A question about minimum system requirements

dunbar

Bearing in mind what @Dee said in another thread:

''v2.0 slightly changed the system requirements because of some of the graphics changes, which means that for some people, v1.3 is the last version of the game their computer will support. That's why the option is there at all; I wouldn't expect the v1.3 option to be removed from the beta list on Steam any time soon, if ever.''

Please can someone at Beamdog issue a definitive list of the new minimum system requirements that I can take to a third party and say: ''Upgrade my computer to these specs.''?

And if I do this, can Beamdog then guarantee that SoD will then run on my computer, or are there any other variables that might be causing SoD to crash my computer?

(And just as a matter of interest, what are the graphics changes which necessitated new system requirements?)

Dee

The big one that comes to mind on Mac is that v2.0 (I believe) requires OSX 10.8 or higher, whereas 1.3 only required 10.6.8. I'll try to get more specific information for you.

EDIT: The system requirements for SoD (on the Beamdog.com store page) list a required RAM of 1 GB, required OpenGL of 2.0 or higher, and required CPU speed of 1 Ghz.

To compare, the (not yet updated) requirements listed for BG:EE say 512 MB RAM, OpenGL 1.1, and CPU speed 1 Ghz.

dunbar

Thanks Dee. Why I asked is that the last time I tried to run SoD the min. system requirements (as specified on your store page) were the same as for BG1&2EE (I admit I haven't checked back since) and I'm trying to work out why BG1&2 run perfectly, yet SoD crashes. By process of elimination I'm fairly certain it's a graphics card issue yet I'm running a Radeon updated to run OpenGL 2 - so shouldn't I be OK?

jtth

Have you updated your graphics card drivers recently?

dunbar

I installed something called ''Driver Booster 3'' which updated all my drivers.

mf2112

Is it using the OEM driver or the Microsoft driver then? I have seen some of those apps get the "newest" driver but in my experience the MS drivers don't work as well as the OEM drivers from Nvidia or AMD or whichever company actually made the cards.

rapsam2003

dunbar said:

I installed something called ''Driver Booster 3'' which updated all my drivers.

That sounds fishy, very fishy. I'd check for Malware on your system...

On a related note, it's usually best to download the drivers for your graphics card directly from the website for that manufacturer.

dunbar

@mf2112 I'm afraid you've lost me there - please bear in mind that I'm not very computer literate (being 57 years old might have something to do with it!).

@rapsam2003 The driver thing was recommended by a friend who's been using it for some time. Also I've got ''Advanced System Care 9'' which checks for malware and 'stuff' every day.
I specifically got the OpenGL update from the Radeon site.

mf2112

@dunbar - No worries, try this. Click Start, right click on Computer and choose Manage. Click Device Manager, then the + sign next to Display Adapters. Right click on your video card there and choose Properties, then cilck the Driver tab. See if the driver is from Microsoft or another company like AMD.

rapsam2003

dunbar said:

@rapsam2003 The driver thing was recommended by a friend who's been using it for some time. Also I've got ''Advanced System Care 9'' which checks for malware and 'stuff' every day.

That program also sounds fishy, especially since the same company makes both products.

I recommend uninstalling both programs and downloading reputable programs like Avast Antivirus and Anti-Malware Bytes (get the free versions). Then, I would run a scan using both programs. Do Avast first and then do AMB.

dunbar said:

I specifically got the OpenGL update from the Radeon site.

Good. I would always get GPU driver updates from Radeon's site. No need to rely on external programs.

dunbar

@mf2112 The Device Provider is Intel and the specific device is: Intel Q35 Express Chipset Family (for what it's worth).
P.S. I had no idea that I could get all this info by right clicking on Computer - thanks!

@rapsam2003 Thanks, I'll get to work on my antivirus programmes this evening.

mf2112

dunbar said:

@mf2112 The Device Provider is Intel and the specific device is: Intel Q35 Express Chipset Family (for what it's worth).
P.S. I had no idea that I could get all this info by right clicking on Computer - thanks!

You are welcome, glad it helped. I googled and that would appear to be a motherboard-integrated video setup? It doesn't appear the Intel has updated that driver in some time unfortunately so you might not have a lot of options. Hmmm...

Maybe try this. Click Start, Control Panel, and look under "Appearance and Personalization" for "Adjust screen resolution". Click it, then click the Advanced Settings link. It should bring up another dialog box with the display adapter properties. Click the Monitor tab, then check the Colors setting. If it is 32-bit, try dropping it to 24-bit and see if that helps. Or if it is 24-bit, change it to 16-bit.