System Specs Speculation

TDK1044 · 09-04-06, 01:49 PM

Understandably, a lot of speculation has arisen regarding the possible minimum requirements for SH1V. We'll all know the real answer a few months before the release, but I'd offer the following observations.

In a perfect world, the DEVs would build SH1V to be a Vista/DX10 game requiring 2 Gigs of Ram, fully utilizing dual core processing and requiring a 'high end' video card. However, in a company like Ubisoft, Sales And Marketing really call the shots. I worked with Sales And Marketing guys in the TV industry for 25 years, and unless they're very different in the video game market, the initial conversation will have gone something like this:

"Silent Hunter 111 sold 300,000 copies. We're happy with that, but we'd like to do better. For Silent Hunter 1V, keep the minimum specs the same. Take the German subs and turn them into American subs. Put them in the Pacific instead of the Atlantic and make the ships Japanese. When can we expect delivery?"

That's how those guys think, and the CEO tends to listen to them because he or she knows that any increase in the minimum specs has an impact on sales. We in the subsim community are quite happy to upgrade our Ram, change out our video card, even replace our system if need be, but we represent a very small percentage of the 300,000 buyers. The vast majority of those folks see the game at Circuit City, Best Buy, Media Play or their world wide equivalent. They pick up the box and check the minimum requirements for the game, and if their system can't run it, they put the box back down and continue shopping. They don't spend $49 on the game and then go to another part of the store and buy $60 worth of additional Ram to run it.

It wouldn't surprise me therefore if SH1V is released with the same minimum requirement specs as SH111, the possible exception being that a higher version of pixel shader may be required. If the DEVS were to bump the minimum Ram requirement to 1Gig, it would please the subsim community but it would be a risky move.

Time will tell here, but I don't believe that SH1V is going to be very different from SH111 correctly patched. Indications are that crew management will be better, and that 'under the hood improvements' have been made to SH1V, but in terms of overall display, I'm not expecting anything very different from SH111.

We'll see.

McBeck · 09-05-06, 01:02 AM

The devs speak of higher polygon numbers for several things.

This alone means higher requirements for the client (IE your PC)

TDK1044 · 09-05-06, 07:00 AM

I haven't read that. Interesting. It'll be a wait and see game.

09-04-06, 01:49 PM	#1
TDK1044 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 2,674 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	System Specs Speculation Understandably, a lot of speculation has arisen regarding the possible minimum requirements for SH1V. We'll all know the real answer a few months before the release, but I'd offer the following observations. In a perfect world, the DEVs would build SH1V to be a Vista/DX10 game requiring 2 Gigs of Ram, fully utilizing dual core processing and requiring a 'high end' video card. However, in a company like Ubisoft, Sales And Marketing really call the shots. I worked with Sales And Marketing guys in the TV industry for 25 years, and unless they're very different in the video game market, the initial conversation will have gone something like this: "Silent Hunter 111 sold 300,000 copies. We're happy with that, but we'd like to do better. For Silent Hunter 1V, keep the minimum specs the same. Take the German subs and turn them into American subs. Put them in the Pacific instead of the Atlantic and make the ships Japanese. When can we expect delivery?" That's how those guys think, and the CEO tends to listen to them because he or she knows that any increase in the minimum specs has an impact on sales. We in the subsim community are quite happy to upgrade our Ram, change out our video card, even replace our system if need be, but we represent a very small percentage of the 300,000 buyers. The vast majority of those folks see the game at Circuit City, Best Buy, Media Play or their world wide equivalent. They pick up the box and check the minimum requirements for the game, and if their system can't run it, they put the box back down and continue shopping. They don't spend $49 on the game and then go to another part of the store and buy $60 worth of additional Ram to run it. It wouldn't surprise me therefore if SH1V is released with the same minimum requirement specs as SH111, the possible exception being that a higher version of pixel shader may be required. If the DEVS were to bump the minimum Ram requirement to 1Gig, it would please the subsim community but it would be a risky move. Time will tell here, but I don't believe that SH1V is going to be very different from SH111 correctly patched. Indications are that crew management will be better, and that 'under the hood improvements' have been made to SH1V, but in terms of overall display, I'm not expecting anything very different from SH111. We'll see.

09-05-06, 01:02 AM	#2
McBeck Admiral Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Denmark Posts: 2,023 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	The devs speak of higher polygon numbers for several things. This alone means higher requirements for the client (IE your PC) __________________ "I like subcommanders...they dont have time for bull**!" Proud member of the Subsim army of zombies Becks website

09-05-06, 07:00 AM	#3
TDK1044 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 2,674 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	I haven't read that. Interesting. It'll be a wait and see game.