Start saving now you know the specs on graphics will be cruel.

[gaelic cowboy]

I only just got my PC going again after I left it in a heap in the sitting room lately, I been using a laptop to post here since.

Every release has basically needed better graphics although for what sometimes it has been hard to say really. I'm basically gonna rip it out for the crimbo again to make sure I will be able to run this game

[edyzmedieval]

Same here. I want to play the pretty graphics on maximum, so I'm started saving already...

[quadalpha]

Same here. I want to play the pretty graphics on maximum, so I'm started saving already...

They should have a nostalgia sprites mode for people with old computers.

[gaelic cowboy]

They should have a nostalgia sprites mode for people with old computers.

No doubt bean counters are already thinking of the cashflow from such a tactic

[pevergreen]

I'd say a high end dual, 2gb ddr2 ram, 9000 series or higher (or ATI equivilant) would easily run the game.

Normal systems are coming with better than that now. You want high graphics, you pay for it.

[edyzmedieval]

They should have a nostalgia sprites mode for people with old computers.

Actually, I'd take the nostalgia sprites even if my computer is able to handle everything...

[IncubusDragon]

Yeah... as much as I like good visuals, I'd prefer a game that doesn't blow up my PC.

[quadalpha]

Actually, I'd take the nostalgia sprites even if my computer is able to handle everything...

And I'd take a 2d map ... might as well just keep playing STW.

[Gregoshi]

"Gregoshi's PC is running from defeat, but its dishonour and S2TW will chase it to its grave."

[Orda Khan]

Waste of money.

[A Nerd]

I hope my PC is up to the task. It is fairly new and ran ETW fairly well. I don't mind turning the detail down somewhat. I've noticed if you turn grass off in the options menu it helps performance alot. Personally, I never really cared for the grass on the battlemap anyway.

[Husar]

Waste of money.

So you're basically saying you don't believe that S2TW will be anything like STW or are you saying that the graphics aren't as important?
If it's the former I guess you're right, games and gaming have changed, target groups shifted, if this game is anything like a copy of STW gameplay-wise I'll probably be surprised.
That doesn't mean it has to be a bad game though, but I'm not sure whether I'll actually buy it, demo is definitely needed.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

The demo of S2TW was showed on a computer at E3 that was also used for NTW. Since S2 is using the same engine as ETW and NTW there is no need to upgrade your computer.

[Gregoshi]

The demo of S2TW was showed on a computer at E3 that was also used for NTW. Since S2 is using the same engine as ETW and NTW there is no need to upgrade your computer.

"Gregoshi's PC is running from defeat, but its dishonour and S2TW will chase it to its grave."

[hoom]

Since S2 is using the same engine as ETW and NTW there is no need to upgrade your computer.

Are you sure its still same engine? I've not seen that confirmed anywhere.
There is talk of DX11 & Tessellation so there has at least been some reworking of the engine involved.
Some DX9/10 effects can run faster if the engine is DX11 even though its the same code, just DX11 is more efficient at some things.

In general though, since Rome you can pretty much expect the next generation game to be playable with about equivalent quality as you use on the existing game.
Ie I expect Shogun2 to be able to be run at settings which give about as good visuals as Empire currently on my PC.

[pevergreen]

The demo of S2TW was showed on a computer at E3 that was also used for NTW. Since S2 is using the same engine as ETW and NTW there is no need to upgrade your computer.

Source?

Everything points to S2TW being on a new engine.

The business model, comments before the release of NTW etc.

(Business model is Revolution -> Evolution
STW -> MTW
new engine RTW -> M2TW
new engine ETW -> NTW
new engine S2TW -> R2TW? (please?)

[Devastatin Dave]

I will be shocked if this game will run with the same quality as NTW on my current computer. But if it does AND has the same challenges as the original game, then I will name my next child Creative Assembly and call him C. A. for short...

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Source?

Everything points to S2TW being on a new engine.

The business model, comments before the release of NTW etc.

(Business model is Revolution -> Evolution
STW -> MTW
new engine RTW -> M2TW
new engine ETW -> NTW
new engine S2TW -> R2TW? (please?)

Hi Pev

The source is a Dutch computer site. I am not sure if the same engine will be used. But NTW was originally supposed as expansion and not as a new game. At TW center the common opinion is that the Warscape engine will be used.

