Rich visuals require loads of computer horsepower
Shawn Carnes, a Blizzard Entertainment designer who is working on the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft," said the temptation to design games that push the computing envelope often means those with older systems are out of luck.
Developers often get "carried away with the power of the technology that they've been given," Carnes said, acknowledging that developers must be mindful of older systems to appeal to the largest audience possible.
As a professional gamer, 16-year-old Landon Ingrammson of Dallas gets his computer systems for free from the local computer shop that sponsors his equipment.
Good thing, too. Ingrammson guesses he'd have to spend a couple thousand dollars a year to keep up with always-rising demands.
Tweaks can be easily made so new games can work on wimpy computers, but they won't look the way they were meant to, he said.
Ingrammson agreed with Carnes that the problem could be avoided if game makers developed on slightly older computers. But games on middle-of-the-road computers usually aren't very impressive.
"They're trying to make the 'wow' effect of their games last longer," Ingrammson said. "It's the 'Oh my God, they did that?!' kind of thing."
The swords and sorcery of Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming "EverQuest II" uses many of the latest graphical techniques.
At E3, Sony game designer Mario Rizzo demonstrated a group of five warriors swinging fiery swords and shooting luminescent spells at a giant winged dragon.
The dragon was richly drawn with multihued scales. Occasionally, it blurted flesh-burning acid that erupted from the dragon's mouth in a gust of swirling gray-green mist. In another scene, a moat ringing a magical castle rippled and undulated like actual water.
Rizzo said the game's minimum system requirements haven't been determined, but he expected them to be steep. That way, he said, the game will be "future proof" -- looking fresh and visually appealing for as long as possible.
"We don't expect anybody to be able to run it right out of the box with full settings maxed," Rizzo said. "We're planning for the future."
From CNN.com
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Developers often get "carried away with the power of the technology that they've been given," Carnes said, acknowledging that developers must be mindful of older systems to appeal to the largest audience possible.
As a professional gamer, 16-year-old Landon Ingrammson of Dallas gets his computer systems for free from the local computer shop that sponsors his equipment.
Good thing, too. Ingrammson guesses he'd have to spend a couple thousand dollars a year to keep up with always-rising demands.
Tweaks can be easily made so new games can work on wimpy computers, but they won't look the way they were meant to, he said.
Ingrammson agreed with Carnes that the problem could be avoided if game makers developed on slightly older computers. But games on middle-of-the-road computers usually aren't very impressive.
"They're trying to make the 'wow' effect of their games last longer," Ingrammson said. "It's the 'Oh my God, they did that?!' kind of thing."
The swords and sorcery of Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming "EverQuest II" uses many of the latest graphical techniques.
At E3, Sony game designer Mario Rizzo demonstrated a group of five warriors swinging fiery swords and shooting luminescent spells at a giant winged dragon.
The dragon was richly drawn with multihued scales. Occasionally, it blurted flesh-burning acid that erupted from the dragon's mouth in a gust of swirling gray-green mist. In another scene, a moat ringing a magical castle rippled and undulated like actual water.
Rizzo said the game's minimum system requirements haven't been determined, but he expected them to be steep. That way, he said, the game will be "future proof" -- looking fresh and visually appealing for as long as possible.
"We don't expect anybody to be able to run it right out of the box with full settings maxed," Rizzo said. "We're planning for the future."
From CNN.com
SOLOEnterprises is your one stop shop for computer consulting in Orange County, web site design and web site hosting.
Remember our motto "We Speak YOUR Language"
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