Maybe it was a business decision (time/cost/technical issues/ect vs projected amount of players they felt they would pickup)...and not them "being lazy".
I tell ya...I have a real contempt for the kids these days who run around calling developers "lazy"...it's unbelievable.
End of quote
If you read (assuming you CAN read) I already covered that. It's a POOR business decision. Let's break down your comment:
Time - It can't take that much time to put a simple code to disable Pixel Shader support altogether. You can barely even see a difference in Pixel Shader period, much less between 2.0 and 3.0. Requiring an upgrade (or buying a card solely for that 1 feature) is retarded. Furthermore, if it was time, they could easily release a patch post-release.
Cost - Considering they already have license to utilize Pixel Shader 3.0 and were planning on coding 2.0 support AND the fact that SupComm (the engine this game uses) supported 2.0 as well, this is highly unlikely. If anything, they likely REMOVED 2.0 support from the base engine. And again, as I mentioned before, there's no way this "cost" could have been greater than the additonal sells they would have received on this game from us casual gamers who have better things to do than pimp our PCs out to compensate for our...anatomical shortcomings. Pun intended.
Technical Issues - See Supreme Commander Engine & Demigod based thereupon.
ect - See etcetera...ETCetera etc. = abbreviation for ETCetera
As for your little middle school aged comment: I stated that it's either a ploy between game developers and graphics card manufacturers to force players to buy new cards when they don't really need them. The stupid generally do. And for reference to this, Crysis had a "required" feature that forced players to buy new hardware...until a 3rd party released a fix that simply bypassed the check for this feature and the game ran perfectly without it. Yet, without the fix, the game wouldn't boot if you had the older hardware...strange...
Also, I think you might be seriously trivialising how "easy" it is to make something pixel shader 2.0 compatible that isn't to begin with and no extra development costs is insignificant. Nor can you just "run the game without pixel shader", without it the display just wouldn't work and another system would be need to be developed to replace it instead.
End of quote
I doubt you really know for sure. Furthermore, my point is that Bioshock "required" Pixel Shadoer 3.0, too. Until someone with more than half a brain and the programming knowledge made a workaround that allowed the game to run on 2.0 cards WITH NO PROBLEMS. This was done by a 3rd party with nothing to gain from it and was done with only 1 programmer to at most a handful of programmers and no money spent. Tell me it's that difficult. And I'm well aware that Demigod runs on a different engine, but theoretically, based on these facts, it IS still possible. Especially since it uses an engine that has the capability of supporting 2.0. It just hasn't been done. Furthermore, if Pixel Shader is so complicated and just HAS to have the hardware...explain why 3D-Analyze was able to emulate 2.0 on 1.4 cards or even 1.0 cards. It CAN be done with software but uses more processing power and memory. And Pixel Shader COULD be disabled with minor tweaks. I may not be a programmer, but I do know how some things work. The game would simply need an alternate rendering mode that doesn't use Pixel Shader and an option to disable it. It wouldn't take much work, I'm sure. Just a little time and the know-how. The whole system wouldn't need to be replaced, just a portion of it. And my understanding is that Pixel Shader is a post-render process as it is simply a shader and uses a reference to tell it where and how the shading is to be done. Similar to bumpmapping but with shades instead of texture elevations. The reference could still be there, but the process blocked and thus no requirement for a card that could process it. Or at least only use the 2.0 features and cancel any 3.0 only features.
As the game manual says, "Any $40 graphics card will do"
If you don't have or can't afford a $40 graphics card....
End of InfiniteVengeance's quote
I could've swore I said:
I don't need any posts of people saying "Buy a new graphics card, you can get a Pixel Shader 3.0 card cheap." I'm well aware, don't tell me what I already know. The reason I'm posting is because of the principle of the matter.
End of quote
And...
Could I upgrade my card if I really wanted to? Yes. Do I feel like the money I would spend on a new card is worth what I would get out of it? No. Almost none of the games I play would run any better than they do now. Pixel Shader is a minor "extra" feature and should not be required.
End of quote
Do you people not read? It seems too many people on here just THINK they have something insightful or intelligent to say. You're like those kids that yell "Mommy, watch this!" and then jump haphazardly with limbs flailing in a completely unappealling, subpar, and not at all impressive manner yet expect their mom to say "Wow! Good job, honey! That was amazing!"
