Boycott PC games

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Aside from the CivIV special edition which cost the same as the regular one .

I bought my copy of Civ4 at Fry's electronics for $35.99 a week after it was shipped. They didn't have any special editions but if you found a copy for the same price then it would indeed be worth it since the cost would have been the same.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The CivIV special edition was mostly for pre-orders.

[Cookie Monster]

I'm not sure if my graphics card (Geforce 4 Go 440M) supports TnL, but I thought that that card was on the list. When I did that test on some website that was recommended on civfanatics it said I was fine. I have a Dell btw.

Console games are great because there's no fuss. The downside is there isn't much wrt to TBS games on a console.

Anyway I still have hope that the patch when/if it comes out will help but if not then never again am I rushing out like a fool to buy a pc game on opening day.

R:TW worked after I dl'ed the updated video drivers and so did pirates and I accept that that de riguer these days. But for a TBS I should have no issues like with Civ4. The nice thing about Civ3 when it first came out was just ai issues, at least I had no text, graphics problems with that one.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm not sure if my graphics card (Geforce 4 Go 440M) supports TnL, but I thought that that card was on the list. When I did that test on some website that was recommended on civfanatics it said I was fine.

Have you gotten new drivers? Not from Dell or NVIDIA (which doesn't have laptop drivers) but from laptopvideo2go.com? I find the 77.56 ones work really well with Dells.

But for a TBS I should have no issues like with Civ4.

Why? Why should a TBS purposely have crappy graphics to satisfy people with old computers? Why is it ok for Pirates to have better graphics, but not Civ? I've never understood that argument.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Oerdin
BTW I've always been able to play every game right out of the box. Sure it costs me 10% more to buy from Dell instead of building my own but now that I'm out of college money isn't an issue and I just can't be bothered to make my own systems anymore. The upside is since Dell is the biggest maker out there every game company makes sure their games run on Dells. No muss, no fuss, just a systems that runs everything on the first try.

Funny, that's why I have a Dell, too. Game still doesn't run. And yes, I have bla bla bla and I've tried bla bla bla.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Why? Why should a TBS purposely have crappy graphics to satisfy people with old computers? Why is it ok for Pirates to have better graphics, but not Civ? I've never understood that argument.

I don't think anyone wants it to have crappy graphics but Civ4 is a very poorly optimized game from what I can tell. It seems that with a little more forthought and planning they could have designed a game that looks and feels just like the existing game but which uses fewer system resources. Civ4 is not a graphics intensive game but for some reason the animations (like the water, the windmills, etc) seem to suck up huge amounts of memory and graphics card times. Can't these routine animations be cached or something?

It just seems like if Firaxis cared to they could have optimized things to run more smoothly and not to hog so much of the RAM and CPU. Hell, you turn the game off and it is still using CPU clock cycles for like 20 seconds after I return to the desktop. That seems like the sign of a bloated program and not a streamlined program.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I don't think anyone wants it to have crappy graphics but Civ4 is a very poorly optimized game from what I can tell. It seems that with a little more forthought and planning they could have designed a game that looks and feels just like the existing game but which uses fewer system resources. Civ4 is not a graphics intensive game but for some reason the animations (like the water, the windmills, etc) seem to suck up huge amounts of memory and graphics card times. Can't these routine animations be cached or something?

It just seems like if Firaxis cared to they could have optimized things to run more smoothly and not to hog so much of the RAM and CPU. Hell, you turn the game off and it is still using CPU clock cycles for like 20 seconds after I return to the desktop. That seems like the sign of a bloated program and not a streamlined program.

THAT is a bit different than what the argument is usually used for. Saying that there is memory leak and bloated is a valid concern. However, it seems those that complain about the graphics (ON A TBS OMFGH!!!!) are complaining about the T&L requirements and making the game 3d based instead of 2d based.

On your concerns, I agree. Those issues should be dealt with better, and CAN actually be dealt with in patches, I'm sure (almost reminds me of problems with KOTOR when it came out on the PC with the resource hog they released.. .the first patch fixed that).

[Dis]

Originally posted by Bill3000
More games for me, then.

[Sava]

dude, if Civ4 performance is bad because of "memory leaks" then your PC just sucks...

seriously...

I play Civ4 while running a lot of stuff in the background... like downloading from usenet, running winamp, AOL instant messenger, checking email, posting on poly, running Steam (counter-strike's launcher which uses a lot of memory), and sometimes even while running QuickPar (repairing archive files from downloads) and I don't have one bit of slow down at all... and I run Civ4 at 1600x1200 at the highest settings, full antialiasing, etc...

the current game I have going is on a large map and I am at 600 AD with a lot of units...

there, I just alt-tabbed out and back... nothing...

if there is slowdown, your PC sucks...

sorry, but that is the truth...

this is the reality of PC gaming... you don't need to have a high-end machine to run the latest games, but if your PC sucks, you can't expect to run new games perfectly... but what you shouldn't do is bash developers because they don't design games to run on 4-5 year old hardware!!!!

get with the program!!!

even console game companies design their games to run on their CURRENT HARDWARE... they expect people to purchase their CURRENT HARDWARE...

if you want to play the games, you need to at least have decent stuff...

that doesn't mean you need to have high end stuff like me, but still guys, some of the systems I read about on the forums just make me cringe...

some people have like geforce2's and stuff

and then they get on Poly and say ZOMFG FIRAXIS sux0rZ!!! my game CRASHES ZOMGFH#@!*@#*# WTF!!!

[Dis]

civ4 does run slow. But it is acceptable to me.

[Lorizael]

Sava, don't you think that a computer that meets the recommended requirements should be able to play the game functionally?

[Sava]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Sava, don't you think that a computer that meets the recommended requirements should be able to play the game functionally?

what are they again?

sorry could you post them for me, I don't remember them...

I don't usually pay attention to those

often times those requirements are the bare minimum that the game will load up and run...

even the "recommended" requirements are still set very low

it is in the developers interest to include possible customers, not exclude them

they're more likely to get you to buy the product, then deal with the *****ing instead of setting high requirements and turning off potential customers

[Max Webster]

Yep i stopped buying pc games long ago

[Lorizael]

It's that kind of deception, though, that people don't like. My laptop's a year old. According to what Firaxis has told me, it should be able to run the game. But it doesn't. That's bad. Hunt Valley is only an hour away from me. Makes me want to do bad things. (not really)

And I'm too lazy to post the recommended reqs.

Um.

1.8 ghz
512 mb ram
128 mb graphics card with pixel shading
1.7 gb

I think.

[Imran Siddiqui]

What's the make and model of the graphics card?