How do you generally go about figuring the minimum system requirements? Should a game still run, on less than the minimum requirements? [edited by - deadalive on April 28, 2003 1:23:29 PM]

You would figure all of this stuff after you were pretty much ''done'', although you ought to take it into account sooner. The memory is fairly easy to figure, just check how much it''s taking.
Probably the best way is, during beta tests, collect all of your tester''s specs and FPSs. That way you can kinda determine how well something can run.

And, to someone who bought your game with a computer that can''t run it (even though you could have looked on the box/webpage), tell them to upgrade.

Joe-Bob: Aaagh! *After you''re done?!* The Minimum System Requirements should be in the Design Document, at the very beginning of the project... How else will you know what graphics extensions you have available, or how much memory you have to work with?

It''s a question of your target market. If you''re aiming at the uber-leet gamers, you can state "Minimum Spec: AlienWare." On the other hand, if you''re looking more to the mass market, you''d need to research a little; find out what the average Joe Gamer has in his box.

I use P3 1.1ghz, with 64MB RAM and GF2MX graphics card as my minimum spec on most projects. Mainly because I *have* a P3 1.1ghz 64MB GF2MX lying around to test stuff on.

Seriously, consider what you can build. You should always be testing performance throughout the project, so it''s incredibly useful to have your MSR machine ready-built to test stuff on. Given that you''re looking at ''old'' parts, it''s not even that expensive.

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates, and when he''s not doing that, runs The Binary Refinery.

I found a nice way of using lots of bitmap files, and using minimal memory. They''re loaded when drawn (if not already loaded) and released after a certain amount of time of being unused. It may sound like it won''t work, but I''ve had no problems with it.

I don''t have a signature, sorry.

My minimum specs usually are a Pentium 3 and a TNT2 because that''s what I code on. It has the nice side-effect that when other people start testing my game on their computers, i get reactions like "Ooohhhh, I can''t believe how fast it runs! over 100 fps! Wow, good job!". Ofcourse that''s just the side effect of keeping my game over 15-20 fps on my own computer

Sander Maréchal
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