Games requiring specific graphic cards

[masobrancaleone]

Hello,
I've been a gamer for more than a decade but have never really looked into pc's and pc parts. Mostly because until now I have used macs. I have been using a samsun laptop for the last year or so and have had to look into these things. Recently I bought 'heroes of might and magic vi' and could not run it (i get a black screen as soon as i start the program which stops responding and have to use task manager to exit it). After looking into the solutions proposed by the company faqs and the forums I found out the game had problems running on laptops/ I then had to specifically look at the game specs. Do take into consideration that neither the official website of the game nor do Ubisoft provide the game requirements on the webpages on which they sell or advertize this game. The game is supposedly available on steam, but I cannot access it. Steam usually has game requirements on the same page of acquisition of a product. Thus HoMM VI only provides info on game requirements on 2 rather unnacessible webapes (on of which on the forums)
Concluding (and forgive wall of text) The system requirements for the game listed that the game rund on nvidia and radeon 'xyz' video cards or above. I have baught games as i said for more than a decade without understaning much of computer parts, but I do know as much as to know that video cards have not traditionally been on such lists. Google has had problems this week in implementing its new system due to EU policy on "clear and understandable client comunications in understandable everyday language and NOT in specific sectors.

My question is, why as a gaming customer or computer customer should i be required to understand specifics of computer components. There should me more clear statements, something more like "this game does not run on laptops" rather than video card requirements.

Are my expectations and assumtions wrong? does anyone else feel this way?

Moreover, if someone has had the kindness to read so far, i have read this article http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-intel-amd,news-28017.html and am ignorant on how exactly that went. from another article it seems to me intel has won the processor war so far and nvidia the video cards market? in this context is it significant that games are adding specific video card requirements for their games? what does this mean?

 

[kelthic]

The easiest way for me to explain the neccessity for a basic knowledge of computer components for PC gamers is use the console example. All PS3's have the same factory configured hardware as one another (unless after-market modifications are preformed). the same is true with XBox 360's. To make a game for a console, developers already have a "Minimum" line drawn in the sand - meaning the game HAS to run on the resources they have available on that console. When a developer makes a game for the PC however there are so many different combinations of hardware possible, that it becomes impossible to test and confirm that their game will run well, will run at all, or will not run on every single configuration.

It's like Autozone, when you go get a part for your car, the first thing they ask is the make and model, and then the engine, etc. until they can narrow down the exact specifications of your vehicle to make sure that the part is compatable. And likewise, you wouldn't want to buy a part for you car that you didn't know was compatable prior to buying it, would you? Another way to find the compatability of your computer with a game is to google the system requirements for you game, and I found several pages that listed them within 10 seconds of doing so. Alternatively, you could visit www.canirunit.com which will test your system vrs the minimum requirements of the game you select for you and tell you if you meet those requirements or not.

This is why they set the minimum requirements, to say it is likely that the game will run if you meet these requirements or higher. It is a way to reduce the number of incompatable purchases for customers.

I understand the frustrations of not being able to run a specific game due to whatever cosmic event led to the programming that does not execute correctly on your particular hardware, having been in that situation in the past myself. Have you searched for a patch for the game? This has sometimes worked for me in the past when these situations came up. Link; http://www.fileplanet.com/222812/220000/fileinfo/Heroes-of-Might-&-Magic-VI-Patch-v1.2.1-(International) Do you have the most recent drivers for your particular graphics? I don't see above where you list the graphics in your laptop, so i could not provide a specific link for this.

All of that being said: generally, most modern games do not play nicely with laptops, nor is it likely that you will be able to run them at higher settings unless you have invested a significant amount of money and research to get a high-end "gaming" laptop (one with a higher end graphics chip, such as Nvidea 580M). Lastly, some reputable sites will refund the purchase price of a digital download copy of a game that does not work on your computer, if you contact the customer service department. I have had luck with www.amazon.com purchase refunds in the past as well.

Good luck to you and I hope this helps!

