agentkay

I hope you do know how TINY the levels in HL2 actually are in comparision to GRAW. Not a single HL2 level has 100s of building, but thats what you have in GRAW. Colins comment on framerate seems like he was refering on 50-60fps. We don´t know what resolution or what screen was used, but again, I think it should have been at least 1024x768. And finally, there is performance difference between a normal 6800 with 128MB and a 6800Ultra with 256MB. What if it actually ran on a normal 6800? I don´t think GRAW will be a hog, and so far all indicators point towards an engine that scales VERY well to older hardware, as long as you don´t go all crazy with the settings.

A 6800 (not exact version specified) with medium ingame settings.

@CR6, I said that I don´t know much about Intels, didn´t I. My OC experience is based on AMDs and video cards.

You need a faster CPU for sure. 2Ghz just don´t cut it anymore with games that have lots of physics and AI. Memory isn´t such a big issue if you don´t mind lower texture settings (textures eat up most memory). It seems you want to stay with Intel? I don´t know much about Intel but if you upgrade, make sure you reach "at least" the 3Ghz for the recommended specs. If you overclock the 2.8 to 3Ghz, or buy a "stock" 3Ghz, thats your choice, I´d do the former, because I like OCing. After you have your new CPU, and everything is running well, just ebay your old CPU and use that money to buy another 512MB stick, or whatever you want to buy. 1GB are recommended specs, probably not for highest texture settings (you´ll need probably 1.5GB - 2GB for that setting), but medium for sure.

The game will play fine on your card, but most likely at 1024x768, no AF/AA, and medium details. Is that good enough for you? If not, then you need to upgrade. If you are unsure, then just wait until the game or demo comes out.

Desmond, just ignore posts that frustrate you. If I responded to posts that I don´t like, I would get banned in a second thanks to my bad temper (lol), so I better skip and forget the post, and use the "ignore user" feature if necessary. But anyway, we are all very thankful of the work you guys are making for us, and that you participate with us and talk with us. We love you all!

You always shoot with 2 eyes open.

What sucks even more is when your card is outdated by a CHEAPER card 6 months later.

A 6200 is not gonna pwn it in GRAW. He wants to play the game in 1280 rez medium quality. A 6200 would be slow on 800x600 in med quality. It scores under 40fps in Doom 3 on 800x600 med. Matter of fact the card he has now would outperform a 6200. For 400 bucks he could have a whole new system, that would be a better investment for his money. That mobo can hold an FX processor, 4gb ram and SLI ready. He will then have an upgrade path for the future. The only AGP card that would be capable of running the game the way he wants would probably be the 7800GS. Which is 270$. For 130 bucks more he could have a faster card (pci-e version is cheaper) and a new mobo, faster ram. ← A 6200 WILL pwn his 5950. As much as I love Nvidia, the 5 series cards suck so much at PS2.0 performance (unless many many tricks are used, then it still sucks) and this games min. specs are PS2.0! Its pretty sad when you think about it, and when you consider what a 6200 costs and how much he probably paid for the 5950. Anyway, thats the reason why I brought up the 6200: so that Poita understand how BADLY he needs a new video card, the CPU and memory are PERFECT in comparision to the video card (5950). For playing in 1280 rez and medium settings, you´ll need of course something better than a 6200 (DOH!), you´ll probably need a 6800GT and better. Other than that, I do recommend for anyone who is upgrading right now, to make the switch to PCIe, especially if you can find a deal where you get a mobo for free (newegg). The recommended specs for CPU and mem are 3Ghz (Intel rating) and 1GB (Poita, you have an AMD XP2400, right? Which means a 2,4Ghz Intel rating). This means that you are not that far from the recommended specs when it comes to the CPU and memory. You can either get a fair priced 6800GS which can be unlocked and overclocked to 6800GT/Ultra performance, so most likely enough for 1280rez and med details and a HUGE improvement from the 5950. That upgrade should cost $200. Or you make the bigger upgrade to PCIe, 7600GT with a new 939 mobo (nothing fancy, cheap Nforce4 mobo is good enough), make sure you can re-use your 1GB ram, and if you don´t mind overclocking, an AMD 64 3000+ (venice core) is quite impressive! It sells under $100, runs stock at 1.8Ghz, but over 95% reach 2.4Ghz on air! (thats similar to a 4000+ or an Intel P4 with 4Ghz. That upgrade should cost around $350.

