Hi-Res Texture Pack for Dragon Age 2 Available
BioWare has released a patch for the PC version of Dragon Age 2 that replaces the current out-of-the-box textures with hi-res versions best seen on DirectX 11-based video cards.
In addition to launching the new RPG to retailers nationwide, on Monday BioWare also unleashed a little gift for gamers who purchased the PC version of Dragon Age II. Called the Dragon Age II High Resolution Texture Pack, the patch essentially adds the option to enable higher detailed replacements for most textures.
Naturally there's a catch: most of the benefits from the hi-resolution textures will only be seen when running the game in DirectX 11 mode. That said, users will need at least 1024 MB of video memory and may also need to meet the game's recommended system requirements (see below). BioWare also suggests using a DirectX 11 graphics card and the latest drivers in order to enable the "Very High" setting.
To download the 1.08 GB file, head over to the Tom's Guide downloads section here.
To manually download the new content on the PC, perform the following:
- Download the installer from the link and run it.
- Run Dragon Age II.
- Open the Options menu.
- Select Video options.
- Check the "Hi-resolution textures" checkbox.
Haven't purchased Dragon Age 2 yet? Here are the recommended and minimum system requirements:
Recommended (PC)
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent
- RAM: 2 GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7)
- Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
- Video: NVIDIA 8800 GTS 512 MB or greater
- DirectX 11 Video: ATI 5850 or greater
- DirectX 11 Video: NVIDIA 460 or greater
Minimum (PC)
- OS: Windows XP with SP3, Windows Vista with SP2, or Windows 7
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
- CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
- RAM: 1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
- Video: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards
- Disc Drive: DVD ROM drive required
- Hard Drive: 7 GB
- Sound: Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows Experience Index: 4.5
Minimum (MAC)
- OS: OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard or greater
- CPU: 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or better
- RAM: 2 GB or greater
- Video: ATI HD 2600, NVIDIA 9400, or better graphics card with at least 256 MB of dedicated VRAM
- Disc Drive: DVD ROM drive required
- Hard Drive: 9 GB of hard drive space required
Video Cards Not Supported
- Intel GMA series, Nvidia 7x00 series, AMD 1x00 series, AMD 2400
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Luv for the PC.
I'm surprised they didn't charge for it as some sort of "Enhancement DLC."
So it really was "Streamlined" for consoles and then ported to PC's!
It just proves what everyone knew, its just the PC that can handle it! Its the serious gamers choice!
questiom (noob here): would CF 5770s meet the recommended spec?
This game sucks. It has EA's nasty stench all over it. Hopefully another company like the old Bioware will rise up until then farewell Bioware...
This was out before the game was even released....way to be on the ball Tom's..
Dragon Age 2? Great, I'm gonna download it right now!
From Steam of course, all completely legal and above-board.
questiom (noob here): would CF 5770s meet the recommended spec?
One of those are enough.
Time to pick up a 5850 or 460. I was hoping my 5770 would cut it
Time to pick up a 5850 or 460. I was hoping my 5770 would cut it
Depends mostly on the resolution you're playing on and possibly the CPU. You can download the demo and try it first.
You can pick up another 5770 and run in CrossfireX, if you have a motherboard that supports it.
Graphically, I honestly don't see anything that puts this above Dragon Age: Origins. It's using DX11, but what do they use it for? Tessellation. Something they're already using in the console space. So without DX11, the game looks worse in almost every way compared to DA: O.
The controls are awful. They were bitched at because all of the CoD nerds couldn't get into the 'instant action' because there wasn't any. DA: O was a real honest RPG. Now they've been forced to create some half assed hybrid that blows at both.
And where's the ******* toolset? That was one of the best parts of DA: O.
Played Dragon Age II last night. I read on the Bioware Forums that people are still having problems with DX11 performance issues (similar to the Demo). Installed, didn't do any DirectX install or updates. I'm using nVidia's latest Beta driver 267.24. Everything ran fine with DX11 and features turned on. However, I'm not sure that my GTX 470 SLI is being used as I was running about 40FPS @ 1080p.
Better graphics would be awesome! Though some stuff is similar to Origins, the character faces up close (especially main plot characters) look pretty good if you ask me.
Will have to try the High-Res textures though.
Time to pick up a 5850 or 460. I was hoping my 5770 would cut it
You could pick up the next gen above 5850/460 if your current setup can't run with the desired outcome.
Time to pick up a 5850 or 460. I was hoping my 5770 would cut it
What the hizzle? 5770 CF would be better than either one of those. Besides, I run one 5770 on a Core 2 E6600 on high in DX11 fine.
Wouldn't mind seeing Toms do some benchmarks on this, see what the performance difference is and what the minimum video card would be.
I'd be interested in seeing the difference too.
I'd really like to see benchmarks aswell.
*FPS log with 2/4/6 gb on different settings and resolutions (not just 'very high' and with different resolutions). Low, Medium, High and Very High @1280x1024 and 1920x1080 would be enough for resolutions, to give a general idea.
*Dx9/Dx11 performance differences @Medium.
The impact Hi-Res Textures have on system memory and video performance.
*And fps logs with different CPUs (core and frequency).
*Ofc, how does different gpus (dx11 especially) do?
An in-depth analysis like that would be really amazing.
Graphically, I honestly don't see anything that puts this above Dragon Age: Origins. It's using DX11, but what do they use it for? Tessellation. Something they're already using in the console space. So without DX11, the game looks worse in almost every way compared to DA: O.The controls are awful. They were bitched at because all of the CoD nerds couldn't get into the 'instant action' because there wasn't any. DA: O was a real honest RPG. Now they've been forced to create some half assed hybrid that blows at both. And where's the ******* toolset? That was one of the best parts of DA: O.
um dude consoles don't suport tessellation currently ,xbox360 uses dx9 and not sure if the game usues it or not, i'm guessing it might though sicne ther is a dx 11 requirement for upper details cant say though for sure becasue i'm stil on win xpa dn dx9 myself. and actually fromteh demo i played DA2 looks teh same as DA