 

[GI_JONES]

Hello,
I've been a gamer for more than a decade but have never really looked into pc's and pc parts. Mostly because until now I have used macs. I have been using a samsun laptop for the last year or so and have had to look into these things. Recently I bought 'heroes of might and magic vi' and could not run it (i get a black screen as soon as i start the program which stops responding and have to use task manager to exit it). After looking into the solutions proposed by the company faqs and the forums I found out the game had problems running on laptops/ I then had to specifically look at the game specs. Do take into consideration that neither the official website of the game nor do Ubisoft provide the game requirements on the webpages on which they sell or advertize this game. The game is supposedly available on steam, but I cannot access it. Steam usually has game requirements on the same page of acquisition of a product. Thus HoMM VI only provides info on game requirements on 2 rather unnacessible webapes (on of which on the forums)
Concluding (and forgive wall of text) The system requirements for the game listed that the game rund on nvidia and radeon 'xyz' video cards or above. I have baught games as i said for more than a decade without understaning much of computer parts, but I do know as much as to know that video cards have not traditionally been on such lists. Google has had problems this week in implementing its new system due to EU policy on "clear and understandable client comunications in understandable everyday language and NOT in specific sectors.

My question is, why as a gaming customer or computer customer should i be required to understand specifics of computer components. There should me more clear statements, something more like "this game does not run on laptops" rather than video card requirements.

Are my expectations and assumtions wrong? does anyone else feel this way?

Moreover, if someone has had the kindness to read so far, i have read this article http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-intel-amd,news-28017.html and am ignorant on how exactly that went. from another article it seems to me intel has won the processor war so far and nvidia the video cards market? in this context is it significant that games are adding specific video card requirements for their games? what does this mean?

Actually they have been putting the system requirements on pc game boxes for years. I was just looking at the boxes for some games I have around..5 or 6 year old games..they all list specs for minimum and recommended game play

 

[jaguarskx]

Specs for PC games have been listed on boxes since the '80s.

 

[jaguarskx]

Do take into consideration that neither the official website of the game nor do Ubisoft provide the game requirements on the webpages on which they sell or advertize this game.
[/quote]

Well, I have to agree that not listing the system requirements for games does a dis-service to both the consumer and the software publisher. But it is mostly the consumer that suffer since if the game does not run on he/she just wasted money while the publisher made money.

My question is, why as a gaming customer or computer customer should i be required to understand specifics of computer components. There should me more clear statements, something more like "this game does not run on laptops" rather than video card requirements.
[/quote]

Because there are laptops that are capable of playing games and there are some that can't. Similar to desktop PCs, laptops can be configured by the manufacturer to have components of varying performance levels. If you want to play games then you need to know if the CPU and graphics card are powerful enough to play a specific game. Games have varying requirements. Some games have very low requirements, some have moderate requirements and others can have high requirements. Not understanding system requirements can cost you money.

If you want to play games and not be bothered with understanding system requirements, then you should buy a PS3 or Xbox 360. Games designed for those consoles will run on those consoles.

To inject a simple analogy, if you were in the market to buy a car, I would assume you are looking for more than just anything with a steering wheel and 4 tires.

Moreover, if someone has had the kindness to read so far, i have read this article http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-intel-amd,news-28017.html and am ignorant on how exactly that went. from another article it seems to me intel has won the processor war so far and nvidia the video cards market? in this context is it significant that games are adding specific video card requirements for their games? what does this mean?

That is an old article and generally not relevant to understanding whether a laptop is capable of play games or not. In a nutshell, Intel dominates the CPU market; they have a greater market share (80% ??) than AMD and their CPUs also performs better than AMD. In the graphics market Intel dominates with a little over 59% of the entire market. This is basically due to the fact that PCs sold to businesses simply uses the integrated Intel graphics core (excluding PC used in the graphics/photo editing profession). Nvidia's share of the market is just under 16%. AMD actually took away some of Intel's and nVidia's market share and they currently command just under 25% of the graphics market.

That's all nice, but it doesn't tell you anything about the CPUs or graphics cards, specifically performance their performance. Educating yourself a little bit about specs can help you make decisions in the future. If you prefer not to be bothered with that, then just buy a PS3 or XBox 360... or a Wii.

