EQMac.com

Hi All,

So I know this is probably answered here somewhere but I had limited time to search as I am at work.

What is the best Mac for EQMac that can:

- Eliminate the horrid mouse lag that I get on my girlfriends Intel-based MacBook Pro.
- Run the game at all the highest settings in a 50+ player raid environment.
- Run two instances of EverQuest at once if I decided to two box with graphics on low to mid settings.
- Allow me to install a mouse with two buttons that will actually work in the game.


So here's my situation. Some of this is pure ignorance I know because I have long been a PC person and have little clue about Macs. I am however a Network Engineer for a Microsoft shop. I may have poor taste in Computer hardware but I'm really not an idiot so feel free to be harsh/technical.

I hate the horrid mouse lag that comes with EverQuest Mac on Intel based Macs. I have installed it on my girlfriends very powerful Macbook Pro which I raided on WoW with almost all the settings on high. Everquest Looks great graphic wise but I cannot for the life of me stand the mouse lag it drives me insane. I am told this is due to Intel based Macs running some extra software to run EQMAC for compatibility reasons.

I read that the PowerPC Macs were the machines EverQuest was made for. So I guess the question is, without a doubt what is the best PowerPC Mac that I can find today, and what options do I not want to skip etc.

From the little research I have done it seems to be the iMac G5 iSight) version but I am not sure. Should I go with a PowerMac G5 instead?



TLDR: Whats the fastest Power PC Mac on the market that will dominate EQ Mac. IE: If you could pick any machine to run EQMac on what would you buy today?


Thanks!


Eric

http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gall ... &order=ASC

That with 2 GB+ ram and the GForce 7800 256MB card would be the fastest possible EQMac machine.

(PS also try the /mouse command to speed up your cursor, I play on similar hardware and never have any issue)

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Thank you for the quick response.

Now to find this machine!

Note that a lot of the mouse lag is a result of some "security" code in the EQ application which changes your cursor position by a tiny amount in a random direction, in order to foil scripters.

Default mouse speed is 0 (on a scale of 0-3)

/mousespeed 1

or

/mousespeed 2

Will show a huge difference.

Also, make sure you set Spotlight to not touch your EverQuest folder.

Go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy and drag your EverQuest folder into that window. Also making sure that Time Machine is turned off while you're playing EQ will help things out, as does quitting any other applications.

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Proud member of Temerity
GM Fletcher (250) Jewel Craft (234) Brewing (226) Smithing (224 + 15%) Pottery (234) Baking (246) Pure Hell (226)
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Run your girlfriends computer using the Powerof2 UI and see how that helps. That creates about 30% better mouse (totally made up number) movement. The improvement was enough that I got use to it. Before I played over a year and never got use to the mouse lag.

Of course the other suggestions are also good and in combination you get even better performance. I don't think it is possible in this EQMac enviroment to have the mouse lag be better or equal to the PC version. Some changes to Everquest programming would need to be made or so I'm told.

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Daro - 65 Monk ** 4/30/2011
Lots of other characters

Yes to the late '05 G5 Quad. Mine can run five or six instances of EQ at a time (with old models though, eff Luclin) with no noticeable slowdown. Not that I'd recommend six-boxing on one computer, it is dumb and annoying.

The old towers are pretty loud, though... caveat emptor. Also ginormous and heavy as sin. I hauled mine ten blocks from the dude's house I bought it from to the nearest train station, and my arms were sore for a week

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Pithy Deathwish, manic mechanic of <Temerity>

Refuse, rubbish, filth, slime, muck and other alt-putrescence:
[ Drat | Dart | Zounds | Slouch | Pouch ]

Typical Nerd

I do not have a '05 G5 Quad, but a Duo, and 3 box with ease on that- Only issues happen when I encounter the XTC/AL AE's or coldain ring click and the Ice wizard PBAE. That spell graphic forces me to turn off spell effects if I want to be able to function. Otherwise, spells are on max w/o issues.

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That explains why you were bitching during the dozer fight. I just constantly tap the ring and flying kick hot buttons, so I don't have to worry about timing the refresh. I was unaware that anyone actually played with spell effects turned on. I thought you were just being a newb and had my spell spam going to your chat window.

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Good thread. I have some stuff to add though.

Ironically, in a thread about mouse lag, no-one has talked about their actual mouses yet. I'll admit, until recently, I was of the opinion that all mice were more or less the same, but a friend convinced me to upgrade from my as-standard-as-they-come Microsoft Intellimouse to a Razer DeathAdder 3500DPI.



The EQ mouse still runs like sht (since it is OS driven and nothing can change that) but it does run like a dream compared to what it was before. This is because Razer actually has good Mac drivers, and I was able to finally disable USB overdrive (which is artificial speed/acceleration). Not to say that everyone should go out and buy a Razor product right now; I would expect that there are good Mac drivers out of any high-end gaming mouse. The point is, spend some money and get rid of your standard Microsoft/Logitech sht.

Really? I have both that exact same Razor and a Logitech G5. I prefer the G5.

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Elder Judah, Harvester of Tares Lichen

V

One thing I never hear mentioned in threads about mouse lag.....I stopped playing EQPC in 2002...When I came to AK it was like I never left EQPC. This is the EXACT same horrid mouse lag that was on EQPC the entire time I played. I just got used to playing without the mouse. The entire game is very playable with no mouse(I understand that the mouse is necessary for some things, don't flame, well actually you can play without ever touching the mouse at all :{P). Once you get used to playing without ever touching your mouse, you will wish that you never tried playing with the mouse. My 2cp.

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Is that why your boxes arent up to date spell wise, Devour? Cuz you dont use your mouse!?

In other words dont Tradeskill... and say "oops" when your "closest NPC" keybind doesnt give you the proper target and you kill your friendly gnome enchanter!

Yes, I have generally minimized my EQ mouse usage- I played WoW for a while and obv that was very "natural" to use the mouse in that game, but I did get used to how this era's EQ works easily enough when I came back.

BTW- Am I the only one that likes seeing sparklies!? And does the blue coldainclick/XTC/AL/Doze/etc spell gfx lag anyone else out or is it just me? I have spells on at all times in general, just those specific fights I turn it off.

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I like seeing sparklies. Unfortunately, I don't like the lag it creates.

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Sinnder, Enchanter of Destiny
Joshore, Druid of Destiny

Mouse usage can be completely eliminated is all I'm saying.



Wow....I didn't realize.....but judging from the way people break mezzes in VT...and anywhere in general.....Everyone is targeting this way!!!



Mouse users in WoW get smoked in pvp.



2.5 dual processor G5, 256 mb 7900?? 4 gigs of memory running one instance in full screen and still lag with spell effects on.....same as you

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