf.
http://s1.postimg.org/9891ya7a3/onyx.jpg
3. Get Onyx applications from the App Store, it is free & will help you clean & delete unuseful files. Yes, i know, app store, ugh... Don't be a sloth & get it.
Open Onyx. Let it check Smart status & volume structure. When it is done, you can either go in Cleaning Tab & clean step by step :
http://s16.postimg.org/tiyi58tjl/Scr...t_19_24_17.jpg
Don't restart yet !
Or you can go in Automation Tab & launch the whole cleaning & verifying by clicking on "Execute" :
http://s10.postimg.org/g5qemogud/Scr...t_19_23_59.jpg
Don't restart yet !
4. Go in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility : Select your Hard Drive & click Verify disk permissions, then Repair permissions.
http://s10.postimg.org/iz2g91rnp/Scr...t_19_33_16.jpg
5. Now time to fix your mac stupidity. Click the Apple icon in the left upper corner of your screen (in case you didn't notice...) > System preferences.
For Mountain lion, Leopard, Sea goat, whatever previous versions names :
Open Energy Saver : Now you can laugh at your mac who was running your games with Intel shitty internal card, ignoring your Gforce/Radeon... Uncheck this legendary silly option.
http://s23.postimg.org/wuclg95lz/Mac...h_edited_1.jpg
Well guess what now, If you're on Maverick/Yosemite/Yoshimitsu w/e, you're gonna struggle a bit more than that, cause Genius! Apple decided to delete this option. We gonna need to use GfxcardStatus.app to switch manually between your cards.
Get GfxcardStatus here https://gfx.io, install it & restart your mac. Now Open it, you'll see a new icon in your right upper bar, right click on it & click "Discrete only", finally enabling your Radeon/Gforce/Obviously better graphic card.
http://s13.postimg.org/fvy5c3jsj/Scr...t_19_53_05.jpg.
6. Disabling the useless genius mac services :
Now the fun time, see all those useless features, calendars, weather report, spotlight, all those mail/iphone/skype/w/e notifications, they're like maggots on a rotting carcass, eating your performance.
http://s21.postimg.org/ut8gi70fn/Not...enter_Icon.jpg
a. Open up your system preferences > notifications : disable & uncheck everything or at least the things you don't use.
c. Now time to start messing with the terminal. Go in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.app
http://s17.postimg.org/8ps72gxrf/Mac_Terminal_icon.jpg
Open it & type the following command :
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
This will disable the spotlight & free up some memory. If u wish to re-enable it re-open Terminal & type the following command :
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
http://s16.postimg.org/dr1p08p75/dock.jpg
d. Go in System preferences > Dock. Switch from Genie (Genius Apple !) to Scale Effect.
e. Go in System preferences > User & Groups > Login Items tab. Disable all the useless apps launching at start.
SMC & PRAM reset :
Now Shutdown your mac.
Start your mac again & hold Alt+Cmd+P+R before the "Duuuuuh" noise.
This will reset your PRAM.
Re-Shutdown your mac. Now we gonna reset SMC :
MacBook With Removable Battery
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the power adapter.
Remove the battery.
Press and hold the power button for five seconds.
Replace the battery.
Plug in the power adapter.
Turn on the computer.
MacBook Without A Removable Battery
Shut down the computer.
Plug in the power adapter.
On the built-in keyboard, press the Shift, Control, and Option keys on the left side and the power button, all at the same time.
Release all three keys at the same time.
Turn on the computer.
Now time to open Heavensward !
Quit all other apps. Launch the game, when u're in game, not launcher, go back to desktop & Go in Applications > Activity Monitor. Open Terminal by going in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.app.
In the activity monitor, locate the PID (near user tab) of Final Fantasy XIV process : mine is for example 1776.
Go in Terminal. command goes like : sudo renice -19 PIDnumber
example : sudo renice -19 1776
enter your password if asked (letters won't appear) & push enter.
This will give high priority to FFXIV process.
