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What hardware and operating system do you expect to use to play MWIF?

 
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What hardware and operating system do you expect to use... - 7/8/2005 1:41:51 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline 		One risk in developing software is that the developer writes the code to run on his machine and it doesn't perform as well on for the person who buys it. I would appreciate it if you let me know the hardware and software you expect to use to play MWIF. Maybe then I can write it so it runs great on your machine too.

My own configuration is:
Operating system - Windows XP Professional
CPU - 2.52 GHz
Main memory - 1 GB RAM
Disk - 80 GB, (1/3 used)
Monitors - 19 inch flat and 21 inch CRT, both of which support 1280 by 1024 resolution, configured as one logical screen
Screen memory - 128 MB
Internet connection - DSL

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.
Post #: 1
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 2:34:58 AM   
Mziln


Posts: 1107
Joined: 2/9/2004
From: Tulsa Oklahoma
Status: offline 		Operating system: Windows 98 (second edition)
CPU: AMD Athlon 1.2ghz
Main memory: 512 MB RAM
Hard Disk: 80gb, configured FAT 32 (11.1gb used)
Display Adaptor: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor: 17 inch NEC multisync configured 1224 by 768
Internet connection: DSL

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 2
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 6:45:11 AM   
Greyshaft


Posts: 2252
Joined: 10/27/2003
From: Sydney, Australia
Status: offline 		Given the geeky nature of this place (myself included) its possible that we are a baised sample and our answers aren’t representative of the general population – isn’t this information available as a formal survey?

_____________________________

/Greyshaft

(in reply to Mziln)
Post #: 3
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 7:41:18 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Greyshaft

Given the geeky nature of this place (myself included) its possible that we are a baised sample and our answers aren’t representative of the general population – isn’t this information available as a formal survey?


Not that I know of.

Any information is better than just guessing, which is what I am doing at present. I am not trying to assess the size of the market place, just the range of systems that MWIF should support. By the way, analyzing surveys is the other life I lead.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Greyshaft)
Post #: 4
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 9:00:01 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline 		I think that Software should be Windows 98 SE or first edition, Windows XP Home or pro SP1 & SP2, Windows 2000 Pro, and maybe Windows NT Workstation not sure of this last. How about Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server ? not sur any cutomers will play on Server systems...

Hardware, I think it should be designed with 17" monitors in mind, 19" monitors are quite fewer than 17" nowadays.
Remember that your 19" flat is quite similar to a 21" not flat, so you're in reality designing on a 21" monitor.
It should IMO take advantage of the latest mouses features such as the little wheel used for scrolling & zooming, and the extra mouse buttons.

Do you want people to list their computer configurations here ?

Maybe we can send this to you in a PM, as it may be uninteresting to other people ?

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 5
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 9:07:40 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp

I think that Software should be Windows 98 SE or first edition, Windows XP Home or pro SP1 & SP2, Windows 2000 Pro, and maybe Windows NT Workstation not sure of this last. How about Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server ? not sur any cutomers will play on Server systems...

Hardware, I think it should be designed with 17" monitors in mind, 19" monitors are quite fewer than 17" nowadays.
Remember that your 19" flat is quite similar to a 21" not flat, so you're in reality designing on a 21" monitor.
It should IMO take advantage of the latest mouses features such as the little wheel used for scrolling & zooming, and the extra mouse buttons.

Do you want people to list their computer configurations here ?

Maybe we can send this to you in a PM, as it may be uninteresting to other people ?


A simple list like I used to start this thread would be nice. If you want you could send it to me as an email.

The Delphi 2005 development package, which I am using to write the code, supports Windows 95 and up. The catch is that some of the older operating systems have these little "oh, by the way, be sure to ..." comments every so often which make me nervous. I will want to have play testers that cover a diversity of configurations to make sure everything runs not only correctly but well.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 6
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 2:19:40 PM   
Hortlund


Posts: 2884
Joined: 10/13/2000
Status: offline 		WinXP
512 Meg RAM
AMD 2.14 GHz
128 Meg Nvida graphics card
60 Gig HD


_____________________________

The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close.
In its place we are entering a period of consequences..

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 7
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/8/2005 3:19:32 PM   
Caranorn


Posts: 424
Joined: 8/31/2001
From: Luxembourg
Status: offline 		Definitelly take into considerations that many players might have limited screen resolution. My computer for instance can't go beond 1024x768 (and I don't have any larger compatible old monitors as I used Macs bfore this PC (the last three of those could use much greater resolutions)).