Definitly get rid of the video card, even a 6200 will probably pwn it in GRAW. 1GB is fine if you don´t go all crazy with the texture settings, but of course if you can afford another GB, go for it.

Does the 7600GT have an AGP version and what is the price like ? ← No AGP version for the 7600GT yet, but there might come one after they sell out the 7800GS (on AGP). Gainward released a limited edition 7800GS on AGP that actually powers a real 7800GT (20 pipelines) core, but at that price point they wanted to have for that card, its really not worth it.

Thanks for answering my questions Colin! I´ve had another one regarding performance and specs of the rig you were playing on (what res, how "smooth" were the framerates, 25ish, or more 50-60ish, was it a normal 6800 or a 6800Ultra, 1GB). I know most of this would be heavy guessing from your side, plus you didn´t have the final/retail code, so just ignore it Colin. But thanks again!

Quality game + proper advertising + perfectly timed hype = fantastic sales ..... and that even if the game has NO copy protection. However, one problem are the casual pirates, therefore is only smart to have at least some type of CP. It can´t be that "average Joe" starts up Nero and makes a perfectly working copy for all his friends. The future is digital distribution anyway, similar to STEAM. I kind of hate that, I love owning a box and actual disc and not just some online registration.

3 questions for Colin and/or zeroalpha. 1. Regarding city screenshot in the preview. Is that the parachuting part of the first mission? 2. What were the specs of the computer that was used for the presentation? I remember something like medium details on a 6800 but I´m not sure if it was the same event. 3. What difficulty setting have you guys been playing on?

SLI makes most sense if you have the money to buy 2 cards at once, and they should be at least in the "mid-highend" category. This is necessary due to the fact that new cards are coming out every 6 months and they are almost always twice as fast as the "old" cards. The 7900GT is an awesome card too (crazy overclocker too), but it costs around $300. Obviously it kicks the 7600GT ass performance-wise, especially if you use a lot of AA/AF.

Which one? Playin on console? (jokin) But seriously, it was just a speculation, I never played GRAW PC, I didn´t develop it, so the 4 player limit has either to do that: 1. the Ghosts are a 4 player squad in SP-Coop and this way it fits better into the whole story 2. the netcode has hell lot of work to do, due to the advanced AI, and movement possiblities, physics, damage models, and that a certain thing (bandwidth) has to be capped by the "stock" 4 player limit. 3. a reason that I don´t know. Edit: However, I´m sure there will be ways to optimize the settings, especially on the server side, that will improve performance and allow a higher player count. I´m also sure that GRIN will continue to support their game after release and further improve it.

Yes sell it on eBay, and advertise it really well. I sold my ti4200 for almost $100 last year.

I think its all a bandwidth thing. The AI (Ghosts and Enemy) use up tons of CPU cycles and there is A LOT of info that has to be updated back and forth each second. What is better, laggy 8 player coop, or smooth 4 player coop? My 2 cents.

I highly recommend the 7600GT! Not only its easielly twice as fast as the 6600GT (Its faster than a 6800Ultra!), but its dirt cheap too! The best performance/price card hands down right now. If you sell your 6600GT well, you have to invest around $100 or so, for quite an impressive upgrade.

Perfect! GJ guys!

Awesome preview! Got me all hyped up!

I never had any problems with SF, BUT I NEVER burn CDs or DVDs with their driver present in my system. Trust me, I don´t like Starforce, but they are the MOST EFFECTIVE copy protection when it comes to casual pirates (aka, friends borrowing a game, making a backup copy etc.). Anyway, if a game is really good and PROPERLY advertised (and hyped), it DOESN´T need a good and effective copy protection. This has been proven COUNTLESS times, and the last one which did was Elder Scrolls 4 - Oblivion, which has a VERY simple disc check as a copy protection. We all know that this game is selling like hot cakes.

I got one question, not important, so you can skip it if you don´t have a time. In this picture you can see the beautiful softshadow that our fellow Ghost brother is casting. Now the question: Does our character cast a shadow as well? After all we have the full body awareness, with a camera placed inside the 3D model, so it should be possible, right? If not, no big deal, I´m just curious. Thanks!

No dev comment (yet) on what type of HDR is used in GRAW, but from earlier screenshots, it looked a lot like FP16 HDR, which does not work with AA on every card. There might be a compromise, if there is a setting for HDR and one for Bloom, with the later being a more simple shader effect which can be combined with AA.

Very good post!! Totally agree with you!