:: Updated by Hannar @ 01/20/04 07:41 pm ::

35. Hardware Requirements


Thu Sep 04, 2003 03:12 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=82477&highlight=#82477

Moorgard wrote:

You will need a card that supports DirectX 9 features. Members of the EQ2 team play the game on a wide variety of video cards and systems. Contrary to what you might think, working in the computer industry doesn't always mean you have the latest and greatest hardware on everybody's desktop. Of course, being a recent hire has its advantages, including a brand-spanking new PC that kicks serious butt.

10/4/03 11:17am
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=57394368&start=57399885

Moorgard wrote:

Due to our engine design, video card choice is important. The card must be fully DX9 compatible, as our game makes use of those features. Both Nvidia and ATI make terrific cards that run EQ2 very well. CPU will always be a major factor in games, and certainly the faster you can get, the better. You can save a significant amount of cash by going for a CPU that is a step or two below the top-of-the-line model and achieve performance that is very very close to the best. RAM is still a relatively low-cost component, and the more of it you have the better off you'll be. Most of us at work play with one gig of RAM, and that seems to work just fine. Really, anyone running Windows XP should probably have that much anyway for overall system performance. People ask me what the best system for EQ2 will be. Though it sounds a bit facetious, the answer is really "the best you can afford," but then that's true for any game on the market. I'm certain there are tradeoff areas--a faster video card might make up for a slightly slower CPU or vice versa--but in general, a well-built system will allow you to play the game quite happily without needing the very best of every component. Keep in mind, we've built our game with the future in mind. It will take CPUs and video cards that aren't on the market yet to be able to play our game with all options cranked up to full. The idea is that as computers get faster and faster, our game can look better and better without needing an engine overhall.

Tue Oct 07, 2003 11:46 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=108249&highlight=#108249

Moorgard wrote:

The lessons learned from EQ in terms of bandwidth optimization should allow 56k users to get along just fine in EQ2.

Wed Oct 08, 2003 10:59 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=108557&highlight=#108557

Moorgard wrote:

Iadien wrote: I don't think anyone can make an online game optimal for 56k users =P. I didn't say it would be optimal. I said they would get along just fine. Obviously broadband is a better option. Modem use seems to vary quite a bit based on the quality of phone lines in the area. I've been guilded with a variety of people who still use modems to this day. Our raid leader is on dialup and has very few problems with it--in fact, he gets by better on raids than some people using broadband. One of our officers, though, had nothing but problems with dialup and would be disconnected with regularity. If you have problems with dialup playing EQ, then I would venture to guess that you'd be in the same boat with EQ2. But if you do run EQ fine on dialup, you'll probably be okay for our game.

10/17/03 3:33pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=58085167&start=58109705

Moorgard wrote:

I'm sorry, but the IGN article covering the Microsoft event has several factual errors in it. First off, the name Ratonga is misspelled. Second, we didn't give a release date. The March date is not correct. Third, the minimum requirements on our official FAQ are correct, not what was stated in this article. 3ghz is NOT the minimum processor required to play our game. We showed the game on a 3.2ghz machine, so maybe that's where some confusion came from.

Sat Oct 18, 2003 12:42 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=118187&highlight=#118187

Moorgard wrote:

As I said on the IGN board, that spec is very much in error. Our FAQ states a minimum speed of 1ghz, and we'll stick by that unless we see through further testing that it isn't realistic. Will a 1ghz machine play the game the way you want it to? No, you'll have to turn display options down to the very minimum. But we have a lot of people running the game satisfactorily on machines in the 2ghz range without the best video cards, so I think most people with average systems will find their performance to be just fine.

Thu Oct 23, 2003 11:55 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=122549&highlight=#122549

Moorgard wrote:

As I said in this thread: Quote: People thought Verant was crazy for releasing an MMOG that required a 3D card, but the gamble paid off. Likewise, we make no apologies about designing a game that will need a future generation of hardware to see its full potential. We intend for our game to be around for years to come, and as processors and graphics cards get better and better you'll see EQ2 improve in appearance--without needing an engine overhaul. That said, the game runs well on machines that are far from the top of the line, and DX9 cards aren't very expensive these days. We're still testing to see where we want to put that min spec, and we do want the game to perform well on the average system. But at the same time we want to be realistic about the hardware requirements and aren't afraid to set the bar higher than the typical game if we have to.

Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:39 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=123462&highlight=#123462

Moorgard wrote:

I suggest you all start a betting pool as to how many CDs will come in the box. As of now, we don't know the final disc count. It depends on a couple factors, but we anticipate a healthy number of discs. Whether we release an optional DVD format is up to marketing to decide.

Fri Oct 24, 2003 01:35 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=123510&highlight=#123510

Moorgard wrote:

We're working on a list of DX9 video cards for internal use. When it's put together, I'll see about posting it. Despite the GeForce 4 name, the GeForce 4 MX cards are not true DX9 cards. Unfortunately, that's quite confusing for consumers. The GeForce 4 Ti4200, Ti4400, and Ti4600 are true DX9 cards.

11/19/03 9:19pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=59862313&start=59899748

Moorgard wrote:

Quote: "When it takes more than 5 CDs then I'll be ready for DvD or whatever is out then." It might be time to get ready.

12/6/03 11:47pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=60708006&start=60725128

Moorgard wrote:

One of our tech leads informed me the other day that DX8 video cards will run our game fine as well. We may have optimizations and such for DX9 cards, but you can get by on the older stuff. I know one of our artists plays the game at home on a GeForce 3 Ti200. Anyone know if there's a site out there that lists all DX8 or DX9 compliant video cards?

12/7/03 9:27pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=60708006&start=60757949

Moorgard wrote:

I have a GeForece 4 Ti4400 with a P4 2.53ghz CPU at home and my machine runs EQ2 nicely.

12/15/03 9:46am
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61139810&start=61158641

Moorgard wrote:

Again, you *cannot* run EQII with every setting maxed out on current hardware and expect to get a high framerate. This is by design; we have built our graphics engine to last for years, and we want the game to look better and better with time.

Mon Dec 22, 2003 05:48 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=160522&highlight=#160522

Moorgard wrote:

Scrax wrote: I'll make sure to leave Moorgrad some extra milk and cookies on Christmas Eve. Hey, that's a misspelling I haven't seen before. Well done! Hannar Stormwolf wrote: That post was made by Moorgard a few days ago at the Vault boards. He didn't give full system specs, but said he used a GeForce 3 at home, and that it worked well. Tsk tsk, Hannar. No present for you! I said a coworker was using a GF3. My system at home: P4 2.53ghz (533 bus) 1 gig RAM GeForce 4 Ti4400 I think the game runs well. I didn't have every setting on, but most were set pretty high. No, I'm not going to post framerate info, so don't bother asking. If I post a number you don't like, some people will just say "that framerate sucks!" even though you wouldn't have any other data as far as exactly how the graphics options work. If I post a high number, people will just say "yeah but that's without the number of players a live server will have, so your framerate will suck once that happens." I know a kobayashi maru when I see one.

12/31/03 1:07pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61139810&start=61930074

Hannar Stormwolf wrote:

Seeing as how many of us (myself included) have ATI cards in our work machines, this won't be an issue. Our QA department tests a variety of cards from both Nvidia and ATI.

Wed Jan 07, 2004 06:20 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=172747&highlight=#172747

Moorgard wrote:

thatolchestnut wrote: The beard.... well it looks like and elf's beard Keep in mind that there are a lot of hair and beard customization options yet to come. That beard represents only one of many choices. Quote: i know it sure as hell isnt going to look any better on my lttle MX440 Unfortunately the GeForce 4 MX cards are not supported by our game because they don't have pixel and vertex shaders.

1/9 11:27am
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=62060730&start=62372526

Moorgard wrote:

Yes, having 256mb does make a difference. Basically more memory lets you run higher-quality textures without swapping. When you install the game, it looks at your hardware configuration and sets the graphic options for you to achieve good performance. If you have a video card with 64mb or 128mb on it you can manually bump up the texture quality, but you'll be taking a framerate hit for doing so.