 

[masobrancaleone]

@ Kelthic
hi, my laptop mounts a Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family, which i have gathered in my recent forum browsing is not excellent for games. Regardless I have been able to play dawn of war 2 and its various expansions, the sims3 and recently SWTOR. Ofc on low settings and with a rather low fps rate but they all still worked.

As for the minimum requirements I may not have explained myself clearly. I am used to reading game req. when buying games, since the late 90's and argue that MOST games (even those that are downloadable online) provide these requirements on the same page of acquisition. This was not true for the game I mentioned above and it is mostly that which I don't understand/have a problem with. another is the fact that ubisoft seems to be ignoring my requests for a refund by answering my troubleshooting issues with solutions I have already tried and told them i have.

Without having to be a computer expert I however have an idea of european laws on privacy and communication with customers and find it hard to believe that Ubisoft ignore this and this is more the issue I am unhappy about rather than not being able to instal a game (on regards, i tried most possible solutions provided by thats game community on the forums which seemed rather computer savy and had experience with the specific issue). Moreover, you must agree with me with the importance on providing information on the product which is directly accessible during the purchase. As someone else has pointed most (if not all) harcopy games have these on the box, and most websites as i already said provide these on the same page advertizing and selling the product. take steam for example. regardless of ones use of a PC i find it hard to believe that one should be expected to know the difference between a Intel (R) an Invida or a Radeon graphic cards. After all, keeping to the terms of comparison proposed, how many customers who buy a car, really know what an engine does and how it works (gas-caused explosions push pistons etc, that does not qualify as understanding how an engine works as it gives you little insight into which engine is better than another provided they have the same cilinders), nor would they understand the difference of an engine outsorced from company A rather than company B. most clients rely on the name of the car brand as an insurance of the components quality. As in. I would expect a Ferrari to mount a better quality engine than lets say a skoda, yet i have no knowledge of how those different engines are or work, nor am i expected to as a client. and i would add nor does the law protecting me as a client expect me to.

More sepecifically on the minimum requirements for the game i mentioned what I was baffled about them was the requirements specifying nvidia and radeon video cards. I have rarely seen such information (or req) procivided on games, which usually (not sure if i should use the past as this still remains true for most games on steam for example) talks about processors, ram memory and operating system.

and no as i mentioned i have bought games for more than a decade and have never had a thing for console games, as I know very well the difference between the 2. also, consoles have just 1 use that of gaming. I am sure that as the gaming industry tries to move towards a more casual (and bigger) audience (which is the case) a technical and unchomprihensible language such as "requires nvidia or radeon" rahter than a more comprehensible, "has issues on most laptops" is not going to help. It is maybe not a chance then that ubisoft seems to have more products for consoles rather than PC's? is that maybe what you would call a bad karma due to bad customer relations or communications?

anyways.. I have the impression you are more intent in trolling me telling me to go play Wii (which in the pc gaming comunity is a semi-insult in case you didn't know) and telling me to RTFM basically, while not adressing the main argument. I understand it may not be directly related with computer components which is the main topic of this site, but i believe it does affect the market and while you might be balls deep in computer technicallities I am sure you wouldn't mind a more customer firendly relationship with the producers?

 

[kelthic]

I concede that you are entitled to your opinion, but my intention was not to troll you.

As you can see from my post, i did offer the suggestion that you patch the game, and went so far as to provide the link to do so. I also proposed that you verify you have the most recent drivers for your graphics chip. here is the link for that as well http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/graphics.

I also want to note that i've provided the only response so far that could be viewed as a genuine attempt to help. Others have simply tried to brush off your problems with an explanation that retail copies of games include system requirements, which does not help in the least bit. Nor did i mean to insult you (and i am not a console gamer either), i was only trying to relate the necessity for minimum requirements in terms i thought might better explain it. I can see now from your response you are aware of the reasons for them, but are frustrated by the ambiguity on the particular game you are having problems with.

In the spirit of this community, i will try again to assist:

http://segmentnext.com/2011/10/13/might-and-magic-heroes-vi-crashes-fixes-lag-connection-conflux-ubi-launcher/

Have you tried #3 in the above forum? this details a work around for possible game launch problems.