Otherwise I don't have my system specs at hand right now. But I think backwards compatibility to Win98 might be reasonable (I have Win XP (not the pro version) myself). Generally speaking, any system able to run War in the Pacific should also be able to run MWiF.

Marc aka caran...

P.S.: If I get some time I will look up my system specs and post again.

(in reply to Hortlund)
Post #: 8
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 9:30:37 AM   
c92nichj


Posts: 440
Joined: 1/14/2005
Status: offline 		I tried Chris Beta version on several different configurations:

- My Worklaptop computer 1024x768 resolution, was a pain but workable with zoomlevel 75%

- My home desktop a decent system dated 2002

- My mother's desktop an pretty basic system from 2003

- A friends hot gaming PC, top of the line PC from 2004

System run well on all of those there was only one thing that I felt was a pain and that was when the beta had to calculate eligble hexes for a rebase, far too slow and that applied to all PC's no matter what configuration. That algirithm needs to be improved.



(in reply to Caranorn)
Post #: 9
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 10:43:56 AM   
rotor911

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 12/13/2004
Status: offline 		Win 2000 pro
Athlon 1.4 ghz
256 mb ram
nvidia tnt II graphic card
and an old 15 " monitor that I can't afford to change atm. If there was a "low res" mode, I would be grateful..

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 10
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 10:47:00 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: c92nichj

I tried Chris Beta version on several different configurations:

- My Worklaptop computer 1024x768 resolution, was a pain but workable with zoomlevel 75%

- My home desktop a decent system dated 2002

- My mother's desktop an pretty basic system from 2003

- A friends hot gaming PC, top of the line PC from 2004

System run well on all of those there was only one thing that I felt was a pain and that was when the beta had to calculate eligble hexes for a rebase, far too slow and that applied to all PC's no matter what configuration. That algirithm needs to be improved.


Thanks for the input. Besides my main computer, I also have a Windows 98 at .6 GHz that should be a good test of how MWIF performs on older and slower machines.

Was it slow only for rebasing aircraft? How about determining supply lines and connecting resources to factories?


_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 11
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 11:12:52 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Rotor

Win 2000 pro
Athlon 1.4 ghz
256 mb ram
nvidia tnt II graphic card
and an old 15 " monitor that I can't afford to change atm. If there was a "low res" mode, I would be grateful..

Do you know what "low res" is in terms of pixels wide and high? How about pixels per inch would also be of interest?

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to rotor911)
Post #: 12
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 11:25:20 AM   
rotor911

 

Posts: 40
Joined: 12/13/2004
Status: offline 		As of resolution, I'd say 1024 x 768 is the upper limit before serious eyesight straining. As of dpi, I'll check when I'll be home.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 13
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 12:12:07 PM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

Was it slow only for rebasing aircraft? How about determining supply lines and connecting resources to factories?

I seem to remember that it was quite slow :
- Just before production (the game was certainly checking resources & factories).
- Before Final reorganization.
- After having run for many may hours, I seem to remember that it became sluggish and quite slow. This will need to be checked again, but I'd prefer waiting for a new version of the game before beginning a new 39-45 campaign.

However, even when it was slow, it was quite bearable.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 14
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 4:37:35 PM   
c92nichj


Posts: 440
Joined: 1/14/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Thanks for the input. Besides my main computer, I also have a Windows 98 at .6 GHz that should be a good test of how MWIF performs on older and slower machines.

Was it slow only for rebasing aircraft? How about determining supply lines and connecting resources to factories?



It was slow with aircrafts who had a long range escpecially when extended say a B29A Superfortress with 12 in extended range it could rebase over friendly territory 12x2x3=72 Hexes, I think reason it was slow is that it did a brute force parsing of all hexes in range and what of those hexes that it could rebase to.

When you mention it the resource=>factory logic was totally broken, I had to override it with a gazillion of specific rules for it to work. It would have been much less timeconsuming for me just to individually for each resource specify the path it should take.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 15
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 5:39:33 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: c92nichj

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
Was it slow only for rebasing aircraft? How about determining supply lines and connecting resources to factories?


It was slow with aircrafts who had a long range escpecially when extended say a B29A Superfortress with 12 in extended range it could rebase over friendly territory 12x2x3=72 Hexes, I think reason it was slow is that it did a brute force parsing of all hexes in range and what of those hexes that it could rebase to.

