Pixel Shader 2.0

[Alaric]

I'm almost 40 years old, having wife and kids son don't "fit" a profile of typical gamer.

Actually, the average age of a gamer (at least in the US) is something like 35. Most have families too.

I know this has nothing to do with the topic, just wanted to share some trivia.

[lFlapjackl]

I completely understand where you are coming from cezi. My only worry is if your computer would be able to run it, even if it was supported with notebook mode. The game is incredibly optimized though, so it wouldn't surprise me if it would work. Maybe a developer can attempt to confirm the addition, atleast after the other aforementioned features have been added. However, the developers here are pretty awesome, It wouldn't surprise me if they added the option as soon as they possibly could.

Here's hoping you find a way to play the game!

[cezi]

I've done two things since then: added another 1GB of memory and replaced my original gfx card 9500pro with x1300xt (only because first one went out of order)

Well, unfortunately I'm not able to replace my graphics in my Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop. Mobility Radeon 9800 is the best which can fit in. Besides there is the post concerning requirements in which Petri says it runs quite smoothly on 256MB card. So I'm pretty sure, Pixel Shader 2.0 is the only problem I've got.

Best regards,

Cezi

[jfunk]

Well, unfortunately I'm not able to replace my graphics in my Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop. Mobility Radeon 9800 is the best which can fit in. Besides there is the post concerning requirements in which Petri says it runs quite smoothly on 256MB card. So I'm pretty sure, Pixel Shader 2.0 is the only problem I've got.

Well your CPU and GPU are still very old. Even if the game is later patched with a graphics downgrade to allow for SM2 compatibility, the relative performance of your machine may not allow you to reach acceptable frame rates.

Despite the high Ghz rating of your CPU, it's only single core and several generations old. Its relative performance will be significantly lower than a current model CPU, even one running at a much lower clock speed.

The same applies to your GPU. The desktop model 8600 w/ 256MB of RAM that was tested with the game for example, is a VASTLY superior part to your Mobility 9800 in terms of pure performance, regardless of supported feature set.

It's quite possible that adding SM2 support would increase the user base by next to nothing, as it's quite likely that hardware of that age will be unable to run the game anyway.

[cezi]

It's quite possible that adding SM2 support would increase the user base by next to nothing, as it's quite likely that hardware of that age will be unable to run the game anyway.

Well I don't know if that game is of similar requirements, but I've just borrowed Fallout 3 from my friend and launched it. It plays quite smoothly on medium settings. So maybe it's not so bad as you predict, however I may be wrong. If you know any games with similar requirements with downloadable demo and they don't require Pixel Shader 3.0 I could check them. As I stated before I don't play games nowadays so I'm not familiar with the new titles.

Best regards,

Cezi

[eharper256]

It's quite possible that adding SM2 support would increase the user base by next to nothing, as it's quite likely that hardware of that age will be unable to run the game anyway.

Well I don't know if that game is of similar requirements, but I've just borrowed Fallout 3 from my friend and launched it. It plays quite smoothly on medium settings. So maybe it's not so bad as you predict, however I may be wrong. If you know any games with similar requirements with downloadable demo and they don't require Pixel Shader 3.0 I could check them. As I stated before I don't play games nowadays so I'm not familiar with the new titles.

Best regards,

Cezi

Ah, but Fallout 3 runs on the Oblivion engine, which was always pretty exceptionally backward compatible; it also used to run on my laptop at mediocre settings. Bethesda engines are often pretty good like that; and the Dragon Age 1 engine was the same.

That's not really indicative of current game engines, though. Pixel Shader 3 has been around a good while now, in fact, and it's no longer like Grimrock is being released whilst Shader 2 is the norm (like the scorn Bioware got when they released the first Mass Effect and it needed Shader 3).

In all honesty, picking up an entirely new desktop box is really cheap these days; and a semi-modern graphics board to go in it is worth the price.

[jfunk]

Well I don't know if that game is of similar requirements, but I've just borrowed Fallout 3 from my friend and launched it. It plays quite smoothly on medium settings. So maybe it's not so bad as you predict, however I may be wrong. If you know any games with similar requirements with downloadable demo and they don't require Pixel Shader 3.0 I could check them. As I stated before I don't play games nowadays so I'm not familiar with the new titles.

Best regards,

Cezi

Fallout 3's requirements are substantially lower than Grimrock's. Grimrock's are more like Skyrim's.

Regardless, such comparison's are hardly worth putting much stock in. Different engines stress different things and scale in different ways, so it's almost impossible to predict how one game will perform based on another unless they share a substantial amount of their architecture.

The best test you're really going to get is just seeing how the game runs for others that don't meet the minimum requirements (don't worry, there will be tons of them on forums complaining that they were somehow "robbed" because they shouldn't be expected to read system requirements and all software should magically run on all computers).

That being said, I would think it's going to be quite a long time you're waiting before SM2 support would even be on the radar so I wouldn't worry about relative performance comparisons too soon. There's one coder on this project and they have a lot of sales-producing things on the To Do list for him already. 7-year old GPU support is going to be low on that list unless it turns out to be a very trivial thing to change.

I wish you the best of luck, but I honestly just don't want you to get your hopes up too much. Your computer is simply very far below the system requirements (regardless of SM3 support) and I suspect you will be disappointed to find that it doesn't perform well enough to be enjoyable even if it becomes functional on SM2 hardware at some point.

[cezi]

In all honesty, picking up an entirely new desktop box is really cheap these days; and a semi-modern graphics board to go in it is worth the price.

Well, money is only half a problem...the smaller one. To tell the truth my wife would never agree If I tried to buy a new laptop...not even mentioning desktop...which is big, noisy and absolutely not needed in her opinion......

Best regards,

Cezi

[cezi]

The best test you're really going to get is just seeing how the game runs for others that don't meet the minimum requirements (don't worry, there will be tons of them on forums complaining that they were somehow "robbed" because they shouldn't be expected to read system requirements and all software should magically run on all computers).

That being said, I would think it's going to be quite a long time you're waiting before SM2 support would even be on the radar so I wouldn't worry about relative performance comparisons too soon. There's one coder on this project and they have a lot of sales-producing things on the To Do list for him already. 7-year old GPU support is going to be low on that list unless it turns out to be a very trivial thing to change.

Well. you're probably right and I do appreciate your neutral attitude to my problem. I don't feel "robbed" in any way, since it was my fault by missing to read requirements before pre-ordering. But as I stated in the beginning of this thread I'm not going to apply for a refund or demand anything since I consider my order as a little contribution to this (with no doubts great) project. As you said, my only hope is that change of requirements is not a big deal

On the other hand there may be other people like me - they don't play computer games, but Grimrock brings back a kind of nostalgia for the old times. It's a feeling you can't really explain. They may have outdated hardware, cause they didn't need to use it, until Grimrock - like in my case.

[jfunk]

...not even mentioning desktop...which is big, noisy and absolutely not needed in her opinion......

True, but desktops are also cheaper and easily upgradable (and you can build them quiet as long as you pick your parts carefully). You'll be able to enjoy your gaming hobby (which is critical to your mental health!) for longer while being more budget-friendly!

Just keep buttering up the wife, she'll cave after she gets tired of you staring longingly at Grimrock screenshots all day.