System Requirements?

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Scriblerus
btw I'm very uneasy about the new 3d graphics. Anyone else worried that zooming perspective images make it harder, not easier, to see what's going on around the civworld?

Would you rather have just one hardcoded zoom level (as in taking the current engine and converting all animations to sprites, which is what Civ3 looks like)? I think it is better to be able to zoom in and out (and around ) as you please (and without loss of quality, which was inevitable when using sprites). It allows everyone to set his/her own point of view, instead of being forced to accept what someone else thought was good. I know I tend to use those 3D zoom options wherever available, as they often give some extremely valuable perspectives. I am really looking forward to this feature in CIV.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by GeoModder


Thanks for the tip. Tho mine is a GeForce4 420 GO (32 megs). It's on a laptop so...

If my sources are correct it will work on that one also. It may be a bit slow though...

[GeoModder]

Cheers!

No problem for running a bit slow, I prefer to play on smaller maps anyway.

[Zoid]

Since graphics cards seems to be the hardest nut to crack regarding Civ4 I found this: http://video-cards.carte3d.com/gpu.php has a comparative chart of around 190 graphic processors. All the specs you ever wanted to know and more...

[Solver]

Originally posted by GeoModder
Cheers!

No problem for running a bit slow, I prefer to play on smaller maps anyway.

That's different slowness. To play on huge maps, you need a good CPU so that it could handle the AI turns somewhat fast. However, slowdowns or lack thereof with the video card depend on how much stuff there is to be rendered. Therefore, I'd expect the game to run slower when zoomed out (more tiles to render) and faster when zoomed in so that there is only a handful of tiles on the screen.

[GeoModder]

Guess there will still be the possibility to turn off some graphic features.

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Solver
Therefore, I'd expect the game to run slower when zoomed out (more tiles to render) and faster when zoomed out so that there is only a handful of tiles on the screen.

You have to choose, you know.

By the way, I see no problem with the zoomed-out thing, as many engines turn details off gradually, as you move the camera away. The things too small to be visible just are not rendered in the zoomed-out view, so it is not as slow as one would suspect. I think it is safe to assume CIV wil use this.

I think the comment about AI turns is more valid. About the only thing that killed Civ3 were huge maps, as the number of objects (even if the engine is very vell optimized) will just exceed any hardware at some point. Perhaps that is the reason why they seem to have made the map size a bit smaller (but, fortunately, moddable )..

[Solver]

Turning off graphical feautures is indeed an excellent option available in modern games .

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Solver
Turning off graphical feautures is indeed an excellent option available in modern games .

Automatically turning them off when zooming out is. Thanks for not twisting my words.

[Solver]

Automatically turning them off is a must-have feauture with any decent game design. However, turning them off, as in the ability to tweak graphics options manually, is an excellent feauture .

[Roman]

I have good news.

Having been very annoyed at my integrated graphics card's lack of T&L capability I have been searching for... other ways and have found a program called 3D Analyzer. It can be found here:

http://www.tommti-systems.de/start.html

The program enables to do many things - among them to force software T&L! This could be the solution to the problem. Of course, even if it works, and I have not had a chance to test it on any games yet, it would probably be very slow... but nonetheless, at least there is hope that it might run.

[oddjobn99]

Laptop

I have a laptop from 2002 that I have run Pirates on. A bit slow, and with most of the graphical niceties turned off, but very playable. My system is only a Pentirum III 1 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM and my graphics card, laughably, is an original ATI Mobility Radeon with 16 MB of memory.

So there's still hope yet for those like me who refuse to update their systems.

[Alex]

My main question now is: since the game relies heavily on animations to indicate if a given tile is being worked or not, doesn't this make it harder to know what tiles are being worked if one turns off the animations in order to adjust the game to a lower system?

[GeoModder]

hinthint --> city screen!

[Alex]

Originally posted by GeoModder
hinthint --> city screen!

LOL, I had forgotten that there will be a city screen in Civ4...