F.E.A.R Demo Discussion Thread

[VIAN]

Since the demo is being released tomorrow, I thought I'd go ahead and create a discussion thread now. It might be overshadowed by some later thread, but it'll be here for me at least.

I've heard a lot about this being a game to tax the system, but it doesn't seem so with these posted specs. I guess we'll see.

 

[VIAN]

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIRED
· Windows® XP or 2000 with latest service pack installed
· DirectX® 9.0c (April Edition) (included)
· Pentium® 4 1.7 GHz or equivalent processor
· 512 MB of RAM
· 64 MB GeForce? 4 Ti or ATI® Radeon® 9600 or equivalent with hardware T&L and pixel shader support
· 5.0 GB free Hard Drive Space for installation
· 4x CD-ROM drive (for Director's Edition, this will have to be DVD-ROM)
· 16-bit DirectX® 9.0 compliant sound card with support for EAX? 2.0
· Internet Connection Required
· Mouse
· Keyboard

RECOMMENDED HARDWARE
·Pentium® 4 3.0 GHz or equivalent processor
·1 GB RAM
·A 256 MB Radeon® 9800 Pro or equivalent DirectX® 9 compliant video car with hardware T&L and pixel shader 2.0 support

SUPPORTED CHIPSETS
Nvidia GeForce? 4Ti, GeForce? FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, 6800, 6800 GT, 6800 Ultra
ATI® Radeon® 9600, 9600 Pro, 9600 XT, 9700, 9700 Pro, 9800 Pro, x700 XT, x800 XT, x850 XT

Official Website

 

[rh71]

haven't heard of it but the premise looks interesting. I like how they purposely instilled the "frightening" experience as a pun for F.E.A.R.

I remember how Friday the 13th on NES used to scare the sh!t out of me... good times.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: VIAN
Since the demo is being released tomorrow, I thought I'd go ahead and create a discussion thread now. It might be overshadowed by some later thread, but it'll be here for me at least.

I've heard a lot about this being a game to tax the system, but it doesn't seem so with these posted specs. I guess we'll see.

Actually, I think these minimum and recommended spec's are pretty high. "Recommended" isn't going to get you 16x12, that's for sure. I may hold off on buying until I see some actual numbers. I got an X800 pro and P 3.2 northwood, and I am pretty sure I won't be able to play at 16x12 on my 2001FP. But we'll see I guess.

 

[Sureshot324]

Hopefully it's not ultra linear and scripted like most fps games these days.

 

[Kevin1211]

heres the preview from gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/fear/preview_6129899.html

 

[igowerf]

Wow. The recommended hardware is pretty high. My system is just below the recommended requirements. I guess it's time to upgrade soon.

 

[Parkre]

I have seen screenshots but have heard little about the game (storyline, anyone?)

also, does anyone know if it has coop, like serious sam?

 

[VIAN]

Actually, I think these minimum and recommended spec's are pretty high. "Recommended" isn't going to get you 16x12, that's for sure. I may hold off on buying until I see some actual numbers. I got an X800 pro and P 3.2 northwood, and I am pretty sure I won't be able to play at 16x12 on my 2001FP. But we'll see I guess.

I was talking more about the minimum requirements, but the recommended 9800 pro for about medium settings isn't that bad either. And yeah, the resolutions they're probably speaking of is at max 1024x768.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: VIAN

Actually, I think these minimum and recommended spec's are pretty high. "Recommended" isn't going to get you 16x12, that's for sure. I may hold off on buying until I see some actual numbers. I got an X800 pro and P 3.2 northwood, and I am pretty sure I won't be able to play at 16x12 on my 2001FP. But we'll see I guess.

I was talking more about the minimum requirements, but the recommended 9800 pro for about medium settings isn't that bad either. And yeah, the resolutions they're probably speaking of is at max 1024x768.

Yeah, I noticed the recommended is the 256MB 9800 Pro, rather than the 128MB, I bet 256MB video cards will be big help in this game. I foresee an "ouch" from the 128MB 6600GT owners, as that has been a pretty popular card.

 

[VIAN]

Yes, for recommended settings, the 9800 may surpass the 6600GT, being that they it has such higher bandwidth.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: VIAN
Yes, for recommended settings, the 9800 may surpass the 6600GT, being that they it has such higher bandwidth.

The 6600GT has 128-bit memory? I didn't realize that.

 

[Fern]

Man, this looks sweet!

My rigs been collecting dust lately, can't wait to d/l this puppy and see what's up

Fern

 

[mOeeOm]

What settings would I be able to play this on?

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Yeah, I noticed the recommended is the 256MB 9800 Pro, rather than the 128MB, I bet 256MB video cards will be big help in this game. I foresee an "ouch" from the 128MB 6600GT owners, as that has been a pretty popular card.

I doubt it. The 6600GT consistently outperforms the 9800XT (a 256MB card) even in bandwidth intensive situations like high res/AA/AF. Plus, with the 6600GT being stronger with shaders, I think it'll come out minorly on top of the 98xx series cards like it does in pretty much every other benchmark.

