Aloha all!
iMac (24" mid-2007)
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
OS 10.11.5
The game launches, and performs ok, but most maps quickly overwhelm the machine, and gameplay lags and stutters painfully. I've gone into the game menu and turned off the graphic effects (Lighting, Trails, Explosions (small). Any other tips on how to make this a less frustrating experience? There are maps I cannot finish because the lag and stutter gets so bad.
Mahalo!
Tom G
There comes a time in the life of all computers when they are not up to the task anymore. Your computer has seemingly arrived at that point. It had a good journey. Now it needs to let go. Mahalo.
I'm impressed it can even load a map at all.
If that is not practical, then minimal pausing can be helpful. The game runs on Unity, which unloads unused game assets, such as particle animations, when paused. With the kind of lag you mention, 0.5x speed will be your best hope of UI being stable, and you will do well to stick to small, low-density maps. And avoid scripting. Later Exchange maps have a lower default particle cap, due to a lag-reducing update.
After ten years, your machine is likely to be underpowered by a factor of around 100, based on Moore's Law, relative to an equivalent-range machine today. So there is only a limited amount that you can do.
I hope that this helps.