I always have to laugh when I read about the pixel 2.0 shader crew appearing on forums (they did it with Bioshock too) demanding recently released games work on their very out dated hardware. Pixel shader 3.0 cards have been around since 2004 and it's been over 5 years now since that hardware was made available to pc gamers. Gaming on the PC means you'll have to upgrade to play newer games it's just something you need to come to terms with. Picking up a geforce 6 series or above card now days is extremely cheap which fulfills the 3.0 requirement
End of Shock0311's quote
Yea, and plenty of people all over the net are pissed that this game requires something it could play without. Yes, they did it with Bioshock, too. And guess what!? Someone out there, instead of posting completely useless and innane replies to forum threads did something about it. What was he thinking? He would've been SOOOOOO much cooler if he just flamed those people. But that complete loser in all his stupid thinking, created a fix to make Bioshock run on Pixel Shader 2.0 cards. How about that? You CAN accomplish things other ways than just looking for threads to flame because you have no life and nothing but free time since your mommy pays all your bills. You know, mature people see someone post something they don't agree with and they either a) post a MATURE and educated reply as to why they disagree OR
they just go on to a thread on a topic they actually know something about and post there. The little nerdy kids that got made fun of for playing Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and Yugioh in school...now those awesome guys, they have to take an opportunity to brag about how much of their time and money they spend making love to their computer parts. I just can't compare to guys like you. I only have a computer that does everything I need it to and plays 99.9% of all games I care about just fine and I didn't have to buy new parts every 6 months. But then, after I turned 18 and got out in the real world I stopped playing games as much and immersed myself in the REAL world most of my time. I mean, don't get me wrong, I got cranky when I had to do homework and couldn't play EverQuest all day and night, too...when I was 15. Now I play games 2-3 hours a week and have to spend most of my time working, with family, or with an actual female. Not one of those female avatars in your game you stare at and put skimpy clothes on to get your chubs. And not one of those "females" you give money and free items to online. Nope, this female isn't a wood elf, so I guess I'm just not cool.
OP to put it simple. It's like you are playing on a Playstation 2 and demand it to play Playstation 3 games.
If you want to keep up with PC gaming you will need to upgrade every 2-5 years depending on what you want to play and how nice the graphics you want look at decent FPS. The same goes with consoles. Sure some games come out for PS2 still, but the best ones come out for PS3 and 360, obviously.
It's probably someone with your kind of mindset on PC gaming hardware that comes into our games and lags it up with 2-4 sim speed and still thinks the games broken when the problem is actually the 5 year old Compaq you are running it on. Then that person comes to the forums and cries bloody murder on the game, all because their hardware is junk.
End of kstampy's quote
Uh-huh, uh-huh, actually it's nothing like that. You're comparing a minor graphical process to an entirely different engine and format. I challenge you to try and spot any difference running a game with PS 3.0 and then with 2.0. The difference is negligible. It's a bigger difference to go from 4xFSAA to 8xFSAA and I can hardly tell a difference there. Apparently you know nothing about the subject. Btw, just another point: many developers release the same titles on PS3 and PS2. They have completely different hardware and yet they easily, quickly, and cheaply, develop the game to run on multiple platforms just fine. Most others are on PS3, XBox360, and Wii. And the Wii has nowhere near the graphical power of the 360 or PS3.
X800 is like ridiculously oudated. Time for a new computer, You can get a top notch tower for like 1100 with a core i7 chip and radeon 4850.
My computer lasted 5 years before I upgraded, I was using a radeon 9800, which came out shortly before the x800.
Im going to have to agree with Kstampy here, You may be able to run the game but it runs like shit, Its nobodys fault but your own.
Bottom line: Stop being a cheap skate, get a decent computer and have a nice gaming experience. I never thought a Rig would make a difference in my gaming but its boosted my "skills" or rather, Skill output a good 25-35% in RTS and in FPS games because of graphics view distances and FPS, resolution, it all makes a difference. You're lagging behind in 2003 dude. The best mentality I can say, Build a computer to smoke games for like 2-3 years, with a good motherboard to upgrade with. Now with SLI and CF you can easily boost your gaming power without dropping more than 150-200 dollars
End of quote
Another useless, redundant post from someone who can't read. I never said the X800 isn't outdated. Unlike most people on this forum, my life does not revolve around my computer and games. Gaming is a HOBBY not a lifestyle. People need to learn moderation for Christ's sake. Nonetheless, I have every intention of buying a new system...when I feel it's warranted. There's no point in doing it just because I can't play one mediocre game. I can still play most of the mainstays I play just fine. Such as Fallout 3 and occasionally DAoC or WoW as well as all the ones inbetween I play here and there such as CSS, TF2, and others. As old as my X800 is, I've never had a single problem running anything until now. When a game I absolutely have to have and can't play comes out, I'll upgrade. What you illiterate simps can't seem to comprehend is that I made this post to voice my bitterness based on principle. It has nothing to do with wanting to play the game or not being able to afford an upgrade. I guess it's my fault as I often forget how ignorant most people that frequent forums are. You take someone and add a lifetime of ridicule, subtract a girlfriend and social life, add in a lot of free time, subtract any real responsibilities or aspirations and you get forum knowitalls. The kinds of people that seem to post on every single thread posted and actually think that anyone gives a damn about their point of view or what they're saying, which is often grossly over-estimated by the knowitall. Thinking he's posted something profound or witty, he fails to realize that the words he's left behind give readers an image of a scrawny boy with long greasy hair and the bangs covering one or both of his eyes. Face scarred by acne while he grins in self-satisfaction showing his braces until he covers them to take a drink of his 2 liter mountain dew and return to his griefing in any random online game or perhaps to build up his all important score on that FPS he's been playing for 6 hrs straight now. A scrawny kid who doesn't realize that everyone around him wishes he'd wash his hair and go outside once in a while and they're starting to wonder if he's gay or just completely unattractive to the opposite sex. All the while he's drooling over whatever female representation he happens to see on his computer screen. Thinking that that prostitute in GTA is hot and that he's somehow the one she's hooking up with and not just the character he's playing. In his dimented little mind he thinks he just got laid when the car rocked a few times. Sadly, he continues to repeat this act over and over, getting some kind of excitement from watching a car rock and imagining the "hot" cluster of pixels in front of him is having sex with the other cluster of pixels that is his studly self.
