Hardware specs disclaimer.

[Sirveri]

I think if anything they'll want a spectrum of comps. Seeing as how I built my own I can name off everything that's in it, from motherboard to what brand of Ram I've got in it (Crucial, good prices too! Great customer service when I fried a chip as well). Too bad I don't have more money, or I'd upgrade further.

[Arlecchino]

Certainly, when I thought about it, having a superb PC isn't going to give you any more of a chance of getting a beta testing spot, because it's not going to help any in finding the low-end boundaries of the game. I'm with Sirveri on two counts, one being that I've also built my own PC, and two that they're going to WANT a wide range of specs, though I wouldn't think they'll desperately want a lot of higher-end machines.

Arl.

[CClimax]

I would think that most software developer's would already know the high-end/low-end compatibilities of their product, and they would use the beta as a way to get the "unpredictable" configurations tested. A side hobby of mine is writing music, and it's hard to know what it will sound like on different configs of speakers, as odd as that seems.

With more and more people building their own machines with multitudes of configurations, no developer can test EVERY one on their own, gotta get the amazing beta testers out there to tear it apart.

To sum up: My music sounds weird in someone else's car.

[da_zeg]

I've posted the specs of my 3 machines, will that increase my chances

[Soulkeeper]

I would think that most software developer's would already know the high-end/low-end compatibilities of their product, and they would use the beta as a way to get the "unpredictable" configurations tested. A side hobby of mine is writing music, and it's hard to know what it will sound like on different configs of speakers, as odd as that seems.

With more and more people building their own machines with multitudes of configurations, no developer can test EVERY one on their own, gotta get the amazing beta testers out there to tear it apart.

To sum up: My music sounds weird in someone else's car.

How exactly would they be able to tell? Just because they wrote the code doesn't mean they automatically know how it will perform on particularly low-end systems - and with that in mind, how would they be able to tell minimum/recommended specs?

I've posted the specs of my 3 machines, will that increase my chances

In a word, no. The only way you can increase your chances is by submitting for the beta position, after that...well, I spose bribes might work.

[GrowlZ]

I've posted the specs of my 3 machines, will that increase my chances

In the same way that buying three lottery tickets will increase your chance of winning the lottery, yes. But there's no guarantee you've got a combination they're looking for, or even that any of your three entries will net you anything.

Or maybe I'm just being pessimistic and unfair. I could only post two specs, after all.

[NeoTheOne175]

I've posted the specs of my 3 machines, will that increase my chances

Actually, each form you submit overwrites the last one. So in effect, you have just as good a chance as anyone else, which is a single submittal. Sorry.

[elDiablo]

I think he means on the forums As it, in the hardware specs post.

And no GrowlZ, I dont think it will give you a better chance

[da_zeg]

It was in the hardware specs board. And BTW if you feel like a laugh read the post. The sheer age of my 1996 computer makes it useless for anything but playing minesweeper.

[Kayn]

i have lots of diferent machines i can try with, if needed.
i did that with uplink and found out that:

on a 486, with 4mb ram, just lol (must have been cause its an AMD )

runs in a p166mmx with 64mb (EDO-RAM i think) athough very slow. even when very configd to the lowest end possible system.

on a p2 350mhz with 192mb (normal sd-ram) runs so-so. its very playable, but changing screens (like the map) or pressing buttons lead to about 2/3 seconds delay. the anims ran a little choppy too, like bar sliding and such.

anything from this one to the top P3 (1gb) will perform almost the same. when reaching the 1gb it gets better.

on a p4 @1700 with 640mb (rimm's) runs just perfectly smooth

ditto for a celeron 2,2G with 256mb and i guess anything above.

i've realized that ram, or at least the excess of it, is kind of irrelevant. a good thing as other games tend to do a lot better as more ram is added. for this one, as long as its above 64mb apears to be just fine, but those extra proc cycles really help.

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i like to try any game to see on how low/high they run and experience tells me that most games will run fine even in a lower that the specs system, if everything visual and such is disabled, meaning some things: the developers might not had the time or machine to test on a lower system or they're aiming for a safe machine to run it.
i think if the point here is to tell people how low-end a machine can be for the game to run, they're failing a bit, not that i can blame them for it, though....

in the other end we have brand new shinny machines with all new techs like hyperthreading and all, that are expected to run anything perfectly,and yet, sometimes a nasty conflict appears from nowhere to screw everything.

that is why testing in every machine, low or high-end, is important and beta testers are a great solution for that problem.

[NosForIt]

If anyone wish to make their own, feel free to utilize this thread.

Nah, I'm doing the exact same thing, so your's will do.