Seems high: Tabula Rasa specs

[Venkman]

Not sure who else is following TR, but I like what they're trying to do, both now and what they designed against previously.

But one thing I just got concerned with is the minimum system specs, as posted on Stratics:

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 

• Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
• 512 MB System RAM
• 2.5 GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or equivalent AMD™ processor
• 128 MB Direct3D and Shader 2.0 compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver
• 8x DVD-ROM drive
• 4.6 GB free hard disk space
• DirectX 9.0c
• DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
• Keyboard, Mouse
• Broadband Internet connection

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS:

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista
• 3.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD processor
• 2 GB System RAM
• ATI™ X1800 series, NVIDIA® GeForce 7800 series, or higher 3.0 Shader compliant video card

For an FPS, that feels right. For an MMO, that feels high. The trouble with TR is that it's not really an FPS in the traditional sense. By integrating traditional RPG components in a hybrid system that feels like player skill matters, I feel they're balancing the good part of Planetside (an FPS for the rest of us) and the longterm interest of the average player, as seen in traditional MMORPG.

So for them to have what appears to be fairly high minimum specs (largely related to that 2.5GHz processor) seems to be taking a risk of cutting off the RPG side of things. Granted, if someone loves RPGs, they've probably got Oblivion and a rig to play it effectively. But MMOs still traditionally lag behind the leading edge of tech, because the needs of the game spans more than any one critical component. A graphics card alone does not solve issues with a slow hard drive, slow RAM or a slow processor.

I plan to be building a new rig in the spring anyway, so it doesn't matter to me per se. I just found it interesting.

Thoughts?

[SnakeCharmer]

Guess I won't be playing TR anytime soon.

[Strazos]

I'm still running an Athlon XP 2700+ system, so uh....

And damn, not even Oblivion has 2gb of RAM as its recommended reqs.

[Yegolev]

I suspect those numbers include Vista baseline requirements...?

[Numtini]

Wow, that's just insane. They're cutting out a huge portion of players there. I just can't see that flying in the market.

[HaemishM]

Every news bit I hear or see about TR drives my hopes down even further. Those specs are stupid to the extreme. The WoW vs. EQ2 release battle has shown that lowered system specs can help sell a subscription game, while assinine high system specs can tank it.

[Venkman]

I suspect those numbers include Vista baseline requirements...?

These are the Vista specs. They look fairly non-cutting-edge to me, something even I could force onto my aging rig. Maybe there's a premium resource requirement to developing to Vista, but TR doesn't even require nor recommend DX10, so not sure about that either.

[Signe]

The WoW vs. EQ2 release battle has shown that lowered system specs can help sell a subscription game, while assinine high system specs can tank it.

Absolutely.  I can't tell you how many friends of mine chose WoW, even though they were old time EQ players who wanted to play EQ2, because of the requirements.  I positively think that EQ2 would have had a MUCH better start if they hadn't excluded so many people in this manner.

[Alkiera]

I suspect those numbers include Vista baseline requirements...?

These are the Vista specs. They look fairly non-cutting-edge to me, something even I could force onto my aging rig. Maybe there's a premium resource requirement to developing to Vista, but TR doesn't even require nor recommend DX10, so not sure about that either.

Those 'Vista capable' requirements are a joke.  Perhaps if you turn off Aero, and don't mind your PC taking forever to do anything(Anyone run WinXP SP2 on a machine with 256 megs of ram?  You'll know what I mean.)  The 'Vista Premium Ready' specs are basically, 'What it takes to run the OS and common office applications, at the same time, without specifically pruning back the OS(like turning off Aero)'.

2GB RAM requirements for something expecting to run on Vista really doesn't phase me in the least.

--
Alkiera

[Morfiend]

Windows 2000/XP/Vista
3.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD processor
2 GB System RAM
ATI™ X1800 series, NVIDIA® GeForce 7800 series, or higher 3.0 Shader compliant video card

So what, like .05% of people have the recomended specs? *boggle*

[Venkman]

Aero is that crazy 3D-desktop UI thing right? I can see that being a huge hog unto itself yea. Plus, those specs are effectively for an unknown, maybe even based on brand new desktops with the new-car smell too.

Ah who knows. The point remains that even the minimum spec for TR is fairly high by conventional means. Sure anyone who loves and only plays Prey and that ilk will have no trouble with TR. But like the Planetside discussions of old, how many people are going to come from their FPS games to a gimped FPS, and specific to TR (and in some ways Huxley), one with decidedly RPG-overtones.

These are different target markets for a reason.

I could see why SOE thought targeting the cutting edge was a good idea. Lots of good cross-promo potential (which basically just meant getting smacked with nVidia logoso in the client). But people have learned things since, including who actually is on that cutting edge and what sorts of games they'd rather play.

TR seems to cast too narrow a net. Maybe.

[dusematic]

What Intel CPU do you compare an Athlon XP 4200 with?

[Telemediocrity]

Question:  Why doesn't Tabula Rasa make degrade graphics such that I can run the game on a 1ghz machine with a few-years-old graphics card?