Also, i have already provided the link for the patch to version 1.2.1, which specifically states that it provides a "Hot fix on default setting video option detection at start-up causing possible dead locks on laptops", which could address your issue as well. Please download and install this patch if you have not done so. Again, here is the patch link:

http://www.fileplanet.com/222812/220000/fileinfo/Heroes-of-Might-&-Magic-VI-Patch-v1.2.1-(International)

 

[masobrancaleone]

That is an old article and generally not relevant to understanding whether a laptop is capable of play games or not. In a nutshell, Intel dominates the CPU market; they have a greater market share (80% ??) than AMD and their CPUs also performs better than AMD. In the graphics market Intel dominates with a little over 59% of the entire market. This is basically due to the fact that PCs sold to businesses simply uses the integrated Intel graphics core (excluding PC used in the graphics/photo editing profession). Nvidia's share of the market is just under 16%. AMD actually took away some of Intel's and nVidia's market share and they currently command just under 25% of the graphics market.

That's all nice, but it doesn't tell you anything about the CPUs or graphics cards, specifically performance their performance. Educating yourself a little bit about specs can help you make decisions in the future. If you prefer not to be bothered with that, then just buy a PS3 or XBox 360... or a Wii.

i am currently looking into sites providing ad hoc desktops and was looking into these markets and I do mention it is a separate issue from the main topic of the post. As i look at alternatives and prices I have mostly tacled the issue of video cards (it seems to me that if i want to use a computer for/also gaming then an nvidia graphic card would probably be a good option as would radeon. to be specific: i was thinking of mounting 2 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready which requires me to mount ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX mothercard. The mothercard change from the original spec proposed doesn't seem to cause much of a budged bump. yet i have not looked into mothercards yet and I am not really sure of the benefits it provdes etc. What causes a budget bump is using a intel processor rather than a AMD one and as to which is better for gaming uses i am not really sure. I was opting for an equivalent of an i5 and this seems to provide a 200 pound difference. from what i understood however the i5 gen perfomes better than the AMD. is all this correct? if it what i am thinking is that if i have to opt for a i5 then it might be more sensible to mount a better graphic card instead of two? At the moment i dont really understand the benefits of 2 graphic cards rather than 1, well ofc its better, but am can i play around with this? as can i mount a better graphic card (quality and memory) and would this make me save money rather than mounting two graphic cards? at the moment the only understanding i have on the issue is an article/review i found on an already made gaming computer which adresses the fact that it has only 1 g.c. and that you cant expect to much of it.

having said this i was looking into a 700-900 pound budget without a monitor.
If you can give me any usefull insight thank you in advance.

and about your wii comment allow me to anwer with a joke about winston churchill:

at the age of 81 Churchill was asked by a journalist what was the secret to his old age to which he replied "sports, never done them!"

i have the same state of mind towards the wii.

 

[masobrancaleone]

@ kelthic
hi and thx for the promt answer and sorry for being ruff i was specifically answering you but adressing others who replied to. sor.

The game autopatches, and am updated to the latest 1.2.1. thx for the link, but i have tried the solutions there proposed without success (and several others too. I concluded this is due to my video card not being supported (i assume even by the 1.2.1 patch) which as i said is an intel(R) 4 something.

I also updated my video card to the latest version yesterday (and i must say thx ubisoft for forcing me to do this.. my pc runs a bit better now) but this doesn't help either.

at this point im rather fed up with trying to make this game work and would rather that ubisoft provided me with a refund

anyways, thx for trying

regards

 

[GI_JONES]

On the older games, like Half Life..(7 or 8 yrs old and older) they would usually say..a direct x8 video card with 256mb of ram..or something kind of generic like that, but for the past 2 or 3 yrs at least, they will frequently list a minimum card (9800gt for example). This is probably done because of the huge difference in performance between low mid and high end cards. Many low end cards run direct X 10 or 11, and have 512Mb or 1Gb of ram, but they arent going to game. Bottom line is, i guess if you are gonna be a pc gamer you have to..or should have a bit more than basic hardware knowledge..or come to a site like this and ask.

 

[kelthic]

I'm also sorry that i could not provide a working fix for your problem. I hope you have better luck in the future!