Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Technical & Gameplay Problems Hotfix #21 has broken MacOS gameplay

Unfortunately, this [ensuring Game Mode = ON] does not solve the problem at all. Upgraded to Sonama lat night and made sure "game mode" was on. Very slight improvement. The game still chugs down to single digit FPS on Ultra at 4k res.

So we still need to wait on a fix for the bug(s) introduced with hotfix #21.

Confirmed, hotfix #22 does not address the graphics performance issue problem from hotfix #21. :-(

so sad

If Game Mode is just "nice-ing" background other tasks, that would make difference only if there were other processes competing for resources, no?

I look at the command buffer and see GPU commands that are taking forever—not because resources are sitting idle, but because some of them are stupid heavy.

Just adding another name to the list this has hit.
M2 Macbook Pro, 16gb mem, no mods installed. Was able to run BG3 at ultra settings before but now even at the lowest settings and a ridiculously low resolution I'm getting around 10-15 fps, sometimes even worse. Actually is unplayable.

Tried:
- Resetting graphics settings to suggested by removing graphicSettings.lsx to get a fresh copy on next open, which set it back to the highest settings where I'd had them before.
- made sure Game Mode was on
- restarted Macbook just in case, no change
- Switched to Fullscreen, no better, went back to borderless window
- reduced resolution to ridiculously low to test, no change
- Tested various FSR mode settings, no change
- Checked, am on latest patch
- Loaded an act 1 save, was better than currently in act 3, but still way worse than it had been before.
- Reduced ALL settings at once (lowest resolution possible, lowest video settings, unchecked things like God Rays etc), still same 10-15 FPS but now blurry and awful looking. Put it all back.


Noticed that even within a cutscene the FPS can go to somewhat OK (not good, around 25 fps, but better) then drop to 5 fps or so, then pop back. Tried talking to a few companions to see if it was just Astarian being too wonderfully extra that my mac couldn't handle it, but similar drops happened with others too.

(Wondered that because I have always had to set Animation Level of Detail to medium instead of high, otherwise Astarian's face was disturbingly twitchy in cutscenes. Happened to a few others, but VERY often to him. That has been happening for a long time, not new with the latest patches.)

If anyone wants to check their in-game FPS, paste this into terminal then reopen BG3:
/bin/launchctl setenv MTL_HUD_ENABLED 1

To remove the info HUD, paste this into terminal and restart BG3:
/bin/launchctl setenv MTL_HUD_ENABLED 0


Oddly, also noticed that my Macbook was getting VERY hot, but according to Activity Monitor nothing was under great pressure, none of the 12 cores, not memory... nothing. No idea what that means, but maybe someone more techie would.



Worst area I tested was heading up to meet Gortash after dealing with the steel watch. That got to 5-6 fps which means my game is on hold till this is sorted.

Great feedback, thanks for including the process you went through.

Maybe you noticed this while you were playing around with the settings: the cutscene framerates will also vary depending on the direction you approach the NPC from.

I noticed the thermals too, but Instruments was telling me everything was hunky-dory; I also noticed that the fans didn't seem to be spinning up like they did before the Bad Patches.

I am also so sad. BG3 looked and played great on my M1 Max 24c. Now, even on my new M3 Max, it's unplayable.

I can't wait to get back to the game! I bought it day 1 on Steam to support Mac dev work (grateful that BG3 is available on Mac), but waited to play until it was stable -- and 1 hotfix later I cannot play!

I found a post on Reddit that has a possible solution how to rollback on a mac to Patch 6 before the problems occurred. Scroll down to tenkitron's post.
https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1bag2b5/baldurs_gate_3_fps_drop/


I haven't tested it yet, still waiting for the depot download to complete, but may be worth a shot if you don't want to wait for any incoming fix.


EDITED TO ADD:

It works! Any saves made after that patch are no longer compatible, which was expected, but the rollback brought my FPS back up where it was. Worth it if you don't want to wait for Larian to get this fixed for Mac.

Be sure to open BG3 from the file in
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/Steam.AppBundle/Steam/Contents/MacOS/steamapps/content/app_1086940/depot_1419660/
Not through steam launcher.

Update: jinked it! On a relaunch it’s back to being a laggy mess — kinda funny haha

Happy to report that my copy is back to running smoothly on hotfix 22. I did not attempt any fixes aside from testing the game’s performance once every couple days.

Device specs: [Irrelevant now].

Graphics settings: [So are these]

Hopefully I’m not the only one lucky this way (Read with dramatic irony.)!

This worked for me as well! Thank you for sharing.

I moved the .app file from the location you mentioned to:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Baldurs Gate 3/

it saved me around 120GBs to do so.

Also, after you run the app once, you can add it to the Dock while it is running and then easily launch it from there! It works great. So happy to be able to play again.

For anyone struggling with the resolutions acting funny on launch, make sure that you have your Display setting setup so that it matches the resolution setting inside of BG3 (e.g. - Display Setting is 4K for my external display and in game) prior to launch and it will look fine. Otherwise, you can only see a portion of the game. If you need to, search your Mac for "graphicSettings.lsx" and delete it to restore the default settings if you have any issues with graphic errors on relaunching the game.

Just wanted to pitch in and mention, that I am experiencing the same issues as every other mac user. Slowdowns to the point that the game becomes unplayable despite running perfectly fine before Hotfix 21.

M2 Pro, 32GB, Sonoma 14.2.1, 1 TB SSD.

