judging games by recommended and minimum requirements

bigjimmyauk · 17 May 2011 at 10:08

Does anyone do this

i was just browsing the steam store and noticed the new duke nukem is a dual core and amd 3850 as the recommended requirements and that you also must install amd dual core optimizer to play :confused:

.

Duke nukem
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.6 Ghz
Memory: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 512 MB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS / ATI Radeon HD 3850
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
OTHER REQUIREMENTS & SUPPORTS: Initial installations required (included with the game) are Microsoft DirectX, Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (ATL), Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, and AMD Dual Core Optimizer. (AMD optimizerrequired only for specific AMD processors to run the game correctly, but installs for all of them.)

I've only used duke nukem as a example, For such a new game would you have expected it to be more power hungry.

~>Dg<~ · 17 May 2011 at 10:40

optimizer is just a thing with earlier am2 dualcores nothing to worry about

and the spec is about normal to be honest were you expecting crysis graphics

bigjimmyauk · 17 May 2011 at 11:27

~>Dg<~ said:
optimizer is just a thing with earlier am2 dualcores nothing to worry about

and the spec is about normal to be honest were you expecting crysis graphics

After all the time it's taken to arrive i'm expecting something spesh

Margaret · 17 May 2011 at 11:28

Nope.

bhavv · 17 May 2011 at 12:06

I'd expect 3850s to be minimal - low spec by now TBH.

Semiskimmed · 17 May 2011 at 12:08

its probably to do with just how long theyve been working on it and the tech that was around back then, i wouldnt be surprised to see it needing much more power to get all the shiny bits working

twe · 17 May 2011 at 12:51

Min spec is usually low graphics at a low resolution and a playable 20-30 fps depending on the company, recommended is medium graphics at a higher resolution and similar fps.

buchtis · 17 May 2011 at 12:53

bigjimmyauk said:
I've only used duke nukem as a example, For such a new game would you have expected it to be more power hungry.

Console port.

orderoftheflame · 17 May 2011 at 15:59

Judge games as bad because the developers have optimised and made them scale well to lower specced hardware?*

A game is better if it requires a monstrous PC to run smoothly?

I think no.

*Note: not necessarily the case with DNF.

twe · 17 May 2011 at 17:01

Most games are ports though, so its just the way its coded, i.e. how well it is optimised.

Bloomfield · 17 May 2011 at 17:26

Judging a game based on minimum requirements is pointless.

Crysis has a P4 and a 256MB graphics card listed as minimum.

ThomasTheTankEngine · 17 May 2011 at 17:31

buchtis said:
Console port.

Duke Nukem forever?

Last I heard, they were busy porting it onto the quake 2 engine.

orderoftheflame · 17 May 2011 at 18:59

twe said:
Most games are ports though, so its just the way its coded, i.e. how well it is optimised.

Most PC gamers don't understand what a port is, hence why they often incorrectly think that most games are ports.

Multiplat development != port.

As for DNF being a port... The Dreamcast wasn't even out when development started on it.

HangTime · 18 May 2011 at 12:03

Maybe so but the DNF of today is a much different beast than that of the 90s. For starters it is being developed by a different studio. Just because games started life with PC as the primary development platform, doesn't mean to say it always ends up that way (Halo being a good example).

Gimpymoo · 18 May 2011 at 13:00

Only a fool would judge a game by its system requirements.

The requirements could be high or low, they are not a reflection of the quality of the game.