Thu Jan 22, 2004 12:34 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=188254&highlight=#188254

Moorgard wrote:

To understand the format situation more clearly, check out Stuart Compton's interview. As you increase the level of detail in the world, the amount of data begins to increase exponentially. So yes, we need a lot of room for art assets, sounds, music, and other data. The client code itself is a small fraction of the total install. We're already going to have a regular edition and a special edition, so marketing really doesn't want to add a third SKU on the retail shelf. The reason we're asking EQ users this question is that it at least gives us some reliable numbers that we can study, not because they're our target audience. The numbers we'd get from a similar poll on a site like this one wouldn't be overly helpful simply because they're skewed toward people who are more likely to absorb an additional expense (i.e. hardware upgrade) just to play the game. Really, I think a better way to phrase the question is: Would your decision to purchase EverQuest II be affected if the game were only available in DVD format? And even then the results can't be 100% accurate, because I think if our game gets fantastic reviews and good word of mouth some people would change their minds and buy a DVD drive so they could check out the game.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 03/08/04 10:54 am ::

Fri Feb 27, 2004 05:08 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=222906&highlight=#222906

Moorgard wrote:

No need to worry. I didn't say that we were using any brand-specific features that would change the way the game looks on one card or another. We have both Nvidia and ATI cards on the team and in the testing department, and the game looks fantastic on both platforms. We fully intend to support both families of cards.

2/29 11:58pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=65073463&start=65137591

Moorgard wrote:

The video card minimum requirement remains the same as has been listed on our FAQ for quite some time: DirectX 9 compatible. Pixel shader and vertex shader compatible hardware with 64 MB of texture memory. EQ2 runs on GeForce 3, 4 (the Ti, but not the MX), and FX. Not the GeForce 2.

Mon Mar 01, 2004 03:59 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=224751&highlight=#224751

Moorgard wrote:

Dhampyr wrote: I don't know if the MX cards are fully DX9 supported. They are not, and won't work with EQ2. That's why when I mention GeForce 4 cards, I specify the Ti cards. The GeForce 4 Ti4200, Ti4400, and Ti4600 all work great with the game, but the GeForce 4 MX cards do not.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 03/15/04 10:08 am ::

Fri Mar 12, 2004 12:03 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=235136&highlight=#235136

Moorgard wrote:

We have a bunch of people who use ATI cards on the team and they work splendidly.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 07/03/04 02:09 pm ::

03-15-2004 01:08 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=2#M2

Moorgard wrote:

Be sure to check out our Hardware Requirements FAQ before posting questions about the hardware necessary to run EQII. Thanks!

03-17-2004 12:33 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=6934#M6934

Moorgard wrote:

Kudos on finding a new misspelling of my name! We have a hardware FAQ in the FAQ forum. We don't release framerate numbers because those vary so much based on your system and what settings you use in game.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 07/03/04 03:29 pm ::

03-26-2004 10:22 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=530#M530

Moorgard wrote:

It's the card I have on my home PC, and I play EQ2 with it. I'm quite pleased with the visual quality and performance.

04-09-2004 01:16 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=1235#M1235

Moorgard wrote:

I'm moving this to the tech forum, as it fits better there. On a side note, our PR rep has one of the Alienware laptops and it runs our game very well. He's even used it to demo the game sometimes, so you know we like the performance we get out of it. But man, that sucker is heavy!

04-09-2004 01:19 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=1259#M1259

Moorgard wrote:

We have an NV40 in our offices right now. I'm not going to go into details yet, but let's just say the whole team is drooling.

Fri Apr 09, 2004 09:37 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=254352&highlight=#254352

Moorgard wrote:

RihkotixInvisifists wrote: so lets get back to discussing how unreleased hardware can handle unreleased software! This is one of those moments of clarity Rihk sometimes has that amuse me greatly. The answer is no, the hardware being released this year will not allow you to run EQII with every graphics option maxed at a high framerate. We allow for some *really* high detail settings, and we're serious about it taking a couple years to get to that level of performance.

04-12-2004 09:57 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=43431#M43431

Moorgard wrote:

Timbuktu wrote: When will the casual gamer figure out that they need to upgrade? (this is assuming they are like me and don't buy the top of the line when we finally get around to upgrading) Will there be a list of compatible cards on the retail box? Will Sony make a deal with someone so they can supply us with cards at a deep discount? We have a plan to address this issue. Details will be released in time. Also keep in mind that just because someone plays casually doesn't mean they don't keep up on their hardware. Plenty of people running powerhouse systems aren't hardcore gamers, but maybe we can win them over. Don't worry about us. We have plenty of people to market this game to.

