Skyrim on Early 13in 2011 Macbook Pro with Integrated Intel HD 3000 Graphics

[dashiellfarewell]

Hey MrEcted, wondering if you could help with this issue. I got Skyrim from Steam, I have the same model macbook pro you're using, and have the game set on the same settings. When I go to run it, the initial loading screen is all blocky and purple and then the game crashes. Any ideas what might cause this?? Thanks so much....

[MrEcted]

@dashiellfarewell I'm not sure, I didn't experience that issue. Are you running this bootcamped in Windows 7 64 bit?

[DJXurion]

@MrEcted Just asking, I have the same Macbook Pro. How hot does the CPU get while playing?

[iMad94K]

i have the same macbook pro, i play the ported version of skyrim for mac and it sucks so much, too much lag even on the lowest settings... i guess to play skyrim you have to install windows on your mac

[mupp33n]

My HD3000 cant even play a movie or TV show thats higher than 640x400 in resolution.

This is on a PC, its plugged in to my secondary monitor.

[qwertyv3]

i need your help reaaaally badly I've been searching like for 5 days non stop on how by pass the skin error message when your try to launch the game that says the the shader model was not appropriate.....i have the same machine as you but I'm running it through crossover and steam....thks

[FringeDemon]

@MrEcted is this a Steam copy of the game or a disc copy? I was just wondering because I already have the game on Steam...

[olibrabra]

is it the one with 4Gs of ram>

[MrOrthopedia]

I recently got my Macbook Pro for Christmas and I want to know whether or not Crysis 1 and 2, GTA 4 and/or The Sims 3 can run on a Mac with Windows with little to no lag? What steps would you recommend?

[SuperBos5]

one quick question, i have the Macbook pro OS X nvidia geforce320m. i have installed the game and it works, but why does it become very lag ish once i start playing the game ? tho it works, i cant really play play cause it lags as hell, is it the resolution ? please help me with this

[MrEcted]

@SuperBos5 Hey there,

Are you using windows via Bootcamp? Also, what settings (including resolution) are you using? Make sure you are using the FPS limiter as it improves the game drastically for many people (myself included). Furthermore, keep in mind that the very beginning of the game is choppy, but once you make it past the initial scene/area (about an hour into play) it should smooth out quite a bit.

[SuperBos5]

@MrEcted i bought the mac version of the game, thats the thing, i couldnt find my resolution setting cause im thinking to change it to the lowest resolution. if i may ask whats FPS limiter (sorry for the silly question, im new this kinda thing :p) well i played it for abt 10 mins and it drives me nuts

[seaninfrared]

Question is...Why would you install Windows on your Mac!?

[MrEcted]

@seaninfrared For a couple reasons. First, so I can play games like Skyrim, but most importantly because I'm a software developer who writes code for both OSX and Windows (.NET), so it's nice being able to work from a single machine.

[seaninfrared]

@MrEcted I see man! I apologise for my naive comment! Keep up the vids!

[DeGeeGin]

@MrEcted Hey man, nice video! I am thinking about installing windows on my macbook pro so I can play Skyrim too! Just one question... how hot does your machine get? When I usually play a game such as WoW, it says my CPU temp is around 80 Celsius, should I be worried? It doesn't even feel that hot...

[HoboNum99]

does your mac never make noises or lag, while playing big games?

if it doesnt how can i avoid it?

[MrEcted]

@HoboNum99 I don't lag too much, but the fans do get pretty loud.

[SablecoltMinecraft]

howcome mine cant handle it i have the same graphics card

[MrEcted]

@SablecoltMinecraft Are you using a Macbook Pro?

[SablecoltMinecraft]

@MrEcted yes mine has a nvidia geforce320m

[Raicun27]

@MrEcted So if I have a MacBook Pro I can't play Skyrim?

[SableColt]

@MrEcted yes i am i dont know if i have the intel thing the only thing i have is the nvidia geforce 320m

[bigothetechguy]

HOLY CRAP! Anyone who has DOSBox on their computers is a boss! Do you play arena or daggerfall on that???

[MrEcted]

@bigothetechguy I most definitely play both Arena and Daggerfall. Great games!

[MrOkiesokies]

How did you get it to 800 by 600?

[NightmareSein]

Lol your Mac is like "Kill me!" Lol nice video. I have the same computer.

[silverkoss]

hey just wanted to appreciate it. i tried the fps limiter and worked unbeleiavbly well. i thank you

[MrEcted]

@silverkoss I'm glad that worked for you. Yeah, the FPS Limiter really seems to do the trick. Also, make sure you have the latest patch (if you bought through Steam, then as you probably know - the patch will auto-install). Anyways, I noticed a significant improvement in areas that were laggy for me. The game is incredibly smooth for me now and I am able to play it with textures set all the way to high with no noticeable performance hit.

[silverkoss]

@MrEcted Thank you i will look into that. btw do you know if fps limiter on other games have the same effect?