I have no problem with the graphics looking like crap, if I get to play.  Why are they not offering that possibility?

Hell, it used to be you could run Quake 2 on the newest latest greatest graphics card, *or* you could turn it down to something resembling Duke Nukem 3D on minimum settings.

WoW, despite being a shit game, has that option as well.

Guild Wars also runs very smoothly considering the eye candy it offers.

That sort of versatility used to come standard.  Why is Tabula Rasa not doing this?


Oh, and what exactly are they offering new in the gameplay department that should make this necessary?  Pseudo-twitch?  I've had real-twitch in MMOs for over six years now, and there's no reason that would require such a beast of a machine as this.

[Jobu]

• Broadband Internet connection

First time I've seen that come up as a requirement. Has any other MMO ever specified broadband only?

[Merusk]

Seems reasonable to me for a game in 2006.   My machine is 4-years old as of last June.  It's at the minimum specs and it wasn't top-of-the-line when I bought it, but just under.

It's just that we're all getting older and have more permanent stuff to drop $2-3k on.  In my early 20s doing so every 2-3 years for a new computer wasn't a big deal. Nowadays I just laugh and play old games.

[Venkman]

Jobu: I've never seen one absolutely requiring broadband. However, I have seen Xbox games requiring broadband (those with integrated voicechat). And, I don't think that anyone would argue that broadband is sort of the minimum requirement for competing in PvP in most of these games. It's just that legally these companies can get away with saying 56kpbs is fine if players can have a modicum of an experience within the game world. I personally find it shocking that anyone in this genre is using dialup at all. But even with almost 50mil American households having broadband access now, I guess there's enough that don't.

Yea, but it's reasonable for games in other genres in 2006. MMOGs have generally had to cater to a lower common denominator. In theory.

Why doesn't Tabula Rasa make degrade graphics such that I can run the game on a 1ghz machine with a few-years-old graphics card?

No idea. Not sure what engine they're using, or whether it's custom, which could be the problem.

Further, it really won't be known until we get this thing on some home rigs whether their minimum spec is a technical one or basically "look, we're a serious FPS game" advertising-for-relevance spec.

[Lucas]

Heya,

Yes Darniaq, AFAIK, engine is completely built in-house (should be still called "Palantir") and also TR will indeed feature an integrated voice chat software.


Lucas
TR Stratics

[Sky]

No point & shoot fps combat, even with a CoF ala Planetside colors me decidedly uninterested in Tabula Rasa. The traditional mmo elements are what turns me off mmo, I can barely stand the genre anymore, though I should hit up Planetside again, at least that game had fun gameplay.

Let's hope they don't screw it up with Huxley. There's that 'unannounced' mmofps SOE supposedly has under wraps, but...it's SOE.

[geldonyetich]

Those specs don't strike me as too terrible, meeting an exceeding most of the minimum requirements and even meeting one of the recommended requirements, even though my computer is apparently too terrible to run City of Villains and get better than 20 FPS (or 2 FPS during pitched battles).  The only question is if I have a "Shader 2.0 compatible video card", which I'm not sure a Radeon 9700 qualifies as.

Despite the game being slated for a Q4 2006 release, I doubt we'll see it until half past 2007 (using standard MMORPG delay deviation reckoning) so I'm not stressing overmuch.  That kind of hardware seems like a big deal now, but one year from now you can probably pick it up for $200 or 50 Cheerios box tops.

[Merusk]

Yea, but it's reasonable for games in other genres in 2006. MMOGs have generally had to cater to a lower common denominator. In theory.

EQ required a 3d graphics card before they were commonplace.  Planetside had some hefty specs for it's time, too, IIRC.  I don't recall the specs for most others, but it's only been in the last few years  that devs have been dumbing-down specs with the understanding that 'the masses' don't upgrade machines. (Particularly after watching SOE deal with the chaos of deciding not to support Win95 in 2000/1.)

Perhaps it's a statement that they're only after 'serious' gamers who have the bankroll and care to keep their machines within the last 1-2 years worth of tech.

[Lucas]

It's also occuring to me how those requirements are fit for a Richard Garriott's game: Wing Commander I (ok, still an Origin game anyway) and the leap to the 286 generation; think about Ultima VII and how bad you needed a shiny 386 (and let's not forget the dreaded Voodoo memory manager); 486 was basically compulsory for U8; and U9...well, U9 is probably sluggish with the recommended specs of TR, anyway ;)

Yeah, different times and different genre, but still quite fit for the creator ;)

[schild]

Lucas, I understand why you're pimping it.

But this is Serek Dmart stupid. Garriott doesn't make games that require that sort of shit because of some kind of magic. AFAIK Garriott has so little to do with this game now since he bungled the entire 1st version that even mentioning him is a stretch. Basically, they're trying to do too much shit and are leaving a lot of shit up to to the client. Having played TR, I can nearly guarantee you can turn a bunch of shit off in your 512MB of RAM box and still run it just fine.