Recent tests have shown that memory bandwidth doesn't matter nearly as much as shader power in today's games. If the 7800GTX doesn't prove that, I don't know what does.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: bamacre

Yeah, I noticed the recommended is the 256MB 9800 Pro, rather than the 128MB, I bet 256MB video cards will be big help in this game. I foresee an "ouch" from the 128MB 6600GT owners, as that has been a pretty popular card.

I doubt it. The 6600GT consistently outperforms the 9800XT (a 256MB card) even in bandwidth intensive situations like high res/AA/AF. Plus, with the 6600GT being stronger with shaders, I think it'll come out minorly on top of the 98xx series cards like it does in pretty much every other benchmark.

Recent tests have shown that memory bandwidth doesn't matter nearly as much as shader power in today's games. If the 7800GTX doesn't prove that, I don't know what does.

i dunno . . . PK's BoOH requires 256MB vRAM to turn everything on . . . i already ran the FEAR beta demo with my 9800xt (256MB vRAM P4@3.31Ghz/1GB PC32500)) and it does fine at 10x7 with all details 'on' but mostly 'medium'.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: bamacre

Yeah, I noticed the recommended is the 256MB 9800 Pro, rather than the 128MB, I bet 256MB video cards will be big help in this game. I foresee an "ouch" from the 128MB 6600GT owners, as that has been a pretty popular card.

I doubt it. The 6600GT consistently outperforms the 9800XT (a 256MB card) even in bandwidth intensive situations like high res/AA/AF. Plus, with the 6600GT being stronger with shaders, I think it'll come out minorly on top of the 98xx series cards like it does in pretty much every other benchmark.

Recent tests have shown that memory bandwidth doesn't matter nearly as much as shader power in today's games. If the 7800GTX doesn't prove that, I don't know what does.

i dunno . . . PK's BoOH requires 256MB vRAM to turn everything on . . . i already ran the FEAR beta demo with my 9800xt (256MB vRAM P4@3.31Ghz/1GB PC32500)) and it does fine at 10x7 with all details 'on' but mostly 'medium'.

Well, of course we'll see, but based on the past experience:

In most cases, the "lesser equipped" 6600GT proves more capable than 256MB cards from the previous gen...

and current information:

The 6600GT is stronger at shader processing than the 9800 series....

and future information:

F.E.A.R. is supposedly very shader intensive...


Then I say all bets are off. It could go either way. I'm betting it's going to be a wash: Any advantage 256MB high end cards from previous gen would have due to their bandwidth will be nullified by shader calculation, and any advantage the 6600GT has due to shader ability will be nullified by its lesser memory bandwidth.

 

[mOeeOm]

How well will an x800xl handle this game though?

 

[Insomniak]

If any of the current/previous gen cards have trouble, I'm going to be extremely surprised. The video recorded demos have run smoothly, and they had to be running on SOMETHING. Add to that that the game doesn't look excessively modern (it's about on par with Doom 3, maybe a little behind), and it doesn't have any excuse to run like a dog. If it does, that's just sloppiness on Monolith's part.

 

[hans030390]

a x800xl will suck at it....jk, should do fairly well on 10x7 medium/high settings...maybe not with just 1gb ram...i dunno.

From the benchies I've seen though, SM3 looks like it gives 6 series cards a nice boost. FEAR is an ATi game, and the x850 is the 2nd most powerful card out...yet, with SM3 enabled, a 6800gt beats the x850 even in 16x12 with AA/AF on (terrible framerate anyways though)...and this is the 6800gt being stock clocked and all.

So, i'm assuming the 6600gt will do decently as well.

 

[naldo]

My system runs the Multiplayer Demo great on high @ 1280x1024, and I'm sure the single player part cant be too much more stressfull than it. My system is a A64 3000+ @2.5ghz, 1gb cheapo RAM, 6800nu @ 415/925 (all pipes unlocked). My system is pretty low-end, so nobody should have any problems running it.

 

[mOeeOm]

Meh I'm not a big fan of FPS anyways I mostly play RTS/platformers sometimes mmorpgs. FPS get boring fast, currently playing Prince of Persia Sands of Tme, San Andreas, Psychonauts at max resolution with everything maxed and 0 lag ....but anyways for F.E.A.R, if it eats up x800xl/6800GT...how do they expect to make sales? If mid range cards cant get decent fps on it, then how will the rest of the people with lower cards run it? :S Silly company, unless its a programming mistake by them and will be patched.

 

[Agamar]

You can always run it at like 800x600 with a 128M card and at least play the game until you upgrade.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Frankly, from the screenshots, the game doesn't look nearly as good as Doom or Riddick, which consistently run 50+ frames/sec at 1280x1024 or better with 4xAA on my machine (A64@2.6, 6800GT@430). I can tolerate 1024x768, but 800x600 would be too ugly to bear, even with 4xAA.

 

[WiseOne]

Originally posted by: naldo
My system runs the Multiplayer Demo great on high @ 1280x1024, and I'm sure the single player part cant be too much more stressfull than it. My system is a A64 3000+ @2.5ghz, 1gb cheapo RAM, 6800nu @ 415/925 (all pipes unlocked). My system is pretty low-end, so nobody should have any problems running it.

what demo? fear is not out yet