Heating & Overheating
Whether you live in a hot country or not, mac heat can quite unbearable. & the heat will slower your mac. Quite every huge process will make your mac overheat (mostly Games & DAW softs) if you didn't clean the dust inside board & fans, which can be annoying if u don't wanna lose your guarantee.
Don't be like me. I didn't care at the beginning & i ended with purple burnt marks all over my legs... blame Apple genius for making computers in aluminium.
Well here's at least a little fix to keep your mac a bit cooler... i highly recommend buying external fans though, internal fans won't be enough.
http://s1.postimg.org/o5cxljv4r/Unknown.jpg
You need to download SmcFanControl from here http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol, install the app & run it (you might need to restart), you will now be able to see the RPM of your fans & the temps of your macbook. Click on the new icon & click Preferences. Raise your fan speed to w/e setting you want, & keep an eye on the temps.
http://s11.postimg.org/4uv6vk56n/smc...rol_mac_03.jpg
With those tips I'm around 25-30 fps in raids/dungeons, 20 in towns with Standard Graphics (Laptop).
{EDIT} After installing Yosemite & using the same tips, i can run the game around 30/35 fps everywhere (towns/raids/dungeons) even above Standard Graphics. Max graphics are still a bit "laggy" but that's probably because of my mac config.
I hope this thread will help people improve their game performance, i know this isn't a perfect thread, so any other tips are welcome here. Feel free to correct or add any useful informations about those performance issues. I'm staying optimistic & hoping that SE will improve/fix those issues.
Heavensward : Mac Osx Tips (Improve Performance/FPS)
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07-17-2015, 02:21 AMSiggHeavensward : Mac Osx Tips (Improve Performance/FPS)
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07-17-2015, 02:28 AMCatwho
Seriously? Some Mac defaulted to using the onboard graphics instead of their graphics card? Wow.
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07-17-2015, 03:10 AMSigg
Yes it was an option designed for battery life purpose, but the option disappeared recently with updates.
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07-17-2015, 03:23 AMBishop81
Or install boot camp and Windows then run the game from there.
Seriously, from what I heard the Mac Client is effective a wrapper around the Windows client.
They might as well not release one. -
07-17-2015, 07:38 AMSigg
Sure, cause we on mac we want to buy both Windows & Mac Osx, then both FFXIV versions for Mac & Windows. Any other useful tip ? -_- Thread name is "improve osx performance", not "how to install bootcamp". Some games run pretty well on Mac, (Diablo, Starcraft, Eve Online, League Of Legends, Wow, etc...), if the game isn't working correctly on mac this is SE fault & the people they paid for making the game on mac (forgot the name). That's why they offered refund & that's why heavensward is not available anymore in stores.
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07-17-2015, 08:08 AM416to305Those games work because they are designed for Mac. FFXIV for Mac is a wrapper making it work. It's basically like using Parallels Desktop or VMWare to play it which is why it's so slow and would never be as fast as the PC version.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigg
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07-17-2015, 04:57 PMSigg
Yes I know & when i gave away those 60$ i expected a game coded properly for mac. Like any new games on mac i expected less performance of course because of OpenGL working differently than DirectX, but not this "middleware". Obviously the company SE paid for making the game on mac didn't care or maybe they hired monkeys to make the program... So until they fix it it'd be nice if people shared their tips here.
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07-17-2015, 05:38 PMAvathAlThor
I'd forgotten about the PRAM thing. World of Warcraft had a bug with that a couple of years ago that would destroy your fps until you rebooted and cleared it. They did eventually fix it, but I remember the team at Blizz spending a lot of time trying to work out wtf was causing the problem in the first place.
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07-17-2015, 06:59 PMBishop81Just saying it's like pimping out a Peel P50 car ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigg
Games can run well on the Mac ... if they are properly coded for it and not just a wrapper around the Window version. -
07-17-2015, 07:17 PMSiggTrue... but i guess there's people out there unable to get bootcamp & stuck with this "shitwrapper" hitting disposable kodak camera fps (5-8 like me at the beginning) even with decent machines, those are ways to at least improve a bit the perf while waiting for a better/correctly coded versionQuote:
Originally Posted by Bishop81
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07-17-2015, 07:30 PMsirDarts
I really don't understand why people who want to game get a Mac.
