TSOClientDX9.EXE

[Guest]

Did I hear correctly that after beta ends that the EA-Land will only have the DX9 client available to use? I find it hard to believe that is the case because of the limitation of cards that actually support PS2.0. That seems like a pretty harsh upgrade to force on end-users. Especially if those users play on a laptop. I paid $2400 to have a nice tablet laptop for the touch-screen features and of course PS2.0 is not supported on its onboard graphics card. The normal client runs great as usual. That's great that you want to add more color and detail to the game but why would you not add in some backwards compatability like every other online game in the world?

I can even run Lord of the Rings Online on medium-low graphics on my laptop yet I potentially won't be able to run EAL? Yes, my gaming PCs have graphics cards that can handle the requirements but when it comes to EAL I like to be able to move around the house and do things while I play with the comfort of my laptop. Please tell me this is just a rumor

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Did I hear correctly that after beta ends that the EA-Land will only have the DX9 client available to use? I find it hard to believe that is the case because of the limitation of cards that actually support PS2.0. That seems like a pretty harsh upgrade to force on end-users. Especially if those users play on a laptop. I paid $2400 to have a nice tablet laptop for the touch-screen features and of course PS2.0 is not supported on its onboard graphics card. The normal client runs great as usual. That's great that you want to add more color and detail to the game but why would you not add in some backwards compatability like every other online game in the world?

I can even run Lord of the Rings Online on medium-low graphics on my laptop yet I potentially won't be able to run EAL? Yes, my gaming PCs have graphics cards that can handle the requirements but when it comes to EAL I like to be able to move around the house and do things while I play with the comfort of my laptop. Please tell me this is just a rumor

[/ QUOTE ]I have absolutely no idea what you mean by PS2.0... However, if your computer/laptop/tablet has a reasonably robust processor, then it shouldn't be too much of an issue to use DX9 in software rendering mode - maybe. I'm not saying that you'll be able to run EAL like that - if it absolutely requires DX hardware, then you're out of luck.

However, I do not believe that all games - online or otherwise - maintains full backward compatibility. For instance, I'm reasonably sure I cannot run EQ2 on my old AMD K6-II -based laptop with the DX7-certified 8MB integrated graphics chip.

At some point of time, computers become obsolete. It does not matter how much you paid for it. At such a point in time, you just have to acknowledge that your computer is just not up to the task of dealing with modern games and either get one that can, or just accept the fact that you can't play it anymore. Desktop computers can be upgraded pretty easily; however, this is one of the hazards of buying a laptop for gaming purposes.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

I have the same problem and as I have said in other threads, if they go with graphics like SL and Sims 2, I will no longer be able to play because I can't afford a new computer or video card. After I saw your post, I looked in my TSO Client directory and saw the TSOCLientDX9.exe icon. So I clicked on it. Didn't work, so I updated my DX9.0c and now it tells me my video card is not supported. I *think* I saw in another thread a while ago that we will have a choice as to which client we want to use. I hope that's the case because if others are in the same boat, that's not gonna be good for EA, is it? So I would think it would be in their best interest if they were to give us a choice. I'd ask in the Town Hall, but I never seem to be online when it is open. So if a Dev could enlighten us, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[Guest]

I have recently heard you will not have to use that. I did not see this on the blog. I think I heard it in EA Town Hall. They will probably make the DX9 the default and you would have to choose the lower graphics option. Do not give up hope.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

Thanks Simone!

I was starting to get worried. My father has been trying to get me a new video card, but so far we're not having any luck. The two his friend had didn't look anything like the one I have in my computer, so they wouldn't even fit.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Did I hear correctly that after beta ends that the EA-Land will only have the DX9 client available to use? I find it hard to believe that is the case because of the limitation of cards that actually support PS2.0. That seems like a pretty harsh upgrade to force on end-users. Especially if those users play on a laptop. I paid $2400 to have a nice tablet laptop for the touch-screen features and of course PS2.0 is not supported on its onboard graphics card. The normal client runs great as usual. That's great that you want to add more color and detail to the game but why would you not add in some backwards compatability like every other online game in the world?

I can even run Lord of the Rings Online on medium-low graphics on my laptop yet I potentially won't be able to run EAL? Yes, my gaming PCs have graphics cards that can handle the requirements but when it comes to EAL I like to be able to move around the house and do things while I play with the comfort of my laptop. Please tell me this is just a rumor

[/ QUOTE ]I have absolutely no idea what you mean by PS2.0... However, if your computer/laptop/tablet has a reasonably robust processor, then it shouldn't be too much of an issue to use DX9 in software rendering mode - maybe. I'm not saying that you'll be able to run EAL like that - if it absolutely requires DX hardware, then you're out of luck.

