Newly upgraded from Beta To Alpha, low spec machine.

[Tom Sloman]

I posted a few weeks ago asking if my current laptop would run the Alpha good enough to at least get a feel for flight, etc.

Naturally, i fully intend to buy a high-spec machine specifically for the game later this year when i have the budget for it and we know better what will give the best experience, but for now i just wanted to see if it will run good enough to at least fly around.

The specs of my current laptop are i5 Dual Core @ 1.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Intel HD4000 iGPU, Windows 8.1.

Several people posted that it won't have a chance and will run at less than 10fps, but seemed to indicate that they had never actually tried it and were pulling that figure completely out of the air. Someone finally posted that they had tried it and it "wasn't great", so i didn't bother with it.

Fast forward to today, and reading the current newsletter. I notice that Alpha backers get lifetime half price ship insurance, which i never noticed before. I don't know if that is new or not, and the £50 i need to pay to get up to the Alpha level seems a lot to pay for that one perk, but really, i am happy to support FD with the little help i can manage to make this game a reality and the best it can be. Seeing as i bought it, i thought i may as well try it.

Turns out that all those people simply guessing and then pretending that they had some facts about it were not just a little off the mark, they were totally in the wrong star system from the mark. Naturally i turned ALL the video settings to minimum, but left it in the native resolution of 1366 x 768, and it runs pretty smoothly. It's obviously not going to be good enough for very busy multiplayer head to head combat and it's not going to show off the true visual beauty of the game, but i've played the first three Alpha single-player missions and everything is running very smoothly with no noticeable drop-outs.

The later missions may start testing the limits of the machine more, and it may not be up to scratch when i get to the docking multiplayer parts, but that was never really the point anyway. It's certainly good enough to run the game on minimum settings at native res, and i've even been able to complete the first three missions on the first try without a performance issue. Don't expect high-end twitch gaming performance, but it's enough to start getting a feel while you wait to build your final gaming machine for the release version of the game.

PS. I don't have an actual fps figure, but it's certainly above 20fps, and likely hitting more than 30fps, which is good enough. If anyone knows of a way of displaying fps in the Alpha, let me know and i can get that figure. I have only played about 30 minutes so far and will be getting back to it now.

 

[Leonick]

I seem to remember seeing someone say that ctrl+f will enable the fps display.

I think the reason many told you your machine wasn't likely to get any remotely decent performance is that Intel's integrated graphics used to be pretty useless for any kind of game that isn't played in a browser or isn't many years old. They have improved a lot though which is something people forgot or just don't know (just like how a lot of people talk like Internet Explore is still as bad today as it used to be back in the days of IE6). Wont beat a proper graphics card but still, not utter junk as you noticed.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Once you're comfortable with the controls try MP, then report back.

Running the game on minimal settings on the earlier missions is one thing - trying to dock maybe something completely different.

(I hope it works - gives you something to test and look forward to the new machine later)

 

[Tom Sloman]

@Leonic - That's the exact problem. People who don't have a clue, haven't tested it, and yet present their clueless guesses as if they are facts.

cntrl-f works for the fps display, thanks. Just jumped back into the first mission and it's getting around 25 fps while flying around, dropping to about 20 - 22 fps while firing and destroying targets. Not twitch gaming levels to be sure, but perfectly acceptable just to give it a try and get a feel for it and could be improved by lowering the resolution from the screen native of 1366 x 768. I prefer having native res.

@Liqua - I will work my way through everything as much as i realistically can, but don't hold out too much hope for playable performance with multiplayer. The fact that i can play enough to just try it out was all i was really after, and it certainly performs well enough to make that worthwhile. I hope i can at least dock, even if combat will be a bit too much.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Try it on a lower resolution (like you said) anyway as it would be good to know the outcome

 

[Evilroco]

Glad it's working for you Tom ,and I would like to hear the results you get as I also am currently quite low spec , I'm sure people opinions on possible performance were given in good faith and probably erred on the side of caution (to avoid disappointment ?)

