So... Doom III

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Well I have 3000Mhz P4, Radeon 9800 pro 128, and 1g RAM.

Best possible graphics without anti-aliasing and 8x anisotropic filtering on, in 1024x768 works at around 30-40 fps stable (estimate, haven't tested it). And the second best comes to about 50-60 fps. Not that much visual difference between the two though so I use the second best. I usually have incredibly high requirements for my computer's performance. So 60fps isn't nearly enough. But wether it's due to singleplayer only, or the instinctive lighter expectations due to the extreme graphics, I find the playability in Doom 3 quite perfect with those 50-60 fps.

It's safe to say that considering how incredibly good the game looks, it has ridiculously low requirements. Or then it's just because it's the first one that actually fully utilizes the features in DX-9 cards.

 

I quite liked the System Shock 2 spawning system. You always had that feeling of being watched. Safety was never a guarantee.

 

I found Doom I and Doom II scary enough lol! It has never failed to make me jump or shout at the screen as I pump the aliens full of double barrel shot gun shrapnel!

Ah! Bach in the good ol' days

 

god this is making me want to play my old PS doom games..*glances at ultimate doom*

 

You can play it with a Ti4200, at 800x600 with all the options cranked completely down. It will remain smooth for the vast majority of the game. A 5900XT plays at 1024x768 with options in the medium/high area, and 1280x1024 with low/medium. I'm talking about where the minimums never drop below 25fps. Some people don't mind the game dropping down into the teens in some parts, with it running at 25fps for the majority of the game.

My criteria for "playable" is slightly more aggressive. I don't want a headache when I step away from the game.

There's a "tweak" for the Ati cards. It's a single tiny little change in one of the zip files, and it gives ~15% boost to the framerates. Absolutely no difference in graphic quality. Beyond3d has the details of what it is, what it does, and how to do it. I forget the details, but amounts to changing a "12" to a "16".

I ended up adjusting my gamma for the game. The Duct Tape Mod is a godsend for this game. But I'd rather have an adjustable flashlight beam, like the real ops guys have; widen the beam and make it less intense, since I don't need as much brightness as I do situational awareness. They made it a tight beam to keep the atmosphere. If you get "into" the game, you'll jump at a few parts.

 

Still doesnt tell me whether I should be able to play with a Radeon 9600 128 MB...someone just tell me whether I can...and if I can, at what graphic quality.

 

The Radeon 9600 (non-pro) is about as powerful as the 5900XT on most games. On this game, IF you use the Ati tweak, it will as powerful as the 5900XT. So, you'll be able to run at 1024x768. Remember that Doom3 is MUCH more processor intensive than it is videocard intensive. You will see an enormous boost in framerates as you upgrade/overlock your cpu, rather than your gpu.

Up to a point, of course. That point looks to be around an XP2600.

 

I have played this for a little while now and have come to the following conclusions -

Graphically it is superb - The environment is vary detailed and a good percentage of enemies seem to be different in one way or another
It is scary - although as time goes on you can pretty much guess when somethings going to happen (surround speakers would be a help)
Those are the two major plusses - but there are draw backs - for some reason marines don't think about taping torches to their guns - its very dark! Its frustrating changing back and fourth between the gun and the flashlight.
The requirements are very high according to the developers you need a 512mb graphics card (not available yet) for ultra high detail 256mb for high and 128mb for medium. (Foradasther must have been looking at the wall to get frame rates like that on a 128mb card on max detail)
tomshardware.com has a couple of articles on graphics cards in doom 3 and a slightly critical review for any that are interested.

To be frank I like it and if I switch off the lights it scares the **** out of me

 

At Harvey Norman (Electical store) They are selling Doom 3 packaged with an GeForce MX 4000, almost an oxymoron (it can handle DX 9 apps.)!
My friend brother has it. He covered up his windows and was playing in total dakness before his head went through the roof (my friend told him that it was tea time).

