How do you know if you have pixel shaders?

[raptor2386]

Is there a message in some diagnostics program that tells you your card has pixel shaders? I can't really tell...my card is onboard. But really, why would a company make a game that only runs on two types of video cards? That's crappy marketing if you ask me.

[tet5uo]

Onboard video...sounds like U'll have issues with most games. Those onboard video cihps arent usually good for much more than the 2d windows gfx.

[raptor2386]

Originally posted by tet5uo
Onboard video...sounds like U'll have issues with most games. Those onboard video cihps arent usually good for much more than the 2d windows gfx.

Not true. So far Warcraft III, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, and Aliens vs Predator 2 all work well and with decent framerates on the best settings. The original Deus Ex demo runs well, although I still can't find the retail game on any shelves. It's just odd...the IW demo I downloaded just goes to a black screen and stops responding. It doesn't force me to restart the computer, thankfully, but shouldn't I get SOMETHING that tells me something is wrong? Error message perhaps?

[DreamEndless]

Originally posted by raptor2386
Not true. So far Warcraft III, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, and Aliens vs Predator 2 all work well and with decent framerates on the best settings. The original Deus Ex demo runs well, although I still can't find the retail game on any shelves. It's just odd...the IW demo I downloaded just goes to a black screen and stops responding. It doesn't force me to restart the computer, thankfully, but shouldn't I get SOMETHING that tells me something is wrong? Error message perhaps?

With the exception of WIII those are extremely weak, old games which would not tax a decent GeForce 2 based rig. Deus Ex 1 is also startlingly old from a rendering point of view (direct X 7 game).

There is little to no chance that your card can play this game. Most on board cards in recent years have been GeForce MX variants which are, at best, extremely poor.

As for getting an error message: No you likely wont. If your card is as low end as I suspect it is and you have not updated your drivers the renderer will simply freeze and take out Windoze.


Sorry pal:(

[DreamEndless]

Originally posted by raptor2386
(SNIP)But really, why would a company make a game that only runs on two types of video cards? That's crappy marketing if you ask me.

And to answer this question: No it isn't crappy marketing except on the part of the company you bought your PC from. If your card is lower than a GeForce 3 (which it will be) then it is about 3 years behind the curve and will stand little chance of playing a standard current game, let alone a cutting edge game like this one (not saying its a good cutting edge game before people start:D )

[tet5uo]

Heh im not so sure the problem is the games "cutting edge" technology, but rather the fact that they spent 0 time optimising the shoddy x-box port to run on PC hardware. I have a decent pc that makes much better-looking games run much smoother.
Though that doesnt change the fact that this game DOES seem to require a super-computer to work at reasonably smooth framerates. Whether or not the requirements seem warranted by what u actually get displayed on your screen is another point to debate.