05-21-2004 10:41 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=7027#M7027

Moorgard wrote:

After talking to our client lead, it sounds unlikely that a second gig of RAM would make much of an impact on the game itself. If you're running other applications at the same time, of course, it could be worthwhile for you. There will be a noticable difference going from 512 megs to one gig, but beyond that probably nothing significant at this time.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 07/03/04 09:59 pm ::

06-01-2004 10:28 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=Non-Gameplay&message.id=7256#M7256

Moorgard wrote:

Nice idea, but we've already thought of it.

06-13-2004 03:21 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=11914#M11914

Moorgard wrote:

Even with such a setup you *still* couldn't run the game at high resolution with every setting maxed and expect perfect framerates. The new generation of video cards is going to help, but processors are still a bottleneck. When we see the next big leap in processor power then you'll be able to crank up the settings more, but I wouldn't expect you to be able to play with every setting maxed for a few years. Keep in mind what "max settings" means. That would be drawing the highest-detail models (no LODs) for everything visible all the time regardless of distance with every shadow rendered and every possible lighting option on and the highest-quality textures everywhere with fully reactive water, sky, and particles. You certainly don't need every one of those settings cranked up all the way to have a game that looks phenomenal, but rendering all those options at high framerates requires an incredible amount of horsepower.

06-17-2004 10:28 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=12880#M12880

Moorgard wrote:

Azhreal wrote: It's been said that going from 128 to 256 mb video card would be a noticeable boost in performance, but going from 256 to 512 would be much much less important. Yes, the above info was given to me directly from our client lead. For system RAM, 1 gig is plenty. Having two gigs may be helpful if you intend to run other software as well, but I often run EQ2, IE 6, and Outlook 2003 with 1 gig of RAM. I probably take a bit of a performance hit from Outlook, but I just play the game and kind of forget it's running.

06-30-2004 09:21 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=15674#M15674

Moorgard wrote:

This is baseless speculation. We don't plan to alienate ATI users just because we have a relationship with Nvidia. We like ATI cards just fine and have every intention of supporting them. The purpose of this forum is to help people with technical issues related to the game. It is not a general hardware discussion forum--there are plenty of sites around the Internet dedicated to that purpose. Any posts from here on in that create a "my hardware is bigger than your hardware" atmosphere will be locked or deleted. This isn't a place to try to win converts to your hardware platform of choice. Use the forum for the purpose it was intended.

:: Updated by Hannar @ 08/01/04 03:46 pm ::

07-13-2004 06:24 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=18508#M18508

Moorgard wrote:

A faster card obviously renders scenes faster than a slower one, all other things being equal. The advantage you get by having more memory is that you can run with higher-quality textures and details with less swapping. So if you have a system that otherwise allows you to run with high settings and textures, more video RAM would definitely be a good thing to have. Otherwise, you will lose some smoothness and performance because the card has to swap its memory out more often. How much of a performance hit would you take? It's hard to say, and it's not something we are spending a lot of time testing right now. We're still in the process of optimizing the client, so such tests would be premature. In general, I'd say that if you have a low to mid-level system that won't be able to crank up all the settings and you don't plan to upgrade your processor real soon, a 128mb card will be just fine. We are, after all, shooting for that as the recommended spec and want those users to have a great looking game that performs well. If you're building a system that is top-of-the-line in terms of its other components, it would definitely be worth the extra money to go with a 256mb card.

07-22-2004 09:42 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=20193#M20193

Moorgard wrote:

The minimum screen resolution the game runs in is 1024 x 768. We want at least that resolution to maintain the visual quality of the game.

07-22-2004 10:17 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=20201#M20201

Moorgard wrote:

Depends on your monitor. With the fancy Apple cinema view displays, we usually show the game at 1900 x 1200 or something crazy like that. Blakely would know since he has one on his desk.

07-27-2004 10:10 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=Non-Gameplay&message.id=27338#M27338

Moorgard wrote:

Yes, the upgrade offers are part of the system scan feature. You need to run the scan to see them.