Game specs?

[James Ward]

Anyone know the minimum specs for this game?

[ericbabe]

We haven't figured out an exact minimum. We do most of our in-house testing on 2GHz machines with 1GB RAM, with Windows XP, on which COG runs very well. I can run it and play the game on a machine that is ~300 MHz and has, I believe, 256KB of RAM -- but there are frequent virtual memory hits resulting in intermittent delays during play. We've added some additional support for low-end systems: user can slow down animation rates and turn off loading sound files, which helps somewhat.


Eric

[Darksky]

ORIGINAL: ericbabe

We haven't figured out an exact minimum. We do most of our in-house testing on 2GHz machines with 1GB RAM, with Windows XP, on which COG runs very well.

Eh eh, actually, ALL runs very well on that hardware configuration. [:D]

I hope in a suggested/optimal/top config as this: 512 Mb and 1.3 Ghz CPU.

[James Ward]

Thanks.

This game looks like it has the potential to ruin my marriage [X(]

Can't afford that AND a new computer [:D]

[steveh11Matrix]

I sincerely hope that a more reasonable spec for a strategy game will be the final answer to this one. At the end of the day I'm really not interested in eye candy or superfluous 'battle noises', functional clear graphics and warnings when something important happens is all I require.

If the true cost of the game is the ~£1000 it will cost me for such a high-spec computer, you won't be selling it to me! [;)]

Steve.

[ericbabe]

There is indeed support for low-end machines. In the game's .ini file you can shut off sound and slow down animations, turn off smoke effects... that sort of thing. We haven't yet done the tests to see how well this will make the game run on older machines.

(As to the £1000, check out pricewatch.com -- I just bought a new case, power supply, fan, DVD burner, and motherboard with RAM (3GHZ, 1GB) for only a few hundred $US.)

[steveh11Matrix]

While we're at it, what about operating system and similar requirements?

Steve.

[ericbabe]

We test mostly on Windows XP in-house, and one low-end 98 machine. I'm setting up a system to start testing on Windows 2K this week (more people have this OS than I expected would have it based on general marketing research -- must be something about the strategy gamers...) It should run on NT in theory -- I'm not using any MS function calls that are forbidden in NT, though I don't believe any of our testers are running those systems, so I'm not sure.

COG takes about 500 MB of HD space. Harddrive is required -- can't run it off floppies. Maybe 600 MB by the time we get the final graphics files in place -- and I'm still hoping to get a soundtrack together which, if the player opts to load it, would take more space.

It runs using DirectX and so will require a video card that is DirectX compatible (though it does not require 9.0 compatible cards -- I think we are using DirectX 7.0 library calls.) We haven't had any video card incompatibilities reported, and older video cards work just fine. Must have an SVGA compatible display adapter -- no VGA or CGA modes.

Mouse and keyboard are required.


Eric

[sol_invictus]

Will CG be only direct dowwnload with optional purchase of CD or will it also be available retail? Will manual be only in a PDF?

[James Ward]

Also, any idea of a release date (2005, 2006?)

[ericbabe]

ORIGINAL: Arinvald
Will CG be only direct dowwnload with optional purchase of CD or will it also be available retail? Will manual be only in a PDF?

We haven't worked out these details with Matrix yet.

[ericbabe]

ORIGINAL: James Ward
Also, any idea of a release date (2005, 2006?)

Matrix is encouraging us to release this Summer, 2005. I'm optimistic about meeting this schedule.

[James Ward]

Fantastic

[tolbox]

gee, the release is closer than I expected.

Have you already been reviewed by video-game magazine?
Will the game be presented at E3 ?

[ericbabe]

At least one magazine has asked Matrix for an advanced copy of the game to review, though I'm not sure if anything has come of that.

Not at E3, but we're hoping to be ready in time for Origins.

[ericbabe]

I added a "low animation" mode to Crown of Glory this morning. From the game's .ini file the user can turn off most of the animations. When these animations are turned off, many graphics are not loaded and the screen refresh rate is decreased, which should greatly improve the performance of COG on low-end machines.

In this mode, the strategic map is played with the same units, but the transparency and other shading effects and the animations are reduced and/or disabled. The strategic map still uses the regular 3D icons, but only the first frame of them is shown. Quick combat uses the 3D unit graphics as well, but likewise, only the first frame of animation is loaded into memory.

In this mode, detailed combat uses the chit-view only, and the smoke and fire effects are disabled.

In all modes the screen refresh rate is slightly slower -- from about 10 frames per second (fps) to about 3 fps.

I haven't tested it on our low-end machines yet, but for those who don't mind turning off the animation and the smoke, this should lower the minimum system specs considerably. Users can also turn off sound from the .ini file, which further lowers the memory overhead by approximately another 100MB.


Eric

[steveh11Matrix]

Eric: Thanks very much. Looks like there's life in old Betsy yet... [:)]

Steve.

[Le Tondu]

Good news indeed.