Graphics and our community

[rvflyer]

So you think us old people don't know about powerful computers and don't want to upgrade to the best? I would guess that most of us old people can afford the best computer money can buy or build. In my case I build my own and have for for the last 30+ years. Early in my computing adventures I bought a prebuilt computer and it was absolute junk. I swore from then on to build my own with components I chose and assemble. BTW I am over 70 years old.   

We know two things: 1, AH3 has much better graphics; 2, a substantial percentage of our community didn't follow us to AH3, mostly due to inadequate computers.

Would it be possible to allow a graphics control in-game that would dial it all the way down to AH2 levels? If so, our audience would increase significantly.

A note, I strongly suspect our audience is older geeks. If I remember correctly, a few years ago a survey was done and the average age was roughly 47. Older folks use computers for the basics, and likely only play a few games, thus upgrading just to play AH3 doesn't make sense. And the younger crowd that is happy to upgrade on a monthly basis, they know little about WW2, play dozens of arcade games and don't seem as interested in intense simulations, such as AH3. Our demographic is aging, and slowly dying out, though we may have also inadvertently moved them out due to the computer upgrades.

Thoughts?

boo

[icepac]

Yeah.....but you can probably change a flat tire on a dodge neon unlike the 4 comair flight instructors who lived in my apartment complex.........who I later saw driving around with domino's pizza lights on their cars trying to pay off the $80,000 of student loan debt.

[EagleDNY]

Put it this way - you will spend a lot more on a joystick and rudder pedals than you will ever spend on a graphics card with sufficient power to run this game. 

[EagleDNY]

No, won't crash,  we'll soon get rfid chip implants  and upload the 666 mark , i mean cryptocurencies, ; Btc was 600$ one year ago, 4583$ now, no signs of slowing.
https://www.coindesk.com/price/

Bitcoin will go gangbusters (thanks to the speculators, who own half of all the bitcoin ever generated) right up until the time it gets made illegal and the government seizes it all. 

[DREDIOCK]

You know no such thing ,because it is no true.

Example.
The computer I run AH on I built 9 years ago next month. the only upgrades I've done to it is add a second hard drive that was left over from an old PC because I wanted to access the files that were on it and to replace a video card that conked out on me. In fact Im still running XP on it


http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,253159.msg3120878.html#msg3120878

Know many new PC games that can still run on a 9 year old PC

[icepac]

Bitcoin is an extended pump and dump.

[ghi]

Tens of thousands video cards mining BTC in Iceland and USA;
 

[Gman]

Eddiek- long time.  You can easily spend less than $200 to green light your plan, grab a 1050ti, it runs the game well with a few settings trimmed down.  I hope you do, HTC/AH3 is on an upswing since the release of the new version, there are names in the game still you'll remember, hook up with some people here or in the game, and you'll be right back into it.

[eddiek]

Hiya, GMan...........
I researched quite a bit and had decided that a 1050Ti would be a decent upgrade, enough to get my system up to date enough to try the game again.
The issue I am running into now, is Amazon and NewEgg have decided that my physical/shipping address don't exist........even though I've bought and received numerous items from them over the years and had them shipped to this very address.  I guess my 15 years here in this house were a dream, and I don't really live here.............lol.
I contacted Amazon yesterday, received an email saying they show my address as a valid one in their system, and they will rectify the situation.  Til then........I have to figure out if I can get a card rush shipped here before the 10th, which is the date I told the other vendors I would be available again.  If not, it will just have to wait..........

[eddiek]

Got frustrated with Amazon and NewEgg..........so I went to BestBuy in Amarillo and picked up a EVGA GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB card.  Gonna install it this afternoon when I can.  Looks like time to take the wife to the ER.......unstable angina again, probably gonna be doing yet another heart cath unless I miss my guess...........

[SirNuke]

the people that leave tend to make a bigger ruckus than their actual numbers are

[Arlo]

Got frustrated with Amazon and NewEgg..........so I went to BestBuy in Amarillo and picked up a EVGA GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB card.  Gonna install it this afternoon when I can.  Looks like time to take the wife to the ER.......unstable angina again, probably gonna be doing yet another heart cath unless I miss my guess...........

I hope everything turns out ok. Seems plenty of AH (old AW?) folks are dealing with a lot of health issues ... us or our spouses (parents, if they're still around, as well).

[haggerty]

For anyone looking for a cheap computer that can run the game: 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - A10-7860k 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($88.48 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - A88M-G/3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $329.43

Add your choice of case.  This uses the most cost effective integrated graphics.

This would be my recommended build if you want to buy a graphics card as well:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4600 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($86.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card  ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $470.81

I would suggest getting the graphics card used, you can find alot of 970, 980, or 1060s available now that the newer 1080ti are being sold, many people are choosing to upgrade.  With this processor and a 1060 I am getting 144 FPS, capped because of my 144hz monitor.

[bozon]

I have a aspire e 15 with a nividia GeForce 940 m with 2 gb of dedicatd ram and I cant play on it live. I can practice but even that is slow. my desktop is a 1200.00 asus and it rocks. no problems there. so it does matter that you have a better card. I'm hoping to be able to change the graphics card to a better one so I can play on my laptop I bought to take when I'm on location at work. Its 2 years old. peace

If you have a mobile nVidia, make sure that the game runs on it and not the intel onboard card that is also there.

It is possible to force an application to use the nVidia card - use the force!

[redcatcherb412]

So you think us old people don't know about powerful computers and don't want to upgrade to the best? I would guess that most of us old people can afford the best computer money can buy or build. In my case I build my own and have for for the last 30+ years. Early in my computing adventures I bought a prebuilt computer and it was absolute junk. I swore from then on to build my own with components I chose and assemble. BTW I am over 70 years old.   

Us old farts of the S100 IMSAI 8080 generation salute you