 

@ Lap Dancing Oyster

You spelled my name wrong. I just got fraps and played the game for a few minutes. Somewhere around the Delta labs whatever. Ultra high details, 8x anisotropic filtering on, 1024 x 768, came to stable 40-50 fps. The lowest it got to was 35 when I was attacked by 2 of those whip-flailing enemies at once in close range, screen shakes etc. How's that for staring at a wall?

Of course, it will probably go down near to 25fps in extreme combat situations. But that's why I don't play with full detail, just the next best thing.

 

@Foradasthar Sorry about the spelling (you don't know me personally do you?) -

I am only quoting what I've read - you could say I am slightly jealous that you can run your 128mg card at that level of detail. For me with a more mainstream card (GFX5700 128mb) 800*600 medium detail is the maximum.

[ August 16, 2004, 12:25: Message edited by: Tap Dancing Oyster ]

 

Hehe, no harm done. I realise my message came out a bit too aggressive as well so I apologize for that. I have to say Radeon 9800 pro has surprised me many times, though. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that my programming geek of a roommate knows what he's talking about when he talks about computers. It's been some time since I bought this card and it sure seems to be the long-lasting type. But being Radeon, it does have its problems, even if they're relatively rare nowadays.

 

@ejsmith.

I wanted to ask about the upgrade idea. I had too low RAM when I got the game and now it works wonders at 512 RAM. However my 2.6 GHz processor is not enough? I don't know. I have a GeForce 4 MX 64MB RAM graphics card, but sometimes it is a little slow and choppy. I only have the minimum of 2Gig spare HD space. Is that my problem? I was considering getting a newer graphics card at 128 or 256 RAM but is it worth that? Thinking of HL2 also...

 

Your video card is probably the weak link, since that one's a couple of generations old now, and it wasn't really excellent then.

A 128MB video card is pretty much the standard for most games to run smoothly these days.

 

Finished it, sucked.

 

Well, is Doom 3 or Quake 4? I've played D1 & 2, love it, then Quake came out, hate it, of course, that was the time when those kind of games started to use a mouse to play, so it was a new experience; now, I see Domm 3 as just another of many "Quake-like" games, as some post says, it's too dark (like many of this kind), too much technology for nothing, nowadays, game's manufacterers seems to get a deal with hardware people, making you rush for more upgrades (video cards, ram, etc.,)(I had to install XP just to play this game) and then you find out that is just another game like any other around.
So, for me, as Sarevok says, suks.

 

Just FYI for everyone wondering about video cards...

You don't need a supercharged GPU to enjoy this game. I've been wrestling recently with the idea of upgrading my GPU, and decided to wait for Christmas to get in on the best deals. Hence, I'd also decided to wait and get Doom3 when I could have a beefy enough GPU to enjoy it. But the other day I saw Doom3 in Fry's for $35 and figured what the hell.

My system currently runs an AMD Athlon XP 1.8ghz CPU, an nVidia Ti4200 GPU, and 512mb DDR ram. By all measures, I have pretty much Doom3's minimum specs. Much to my surprise, the game runs great on my system despite this.

Sure, I'm running 640 x 480 and the lowest graphical settings, but it still runs at about a 35/sec framerate. It gets a little choppy when there's a lot on the screen, but otherwise it's nothing to worry about. The thing that's so great about this game, though - a true testiment to the engine - is that even on the lowest settings, the game looks BETTER than most other recent games on even their best settings (UT2003, Wolfenstein, etc).

So fret not if you don't have a dream system. Even the low settings make for an enjoyable game (provided you've downloaded ALL of your CPU's latest drivers). So far I'm about 4 levels in (making my way to the Delta complex), and loving every scary-ass minute of it. Yes, it is getting a little repetative, but I don't really care.

Just as an aside - I personally am finding Doom3 to be indeed a scare and suspenseful game, but not quite as much as Alien vs. Predator 2. Am I alone here?