About the computer that was used and the system requirements, if you are able to understand Dutch:

Dan een jaarlijks terugkerende vraag met betrekking tot de Total War-serie: hoe zit het met de systeemeisen? The Creative Assembly liet het spel tijdens de E3, dus nog voordat er enige optimalisatie is geweest, draaien op een systeem waarop eerder Napoleon: Total War werd gedemonstreerd. Een bak die Napoleon kan draaien zou Shogun 2 dus met nagenoeg hetzelfde gemak aan moeten kunnen. Daarnaast belooft The Creative Assembly een hoge mate van schaalbaarheid. De grafische instellingen zouden zover terug te brengen zijn dat een computer die tien jaar geleden Shogun: Total War aan kon, nu ook dit spel aan moet kunnen. In theorie dan, want we kunnen ons niet voorstellen dat Shogun 2 met een Windows-versie ouder dan XP werkt. Source http://tweakers.net/reviews/1723/1/e...nse-kunst.html

A very short translation: The game was demonstrated on the same computer as NTW. The game is pre alpha and without optimization. Also the game will be playable on older computers because it is very scalable. CA claims that It should be possible to play on the same computer as the original Shogun [sic]. Lets hope that this is true.

[Orda Khan]

So you're basically saying you don't believe that S2TW will be anything like STW or are you saying that the graphics aren't as important?

Both. We didn't need eye candy to enjoy the best game in the series.
My comment was more a response to the topic title. Think how much money has already been wasted keeping up with the improved whatever, only to be constantly disappointed. Why should this new release be any different? But it has the word 'Shogun' in it, so that should create enough amnesia.
Though I quit Total War some time ago I still hope it is close or as good as the original, if for no other reason than to bring all those old player names back to a lobby that also equals the original.

[pevergreen]

A very short translation: The game was demonstrated on the same computer as NTW. The game is pre alpha and without optimization. Also the game will be playable on older computers because it is very scalable. CA claims that It should be possible to play on the same computer as the original Shogun [sic]. Lets hope that this is true.

I can't read dutch unfortunately, so I'm going purely off this translation here (I trust you more than any online translator)

That does not mean it is on the same engine, that simply means than an unoptimised version of the game can play on the same specs.

Going back, take a look at this:

Its no being released for 6 months...

The simple fact that they have improved so much so quickly makes me sad. This should have been E:TW.

Regardless, if they are releasing their evolution so quickly, their next revolution must not be that far off... Think 2011/2012 for...Shogun and Rome 2?

My evidence for why this is a new engine:

Napoleon Total War will build on the engine and framework of Empire Total War, but will add a whole host of new features and extra touches that the developers didn't have time to include in the first game. Kieran Brigden, Communications Manager at Creative Assembly, explains: "The way that Total War development works is we do a kind of evolution-revolution cycle. We create revolutionary technology for one title - in this case Empire, which had a brand new engine written from the ground up - and all new AI. Then, for the next game, we take that technology and evolve it - in this case with Napoleon. We've taken everything we've achieved with Empire and Empire's engine and just pushed it to the limit. Napoleon is essentially the culmination of what we wanted to do with Empire, given the time to take it further."

source: http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/101/1014877p1.html

[quadalpha]

CA claims that It should be possible to play on the same computer as the original Shogun [sic].

That unfortunately is not the same thing as "any computer that can play the original Shogun can play S2."

[Forward Observer]

Hi Pev

------------- Also the game will be playable on older computers because it is very scalable. CA claims that It should be possible to play on the same computer as the original Shogun [sic]. Lets hope that this is true.

That last statement must have been a mis-quote or maybe a CA person or game journalist just blowing smoke. The original Shogun came out 10 years ago this month. Just compare the level of PC's in the year 2000 to the requirements of the current games to see the problem with this statement

Let's assume that Shogun 2's minimum specs stay on par with those of NapoleonTW, which were:

OS: Windows Vista/XP/7
Processor: 2.3 GHz CPU with SSE2 Memory: 1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB RAM (Vista/Windows 7) Graphics: 256 MB DirectX 9.0c shader model 2b compatible GPU
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Hard Drive: 21 GB free

If one looks at what was the norm in PC's from the year 2000, I think they will find that there just weren't any in private hands capable of even approaching 50% of the minimum specs quoted above.

1.0 Ghz CPU's with 128 or 256 mb were top end units back then---typically with 15 to 50 gig hard drives. The best GPU was probably the Gforce 256 and it only had 32MB of memory--capable of handling maybe DirectX level 5 ot 6.

However, I do believe from what I have heard that if one could run Empire fairly well, they should have no problems with Shogun 2--in fact it may even run better----just as Napoleon does.

Cheers

[hoom]

CA claims that It should be possible to play on the same computer as the original Shogun [sic].

Eh?! No way, gotta be a mis-translation <_<
I played Shogun on a 600Mhz Athlon with GeForce MX (I think, may be worse?!).
No way is that going to play Shogun 2 unless they have done some crazy awesome scaling work so that it can run at very close to the same quality as Shogun1.
But even if they have, you might as well just play Shogun1 anyway.

[pevergreen]

hoom, language policy still applies.

[hoom]

Edited but while it may be frowned upon in general the suggestion that you can run S2:TW on a PC that ran Shogun1 is in my opinion sufficiently ludicrous to warrant a couple of swear words.