Battlefield 2: The Video Card Controversy

[Dones]

There is a bit of a discussion going on for Battefield fans. Taken from http://www.populartechnology.net/:

 

As a PC Gamer you expect to upgrade, you expect that at some point your hardware will not run the latest games acceptably. Battlefield 2 does not even give you that option. It attempts to make all non DirectX 9 compatible video cards obsolete. Which means all GeForce 4 and older video cards will not run Battlefield 2. You cannot even start up the menu. Neither Electronic Arts nor the game's developer DICE have any plans to fix this. Even though the GeForce 4 line of video cards has enough horsepower to render the game it is not compatible with Pixel Shader 1.4. Emulation to Pixel Shader 1.3 would easily make the game playable on these cards but redundant texture checks make this difficult to implement.

 

The response from Electronic Arts on the Issue was:

 

"We've been talking to Benjamin Smith on the development team about this. There are no plans to implement GeForce 4 support in a patch. The engine was not built to run acceptably (performance or appearance-wise) on the GeForce 4 series of cards."

 

Then why does it run on slower cards such as the ATi Radeon 8500? The performance of this card is no better then the GeForce 4 line except for the inclusion of Pixel Shader 1.4 support.

 

So basically if don't have at least an nvidia FX5700 you won't be able to play. So what do you guys think? Is Battefield 2's requirements too high? And who do you think is to blame, EA or DICE?

Edited June 29, 2005 by Dones

[l3ushwig]

 

Dude I love that game.... I was one of the first to download the demo. I have a RADEON 9200 and all I had to do was switch the speed from 8 to 4.

 

 

Oh yeah! {EH} And Proud

 

 

Edited June 29, 2005 by o0o_BuShWiG_o0o

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I know some people are going to bitch to no end about this, but too bad. If you have something old that dosnt support DX9, you need to get a new card. Plain and simple. I'm also fairly certain this isnt the first game that requires a DX9 or higher card, but it may be the first to totally close you out from the game if you dont. That is why you always need to look at the requirements for your games, even if you think you have the top of the line system, that can (and often does) change very quickly.

 

/is still running a 1.8 P4. Baaaaad.

[Dones]

It sucks to be reminded that your PC is outdated. I can see their point of view however: they had to draw the line somewhere. I think radeon owners where lucky ATI spend a little more effort ensuring their 8500 family was 1.4 compatible.

Edited June 29, 2005 by Dones

[l3ushwig]

This is my cards view.

 

wtf? it didnt put it as a pic?

BF2_2005_06_19_20_54_55_73_new.bmp

Edited June 29, 2005 by o0o_BuShWiG_o0o

[l3ushwig]

http://forums.totalbf2.com//showthread.php...03&page=2&pp=20

 

See some high res screens there

 

 

And my high score here

 

http://forums.totalbf2.com//showthread.php...28&page=1&pp=20

Edited June 29, 2005 by o0o_BuShWiG_o0o

[Lord Thag]

I had a GeForce 4, and had no end of problems with it. Turns out, it's really just a GeForce 2 with SOFTWARE emulated T&L and more ram. Basically, it sucks. It doesn't have anywhere near the performance it's supposed to. Pure crap, in my book. I'd upgrade.

[+Sauron]

I had a GeForce 4, and had no end of problems with it. Turns out, it's really just a GeForce 2 with SOFTWARE emulated T&L and more ram. Basically, it sucks. It doesn't have anywhere near the performance it's supposed to. Pure crap, in my book. I'd upgrade.

883130[/snapback]

 

Sounds like you had a Geforce 4MX, not a standard Geforce 4. Blame NVIDIA for their misleading naming convention.

[Dones]

Yeah the article doesn't mention it explicitly but when they say geforce 4 they are actually referring to the top performer of that family (ti4400 I think its called). I heard that gpu performed better than the fx5200 so many preferred it around the time the 5200 was released.

[Hydian]

DX9 cards can be had for next to nothing these days, so there isn't a real reason to bother supporting DX8 cards.

