How do people play RTSs on Macbook Pros?

[sethmachine]

Hi,

So I've got a MacBook pro here (recently purchased, 6 months ago). I did not buy it for gaming (they aren't meant for it as I've read/been told), but nonetheless I did manage to make TFT run on Wine.

Since my windows machines have been down, I've tried playing some custom games of WC3 on my mac. Besides the heat it generates (even from a decade old game on a very new machine), it feels downright awkward and sluggish to play anything, even maps like Sunken City, where you only control a single unit. It's not the fps as far as I can tell but just the set up.

The worst part is making control groups--under Wine you can make them by using the "control" key with a number (same as Windows), but because the command key is really more closer to Windows "ctrl" (or that's what I think now), the "control" key is in a very awkward position for making hotkeys fast, which is important for any map/game involving more than a single unit.

I haven't tried it out on SC2, but I'm guessing I'll still feel the same way.

So is this something that will take a bit of practice or are Macbook Pros really not suited for RTS, in terms of keyboard architecture and spacing?

 

[PurgeandFire]

Yeah, it is a little awkward making control groups. There have been a few times where I messed up a game from instinctively pressing command # instead of ctrl # for grouping.

You might be able to do rebind command to act as control when you're playing, see:
http://superuser.com/questions/250611/mac-os-change-command-to-control-key

And look down in that thread to look into the key remap. If it could work for mouse buttons, that would be a great option (since mouse button # is easier than ctrl # anyway).

Personally, I am sort of getting used to it. It is still awkward, but you'll eventually manage, IMO. When I first switched from windows to mac when I was playing WoW, I was tempted to switch out all my ctrl binds since I usually ended up pressing fn instead, but I got used to it over time.

As for Sc2, iirc you can rebind control groups to use the command key. Not 100% sure though, I haven't played the game since beta lol.

Anyway, I use my thumb if I'm binding 1-3. Otherwise I do some weird spider-like formation to bind 4-7. You just have to be able to jump your hand to the proper position, and then jump back. If you master that, you'll be fine.

 

[Dr Super Good]

(even from a decade old game on a very new machine)

Single threaded forces processor to run at higher clock speeds. Laptops are not designed to run the processor at high clock speeds for extended periods of time.

Surely WC3 cannot use that much processor time? Welcome to the joys of Linux based systems and how slow they are for stuff like this. If you are using Wine for the Windows version of WC3 then it has an extra layer of driver abstraction as it maps MAC drivers to Windows drivers. You are also either running in OpenGL mode or in Direct3D mode emulated via OpenGL and in either case they are very slow on Linux Kernel machines due to how they handle graphics.

I haven't tried it out on SC2, but I'm guessing I'll still feel the same way.

I could swear they have a Mac build of that...

Make sure you are using your dedicated video card when gamming.
This will probably produce more heat but it is further away from the CPU (more distributed). Consider using a cooling mat as well if you are in a warm country.

 

[sethmachine]

Right I guess I'll have to try the SC2 build then.

But what about the architecture of the keyboard layout in terms of playing an RTS? Do you think it's a good design, or are all the designs really very sub optimal, we just happened to have spent so much time practicing them that it doesn't feel awkward.

That leads into the question of what is the optimal control scheme/design for playing RTS games like Blizzard makes--clearly it is not a game controller (Nintendo tried this for the N64). But I guess that is off-topic.

How the interface would be easier if we could send commands via our brain rather than physically making them out or using voice (talking feels would seem to be too straining on the body).

 

[PurgeandFire]

That is an interesting question. For something as complex as an RTS or WoW, I would always take a keyboard over a game controller.

But I think Blizzard's binds should be more customizable in general. Personally, I never liked ctrl+1, 2, 3... etc. Ideally, I would go for something like: double press 1 to assign a group, press 1 once to access the group. Of course, that might have its own issues, but it would be really easy/fast. If I had to use a modifier, I would probably favor ` + 1, 2, 3... (the key left of 1). eh, technically it isn't a modifier, it is a key combo, but I would design the game to allow any key to be a modifier (something WoW could really use in its current state, considering how bloated the spellbooks are).

As for managing with what is given to you, I would rebind a mouse button to act as control. That way, you can do quick grouping just by holding down the mouse button and pressing 1. That is probably the easiest/best way. Look into programmable mouses (but be careful, because most of them require Windows. But you can sometimes just bind them on a Windows computer and the bindings will work just fine on a mac).

As for the architecture of the keyboard: I think the keyboard is fine. Most modern games are pretty logical with their bindings, and the ones that support mac usually allow for command as a modifier or option to behave as alt automatically. But the older games suffer. Wc3 was kinda awkwardly planned keyboard-wise in the first place. They chose hotkeys that made logical sense with the name (e.g. B for Barracks, S for Stop, A for Attack, etc...) but uniformity would probably be easier (QWER top row, ASDF middle, ZXCV bottom). There are some mods that do that. But I suppose it is something you can get used to either way. As long as they don't reach farther than Y, H, and B, things will usually be okay.

 

[sethmachine]

If I can stomach the task of controlling large armies in WC3 on OS X again, perhaps I will try your rebindings. The idea of using the mouse to make quick control groups sounds really clever. I look forward to trying it, though does it require a special mouse, or I can change the key bindings anytime?

Well for my off topic question, what would you imagine would be the optimal interface? I doubt it's a keyboard (QWERTY, DVORAK, or otherwise) with a mouse. And we know it's not a game controller (in the sense of something we hold in our hands). This is sort of a physics question I suppose that needs to take into account the anatomy of the human and the demands of an RTS.