This is why I never buy top end. My wife's 7600GT runs this, and cost a lot less than an X800. Every time a PS 3.0 game comes out (for how many years now? Haven't you guys gotten tired of whining on game forums yet?), everyone with a pre X1000 ATI card complains, but PS 3.0 doesn't go away. Buy midrange, and if you can't afford it, buy a good low end. If you can't get that, why are you spending your time playing videogames when you should taking classes at the local CC or something to get a better job?
End of J3ph42's quote
Why aren't you taking classes at your local CC to learn how to read? If you don't like reading threads of people complaining about it...don't read them. Simple solution. You're tired of it yet you continue to post replies to them? You know what I'm sick of? People who walk into a sauna and say "It's too hot in here!" That's the mentality of all the egotistical Americans these days. Americans already think they own the world, now they think they own every one else, too. Whenever an American doesn't like something that someone else is doing, they try to change it instead of staying away from it. It's like all the states that have passed laws against smoking in bars instead of letting the bar owners decide. Why? Because people like this complained. "I walked in a bar and they were smoking!" "Then why didn't you just walk back out?" "I shouldn't have to! If I want to go in that bar and not be exposed to smoke, I should be able to!" You people think everything should be your way and whatever you believe is the only thing that's right. If you don't smoke, then everyone that does is disgusting. If you're an atheist, then anyone who's religious is stupid or naive. If you spend your life in front of your computer and all your money on games and hardware, anyone who doesn't is cheap or poor. Get a life, then grow up.
40$ graphics card will not run this game unless your running a quad core. HAHA. But then again, who in their right mind buys ATI?
End of Shortlived99's quote
People who don't buy into hype or fall for advertising tricks. I used to buy GeForce cards back when the Radeon 9700 first came out. I bought the best GeForce on the market and discovered that some games I played still had low framerates and graphical glitches. I then bought the Radeon 9700, but before installing it, ran the GeForce through 3DMark. Then I swapped cards and ran the 9700 through it. The overall score on the 9700 was over 6 times higher than the GeForce and I had double the framerates. The best part: The 9700 was cheaper. The people that think ATI sucks are the same kinds of people that prefer Macs or Intel. AMD processors are much faster than their Intel equivalents, run a lower temperatures, and overclock much easier and with less risk.
Even if you could play no one would want to play with you because your sim speed would be beyond bad bad. If you are using an x800 im sure your processor is pretty bad to. Its 2009 this is a pretty intensive game since they chose to use the supcom engine.
End of Chaoticon's quote
And SupComm ran fine for me, even online.
Now, for all you morons that couldn't read that I said I didn't want any retard replies: Don't waste my time or yours. If you can't comprehend that your comments are not only a waste of space and time, but completely unfounded since you obviously didn't read what I wrote. I don't know if youre attention spans are just as short as your pricks or your IQ is so low you just don't really understand words too well. Either way, move on to a thread about who's got the bigger porn collection or something you can actually participate in. You morons have just missed the entire point. You pick out one or two sentences, read nothing else, and then post a reply that makes you sound like a 12 year old. To break down my post in small words you can understand....I hope:
Me have old video card. Me know this. Me not spend lots of ching ching on pornogamobox parts. Me buy what me need to do what me want. Me not care if you say me should buy new card. Me not care that much about playing Demigod game. Me's life not all about games and porn. Me have life. Me spend money on more important things. Important means things that mean more to me than practice sitting. Me no care you's dumb thoughts. Me almost give up trying to help yous understand words. Yous too stupid to learn. If yous no like what me say or no agree with me, then ignore me and go somewhere else. Me no give a shit what you think. Me ask for mature and smart responses. Me no get any.