However, I do not believe that all games - online or otherwise - maintains full backward compatibility. For instance, I'm reasonably sure I cannot run EQ2 on my old AMD K6-II -based laptop with the DX7-certified 8MB integrated graphics chip.

At some point of time, computers become obsolete. It does not matter how much you paid for it. At such a point in time, you just have to acknowledge that your computer is just not up to the task of dealing with modern games and either get one that can, or just accept the fact that you can't play it anymore. Desktop computers can be upgraded pretty easily; however, this is one of the hazards of buying a laptop for gaming purposes.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're kidding me right? You're seriously comparing a &lt; 1 year old touch-screen tablet laptop to a DX-6/7 chip or just being overly sarcastic for your own amusment? PS2 is just an abbreviation for Pixel Shader 2.0 which if you want to google it will bring you to a wikipedia article on what exactly it does and what cards support it.

Your reply seems more like a defensive attack, but that is neither here nor there and I will ignore the perception for now.

If the game was graphically superior to literally ANY of the MMOs out there then I might understand the need for such high end cards. I am simply stating a concern here that I may not be able to play the game on my laptop and am looking for verification to a rumor before I rush to cancel my subscription.

I also wanted to make it clear that as a customer, god forbid, I wished to express my concern that the developers while good intentioned might be pigeon-holing their game into a demographic that doesn't want to support higher-end hardware. From what I can tell the game was having financial issues as it was, so why limit yourself further? That was just my opinion which I wished to convey and not an attack.

We are also not talking about CPU or Memory requirements. If you go back and read my other posts, I'm obviously not your typical end-user. We are talking about the graphical card requirements which is my concern and if I am not going to be able to play on my laptop any more. It was just a question.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

We are talking about the graphical card requirements which is my concern and if I am not going to be able to play on my laptop any more. It was just a question.

[/ QUOTE ]


Blog post about DX9 and future graphics for the game.

and

Graphics cards and requirements on the Wiki site.

There are more discussions on the blog about graphics....but Town Hall is probably the best place to get questions about your specific card answered.

 

[Guest]

Ah, thanks Gilly. I know I saw something about it at one point and time, and then I couldn't seem to locate it yesterday.

EDIT: well I read the post and all the comments particularly to the ones posted by Lee and the verdict is not good. The direction they want to go is to a full DX9 client to imrpove to Sims2 graphics for the Sims. DX9 introduces Pixel Shader 2.0, but my question then is why bother? The game wants you to use DX9c which actually implements Pixel Shader 3.0 so why not take advantage of that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_shader has a list of cards which are supported for various versions of pixel shader.

Edit2: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Grafic-Cards.130.0.html

Edit3: READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY on above links. Some cards will produce excessive heat and must meet other requirements so don't screw yourself and your laptop by buying something over your specs.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[TKSpeedy1]

I just read the blog post, too...Doesn't sound good. And I'm curious to why they would do this and risk losing many players who's computers don't have the hardware to support DX9 or DX9.0c. The good thing is we still have the other Client.exe, which makes me think we will have a choice...we'd almost have to since not everyone will be able to run out and buy new computers or video cards. I love how they talk about it being so easy to update your hardware. Easy, maybe..but that doesn't mean we can all afford it. I just had a thought though....It's only Client that is going to be using the DX9 right? So this means those of us who can't afford to upgrade will still be able to play the game using Patch? Maybe once they impliment the playing of two sims per account at the same time, it won't be so bad....? I'm waiting for the Town Hall to open now so I can ask someone about it...It's 1:52 p.m. eastern. *sigh*

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I just read the blog post, too...Doesn't sound good. And I'm curious to why they would do this and risk losing many players who's computers don't have the hardware to support DX9 or DX9.0c. The good thing is we still have the other Client.exe, which makes me think we will have a choice...we'd almost have to since not everyone will be able to run out and buy new computers or video cards. I love how they talk about it being so easy to update your hardware. Easy, maybe..but that doesn't mean we can all afford it. I just had a thought though....It's only Client that is going to be using the DX9 right? So this means those of us who can't afford to upgrade will still be able to play the game using Patch? Maybe once they impliment the playing of two sims per account at the same time, it won't be so bad....? I'm waiting for the Town Hall to open now so I can ask someone about it...It's 1:52 p.m. eastern. *sigh*


[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't get my hopes up. It does not sound as if they are going to work to allow both clients. The EA UO team has dual clients and it works out really well so it would be nice if the EAL team did the same thing, but it looks doubtful. I'm undecided as to the course of action I will take to keep playing. I have my computers at home which more than handle it as they have DX10 compliant cards, but I like to play EAL on my laptop only. I may end up just canceling but time will tell. I'm not sure I agree on this method as I don't think I've ever played a game that I had to buy new hardware for like this.