Garriott doesn't get to say he needs that much RAM. CliffyB can get away with that kind of shit. As much as we don't want them to, so can the boys at 3D Realms and Id. Even Valve. But Garriott? Haahahhaohohohohohoho.

[Lucas]

Thanks...I...Well, yes, I'm glad to be here as well ;)

[Venkman]

No point & shoot fps combat, even with a CoF ala Planetside colors me decidedly uninterested in Tabula Rasa.

Actually, it felt very similar to PS to me at E3, particularly in that CoF sorta way. But it's not shipping with relevent PvP in large degrees iirc (I think they'll have arenas and /duel-variant, which to me means not shipping with relevant PvP). So a different feel for a game that feels similar to play.

As to the engine, I'm no tech, but I saw nothing in either iteration that pointed to any specific requirement for mega-tech.

Hehe. Welcome Lucas. :)

Perhaps it's a statement that they're only after 'serious' gamers who have the bankroll and care to keep their machines within the last 1-2 years worth of tech.

Which would be fine if they really think they'll get a critical mass of gamers from the pool of folks who have that sort of tech. But outside of MMORPGs as they exist today, what does the name "Richard Garriot" mean to anyone? This is still a generic sci-fi MMO to even a good percentage of the folks in MMOs, already replete with a number of marketplace challenges as a result. I think it's very risky (maybe even hubris) to push the envelope so much for a game with "MMO" in it's name when it has almost nothing else it can point to and say "this is why you should take us seriously".

The difference with EQ was that by that point, 3D was already on the rise in many degrees, and there were really only one or two other real competitors against which to compare, and some were 3D anyway (though based in bitmap-3D). Nowadays, there's scores of MMOs, some with such low technical barriers they're played in browsers, thus having shaped the culture of the genre.

[Trippy]

What Intel CPU do you compare an Athlon XP 4200 with?

You have an Athlon XP overclocked to 4200+? That must be some wicked cooling system. In any case the model numbers on the Athlon XPs and Athlon 64s are basically the rough GHz speed of a P4, even though AMD will swear on a Bible that that's not the case. Also the 64s tend to be somewhat conservatively rated while the XPs are more aggressive.

[Trippy]

• Broadband Internet connection

First time I've seen that come up as a requirement. Has any other MMO ever specified broadband only?

As the minimum requirement? Not that I'm aware of but most if not all the major ones list broadband under the recommended requirements but that's mostly cause of latency issues not bandwidth ones.

[Trippy]

The WoW vs. EQ2 release battle has shown that lowered system specs can help sell a subscription game, while assinine high system specs can tank it.

Absolutely.  I can't tell you how many friends of mine chose WoW, even though they were old time EQ players who wanted to play EQ2, because of the requirements.  I positively think that EQ2 would have had a MUCH better start if they hadn't excluded so many people in this manner.

They are doing the same thing as EQ2 and excluding all the people with DirectX 7 GPUs meaning the bazillion people who have GeForce 4 MX GPUs of some sort. For some reason all the state-of-the-art FPS engines can support DirectX 7 cards (Doom 3, Source, F.E.A.R., Unreal, etc.) but I guess the SOE and NCsoft engine guys just can't figure it out.

[Trippy]

The only question is if I have a "Shader 2.0 compatible video card", which I'm not sure a Radeon 9700 qualifies as.

It does.

[Merusk]

I still don't get why you all seem to think this is such a high-end rig.

You can buy the 'min' specs for $350 at Dell, including a monitor, without a discount or coupon.  You can get the recommended specs for about $860, same conditions.  (I'm assuming on the vid card here, since they offer Nvidia not Geforce, but it's the lowest end mid-price Dimension)

Yes, gentlemen, our machines are simply old.

[Trippy]

I still don't get why you all seem to think this is such a high-end rig.

You can buy the 'min' specs for $350 at Dell, including a monitor, without a discount or coupon.  You can get the recommended specs for about $860, same conditions.  (I'm assuming on the vid card here, since they offer Nvidia not Geforce, but it's the lowest end mid-price Dimension)

Yes, gentlemen, our machines are simply old.

The Dell Dimensions have crappy video options (X600 SE is the best they offer). An XPS 400 with a 7900 GS and a Pentium D 940 (3.2 GHz) with no monitor is $1220.

[Strazos]

I think pretty much everyone is looking at the "recommended" specs, because those are the ones that really count. As with most games, sure, you can run the program with the minimum specs, but a lot of times that's hardly playable.

Their recommended specs are just a little obscene.

[Evildrider]

Well I was pretty interested in this MMO, too bad my comp will probably have a stroke trying to run it.  Thats pretty steep for the average MMO gamer.

[Engels]

That 'recommended' is probably a combination of Vista and TR, not just TR. The Vista beta I have on another machine has a 640 meg footprint before pagefile use. So throw TR on top of that and sure, you need 2 gig. But the same thing can probably be said for Planetside running on Vista.

[Strazos]

640 megs, are you kidding me?

How does Vista use THAT much more than XP pro?

[Engels]

Beats the hell out of me. Mind you, it is a beta, and there's bound to be a bunch of code bloat.