It feels a bit like I'm shouting into the void though. I guess I should not be surprised given that Macs probably only make up a fraction of a fraction of the player base, but to have an entire new Hotfix that completely ignores the gamebreaking feature on your platform kinda stings, ngl…

I think after 30 days some of us may be entitled to a refund. It all depends on who your credit card carrier is. We're slowly coming up to the 30 day mark so I'll be checking soon. Coming up on 3 weeks of not being able to play, I've lost almost all interest in the game at this point.

I did not seem to have any appriciable difference with game mode enabled (using the chess app trick). M1 MAX and M1 Ultra tests.

Hello all,

Could you confirm if you've experienced an improvement in the performance in Mac after the most recent Hotfix 23?

After updating and applying the hot fix, tests on my M1 Ultra mac seem to indicate the issues are still present. The game does launch in Game mode without having to trick it using the Chess app method, but it appears I am still experiencing degraded performance.

Will test on the M1 Max next and see if anything is noticeably different there.

16" Macbook Pro, M1 Max, 64 GB, Sonoma 14.4

Performance in Hotfix #23 has definitely not improved vs. #22 or #21.

Still no improvement here either (M3 Pro chip)

Current patch with hotfixes updated today:

- 10-15 fps in an Wyrm's rock fortress with group doing nothing but walk outside in the area before Gortash.
- Campsite (docks) however is back to a more reasonable FPS (bouncing between 35-50)
- Facemaker's boutique area outside and inside shop 28 FPS on average.

Game mode is on. Activity monitor seems to show nothing under pressure (CPU or memory). The macbook is RAPIDLY heating up to worrisome levels and feels sluggish to the point that I had to close BG3 after those quick tests. Fans went wild and it's VERY hot to the touch. Before patch 6 it got really warm but was not like this.


After letting it cool, I opened Patch 6 (no hotfixes ROLLBACK) to compare FPS and overheating:

- Same spot in Wyrm's rock fortress. Bouncing between 60-78 FPS.
- Campsite (docks) 60-65 FPS
- Facemaker's boutique 30-41 FPS


The rollback version is making my Macbook very warm, fans are on but not 'fans screaming, almost burns to touch' levels that the current version was having before I had to close BG3. (Sorry for such vague temperature readings but I don't have a temperature monitor installed. I can if that info would be of help though.)

Edited to add:
I'm getting the FPS readings from using the terminal command
/bin/launchctl setenv MTL_HUD_ENABLED 1
not the Steam FPS overlay since I've never had that actually show up on Mac despite enabling those Steam settings a few times to try it out.

M2 Macbook Pro, 16GB

Edited again to add that I've rolled back to patch 6, no hotfixes, not because it was working best on that one (it got buggier as time went on) but because rolling back too far meant too much to re-play through since saves aren't backwards compatible (which is understandable). I would have gone back further to a more stable version, pre-patch 6 otherwise but I'm so close to the end I'd rather not do it all over again.

Please don't read this as me hating BG3, the team made something very special with this game and I love it dearly. But it is getting buggier and buggier with each patch and/or the further into the story I get.

Just wanted to say thank you for testing this for us. I recently rolled back to #20 and it's been pretty good so I was afraid of updating again to #23. I salute your sacrifice.

I echo what you said about BG3 and the Mac team, grateful that they've made the game available for the Mac and I hope things get better soon.

You shouldn't have to ask us about this. Larian should be testing releases for the supported platforms (including Mac) so they should know if the fix has solved the problem. This is not a bug specific to certain hardware or game situations - it pretty much breaks all game play on all Macs (admittedly there is some variation, but the problem is evident everywhere). Virtually any testing on Mac would reveal if the problem is solved.

I posted this in the hotfix #23 thread, but repeat this here as it might be relevant (with some minor edits). I think Larian has three options:

1) Fix the bug soon: Obviously the best outcome, but it clearly isn't a simple bug to fix or it would have been done by now.
2) Roll Mac users back to the functioning version of the game (hotfix 20): Would allow Mac users to play, but would presumably break cross platform multiplayer and any post hotfix 21 saves.
3) Give up on Macs and offer refunds to all Mac users: The nuclear option and lose-lose for everyone - Larian loses money, Mac users lose perhaps the flagship game released on Mac. It might also discourage other developers for developing for Mac.

Obviously, the first option is the best if it is possible. I assume Larian is working towards this but, if so, they need to communicate with Mac users about their progress, how long it is expected to take to fix, and what if anything we can do to help. I know Larian fired the firm that handled the original port and I suspect that the in house Mac developers they hired as replacements don't understand how to fix the bug. This is just speculation, so I hope I am wrong. The longer this takes, though, the more my suspicions rise.

If the first option is not possible, I think Larian needs to consider option 2. I don't play cross-platform, but I understand that cross-platform play with Mac users is close to impossible now anyway. And I think most Mac users have stopped playing the game on hotfixes 21-23 anyway, so will not lose much progress if reverting to hotfix 20 saves. Once they fix the problem, they can bring Mac users up-to-date with the other platforms. I know it is possible to roll back manually, but this is a bit hacky and something many users will not want to do (and shouldn't have to do for a game that they paid for).

Option 3 is a last resort that I hope is unnecessary. However, Larian should understand that they cannot keep money paid by users unless they offer them a functional product. Most countries have consumer laws about this.

I appreciate Larian's effort in trying to bring this game to Mac, and the work they do to fix bugs and update the game. However, the current situation for Mac users is unacceptable.