DX10....Why??

t31os · 6 Feb 2007 at 16:48

dirtydog said:
That is an inherent problem with PC games. Developers can be lazy because they can just specify inflated system requirements to get the game to run acceptably. It has been this way for years and I don't see any reason to believe it will change.

Me either, i miss games that just worked and ran how they should...... i feel old when i say this but....

"Those were the days!"

dirtydog · 6 Feb 2007 at 16:50

I do think the golden era of PC gaming has passed, and I'm not sure if it will ever return

bfar · 6 Feb 2007 at 17:04

panthro said:
I put this in software because DX10 is just software...right?

I want to know whats so great about DX10 that should justify me buying a new GFX card and Vista. Can someone please explain to a simpleton like me why its so hyped up?

I might buy a DX10 card but wait for a while for more support to come out for it before I buy Vista. Good plan?

-In laymans terms DirectX is a set of commands that programmers use to make 3D graphics in Microsoft Windows. The commands plug more or less directly into the arcitecture of our graphics cards. As you've gathered, DX10 is the latest version of this programmers library.

-DX10 is more of a rewrite as a new version. It is a more efficient standard, optimised for todays 3D apps/games. Programmers and gamers are excited because of the new effects/things programmers can use.

-Graphics card architecture/design had to be revised to meet the new standard. Nvidias 8800 is the first graphics card to meet the requirements for DX10. DX10 cards can also run the older DX9/DX8 etc based apps/games (and very well too).

-Older DX9 cards will not run DX10. However, most DX10 games will also come with DX9 versions for a while, so you can still play the games on your old card, minus the fancy new graphical trickery. Your old DX9 card is good for another 2 years at least.

-DX10 is ONLY available to WINDOWS VISTA users. XP users will not be able to use DX10. Vista is also backwards compatible with older versions of DX

-So to summerize, to play a fancy new DX10 game, you need a DX10 compatible card, Windows Vista, and a game written for DX10.

-There won't be any DX10 games until March at the earliest. We don't know if they'll be any good. We hope so.

Zefan · 6 Feb 2007 at 17:36

dirtydog said:
How is Far Cry better in DX9 vs DX8? I'm not saying it isn't, I'm curious I remember it being one of the first big games which utilised DX8 effects.

I've never ran it on DX8, it's meant for DX9. It wasn't the first to utilise DX8 stuff, it was the first to utilise DX9 stuff.

Dx8 is more looking towards the MoHAA era.

drunkenmonkey · 6 Feb 2007 at 22:19

i thought dx10 was gonna be this massive upgrade but doing some research i found its pretty cack!

im not 2 impressed now ive seen some comparisions!

EDDS · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:17

Rebelius said:
I read that WoW has more subscribers than there have been Xbox 360s sold. They might not be buying new games regularly, but there's a lot of PC Gamers out there.

does wow have more than 10.4 million subscribers as of 31/12/06? if so then yes it does have more subscribers.

HEADRAT · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:25

Yeah to be honest I thought there were far more PC gamers than console gamers and rather than being a niche market it what the dominant market?

I seem to remember that being said at some lauch at the CES show as well.

HEADRAT

EDDS · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:28

HEADRAT said:
Yeah to be honest I thought there were far more PC gamers than console gamers and rather than being a niche market it what the dominant market?

I seem to remember that being said at some lauch at the CES show as well.

HEADRAT

i think it was 100 million pc gamers or some other number stupidly high they said at CES.

HEADRAT · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:31

But there are far more PC gamers than console gamers, right ?

HEADRAT

EDDS · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:33

easily

Energize · 6 Feb 2007 at 23:51

HEADRAT said:
But there are far more PC gamers than console gamers, right ?

HEADRAT

I wouldn't be so sure. There are over;

111 million ps2 owners
24 million xbox owners
22 million gamecube owners
1 million ps3 owners
10 million 360 owners
3 million wii owners
23 million psp owners
35 million ds owners

230 Million Altogether, doesnt account for returns discarded ones etc, but there are people who play on older consoles too which I havent mentioned and remember that a lot of pc owners dont play games.

Posty · 7 Feb 2007 at 00:00

gaming consoles will basically be PCs next gen just look at the ps3 and its iso support, next gen you will be able to have vista or whatever operating system is out by the time the next xbox comes

Rebelius · 7 Feb 2007 at 00:19

Energize said:
I wouldn't be so sure. There are over;

...

230 Million Altogether, doesnt account for returns discarded ones etc, but there are people who play on older consoles too which I havent mentioned and remember that a lot of pc owners dont play games.

some people have multiple systems - I have a PS2, PSP, soon a PS3 but would call myself a "PC Gamer" more - probably go PS3 crazy for a while but I'll always play games on my PC.

EDDS said:
does wow have more than 10.4 million subscribers as of 31/12/06? if so then yes it does have more subscribers.

It must be wrong now - can't remember when I read it, but WoW reached 8million last month. And it was released over 2 years ago.

