Graphics Enquiry

[mosti]

Hi to all RollerCoaster Tycoon lovers!

The new version seems great, but i've had a look at the minimum system requirements before i purchase it.

I'm sure my pc system will be fine with it, but I got a question about the graphics card.

My graphics card is a MATROX Millennium G400 with latest updates in drivers. Is it graphically sufficient for the game to run?

Thanks!

[Warspite]

I don't think so mate - I've just had to swap out a g400 from my dads PC because Windows Xp didn't like it, never mind RCT3. Sorry!:frownblue

[mosti]

Thanks for your post. But are you sure on that? As my Windows XP works fine with that graphics card

[Silkius]

Originally posted by mosti
But are you sure on that? As my Windows XP works fine with that graphics card

I would say so - the matrox is basically a dinosaur now (as good as it was at the time - I had one too)

Sorry but there is no way a card like this could handle the GFX to CPU intensity of a game like this - which is heavy enough on the main processor as it is - without trying to do extra video rendering that the card can't handle. This game also largley uses Direct X hard tech whereas (if I remember rightly) the Matrox aimed more at GL and glide.

This game is great - BUT it is VERY intensive on your PC - the min req's really are the 'bare minimum' it takes to run this game on the most basic settings- (which naturally look very basic) and as Frontier themselves say

"Even though the individual components of RCT3 can be quite simple, the sheer complexity on offer make it an impressive technological and artistic achievement compared to other games.
RCT3 has been designed to allow players to create parks without constraints, but you do need to be aware that your PC has a finite capacity. As with previous versions of RCT everything you place in your park has a small, cumulative impact on the game's performance. Large, dense parks with lots of content require more memory and processor power than a smaller, spaced-out park. Also some objects and scenes will impact the game more than others; for example: if you build a huge glass building, this will impact on your system more than the same building with a brick wall. This is simply because the glass wall pieces require more resources than the plainer brick ones. Also, the more water you have in your park the more work the game has to do showing the reflections. Obviously these issues will impact lower spec machines more obviously than higher ones. However it is of course possible with RCT3 to construct a large park that is rich in animated content and has genuine-sized crowds of individual park guests all interacting with the park and each other, and therefore takes even the best current PC to it's limit."

Read to the limit as ... bring even a beast of a PC to its knees.

I'm not trying to talk you out of the game - just warning you it is very much at the forefront of todays gaming tech and therefore demands the same to run it at anywhere near its best.

[skaterdude182]

Hey, this is my first post by the way.

Ive been looking all over the internet on pictures, info and videos for rct 3 and i have all of the previous games and am a big fan

I am planning to get rct3 for christmas along with a brand new computer, because the computer ive got now wouldnt run the game in a million years.

So i was wondering how well you reckon my new pc will run the game and on what settings it would probably play it best.

This is what im going to get:

Motherboard: Asus A7V8X-X SKT A KT400 8x AGP DDR Sound lAN USB 2.0 Retail Box

CPU: AMD ATHLON XP2200+ (Thoroughbred) 266MHZ FSB 256kb Cache OEM Processor

Memory: 512MB DDR PC2100 266MHz RAM

Graphics Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB DDR 8x AGP S-Video & TV Output Retail Box

(i have already got monitor, keyboard, mouse, harddrive etc.)

I am also getting a brand new cd/rw drive, new case, psu, cpu fan etc.

i you would let me know, also id be interested in what systems everyone else has and how the game plays for you.

Thanks

[Silkius]

I have a 3.3 P4 (800 FSB) with 1gig of matched pair 400ddr ram - Radeon 9800 (128) 2x120gig hard disks, XP pro (SP2)
etc., etc., (i.e. last Jan it was the dogs..... :angel: )

On the whole the game runs fine on Very High setting - (i.e. on scenarios and med sized sandbox parks with fair scenery - 5 coasters 1000 peeps etc.,)
Take it above that - i.e. large parks 10+ coasters, loads of flat rides, mix and match theming, 1200+ peeps and it will start to bring my beast to its knees with framerates from 2-15 fps
This isn't a game fault - it is just how much demand this game puts on your system (all of it) The only other item I run that heats my CPU up any where near this close (and I have good cooling) is BIONIC (a SETI program that is very CPU intensive)

As I have mentioned (probably too often) this is a very demanding game - but it was designed with no limits (which is what we all asked for) to which the only limits are what your PC can handle - it can run quite well on medium settings on an fairly decent PC. But if you start whacking on the reflections, shadows and other 3d eye candy it is going to hit the PC hard -
This game is not like a 3d FPS- which although runs huigher textures, only has to render so much at a time (cos it don't need to start loading rooms and beasts you are no where near) RCT 'has' to do it all all at once, as it has no idea where you're going to scroll too next. (and how many of us could put up with the constant boxing redraws the likes of Sim City 4 produces - in a Park)

[eddie_4720]

Hey silkius, i have a pentium 4ht 3.2ghz, 512mb ddr, 256mb graphics. i ran your vanilla hils and my pc was fine and the graphics was set to extreme.

[Silkius]

Did for me too eddie - ( I just tend to leave it on V-High for ease of building other parks) which is basically what I was saying: The scanarios seem designed to run at optimum on your PC - i.e. Vanilla Park only has generic theming, goldrush - western -box office is the only one I found slowed down a tad but is has the lot. (and I used quite a bit of glass - which is a hard surface to render anyway.

The only niggle I have is that you can't turn off the option for random planting of trees outside the park - which means for every 1 you plant you (and your system) gets 10 more - which is great, but with all the 3d motion built in - it can't help resources much.

I expect we get around about the same fps - whereas you have more gfx mem - I have more system - (more than 1 gig doesn't seem to add much - unless like me you tend to have 10 apps open at once when working)

I would love to know how one of those new SLI PC's handle the game.

[silverarrow]

I just ordered a new Dell computer, expecting delivery within the next 10 days. Does anyone have a clue how RCT3 will run on a system with:
CPU - Pentium 4 processor 530 (3.0 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB cache)
Memory - 1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz
Graphics - ATI Radeon X800 XT, 256MB PCI
I tend to go berserk with sandbox mode games, so I want to make sure that my computer can handle it this time :)
Thanks for any input!

[Silkius]

Specs appear pretty similar to mine - on which it runs fine within reason.
within reason means - if you build a 256x256 park with 20 diferent coasters every flatride, thousands of trees, all theme styles, lots of glass, and 2000 peeps it would slow even the biggest baddest PC on the planet to a crawl.
This is not a problem with the game it is just the way it is - unlike an fps RCT has to chuck it all into your system at once
Read the FAQ (http://www.frontier.co.uk/games/rct3/faq.html) for Frontiers explanations and how to get the best out of your PC and the game.


A few years ago - when some of the first major 3d fps games came out - we all had to learn how to maximise resources and tweak in game settings to our individual PC's because these games were slighlty ahead of current tech - RCt3 is like that now.
The best way to guage how to get the most out of the game is to actualy do the scenarios and build them up as far as yuo can go (there's no prizes for getting them done fast so you might as well enjoy them)
Frontier tailored these parks to run optimally on most systems - and it gives you a good idea as to what you can get away with in sandbox.
The game also plays quite diferently from RCT1/2 and this is a good way to see what those diferences are.