I really don't understand why people who want to game on a Mac get a low performance one.
Yes, Apple can tell you whatever they want, but
Is a TERRIBLE setup for gaming, the processor is slow, and the card is pure crap.Quote:
Processor 2.4 Ghz core i7
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graph AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1G
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07-17-2015, 07:55 PMSiggYou need a mac when you work on 3D graphics stuffs or Music/Sound Design, which is my case. & yes i'm well aware that i have an awful setup. Still, game is working fine enough for me at the moment with tweaks & tips. I didn't make this thread to compare Windows & Mac. They aren't designed for the same purpose anywayQuote:
Originally Posted by sirDarts
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07-18-2015, 05:16 AMsarahnight
SirDarts, there are other threads to complain about Macs and why anyone would get one... This thread is about helping those trying to make FFXIV work acceptably in its current release on the Mac Platform.
I have had pretty good success with Windowed mode on my iMac. Not sure if they have been making tweaks to the current release, but it does seem more solid, and I haven't had to restart it recently at all. I have a level 27 lancer that i have been leveling exclusively on the Mac and its been pretty fun. Cut scenes seem lag free, fates work fine, even running around town feels pretty snappy. So things are already much better for me anyone than day one release. -
07-28-2015, 01:03 PMDilly2084My own findings while playing on macbook pro
Hello,
First off thank you for the tips and support pages to make things better.
I have tried to fine tune my nvidia card for better performance (using a 2015 Macbook Pro with retina display) and it seems to have worked when I first got the game at launch.
I'm readily getting 35-40fps and can play at times up to 4-5hours non stop, the only thing that I'm noticing is that my graphics start to become glitchy, in the sense that all of a sudden text like names or items on the view screen start to stretch and then the graphics start to display an overlay of what I just saw, I'll try to grab a screen cap of the next time it happens, but my only resolve is to just minimize back to my dock and then reopen (I play in windows mode because in full screen I get horrible lag - about up to 20fps), but window mode doesn't bother me as I have it on my 32 inch monitor and it stretches quite nicely on it. -
07-30-2015, 11:44 PMSiggHey, you're welcome, & about the issues with the glitchy graphs, imo it's an issue with the apple updates not even downloading the correct drivers/updates for the graphs, i had to install manually my Radeon drivers from Radeon website, it's probably the same issue with Nvidia. Also if you're on an old OS (leopard/mountain lion & especially maverick) i found that installing yosemite solved some problems with graph performances, not sure if 2015 macs are on maverick or YosQuote:
Originally Posted by Dilly2084
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07-30-2015, 11:48 PMCatwhoQuote:
Originally Posted by sirDarts
Even on Windows that would have bad performance.Quote:
Processor 2.4 Ghz core i7
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graph AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1G
I think it's more that people have a Mac already, and wanted to use their existing hardware.
But let's make a comparison - I have a 2 year old PC gaming box I build for about $1000. I have a clone of it in laptop form that cost me $2000.
My 2 year old gaming box is
My main system is overkill for XIV but as a result I can run the game at 120 FPS in DX11 without it breaking a sweat. My laptop, with its similar configuration, could run it, but gets hot quickly so I keep it at High laptop and still enjoy 60-120 FPS throughout the game.Quote:
Processor 3.5 Ghz core i7-4770K Haswell
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Nvidia GTX 770 2GB
Similarly specced out Mac laptops today are well over $3000 - with the only major difference for that extra grand being Mac OS and a Retina display.
Also, it's a myth that you "need" a Mac for graphics or music - that used to be the case, but Apple no longer has the best hardware, nor do they have the total market lockdown they used to enjoy.