Energize · 7 Feb 2007 at 00:29

Consoles like the ps3 running linux work fine as a pc but pcs generally dont really work as consoles, pcs really need to have a way of playing games as fast as well as a console can, I mean the specs of consoles are less than pcs but can play games much better, if you didnt have to have an os running and could boot games like the ps3 things would be much better.

Sel · 7 Feb 2007 at 00:49

But consoles don't handle Sims as well as PC's do they?

barnettgs · 7 Feb 2007 at 01:09

I have to agree that the advantage of owning console far outweighs PC gaming but for graphic, PC may be almost untouchable, however it puts me off because:

1) ££££ and the last straw was when Nvidia came up with SLI solution! :rolleyes:

I mean, it did no justice for budget gaming system & the cost of high end PC gaming rocketed, pushed budget gaming system out of developers radar.

2) Poor gamepad/equipment support - buy any gamepad and it is almost certain that it is not going to work 100% correctly with your game - poor rumble effect for example. Note that Microsoft had stopped making gamepads, they should come back and continue making them especially that they're responsible for DX10.

3) Configuration/settings - especially on mid range & budget gaming system - the hassle of tweaking to improve fps performance for playability

4) Lack of variety - I saw recent line up for 2007 games for PC; lots and lots and lots of FPS games!

5) Raw deal - I feel that PC gamers are paying too much for a graphic card. One time I paid £177 for Geforce 6800 which was mid-top end card, only to find lorry loads of rubbish games bundled with it! I had a feeling that they should have leave bundle out of it and reduced the price.

6) Poor coding - Need I say more?

If Microsoft is that KEEN to make PC gaming more enjoyable as they possibly can then why do they stopped making gamepad?

Graphic manufacturers make money out of PC gamers by selling graphic cards at ridiculously high price and then, kicked our teeth by licensing graphic technology to consoles platform at such a cheap price. Xbox 360 for £200 as an example, probably fraction of it is in graphic while on other hand, selling us a similar spec card for maybe £150! :mad:

I have seen enough that manufacturers/developers can't be arsed with PC gaming, thats my feeling.

RipTheJacker · 7 Feb 2007 at 01:18

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20060817/directx10-fabulous/

well that looks nice :d (1st screenover)

Rebelius · 7 Feb 2007 at 01:18

below those comparisons is a red box which states "The above article depicts images and information which has been verified to be fake. This is not an accurate comparison between DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 as some of the images were not rendered, in fact, purely painted concept art."

microsoft make the 360 controller which works on a PC.

RipTheJacker · 7 Feb 2007 at 01:23

yeah :d lol. Wondering when we will see some real comparisons

Skawn · 7 Feb 2007 at 02:23

barnettgs said:
I have to agree that the advantage of owning console far outweighs PC gaming but for graphic, PC may be almost untouchable, however it puts me off because:

1) ££££ and the last straw was when Nvidia came up with SLI solution! I mean, it did no justice for budget gaming system & the cost of high end PC gaming rocketed, pushed budget gaming system out of developers radar.

You dont need SLI, one video card is more than sufficient for anything on the market. Sure, it helps a lot if you want to play in 2048x1536 but it's by no means required.

2) Poor gamepad/equipment support - buy any gamepad and it is almost certain that it is not going to work 100% correctly with your game - poor rumble effect for example. Note that Microsoft had stopped making gamepads, they should come back and continue making them especially that they're responsible for DX10.

As far as I know, PC gamepads have software that lets you just map keyboard keys to the buttons and mouse axis to analogue sticks. Not had any experience with rumble effects (why the hell do you want your hand shaking while your're trying to aim anyway!).

3) Configuration/settings - especially on mid range & budget gaming system - the hassle of tweaking to improve fps performance for playability

This takes a couple of mins tops and only needs to be done once per game!

4) Lack of variety - I saw recent line up for 2007 games for PC; lots and lots and lots of FPS games!

Personally, I get the same looking at console line ups. The 360 seems to be getting some decent games though.

5) Raw deal - I feel that PC gamers are paying too much for a graphic card. One time I paid £177 for Geforce 6800 which was mid-top end card, only to find lorry loads of rubbish games bundled with it! I had a feeling that they should have leave bundle out of it and reduced the price.

PC hardware is more expensive, aye. How much more are you paying for games though? See below...

6) Poor coding - Need I say more?

Please do. We talking games or OS here?

If Microsoft is that KEEN to make PC gaming more enjoyable as they possibly can then why do they stopped making gamepad?

Dont xbox 360 controllers work? I heard they do...

Graphic manufacturers make money out of PC gamers by selling graphic cards at ridiculously high price and then, kicked our teeth by licensing graphic technology to consoles platform at such a cheap price. Xbox 360 for £200 as an example, probably fraction of it is in graphic while on other hand, selling us a similar spec card for maybe £150!

Compare the cost of a PC game to the cost of a 360 game. I buy on average 2 games a month, the average price difference for a new game is about £15 (£34.99 PC, £49.99 Console). Thats £360 over a year. If you reckon the lifecycle of a console is 3 years, I'd be paying over £1000 more for my games on a console...

I have seen enough that manufacturers/developers can't be arsed with PC gaming, thats my feeling.

Very few decent development companies work only with consoles to the best of my knowledge.