starcraft 2

[ru03j89]

hello,
I know starcraft 2 is not out yet...
but do you guys think the old macbook pro 15" with nVidia Geforce 8600M GT will be able to run it?
thank you

[phillipsteak]

most likely...no

[jakespice]

they have official requirements up

[thebrain74]

http://starcraft.incgamers.com/articles/comments/starcraft-2-graphics-requirements-confirmed/
this link has some specs for the graphics card. Only I don't keep with with graphics cards. does the GeForce 9600M GT in the current MBP's and/or the card the OP has fit into this bracket?

the quote from the site:
For Starcraft II, we wanted to maximize compatibility with less capable systems to ensure hassle-free game play for as broad a player base as possible. Yet we also wanted to utilize the full potential of any available hardware to ensure the game's looks were competitive. This meant supporting a wide range of hardware, from ATI Radeon 9800/NVIDIA GeForce FX's to the ATI Radeon HD 4800s and NVIDIA GeForce G200s

[Some Guy 555]

http://starcraft.incgamers.com/articles/comments/starcraft-2-graphics-requirements-confirmed/
this link has some specs for the graphics card. Only I don't keep with with graphics cards. does the GeForce 9600M GT in the current MBP's and/or the card the OP has fit into this bracket?

The 9600 GT is the top recommended card there on the spec page.

The 9600M GT should run it fine, and if I am reading this correctly a Geforce FX series can run the game?!?!?! if that is the case then the 9600 should dominate the game.

Geforece FX series is around 10 years old if I remember.

[thebrain74]

That's what I've read too: the 9600GT is the recommended level of graphics card. i.e. it should run Starcraft 2 well, maybe not top graphics, but something pretty decent.

It does also appear that the GeForce FX is the bottom end, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that the 9600GT will dominate. I think the GeForce FX will run SC2 in the barest sense of the word.


Does any one know what the performance difference is between a 9600GT and a 9600M GT?


When they ran SC2 at E3 or something they used a very high-end gaming laptop, with a graphics card way beyond the 9600M GT, granted this is not surprising at an event like this because they want to showcase the best this game can offer. However, it gives a general idea of what it might take to run the game at max, even if it is a little overkill.

[sporadicMotion]

most likely...no

Well that is completely wrong.

Yes it will.

[Eddyisgreat]

most likely...no

So wrong.

I know SC will have some eye candy especially from the screen shots, but I don't think the glitz level will be that of Far Cry or Doom 3 Ultra quality because that would quickly change the metrics of the gameplay. Pro players will focus more on the actual gameplay itself and can't have a FPS drop during high action scenes where micro will determine the victor.

[MacModMachine]

they have official requirements up

no they dont...if they did ...they would be on blizzards site...there not.

[captaincarrot]

I see Jimmy R has started dying his hair. Well, I guess it's the future...why not?

[waiwai]

most likely...no

FAIL.

beef boy don't know jack. yes your MBP will be able to run it.

[phillipsteak]

FAIL.

beef boy don't know jack. yes your MBP will be able to run it.

ok seriously...an 8600 gt???? my 9400 can barely handle street fighter 4...

and beef boy??? wtf does that even mean??? are you some wannabe /b/tard?

[Eddyisgreat]

ok seriously...an 8600 gt???? my 9400 can barely handle street fighter 4...

Psst.

the 8600m gt can destroy the 9400m. Your 9400 is intergrated with shared(read slow) mem and low clock speeds. The 8600m gt and the 9600m gt aren't.....

Why do you talk such nonsense?

[phillipsteak]

Psst.

the 8600m gt can destroy the 9400m. Your 9400 is intergrated with shared(read slow) mem and low clock speeds. The 8600m gt and the 9600m gt aren't.....

Why do you talk such nonsense?

Ok, the 9400 is about 2/3rds of the 8600; therefore, the fact that the 8600 can barely handle such a relatively non-intensive such as street fighter 4 shows that Starcraft 2 (which will MOST LIKELY be graphics intensive) will not be able to run on an 8600 (at least up to my standards)

[Sambo110]

Do you think my ATI Radeon HD 2400 could run it?

[chaosbunny]

Ok, the 9400 is about 2/3rds of the 8600; therefore, the fact that the 8600 can barely handle such a relatively non-intensive such as street fighter 4 shows that Starcraft 2 (which will MOST LIKELY be graphics intensive) will not be able to run on an 8600 (at least up to my standards)

First, the 9400 is only about 50% as strong as the 8600.

This picture is from the keynote where they released the unibody macbooks:

http://data.mactechnews.de/352434.jpg

Second, I have played newer games like Fallout 3 and Mirrors Edge on high settings at 1680x1050 on an external screen with my 8600 mbp, I doubt it will have problems with starcraft 2 on maybe medium settings.

As far as street fighter 4 is concerned, it also depends if it's a good or bad console port. If it's a bad executed port it will have higher requirements. Since starcraft 2 will not come out on any console it will be best optimized for pc hardware.

[ezekielrage_99]

ok seriously...an 8600 gt???? my 9400 can barely handle street fighter 4...

and beef boy??? wtf does that even mean??? are you some wannabe /b/tard?

I do GeoQuad rendering on my Macbook Pro and the 8600M GT handles the workload fine. Currently I am running a 250m hi-rez world map (so over 5K tiles 512X512) with 1km DEM which I could not do on a 9400M (tried and failed).