Hope it only gets better buddy (from a green Beta+)

 

[insanephoton]

From personal experience of using a fairly low end system Q6600 and GTS8800, I can say docking might cause problems as there is a lot of detail in the station. Although things may have optimised a bit in the last few builds it's still about the most demanding item in the game graphics wise. I had to take the resolution down from a level that worked well with most of the single player scenarios when I first attempted it. If you can get reasonable fps inside the station you should be ok for the rest of multiplayer.

 

[Tom Sloman]

Just tried it on lower resolutions.

For some reason, it's not stretching the lower resolutions over the screen area, and is just displaying in a box on the screen. 640 x 480 is the lowest resolution supported, but is too small to comfortably play due to being a small box in the middle of the screen. I can't read the fps counter, but it's smooth as silk and the first number is either a 6 or an 8.

The first widescreen resolution is 1280 x 600 and it sits slightly over 30fps, occasionally dipping to 29 and change. Still displays in a box, but at least takes up most of the screen now.

All in all, i greatly prefer it taking up the whole screen area and 25 fps is enough to play for now. I'll keep going through it and report back when it starts to get too bogged down to play properly.

 

[acr0b3rts]

I think the reason many told you your machine wasn't likely to get any remotely decent performance is that Intel's integrated graphics used to be pretty useless for any kind of game that isn't played in a browser or isn't many years old

Exactly. Since the IGP moved on-chip together with the CPU and since the CPU now has direct access to RAM, the performance of Intel's graphics cores has improved fantastically. You can play a lot of AAA titles on them. Even better is the HD4500 in the latest Haswell CPUs. This is also a good upgrade path for people with limited cash. Start by spending your cash on a good CPU and upgrade to a dedicated card later when budget allows.

 

[Tom Sloman]

Played through all the single player up to the second to last mission. Got blown up a couple of times there, but got through the rest first time without issue. Was getting even higher fps sometimes, even during combat at times. Was occasionally hitting 30 fps, which is more than fine for a low spec system running at native res.

Jumped into multiplayer and just docked at the station. Many, i totally SUCK at docking. I am still not really used to the way it's controlled. I am more used to yaw being on the stick and roll being the twist.

Either way, i did it without dying. The frame rate was mostly around 15 - 20 fps inside the station, occasionally dropping to around 10 fps, but mostly above 15 fps. Like i said before, certainly not twitch gamer capable, but more than good enough on a temporary low spec machine to play the basic elements smoothly enough to be enjoyable while i wait for my dedicated ED machine around the end of the year.

So there we have it. If you have a relatively low spec machine with a modern iGPU, as long as you have a good amount of RAM and a pretty good CPU, you should be able to play the Alpha well enough to make it worthwhile and pretty smooth, but don't expect to be able to go head to head against players in far superior setups. I only have an HD4000, the HD5000 is supposed to be twice as good, and the Iris (HD5100) and Iris Pro (HD5200) are supposed to be much better. They might even manage medium settings (i have everything set to low or off).

 

[Rog]

+1!

Thanks for posting your findings Tom, I'm in the same boat with an i3 2.4GHz with HD4000, and wanted to put off building a new box for a few more months.

As someone who used to play on Binatone TV games and Quake III at under 20fps, anything over that will suffice for now (where 'now' = whenever beta backers get to actually play beta).

 

[Dirtmuncher]

Tom,

Thanks for the post.
I have a latop with a i5-2520 with a geforce gt 550m, hopefully I can get some gamepla out of the beta. I am going to buy a new box too but I wantedd to let it coincide with oculus rift cv1 and the new nvidia maxwells. But both are still 6 months/1 year away.