When you mention it the resource=>factory logic was totally broken, I had to override it with a gazillion of specific rules for it to work. It would have been much less timeconsuming for me just to individually for each resource specify the path it should take.


Thanks. I have already found a bug in determining the supply lines. This gives me three search routines to improve.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 16
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 5:44:10 PM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

When you mention it the resource=>factory logic was totally broken, I had to override it with a gazillion of specific rules for it to work. It would have been much less timeconsuming for me just to individually for each resource specify the path it should take.

It used to work awfully bad early, but in the latest versions it worked quite good, even if it was not perfect because it was one of the latest additions to CWiF.
Your impressions could come from the early versions where it was implemented.

Cheers,

Patrice

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 17
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/11/2005 7:20:44 PM   
c92nichj


Posts: 440
Joined: 1/14/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp
It used to work awfully bad early, but in the latest versions it worked quite good, even if it was not perfect because it was one of the latest additions to CWiF.
Your impressions could come from the early versions where it was implemented.


I think that you are right about it being worse in earlier versions. I've been running 0.7.71, which I believe is the latest one. But the Ai still doesn annoying things especially with the CW convoys, for example use US East Coast to convoy venezuelan oil, when there are convoys in Central Atlantic, resulting in that the Canadian resources doesn't have any where to go, or even worse canadian resources being convoyed via carrabean Sea instead of east coast.

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 18
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 12:45:17 PM   
caine

 

Posts: 94
Joined: 6/13/2002
From: Barcelona (Spain)
Status: offline 		Hello,

My system specifications are:

Operating system - Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) (2600.xpclient.010817-1148)
CPU - Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1500MHz, ~1.5GHz
Main memory - 512MB RAM
Disk - 30 GB
Monitor - 17 inch CRT, 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz) maximum 1600 x 1200
Screen memory - NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 128 MB
Internet connection - NO

Santi

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 19
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 1:02:07 PM   
Smiffus64

 

Posts: 105
Joined: 7/30/2004
From: Delft, the Netherlands
Status: offline 		Operating system - Windows XP Home
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Main memory - 1024Mb RAM
Hard disk - 2x80Gb
Video card - NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT 256Mb
Monitor - 19" CRT 1600x1200 85Hz
Sound - on board
Internet connection - Cable

(in reply to caine)
Post #: 20
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 5:56:20 PM   
DaveLeLacheur

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 7/12/2005
Status: offline 		I use:
Operating system - Macintosh 9.x, but will doubtless update that to the present Mac OSX family.
Disk - 40 GB
Monitors - 14 inch color
Memory - Lots via virtual memory
Internet connection - High speed via Comcast

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 21
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 7:11:06 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline 		Its been more than a decade since I looked at Apple's operating systems in any detail.

The Delphi 2005 development package I am using has extemsive support for Unix variations. Essentially, most of the source code can be recomplied for Unix with zero modifications. That's not to say it wouldn't take a lot of work, for there are always a lot of sticky little details. If I did a Unix version, would that be something you could run?

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to DaveLeLacheur)
Post #: 22
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 7:40:57 PM   
AradoX

 

Posts: 1
Joined: 7/12/2005
Status: offline 		Operating system: Windows XP Professionel
CPU: AMD 2500+
Main memory: 1 gb ram (dual 512)
Hard disk: 300gb, NTFS, SATA
Graphics card: PowerColor Radeon 9600 XT, 256 mb ram
Monitor: AOC 19" CRT (running 1280x1024 when the graphics card allows, otherwise 1024x768)
Internet connection: DSL
LAN connection: GigaBit

I'm going to buy a 19" widescreen TFT, when I find a good one. Then I will probably also need to upgrade the graphics card.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 23
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 7:41:24 PM   
Caranorn


Posts: 424
Joined: 8/31/2001
From: Luxembourg
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: DaveLeLacheur

I use:
Operating system - Macintosh 9.x, but will doubtless update that to the present Mac OSX family.
Disk - 40 GB
Monitors - 14 inch color
Memory - Lots via virtual memory
Internet connection - High speed via Comcast


I don't think it'd be very realistic to have MWiF run on a Mac. On the other hand you might wish to look into emulation software (Virtual PC I expect wouldstill be the software to use). I was certainly running CWiF on my Mac that way (also the reason why I no longer have a copy of CWiF as that's the computer that had a nasty HD crash without sufficient backup).

Of course all will depend on what the tech specs for MWiF will be in the end, one of the reasons why I ended up buying a PC was that I couldn't run certain games under emulation (Matrix's Uncommon Valor was one of the first that would not run at all).