[MrEcted]

@silverkoss To be honest, I'm not quite sure. Most games I play on my Mac are a little bit older (Half Life 2, Titan Quest, etc) and don't require tweaks and such. Skyrim is the first game I've used FPS limiting on.

[silverkoss]

@MrEcted ok well ill look into it. if any luck ill let you know. good day

[codeythesilent]

With the $1200 you spent on this laptop, you could have bought an amazing gaming laptop...

[MrEcted]

@codeythesilent You are correct.

[JazzPractice]

I will give this a shot, thank you for the video. I wish more developers ported games natively to the Mac.

[ashvinrai]

@MrEcted How much system RAM do you have?

[MrEcted]

@ashvinrai 4 gigs.

[MrWetFork]

4:10 can you hear the jet engines, sorry i mean the mbp 13" fans, really considering upgrading to a 15" just for the graphics card haha :P

[MrEcted]

@MrWetFork Haha! Yeah, it sounds like a mini Dyson vacuum. I'm considering buying a dedicated gaming rig because even the gfx card for the higher end 15 inch model ($2,200.00) isn't that great, really. That machine is $1,000.00 more than I paid for my lower-end 13 inch MBP! $1,000 would get you a pretty sweet gaming rig these days, far better for games than the 15 inch MBP anyways.

[MrWetFork]

@MrEcted I agree mine is the exact same, so so loud. And so true, however as far as computers go these macs are amazing, just so easy to use. I was thinking the same as you in regards to getting a gaming rig but then i thought, besides gaming, i would lose all the gestures which while small are so amazing. i dont think i could live without 2 finger scrolling anymore.

[MrEcted]

@MrWetFork You and me both. For day to day use I definitely prefer Mac. Every other non-Mac laptop I have used since going Mac feels really cumbersome. That being said, Macs just can't compete with a dedicated gaming rig when it comes to games. I don't think they are as bad as people make them seem (I can still play many awesome games), but it would be nice to see all of Skyrim's glory on ultra graphics!

[pgeske]

I have the same laptop as you. Do you have a stutter problem, where the fps remains high, but in some places the game stutters a lot?

[MrEcted]

@pgeske I do have frame rate issues in certain areas, especially areas that have lots of trees and foliage. I'm considering recording another video to show these areas.

If you are showing a high FPS, but still having stutter issues then you should definitely check out the FPS limiter. The FPS limiter really smoothed out the game play for me.

[pgeske]

@MrEcted Will do. thanks!

[pgeske]

@MrEcted Thank you so much! i just tried the fps limiter, and my game no longer stutters!

[MrEcted]

@pgeske Awesome! I'm glad that worked for you. Enjoy the game!

[ichigo2008bleach]

Do you know how can i fix mouse lag? I tried putting iPresentInterval=0 and bMouseAcceleration=0, but i still get slow mouse response :(. I downloaded the fps limiter also, but it didn't help it.

[MrEcted]

@ichigo2008bleach What resolution are you playing at? What are your specs?

[rudahihi]

do you have to havre bootcamp for this to work?

[jacksheets]

@rudahihi The game is Windows only, so yes.

[001raptor100]

Wow I'm buying a lenovo i3 2.2ghz laptop with intel HD 3000 tomorrow... You think it will run as smooth playing skyrim?

[MrEcted]

@001raptor100 It's possible... however your CPU is a little bit of a bottleneck. The MBP I'm using has a 2.4GHz i5 and yours is an i3. The i3 is still a dual-core processor and minimum specs for Skyrim call for a 2.0GHz dual-core, so you meet that requirement. I'd imagine you could probably get it to run if you use similar settings as I do in the video. You might have to turn shadows down to low and textures down to medium.

[001raptor100]

@MrEcted Okay thanks so much i'll try those settings when i get it today!

[MrEcted]

@001raptor100 Hey man, after doing a little research, you might want to hold off on buying Skyrim. It looks like performance for the HD 3000 can vary quite drastically depending on CPU.

[001raptor100]

@MrEcted i got Intel 2nd Generation Core i3 2.2GHz is that bad?

[MrEcted]

@001raptor100 I really wish I could give you a good educated guess but unfortunately I cannot. I would hate to recommend that you get the game, only to find out that it was a waste of money for you. After some searching around I did find that performance can vary between machines because the HD 3000 is directly integrated with the processor core. Honestly, I'm a bit out of the loop with modern computer technology, so I really do hope that someone can chime in and give you a better answer than I.

[001raptor100]

@MrEcted Okay thanks for all the help man. I havnt gotten the laptop yet.. still looking at this desktop. I don't really know much about it but it has AMD Athlon II x2 and Radeon HD 3200 (says 3000).

[MrEcted]

@001raptor100 If you do decide to risk it, then just keep in mind that the beginning of the game will likely be a bit choppy for the first hour or so (it's very action-packed!).