So really I can't understand why SC2 wouldn't run on a 8600M GT considering how well Blizzard generally supports older chipsets.

[waiwai]

ok seriously...an 8600 gt???? my 9400 can barely handle street fighter 4...

and beef boy??? wtf does that even mean??? are you some wannabe /b/tard?

what are your settings for sfiv? i get 40-60 fps (fluctuates) with everything set to high @ 1024x728, with the exception of shadows, and I run "ink" mode, on my unibody MB... gameplay is more than smooth with the exception of ultras, there is some fps loss during those... but yeh...

[Xavier]

I would hope that a dedicated GPU would be able to run it if the 9600m GT is able to run it.

I really want this game

[CJM]

Oh I'm so glad I decided to build myself something to play games on.

[sinser]

most likely...no

there's no way that a prev gen mbp won't be able to run SC2. Maybe not at maxed settings, but I'm sure it will run fine.

[niuniu]

It will run it smoothly around medium to medium-low for certain

[MistaBungle]

I agree with the one person who said that this game is more about the gameplay than the graphics so that is one thing Blizzard will keep in mind. They've always been good about specs. I'm not worried about running it on my 13MBP at all, I know it will.

[Joyus]

I apologise if im about to say something stupid! But is this game going to be like WOW where you have to pay per month or is it like AOE etc where you can play single mode??

So people think this game will be a good one?

[DdMac679]

I apologise if im about to say something stupid! But is this game going to be like WOW where you have to pay per month or is it like AOE etc where you can play single mode??

So people think this game will be a good one?

There is no monthly fee associated with this game and will have both a SP and MP mode.

[Bimmi]

There's currently some talk that Battle.net might itself become a pay service, but as far as I know it's only talk. I've yet to hear anything about monthly fees for either StarCraft II or Diablo III.

Will SC2 be a good game? Well, I'd certainly hope so! Blizzard has yet to release a genuine turd (though there are some, myself included, who might count Warcraft III as their first real misfire)

[Meever]

I doubt Battle.net will ever be pay to play. It's gotten integrated so deeply with Starcraft 2 and most likely Diablo 3 that without it you'd essentially be crippling the games. And I bet they already get a crap ton of revenue from advertisement.... and this is before there's any games to play on it yet. God, imagine how much they can charge for advertisement when their traffic becomes like few hundred thousands on a slow day.

Oh and yeah, after seeing that Gefore FX even being mentioned pretty much confirms that pretty much everything above the macbook white will run it amazingly well.

[QCassidy352]

There's currently some talk that Battle.net might itself become a pay service, but as far as I know it's only talk. I've yet to hear anything about monthly fees for either StarCraft II or Diablo III.

Will SC2 be a good game? Well, I'd certainly hope so! Blizzard has yet to release a genuine turd (though there are some, myself included, who might count Warcraft III as their first real misfire)

I doubt it will ever be a monthly service. I know that would cost them my business.

As for War3 being a misfire - seriously?? I think it's one of their best efforts ever. I still play it more than any other game, and it's what, 6 years old?

[dead goon]

Oooo I look forward to SC2!

[akbc]

Blizzard is a pretty mac-friendly gaming company. They're always known for making a native mac version (unlike those crappy PORTS).

And they're also known to try to have their games enjoyable by everyone, not only the ones with like.. alienware or something...

They even said in the interview that they will make the game graphic-intensive for the ones who has the power to do so, but at the same time, the ones without the power can just turn off some special effects but enjoy the game itself just as fun. Games like Starcraft isn't really about graphics.. it's about the gameplay..

[MyDesktopBroke]

So far, Blizzard's official stance on this is that when a person buys Starcraft II at retail, they will be able to play on battle.net at no extra charge.

Although Bashiok (Blizzard employee) pointed out that this was a very carefully constructed sentence.

[Sambo110]

So far, Blizzard's official stance on this is that when a person buys Starcraft II at retail, they will be able to play on battle.net at no extra charge.

Although Bashiok (Blizzard employee) pointed out that this was a very carefully constructed sentence.

Probably because you can now make a map and charge for it.

[wheelhot]

LOL, 8600M GT > 9400M, if you don't believe me, you can Google it and the answer will be the same as what I tell ya.

I used to think that being a new series 9 vs 8 meaning it will be better but last time when it was 6 vs 7 I was told that the higher end 6 works better then the mid range 7. So don't let the no. fool you :)

[Syonidism]

you CAN play. but you wont enjoy it as much as you would on a mac pro '09 with Nvidia 285 and 8 gigs of ram.

Blizz officially stated that there are 600$ machines that CAN play SC2.

http://www.virginmedia.com/microsites/movies/slideshow/top-ten-movie-robots/img_6.jpg

But you won't enjoy it.

[CJM]

you CAN play. but you wont enjoy it as much as you would on a mac pro '09 with Nvidia 285 and 8 gigs of ram.

Blizz officially stated that there are 600$ machines that CAN play SC2.

http://www.virginmedia.com/microsites/movies/slideshow/top-ten-movie-robots/img_6.jpg

But you won't enjoy it.

I'm quite certain that any computer that can run Red Alert 3 right now on Max without issues will be fine when it comes to SC2. I don't think you'll need THAT powerful a setup ;P

As for Battle.net, yeah that was clarified as free the other day.

Tidbit fact: When playing computers in skirmish, the comp will surrender and say 'gg' when it realises it can no longer win.