Is that understandable to you simps? Now, let me reiterate what I've been saying a million times and you just can't seem to comprehend: They had planned on supporting 2.0, but changed that at release. If times was an issue, a patch could've been released later. This game is based on the SupComm engine which DID support 2.0. It would not have been that expensive or difficult for them to support 2.0. There's really nothing they would have lost by supporting it. In business, when gain is more than cost, it's smart to proceed. You continue to argue that it can't be done yet 3D-Analyze was a program that emulated 2.0 on earlier cards that ran 1.4 or 1.0. It may very well support emulation for 3.0 in the future...it may not. Bioshock "REQUIRED" 3.0 but a simple, extremely small fix was released by an independent 3rd party programmer to support 2.0. If this was done by some wiz in his basement or whatever, you can't tell me an entire company can't do it. There's no excuse. Unless you're a video game programmer that worked on Demigod in the rendering department, I don't want to hear anything you have to say about how hard/expensive it is to do, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah. You can act like you know whatever, but I don't give a shit. Unless you worked on THIS GAME specifically with Pixel Shader support...DON'T post anything pretending you know how it's done.
Furthermore, DO NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT BUYING A NEW VIDEO CARD. Apparently the 40 other times I said it didn't get through. I'm well aware of my video card situation, thank you. As I've stated, I don't care enough to do so at this point in time, thank you for your concern. I'll upgrade when I please and how I please, if you don't mind. I don't care to hear your opinions on what I SHOULD do or when and how I should upgrade or anything having to do with me upgrading whatsoever. Is that clear enough? Can everyone understand this or is it going to continue to be ignored by all the dumbfounded products of incest that read this paragraph and sit there glassy-eyed and mouth agape staring at their monitor not knowing what I mean by: I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT ME UPGRADING MY F***ING VIDEO CARD!!!
Now that that's been said....again. The point I've been TRYING to make is the principle. The developer could have supporteed 2.0 and lost nothing for doing it and gained extra sells as well as been commended for better customer service, but didn't. It CAN be done, it's been done by less knowledgeable people in the past. Yes there are many casual gamers out there that don't spend all their cash on computer parts because they have other priorities in life. This doesn't mean they're cheap or poor. Why don't you go buy a bigger water heater? How about a prettier faucet? One of those that don't drip after a lot of usage? Why don't you? Because you don't need/want to. It's not a priority. Could you afford it? Yes. Do you want to buy it? No. Right now, a new video card to me is like buying a bigger water heater. So drop it already.
My primary point is that game developers and hardware companies make these off-the-record deals. My guess about what happened here: The graphics card manufacturers made a deal with some game developers, like this one, to make their game require PS3.0 so gamers will have to buy new video cards that ordinarily may not for a while. A game like this comes out and gamers (just like you idiots that keep clammering "Buy a new card, Ahyuck!") run and buy a new video card, thus driving up their sales. In return they might pay the developers or cut them deals on permission to use their technology, etc. Put quite simply: They could suppor 2.0 but didn't and won't, most likely because they're getting something out of forcing it to drive hardware sales. Case closed.
Anything having to do with why they didn't - Not needed, don't care, keep it to yourself.
Anything having to do with me upgrading - Already coverd...numerous times...f*** off, I'm sick of your stupidity and I'm tired of pointing out the obvious.
EDIT: The quoteblocks are all f***ed up but I really don't care enough to go back and find the problem.
Demigod Forums
Stardock Forums
they just go on to a thread on a topic they actually know something about and post there. The little nerdy kids that got made fun of for playing Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and Yugioh in school...now those awesome guys, they have to take an opportunity to brag about how much of their time and money they spend making love to their computer parts. I just can't compare to guys like you. I only have a computer that does everything I need it to and plays 99.9% of all games I care about just fine and I didn't have to buy new parts every 6 months. But then, after I turned 18 and got out in the real world I stopped playing games as much and immersed myself in the REAL world most of my time. I mean, don't get me wrong, I got cranky when I had to do homework and couldn't play EverQuest all day and night, too...when I was 15. Now I play games 2-3 hours a week and have to spend most of my time working, with family, or with an actual female. Not one of those female avatars in your game you stare at and put skimpy clothes on to get your chubs. And not one of those "females" you give money and free items to online. Nope, this female isn't a wood elf, so I guess I'm just not cool.