 

[Patrick_68000]

It's already nice to discover the various elements of the game, even with a small machine specifications. But current the games, you require to upgrade. Myself I kept my Athlon 64 single core during 10 years. And I recently changed some things in anticipation of the beta. But for the betas and the gamma, I keep the GPU integrated in CPU. GPU Maxwell of second generation will come to the end of the year or early 2015. This will be perfect for the game of the retail version

 

[Tom Sloman]

Just a quick update: I've been having an absolute blast in multiplayer. It runs completely fine most of the time. Like someone said earlier, up close and inside the station is pretty much as demanding as it gets, and will be in the region of 10 fps - 15 fps. It's good enough to dock, pilot skills notwithstanding. I actually SUCK at docking. I mean REALLY bad. I am struggling with the control setup after 20 years using sticks with yaw and roll swapped.

The scenario i am most enjoying is free-for-all. It's great fun just targeting every sidewinder i can find and destroying it. Watch out for those cobras. I've taken maybe 4 of them out, but they are so much harder and you'll be lucky to not get a fair bit of ship damage taking them on. I have upgraded a few systems and am well on my way to buying my own cobra already. Not bad for having only started a few hours ago.

On occasion, especially when there are too many other human players i think, the frame rate will dip, but it's mostly been above 20 fps and often above 25 fps, so it's definitely playable despite what the naysayers said.

 

[Patrick_68000]

With the planetary landing and overflight of the planets and hunting of game, it will be more difficult with a configuration with low specifications

 

[Tom Sloman]

Another update: I've hooked up the HDMI to my old 37" 720p TV. Was a bit fiddly getting it to run full screen due to the old TV having a weird resolution (1280 x 768), but got it sorted in the end. Performance is pretty much unaffected. Acceptable and good enough until i get a dedicated ED machine at the end of the year (In time for game release and OR CV1).

I even managed to rack up my first human player kill just now, after he already wiped out my shields before i even noticed him. His beam lasers vs. my pulse lasers. I won, but was at like 5% hull and got blown up by a bot 10 seconds later.

Yes, i am probably too excited, but i am just happy the game runs well enough to play on the hardware i have right now.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

So there we have it. If you have a relatively low spec machine with a modern iGPU, as long as you have a good amount of RAM and a pretty good CPU, you should be able to play the Alpha well enough to make it worthwhile and pretty smooth, but don't expect to be able to go head to head against players in far superior setups. I only have an HD4000, the HD5000 is supposed to be twice as good, and the Iris (HD5100) and Iris Pro (HD5200) are supposed to be much better. They might even manage medium settings (i have everything set to low or off).

That's a result indeed!

Good effort there Tom & thanks for trying the different resolutions.

Yes, i am probably too excited, but i am just happy the game runs well enough to play on the hardware i have right now.

Indeed ... I clapped as the game logo appeared ... a bit sad, I know, but what a rush!

 

[Tom Sloman]

Update again: Moved the laptop to a better position, connecting to a 42" 1080p TV. Naturally, don't want to run it that high, so set about getting it working at 720p. Ran into the same problems with it not stretching over the whole screen, tried various modes until I found that 1280 x 720 @ 50Hz actually does stretch properly to fill the screen here. Slightly higher framerate, although seems to be hitting some network performance issues. Ships sometimes stutter in space, but my framerate still reads around 30fps.

I managed to save up about 20,000 credits, but blew it all on upgrades. Bought gimballed beam lasers and some turret thing, but didn't like any of them, so went back to pulse lasers again. All part of the learning curve. Starting from near scratch for the Cobra now. This game is already immensely fun.

Oh, and just got killed by CMDR Drew Wager. The senator himself. Great fun!

 

[Globusdiablo]

Good news

The specs of my current laptop are i5 Dual Core @ 1.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Intel HD4000 iGPU, Windows 8.1.

Naturally i turned ALL the video settings to minimum, but left it in the native resolution of 1366 x 768, and it runs pretty smoothly. It's obviously not going to be good enough for very busy multiplayer head to head combat and it's not going to show off the true visual beauty of the game, but i've played the first three Alpha single-player missions and everything is running very smoothly with no noticeable drop-outs.

This is awesome news. Nice to know that Elite: Dangerous will be playable on a standard pc configuration. Thanks for the feedback!