BACK ON TOPIC - Is there anyone who has one of this year's model Macbook Pros with top of the line specs that can make a better apples to apples comparison, once the OP's fixes have all been put in place? My one Mac friend refuses to pick up the game until she has confirmation that her brand new system will actually be able to run it. -
08-02-2015, 10:05 PMSiggSigh are you a bloody Windows lobbyist xD, how much they pay you x) ? . Na more seriously YES Windows IS BETTER for GAMING, Yes you have better performance. Yes it costs less $ cause apple is stupidly expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catwho
BUT Windows is BAD for music/sound design because : OPENGL ≠ DirectX + The Softs are more stable on mac + Less crashes = Less files lost/crashing playlists. DirectX wasnt made for Music. I tried every softs on windows & on Mac. Mac is better.& i work in this since decades
Really the day you'll have a job consisting in creating sound or playlist you'll know that you can't afford to lose your files because it's days/months of work, you don't have time to fix issues, you don't have time to re-install softs & plugins/addons, you can't have stability issues, you can't lose records just because "windows crashed send report", you can't have stuttering soft when you record someone
Really go ahead & try any DAW on windows. CU base sucks ass, cost way too much money, & is old as fuck. Fruity loops is a joke, isn't stable, crashes with recent plugins & addons, & Ableton live is out on windows since only, few months on windows & isn't stable yet, & DAW on windows usually result in several crashes & sometimes even BSOD, losing your files or even the whole hard disk *pop* no more files, screw your 4 months projects.
Quote:
/!\ PLEASE read this before writing any sentence : I'm not here to argue about Windows being better or not & i really don't care. Ain't a pro mac (AT ALL), just making this thread to help people who are stuck on mac & can't bootcamp it. My config isn't clearly the best config at all, & i'm not here to compare config or D sizes. Some people can't afford both pc & mac because like me they bought a mac for Work. BUT i managed to run the game around 30 Fps (Which is a real improvement considering that fps was around 5-8 at the beginning) . This thread purpose is only to help people with Macs. Please let's not make this thread another "Fudge you mac windows is better " "get windows " like the billions we can already read everywhere on internet.
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08-12-2015, 10:55 AMDilly2084
Hi Sigg,
Sorry for very delayed response but school work and work been dragging me along :\
So the reason I have a mac to game on is that my PC blew up and I started to develop more on a mac both at work and for school - so graphics and configuring them for games is a bit of a new thing for me. The drivers you mentioned - were these the CUDA drivers on nvidia site?
I downloaded and installed and it seems to just run because now I see it in my system preferences pane but I don't see any options or anything like how Windows has it (expected? I'm not sure) pardon my stupidity :\ -
08-12-2015, 12:37 PMBishop81Having owned a Mac before ... in general you don't install drivers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dilly2084
Apple updates the drivers as they update the OS. You have no control over the drivers used.
i.e. Apple takes care of everything for you. -
08-20-2015, 10:55 AMSigg
Yes normally you don't have to install drivers, though for my Radeon i had to install driver manually because the auto "apps" mac updates was messing with it, didnt want to aknowledge it & was only recognizing the intel basic card, even had to go re-edit a text file & add a line : MBP 8.3,
I really don't know for Nvidia though, i just checked on their website & ended on a cudadriver .dmg file. I don't know if it has the same issue that i had with Radeon, & also had to use Gfxcardstatus to enable the radeon & still have to at the moment. Maybe try Gfxcardstatus it might solve your issue. Sorry for the late response. You might be able to check if it's active or not by going in Apple icon > about this mac > overview tab > system report > Graphics/Displays -
08-20-2015, 10:57 AMSiggYes normally you don't have to install drivers, though for my Radeon i had to install driver manually because the auto "apps" mac updates was messing with it, didnt want to aknowledge it & was only recognizing the intel basic card, even had to go re-edit a text file & add a line : MBP 8.3,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bishop81
I really don't know for Nvidia though, i just checked on their website & ended on a cudadriver .dmg file. I don't know if it has the same issue that i had with Radeon, & also had to use Gfxcardstatus to enable the radeon & still have to at the moment. Maybe try Gfxcardstatus it might solve your issue. You might be able to check if it's active or not by going in Apple icon > about this mac > overview tab > system report > Graphics/Displays
Sorry for the late response ! -
08-23-2015, 10:09 AMMakedaThanks for this advice. Much of it is good advice even if one is not running a game on a Mac.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigg
Though I did notice that Onyx is no longer available on the app store.