So now that I ordered Window 7 for Boot Camp

Can anyone tell me the secret to getting CoH to run on my spiffy new retina mbp (2.7 ghz i7, 16GB ram) in OS X without it becoming a space heater?

Blizzard games have yet to spin the fans up. CoH on just the login screen starts them up. Albeit at a low speed. Actually play the game and they go full force. Graphics settings don't seem to matter much. I'm not sure what actually happened but while on AC power with a previously 100% charged battery it started discharging while in Atlas and processor use was hitting 170% while AFK. No temperature warnings but the case was getting hot so I'm guessing the batteries were cooking.

My other MBP lasted as a main computer for 6 years. A few weeks in on my new one is a bit too early to start thrashing it the way the Mac CoH client does.

Thankfully I can justify the Windows purchase for work reasons (but sadly not to the point of reimbursement, yay for firewalls and clients that don't do dhcp over IPSec on just the Mac client).

This isn't a rage quit. Mostly howls of anger over how shoddy a job Transgaming did and the fact Paragon has put up with it. I'd have thought that with a red name getting a Mac they might have thought about doing something about it.

edit:
Just for reference, the CPU temp goes from 30C idle to 66C at just the login screen and the graphics card temp is up to 87C.

I've run the mac client on 4 different types of macs: MBPro, Mini, Pro and iMac.

All fans full speed, all the time, no exceptions. Welcome to Transgaming!

Yep -- in fact, I did an experiment this weekend where I re-installed the Windows game client in my 5-year old MBP's Windows Vista Boot Camp partition:

- Hardly any fan spin-up.
- Zones loaded more quickly.
- Could support a higher level of graphics rendering on the same hardware.

The only explanation I've found for how Cider works is that it translates WindowsAPI calls like the ones from DirectX into instructions that can be handled by MacOS. In that sense, it's not really that different from running the PC version of the game in virtualization software like Parallels or VirtualBox, except it doesn't appear that Cider attempts to do hardware emulation in software and thus has a smaller 'footprint' when running in the MacOS. Nevertheless, it seems that, if you're a stickler for performance rather than just being happy that the game runs at all, you'll be happier Boot Camping your Mac than just running the Ciderized version of City of Heroes.

--
Pauper

In windowed mode, the fans don't run nearly as much. That leads me to believe that Cider is not properly optimizing the use of the video hardware in full screen mode.

It kind of makes sense since Cider was originally designed to make DirectX games to run on a Mac. CoH is OpenGL, so it's possible that Cider is double converting the graphics stuff - it only has to be fast *enough* to be marketable, not efficient.

As for the Macbook Pro heat dissipation: It has two independent variable speed fans that are so large, it would be like cooling a desktop PC with 2 12" fans. Independent means they can start, stop, change speeds individually.

Those two fans work predictively - they spin up *before* the laptop gets hot. They do this due to earlier complaints about Macbooks getting uncomfortably hot. So now they're cooler but noisier.

I've worked on Toshiba, HP, and Sony laptops fairly recently, and all of those choose to ramp up their fans very early, even while using routine apps like Word. It's common practice these days due to fear of lawsuits.

However, if you have a Macbook Pro and believe the fans are running excessively, you should probably contact Apple. There are a few ways they can fix it ranging from software to fan or logic board replacement.

Maybe mac users shouldn't be so touchy about their hardware. They are good solid machines, but they weren't designed by any deity I know of.

All computers, Apple to Xerox, were made by people and are thus prone to the vagaries of human effort. People make mistakes. Sometimes people chose a non optimum engineering solution for a variety of reasons; cost, size, performance, nerd factor and even personal reasons.

I don't think that considering that CPU intensive tasks might task a MPB is an attack. Further, the speed of the fans is not the only factor to consider. No matter how fast a fan may spin if it doesn't have good airflow over the heating components and a way to exhaust this heat, it may not cool properly. It's not unreasonable to surmise that a thin laptop might lack in proper cooling channels.

There isn't any point in talking about technical issues if you are going to bristle over perceived slights.

Just an unnecessary FYI - I'm an iOS developer, so I do need at least one Mac. I have in the very recent past tried to compare whether it would be worthwhile to get a cheap game-worthy Windows laptop for gaming, plus a cheaper Macbook. But when I worked out the costs, it turned out to be a lot cheaper just to get one Macbook Pro.

Plus, like I've said before, it's kind of neat to have one 1" thick, 7 lb laptop I can do just about everything with.

P.S. Please do not reply with the "you can get a windows laptop for $400" thing. I really, really researched this well, and gave a LOT of leeway, including an Asus clearance model at newegg, while I'd really prefer a lighter weight and more featured Sony or Alienware. When I say game-worthy laptop I mean display of at least 15", fairly recent generation of dedicated graphics, and either Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Something you'd be able to play high-end games on for a few years.

I haven't found any temperature monitors yet but it does seem to run cooler.

Though I also found out that while macros are stored account side disable xp isn't. Now to decide to reroll that Praetorian again or just roll with missing half og the Imperial arcs... grrr...