Whats the Point?

[sanchenuss]

What is the point in making a video game that no one can even play. The game will only run on  ATI or NVidia based video cards?!? Not many people have those specific cards on their computer. All of my friends really want to play this demo but none of us can because of the video card dilemma. You should think about fixing this a lot of people are missing out.

[Yonkey]

Unfortunately, we didn't impose this restriction.  The game engine that runs our game only supports those two manufacturers.  Some people were able to run it on integrated cards, but the vast majority haven't.  In any case, most 3D video cards out there are ATI or NVidia based, so you shouldn't have a problem buying one.  You don't need a top-of-the-line one either.  Mine is a 4 year old NVidia one and works fine.

[sanchenuss]

How much are they and how do you install them? I think that this game has promise. I got it started on my mothers computer last night but it was very choppy. It looked good though, the only thing that sucked was that graham looks like david hasslehoff.

[Yonkey]

It depends on where you live, but if you go to a computer store they're bound to have older video cards you can add.  They're not hard to install, but if you're not familiar with installing hardware, you should probably ask someone else that's more savy.  You can also ask the store you buy it from to see if they do installation.

[dark-daventry]

A lot of PC games today have high graphics requirements, and suggest a video card. I can run most of the games I play (though their very low graphically lol) on the integrated graphics card on my laptop (which I don't believe is too powerful.) Video cards in my neck of the woods can be as low as 100 or 150 dollars. Some video cards (the REALLY high end ones) can cost upwards of 500 dollars. but if you want to run the TSL demo, a basic low end video card should do the trick I imagine. Then again, I'm not a technical expert, nor do I know TSL's requirements.

[Yonkey]

TSL's requirements aren't too high.  Like I said before, a 4 year old graphic card or newer will be fine.  It requires either NVidia GeForce 5200FX or higher, or ATI Radeon 8500 or higher.

[Eclipse]

I know this topic is a bit old, but I thought I'd chime in here.  If you're looking for a solid ATI or Nvidia card that's pretty cheap, you can always check out the OEM cards on www.mwave.com or www.newegg.com.  Both of those sites sell tons of PC components at reasonable prices.  I've also used both of the services and they're 100% reputable.  I'm confident that you can find a solution for well under $100.

For example, MWave is selling ATI's Radeon HD 3650 with 512 Megs of VRAM for just $70 (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec_v2.asp?scriteria=AA72652).  That should be way more than sufficient for The Silver Lining, and I'm sure that you could find something cheaper if you put in the time.  Just keep in mind that the card that I linked to is a PCI-Express card, so you obviously have to have a PCI-E slot.

Once you select a card, installing it is as easy at shutting your computer down, ripping out the old card (assuming you have one), sliding the new one into your machine, and making all of the connections.  Trust me; it's far from rocket science.  When you reboot, all of your graphical settings will likely revert to the integrated defaults until you install the appropriate drivers (included with the card or can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website).  Once you've installed your drivers, you're ready to go barring any strange and unforseen circumstances.  Just remember to get rid of that pesky static before you accidentally discharge it into the inards of your computer.

[SurfnSwells80]

To add to your point Eclipse, Nvidia just announced a consumer friendly 9 series video card. They will go for as low as $59. This video card will undoubtedly make the requirements for TSL. Below is the article they released today.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1219744460633.html

[jenpotcher]

Wait a second.  You create a game in which it is YOUR responsibility as game creators that the game works and is playable, yet in order to play the game, we have to go out and buy a new video card?  I'm playing free games because I can't AFFORD to buy them.  If I can't afford to buy games, how the heck am I supposed to afford to buy a new video card?  That's just ridiculous.  How is it that I can download hundreds of other games, and they work, but this one doesn't?  Sounds like it IS a problem on your end, and not mine.  And from reading the boards, it sounds like I'm not the only one with this issue.  Maybe you should be working on fixing the game so that it  will play universally, like all of the other games out there, instead of telling your audience to go buy things.  Now, I realize that the game is free, so I shouldn't be complaining too much.  But it just seems wrong that the list of cards it won't play on is so much longer than the list that it will.

I apologize if I sound bitchy, but KQ is my favorite series of all time.  I've been following the progress of this game for years, and was even on the writing team for a short time (personal issues caused me to have to drop out).  I have been so excited for this to come out, and now there's no way I can play even the demo.  It is extremely disappointing.

And on my budget, even the card mentioned above that is only $59 is far out of my price range.  I tried the game on my work computer.  Didn't work.  I tried the game at my parent's house.  Didin't work.  Tried it on my laptop... didn't work.  I really think you should consider your fans in this and try harder to fix this problem. 

[Petra Rocks]

Actually it isn't technically a game developers responsibility to make sure a game works on your system even if they are selling it. And I believe Yonkey said that the restriction is inherent in the game's engine, so it just isn't possible to do anything about it at this point. Sorry. It is possible that you just need to update your video drivers though, I know that was true for me when I first got the demo.

[Yonkey]

Jenpotcher, could you be more specific about why it's not working?  Did you get an error message of some kind, or did it play very slow or with odd colours?  Are you running Windows Vista?  How old is your video card and your parents' video card exactly? 

If they're older than 4 or 5 years, the video card itself would be too slow to perform the rendering calculations necessary for a 3D game engine.  If your card isn't ATI or nVidia based, the engine itself will most likely not work.  There have been a few exceptions, where people were able to run it on an integrated video card, but most of the time it will fail for a similar reason -- the hardware being too slow to process the software.

The only possible software-based solution is to try to upgrade your video card drivers to the latest version and see if the game works with that.  If not, I'm afraid the only option you have is to purchase a video card.  As for affording one, your best bet would be to ask your parents to purchase one for Christmas or birthday gift.

[threej_lc]

You can also buy some older cards cheap on ebay, for around $25 if you shop vigilantly.

[jenpotcher]

I'm getting the same message that other people on here have gotten:  Video Failed to Initialize.

I tried to run the game on my parents computer, my work computer, and my  brand new, top of the line laptop and got the same error. 

Actually it isn't technically a game developers responsibility to make sure a game works on your system even if they are selling it. And I believe Yonkey said that the restriction is inherent in the game's engine, so it just isn't possible to do anything about it at this point. .....

I understand what you are saying here, but I download games daily from AGS and other sites.  I've never had a problem with a game working on my computer.  This is the ONLY one that doesn't work, which tells me that my computer isn't the problem.  I don't understand why in the world you guys would use an engine that doesn't support so many drivers in the first place.  Bad planning on someone's part.  This is just so highly disappointing.  I haven't been this disappointed since I played Mask of Eternity and it DID work.  I want to play this demo so bad.  *sigh*. 

And to the person who said, "It's only $25".  Well, I can't even afford an extra $25 right now.

[Petra Rocks]

Did you try updating the video drivers?

[Yonkey]

I understand what you are saying here, but I download games daily from AGS and other sites.  I've never had a problem with a game working on my computer.

Those games are 2D, not 3D.  2D games don't require massive amounts of rendering calculations like 3D games do. 

By the sounds of the error you're getting, all you need to do is update your video card drivers.