[MAC] [STEAM] Flickering graphics and borders issue

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[MAC] [STEAM] Flickering graphics and borders issue [SOLVED]

Awhile back I purchased CKII and all the content, without a thought that it might not run on my MacBook Pro. After all, I have a number of PI titles and they all run flawlessly.

This weekend I finally tried to play it. I run Bootcamp, and I purchased the game on STEAM, so I can run it on either the Mac side of my computer or the Windows (Bootcamp) side. On the Windows side, it crashes with the "Display Driver Has Stopped Working but Recovered" error repeatedly - like every few minutes, then will eventually lock up the computer, forcing a hard reboot.

I downloaded and installed it on the Mac side tonight and got the flickering graphics and borders issue. There was a thread of this error on the STEAM forum but it ended with "see Paradox for the solution." So I guess that's why I'm here: for the solution.

I'm running a Macbook Pro, Mac OS X 10.6.8, 2.66 GHz i7, and the infamous NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card (512 mb VRAM). Actually, under graphics/displays, the Macbook lists Intel HD Graphics AND Nvidia card. The computer has 4 gb RAM.

As for CKII, I'm playing version 1.092, Checksum ICBN.

Any suggestions would be helpful as I currently cannot play the game at all. If you need any additional information, please let me know.

 

[unmerged(364820)]

Okay, I solved my own problem so I'm posting this in case it will be useful for other Macbook users. PLEASE take note of the Macbook specs above. I'm using a 2010 MacBook Pro with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card (512 mb VRAM).

Basically, I read through the forum until I came to a post by AndrewT suggesting people install 10.8.3 OS. I know, I know: you shouldn't have to buy an operating system for a game which clearly states in its specs on STEAM that it will run with an earlier system. But it doesn't. It costs $20 to upgrade your operating system to 10.8.

Install time for the OS (and upgrades) took about 2 hours.

The real downside is the new OS will drain your battery at 2x the speed but it does give you iCloud and other benefits. As I said, it's kind of frustrating if you weren't planning on installing the OS.

Once installed, the graphics issue went away. Now the next step is optional: I run smcFanControl on my MacBook Pro which allows me to increase the fan speed to 6000 rpms. I've used it for years, without a problem, to keep my graphics card cool and prolong its life. I set this to the max 6000 rpms.

I then played CKII for two and a half hours straight without a problem. My MacBook got a little warm and when I logged out it was hovering at around 79 degrees. It quickly dropped back down to 60 degrees and as I'm writing this, it's at 48 degrees. The key to using this tool is to turn it on before you start your game (I usually run it around 3000 in the summer) so that your laptop doesn't collect heat.

Bottom line: AndrewT's advice to upgrade to 10.8 OS X has merit. I hope this helps someone.

 

[AndrewT]

Thank you for the confirmation. I too am not thrilled to have to give advice that costs users money, but I hope you find it money well spent. It does prove that a part of the issues we still see on the Mac platform are due to the poor Apple OpenGL video drivers in their older OSs.

I myself had to upgrade my whole Mac and OS before I could play it at all on a Mac. Having done that though, I prefer to play it on the Mac than the PC - it's just smoother and nicer, IMO.

 

[unmerged(364820)]

Thank you for the confirmation. I too am not thrilled to have to give advice that costs users money, but I hope you find it money well spent. It does prove that a part of the issues we still see on the Mac platform are due to the poor Apple OpenGL video drivers in their older OSs.

I myself had to upgrade my whole Mac and OS before I could play it at all on a Mac. Having done that though, I prefer to play it on the Mac than the PC - it's just smoother and nicer, IMO.

Andrew T: Well, I'm not blaming you for this. If as a result of this information, PI can move towards a more successful rate of Mac OS released titles, I'd be thrilled. Bootcamp has never been as smooth an option for playing games on a MacBook Pro (I've been doing this for five years my titles include Total War Games, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc.) as simply playing them on the Mac OS.

It would be really easy to get frustrated with PI right now: it's not just that the game doesn't work, but they's selling the game in a manner that's a little deceptive. For example, I bought the entire CK install include ALL DLCs. When I checked out of STEAM I had a price tag of over $100 (that did include MotE, too). I thought, based on the information given on STEAM, that the game would run easily on my MacBook. At the very least, they should put a warning on STEAM advising buyers that numerous problems people are experiencing with Macs.

But I'm willing to forgive them if this will get PI closer to porting more of their titles to an Mac OS. (Of course, I have a working copy of CKII. Others might not be so forgiving ...) I'm kind of frustrated that MotE is not available for Macs and I have to play it on Bootcamp.

Thanks again for the help.

 

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UPDATE:

Just a quick note to update the above information: last night I played for five hours straight without a single crash or problem. The 10.8.3 OS does seem to play quite well with the latest version of CKII.

 

[Dukhat]

I have the same problem on the same hardware and OS. Is there anything that can be done without upgrading the OS? I can't upgrade my OS now and I would love to play this game.

 

[AndrewT]

You can try reducing the graphics as much as possible by editing settings.txt and removing trees, and sme other effects. Another possibility is to use a low-res graphics mod.

 

[syukakuju]

Hello,

I did buy the game yesterday.I have the same issue (flickering border, shields and units) and i don't want to upgrade my OS. None of the solution listed here do
work. The game is supposed to work as specified on steam... What can i do? I would prefer statics graphics than that.

 

[AndrewT]

What exact Mac, video card, and OS X versions?

 

[syukakuju]

Osx 10.6.8, and it is a mac book pro 2010 4go Ram, and Geforce 330M.
the game is running nicely except those annoying bugs.
I would like not to upgrade my OS because i heard that the battery really don't like the new OS, and also i use old softwares for my PHD that won't work on Mountain lion.
At least is there a trick to have proper graphs?

 

[AndrewT]

You have the same hardware and OS X version as the OP did, and only the OS X upgrade helped him. You can try reducing the graphics in settings.txt and running a low-res mod, but the upgrade of OS X is the only real way forward.

Note your hardware is under the minimum specified for the game

ATI Radeon HD 6750 / NVIDIA GeForce 320 / NVIDIA GeForce 9600 or higher, 1024MB graphics memory required