Mon Mar 03, 2003 6:06 pm
system requirements and review
Got my hands on the merchandising beta and have a few comments. I have an older system: 700 Athlon, GeForce Ti 4200, and 384 RAM and have been worried about performance. You never know about whether if what is on the box will play well or not, and many people have different standards on what this means. There have been several posts saying it plays well on min systems, and since I have been worried, I decided to post my comments.
I really think they are high balling the requirements, because the game runs supurb. I have it set on 800 X 600 at 32 with everything enabled and maxed. I am sure I could even go higher. No slow downs, no glitches. I really commend them for being conservative about requirements, as many publishers are not so kind. I do have a good graphics card, but not top of the line.
About the game. First about myself. I have played PC games for a long time. All from WWII sims, FPS, role playing, etc. All the Quakes, Diablos, Baldurs Gates, Half-Life and on. The space sims have been Freespace I and 2, the X-Wings, etc. This really is the best game I have ever played. I am not BSing this. This is my first post about this game anywhere, and probably my second post about any game ever. The only reason I came to this board was to get a handle on how it might play on my system as you can see above. I truly did not expect it to be this good. The graphics are excellent. There has not been a space sim anywhere to come close. If you can think of the space battle in Attack of the Clones in the asteroids, that is what this is like taken to a new level with many, many ships attacking. I don't understand the negative vibes about the graphics. Everything about this is top notch. Ships burn, trail smoke, and explode beautifully. Planets rotate and have atmospheres. Debris, asteroids, and ice hunks abound. The intro cinematic is up there or better than anything Blizzard has ever done. The music in the game is very good and appropriate. The controls are just fine without a joystick. For me the mouse control kind of makes it unique and not the same only game over and over again. Really can't give a higher review.
It may be that I just haven't followed this like other people and some features that were supposed to be in weren't and they are disappointed. It is just that I don't think you can find a game out there with this much detail and quality available. Certainly not one that can play on such a wide range of PC configurations. Some people I guess like to diss things just to be cool because of some deep psychological issues, but my recommendation is that if you have ever watched a sci-fi movie and enjoyed it, this is one to consider. All I can say is at least check out the demo. I think any regular PC gamer would thoroughly enjoy this game.
I really think they are high balling the requirements, because the game runs supurb. I have it set on 800 X 600 at 32 with everything enabled and maxed. I am sure I could even go higher. No slow downs, no glitches. I really commend them for being conservative about requirements, as many publishers are not so kind. I do have a good graphics card, but not top of the line.
About the game. First about myself. I have played PC games for a long time. All from WWII sims, FPS, role playing, etc. All the Quakes, Diablos, Baldurs Gates, Half-Life and on. The space sims have been Freespace I and 2, the X-Wings, etc. This really is the best game I have ever played. I am not BSing this. This is my first post about this game anywhere, and probably my second post about any game ever. The only reason I came to this board was to get a handle on how it might play on my system as you can see above. I truly did not expect it to be this good. The graphics are excellent. There has not been a space sim anywhere to come close. If you can think of the space battle in Attack of the Clones in the asteroids, that is what this is like taken to a new level with many, many ships attacking. I don't understand the negative vibes about the graphics. Everything about this is top notch. Ships burn, trail smoke, and explode beautifully. Planets rotate and have atmospheres. Debris, asteroids, and ice hunks abound. The intro cinematic is up there or better than anything Blizzard has ever done. The music in the game is very good and appropriate. The controls are just fine without a joystick. For me the mouse control kind of makes it unique and not the same only game over and over again. Really can't give a higher review.
It may be that I just haven't followed this like other people and some features that were supposed to be in weren't and they are disappointed. It is just that I don't think you can find a game out there with this much detail and quality available. Certainly not one that can play on such a wide range of PC configurations. Some people I guess like to diss things just to be cool because of some deep psychological issues, but my recommendation is that if you have ever watched a sci-fi movie and enjoyed it, this is one to consider. All I can say is at least check out the demo. I think any regular PC gamer would thoroughly enjoy this game.