Marc aka Caran...

P.S.: I'm not up to date on Macs, but I don't think a Mac could run anything prgrammed for Unix, it would require porting... If at some point a Mac version is considered I will be available to test it too as my old Mac is still mostly working (some continuing HD problems as I did not replace the old one).

(in reply to DaveLeLacheur)
Post #: 24
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 8:26:46 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Caranorn
I don't think it'd be very realistic to have MWiF run on a Mac. On the other hand you might wish to look into emulation software (Virtual PC I expect wouldstill be the software to use). I was certainly running CWiF on my Mac that way (also the reason why I no longer have a copy of CWiF as that's the computer that had a nasty HD crash without sufficient backup).

Of course all will depend on what the tech specs for MWiF will be in the end, one of the reasons why I ended up buying a PC was that I couldn't run certain games under emulation (Matrix's Uncommon Valor was one of the first that would not run at all).

Marc aka Caran...

P.S.: I'm not up to date on Macs, but I don't think a Mac could run anything prgrammed for Unix, it would require porting... If at some point a Mac version is considered I will be available to test it too as my old Mac is still mostly working (some continuing HD problems as I did not replace the old one).


Ok, I learn as we go.

I didn't think Unix would be of much interest simply because it is mostly used for commercial applications and not recreational ones.

Making MWIF run on Macs under emulation might be doable. There is always the chance that some small technical detail (that is hard to track down and fix) will make it fail. But we could at least explore the possibility with minimal effort.


_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Caranorn)
Post #: 25
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/12/2005 9:12:18 PM   
Panzer76


Posts: 68
Joined: 7/6/2004
Status: offline 		A64 3200
2 Gig RAM
ATI 800 XL 256 MB
19" CRT

_____________________________

Cheers,
Panzer

"The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either."

Benjamin Franklin

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 26
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/16/2005 7:28:24 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: c92nichj
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
Was it slow only for rebasing aircraft? How about determining supply lines and connecting resources to factories?

It was slow with aircrafts who had a long range escpecially when extended say a B29A Superfortress with 12 in extended range it could rebase over friendly territory 12x2x3=72 Hexes, I think reason it was slow is that it did a brute force parsing of all hexes in range and what of those hexes that it could rebase to.

When you mention it the resource=>factory logic was totally broken, I had to override it with a gazillion of specific rules for it to work. It would have been much less timeconsuming for me just to individually for each resource specify the path it should take.


Just to let you know ...
I have looked into the source code for rebasing planes and have an improvement that should cut the time required to 1/100th or 1/1000th of what it was before. Chris agrees that it should work and thinks we can do something similar for other places where MWIF needs to do searches (e.g., determining supply lines and getting resources to factories).


_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to c92nichj)
Post #: 27
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/17/2005 2:40:11 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

I have looked into the source code for rebasing planes and have an improvement that should cut the time required to 1/100th or 1/1000th of what it was before. Chris agrees that it should work and thinks we can do something similar for other places where MWIF needs to do searches (e.g., determining supply lines and getting resources to factories).

Good !!!
Give us the program now so we can see you were right

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 28
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/17/2005 5:50:33 AM   
jchastain


Posts: 2164
Joined: 8/8/2003
From: Marietta, GA
Status: offline 		Shucks. Depending on the eventual release date, the hardware I use might not have been invested yet.

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 29
RE: What hardware and operating system do you expect to... - 7/18/2005 6:32:48 PM   
mlees


Posts: 2263
Joined: 9/20/2003
From: San Diego
Status: offline 		Hehe.

That about sums up my situation as well. The beta version of CWiF ran fine on a pentium 400Mhz/Win NT/2Mg SVGA video card.

I presume most folks will have a MINIMUM of 256 Mg RAM, maybe more by the time this title hits the shelves. Unless there are serious 3D graphics, I doubt that a VooDoo 9000X_OMIGOD card is gonna be needed.

Then again, what do I know. War in the Pacific doesn't appear on the surface to be especially graphics intensive, but I have come to realise that a whole lot goes on "under the hood" that chews up memory fast.

Right now I have:
AMD-64 processor of some type (pentium 2Gig speed equivalent)
1 Gb RAM
Raydeon 9200 (512Mg video memory I believe) video card
30Gb of free hard drive space
Windows XP (NOT SP2...)
Broadband cable to internet

What'd I forget?

(in reply to jchastain)
Post #: 30
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