[Dones]

Geforce 4 owners should really upgrade. However they should have at least supported the FX5200. That card is still much in use these days as it was sold as a budget card (and it's a dx9 card). Heck it still sells over $60 at retail stores (you can get it for cheaper online). 5700 can still be a bit pricey even for those on a budget. Would be interesting to see how many potential buyers they have cut off by setting the 5700 as the lowest denominator.

[Shannon]

Did they include a coupon for money off for those who have to upgrade their video cards?

[+Sauron]

You can get an ATI Radeon 9600 for well under $100 now, so there's no reason to limit yourself to the NVIDIA options. Hell, even a Radeon 9600XT is less than $100 now:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102326

 

I have almost the exact same card, except mine is the 256MB version, and the BF2 demo runs fine on it.

[keilbaca]

This is my cards view.

 

wtf? it didnt put it as a pic?

882742[/snapback]

 

And this is mine

 

[JB]

There is a bit of a discussion going on for Battefield fans. Taken from http://www.populartechnology.net/:

 

As a PC Gamer you expect to upgrade, you expect that at some point your hardware will not run the latest games acceptably. Battlefield 2 does not even give you that option. It attempts to make all non DirectX 9 compatible video cards obsolete. Which means all GeForce 4 and older video cards will not run Battlefield 2. You cannot even start up the menu. Neither Electronic Arts nor the game's developer DICE have any plans to fix this. Even though the GeForce 4 line of video cards has enough horsepower to render the game it is not compatible with Pixel Shader 1.4. Emulation to Pixel Shader 1.3 would easily make the game playable on these cards but redundant texture checks make this difficult to implement.

 

The response from Electronic Arts on the Issue was:

 

"We've been talking to Benjamin Smith on the development team about this. There are no plans to implement GeForce 4 support in a patch. The engine was not built to run acceptably (performance or appearance-wise) on the GeForce 4 series of cards."

 

Then why does it run on slower cards such as the ATi Radeon 8500? The performance of this card is no better then the GeForce 4 line except for the inclusion of Pixel Shader 1.4 support.

 

So basically if don't have at least an nvidia FX5700 you won't be able to play. So what do you guys think? Is Battefield 2's requirements too high? And who do you think is to blame, EA or DICE?

882711[/snapback]

If I recall(I CULD be mistaken), nVidia was getting dinged when the GeForce4 came out for not including some features that should've been included.

I may be remembering the 4MX fiasco. I KNOW they got dinged on that one.

[Shannon]

Regardless of the "cheapness" of upgrades. I think this having to "upgrade" to play the latest is one of the many factors that is causing the PC gaming market to slowly decline.

 

Obviously the upgrade syndrome has been around since the beginning of time (origin was famous for it).

[Dones]

A friend of mine used to joke "Origin... We create headaches!".

[Shannon]

Yeah good 'ol origin and their proprietary memory management drivers.

 

Grrrr...

[Hydian]

Eh...people will be "upgrading" to play the new console games coming out this christmas just as they upgraded from their N64's to play the current crop of games. A decent PC can be put together for just a little bit more than the new consoles are rumored to be costing. That PC will last you 3-5 years which is as long as or slightly longer than a new console.

 

Really not much of a difference.

[Punisher5.0]

Did they include a coupon for money off for those who have to upgrade their video cards? 

883925[/snapback]

 

My local Best Buy will give you $20 off if you buy a BF2 and videocard. Too bad they dont carry the high end cards though.

[Shannon]

Did they include a coupon for money off for those who have to upgrade their video cards? 

883925[/snapback]

 

My local Best Buy will give you $20 off if you buy a BF2 and videocard. Too bad they dont carry the high end cards though.

886286[/snapback]

 

Cool....

[bargora]

So did everybody get their video card upgrades? Hell, I'd have to upgrade my entire damn computer (P3 500) to even think about it. As it happens, though, it's scheduled to release for Xbox next month. No upgrades required!