Changing BCM system requirements?

[Joel Schultz]

Forgive me if this is a little bit early to be bringing this up, but as I was catching up on yesterday's active comments, SC made two comments that concerned me:

quote:

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The TNT card is now considered sub-par at best and even for the upcoming BCM, you aren't likely to be running the game at anything higher than 640x480 with a desktop depth of 16-bit.

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quote:

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speaking of which, you see those 1280x1024 shots I posted last night? Well, in order to even go anywhere near a combat zone at that resolution, will all the bells and whistles turned on, you need a PIII 1GHz, 128MB RAM and a graphics card with 32MB or more memory.

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(From "New Commanders | The game runs slowly")

I won't bore anyone with reiterating what the BCM requirements are (were?) since they can be found elsewhere on this site. I also realize they seem to have been updated sometime since I last looked (DirectX 8? Cool! ) However, I am wondering if the stated minimum and recommended system requirements still stand, in light of SC's comments, and also now that there should be some beta feedback on it.

I ask this because it usually takes me two months to upgrade my PC -- being a full-time worker and part-time grad student means having very little free-time I don't want to turn this thread into a whiny "will my system work? what about me?" topic so I am not going to post my system specs (unless asked to do so). By the requirements listed elsewhere, I thought my machine would measure up to "recommended" in all but one category. But now I'm wondering if I ought to start thinking about upgrading now while I have Christmas break to putter around versus buying BCM next year and then suffering from crappy performance on a sub-par machine until spring break next year (assuming it is released before spring break). I was willing to upgrade my PC for Redguard and am even more willing to do so to get a good BCM experience. I just wish I had the game now, but then so do the rest of us (except those lucky beta testers ).

Just how far can we trust the accuracy of the requirements listed on this site right now?

[Guest j.w.pepper]

j.w.pepper, you are hereby banned from posting to this site. Just because the game won't work on your system, whereas it works on many other comparable and lower-end sytems (mine included), you aren't give the right to spout unfounded garbage on this board.

Goodbye.

Mike/aramike01

[This message has been edited by aramike01 (edited 11-22-2000).]

[Guest aramike01]

Joel, post your system specs. BCM is playable with the system requirements on the site, but bear in mind that they are minimum requirements. So, if you're only sporting the minimum system, you may have to play with a few graphics options turned down.

However, as beta testing continues, the minimum requirements are subject to change. IMO, just upgrade your system - there are a lot of games out there with comparable and even higher requirements, so the effort and the cash are probably worth it.

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Vice Admiral Michael Kristophers

ICV-Intrepid, Spectre (Antis)

Fleet Leader

Spectre Fleet

Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series

You can only love or hate what you truly understand!

[Joel Schultz]

Aramike01,

Sorry it took me so long to reply, but between classwork and work I forgot I had posted here

My system specs are:

CPU: PII 450MHz w/ 100MHz front-side bus

Graphics: AGP 2x Riva TNT2 16MB (specifically, Guillemot Xentor 16, don't know its clock speeds off-hand)

RAM: 160MB SDRAM (100MHz)

Sound card: probably not relavent, but it's a PCI A3D card from Turtle Beach (Montego A3D-Xtreme).

I figured I'm pretty well set for RAM, and was confident that my graphics card probably could do OK -- although it can do it I can't push it past 1024x768 true-color since my monitor doesn't do that well at higher resolutions (I wish I had the space for a larger monitor). So, maybe it is still good enough in spite of SC's comments. But the CPU might be a bit on the low end of the spectrum by now. I'm thinking your advice to upgrade now is probably on target for at least that. Of course, that means (for me) a new mama-board, which means new memory too, but faster RAM wouldn't hurt.

Which means the only item that I'm completely unsure about would be that graphics card. But then again, I probably won't try pushing past 1024x768 either. Then again, I might if BCM looks significantly better at 1152x864 or higher...

Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by Joel Schultz (edited 11-24-2000).]

[Gallion]

I suggest acquiring a better v-card. GFS2 MX or a GFS1. A Voodoo3 3000 series will suffice also if denero is an odstacle.

Other than v-card, ye system specs will suffice.

TTFN

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Fleet Commander Gallion

(Pro Tem)

GCV Graf Spee, Starbase Cerberus

Fleet Leader - Wraith Fleet (Pro Tem)

Wing Leader - Wraith Fleet/Corsair Wing

"Run Silent, Run Deep"

Corsair Cove

Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series

[aramike]

What Gallion said. Btw, the game looks great in 640/480, so you shouldn't have any probs on that spectrum. Grab a new v-card and go to town!

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Vice Admiral Michael Kristophers

ICV-Intrepid Spectre (Antis)

Fleet Leader

Spectre Fleet

[Joel Schultz]

Thanks a mil for the advice. I was hoping to put a graphics update off for another half year, but oh well. Looks like I'll be going shopping sooner than I thought

[Supreme Cmdr]

You can play the game in the default 640x480 or go as high as 800x600. No need to buy a new graphics card if you don't want at this point. Wait until you get the game next year, then make that decision. At which point, all the vid cards would have dropped in prices.

Why don't you apply for the Beta program? If you are accepted, you will be able to check your system specs 3-4 months in advance of release.