It's great they want to improve the graphics but since they obviously have a very different programming method from traditional MMO client-server tech and they seem to have no interest in supporting two separate clients and integrating the clients would potentially be a huge undertaking as well, so you can take that theory where you want

 

[TKSpeedy1]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

I wouldn't get my hopes up. It does not sound as if they are going to work to allow both clients. The EA UO team has dual clients and it works out really well so it would be nice if the EAL team did the same thing, but it looks doubtful. I'm undecided as to the course of action I will take to keep playing. I have my computers at home which more than handle it as they have DX10 compliant cards, but I like to play EAL on my laptop only. I may end up just canceling but time will tell. I'm not sure I agree on this method as I don't think I've ever played a game that I had to buy new hardware for like this.

It's great they want to improve the graphics but since they obviously have a very different programming method from traditional MMO client-server tech and they seem to have no interest in supporting two separate clients and integrating the clients would potentially be a huge undertaking as well, so you can take that theory where you want

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but I think you missed an important part of my post...Patch and Client are two different things...So maybe the Client will be using DX9 and DX9.0c and those of us who don't have updated hardware will still be able to use Patch to play? That would work if they implemented the playing two sims on the same account at once idea they keep talking about.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

I wouldn't get my hopes up. It does not sound as if they are going to work to allow both clients. The EA UO team has dual clients and it works out really well so it would be nice if the EAL team did the same thing, but it looks doubtful. I'm undecided as to the course of action I will take to keep playing. I have my computers at home which more than handle it as they have DX10 compliant cards, but I like to play EAL on my laptop only. I may end up just canceling but time will tell. I'm not sure I agree on this method as I don't think I've ever played a game that I had to buy new hardware for like this.

It's great they want to improve the graphics but since they obviously have a very different programming method from traditional MMO client-server tech and they seem to have no interest in supporting two separate clients and integrating the clients would potentially be a huge undertaking as well, so you can take that theory where you want

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but I think you missed an important part of my post...Patch and Client are two different things...So maybe the Client will be using DX9 and DX9.0c and those of us who don't have updated hardware will still be able to use Patch to play? That would work if they implemented the playing two sims on the same account at once idea they keep talking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I see the point you are trying to make. It's not that easy however.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

Ok, sorry...thought maybe you overlooked something I had said....I admit to not being technical at all....I understand the internet, but computer stuff still confuses me. All I know is there is no TSOPatchDX9.exe, which makes me think that maybe we'll still be able to play using Patch. I live in hope anyway.

 

[Guest]

I don't think we should jump to conclusions, even with the information about the direction they are trying to take the game.

It is still a long journey, and there are likely to be a few twists and turns along the way.....or in more familiar words..."don't cross that bridge until you get to it."

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

You're kidding me right? You're seriously comparing a &lt; 1 year old touch-screen tablet laptop to a DX-6/7 chip or just being overly sarcastic for your own amusment? PS2 is just an abbreviation for Pixel Shader 2.0 which if you want to google it will bring you to a wikipedia article on what exactly it does and what cards support it.

[/ QUOTE ]First of all, calm down. I was only stating matter-of-fact, and no amount of snarkiness is going to change the facts I provided.

Second, thank you for explaining what "PS2.0" meant. I am very familiar with Pixel Shader technologies, but - "PS2" means something completely different to a hardware Geek like me.

With that said, most dedicated graphics GPUs made within the last four years (dedicated GPUs, mind you - not IGPs) support at least Pixel Shader 2. Hell, my four-year-old laptop fully supports it.

My comparison to a DX6/7 chip was in response to your statement that the company should provide backward compatibility. My point was, where should they draw the line? I recall a number of people got left behind when TSO made the move to DX8 some years back. Most of them realized an upgrade was inevitable and quickly caught back up. As it is right now, EAL is a full two generations behind, graphically speaking. The move to DX9 will still make it one generation behind. So, again - where do you draw the line?

 

[imported_julilyn]

::Your reply seems more like a defensive attack, but that is neither here nor there and I will ignore the perception for now.::

::You're kidding me right? You're seriously comparing a &lt; 1 year old touch-screen tablet laptop to a DX-6/7 chip or just being overly sarcastic for your own amusment?::

:::That was just my opinion which I wished to convey and not an attack.::





your "perception " was incorrect.

katheryne was in no way "attacking" you and personally I found your reply to be quite rude and uncalled for. If YOU had read back on any of HER posts I think you would have found her to be nothing but genually sincere and helpful and I seriously think you owe her an apology.

 

[Guest]

Ohhhhhhhhh "snarkiness" I like that one.. is it copywritten? may I use it some day???? it's right up there with ignorantdonkey!!

 

[Guest]

That post is from the beginning of November 07. At that time I was under the impression that we would not be able to play the game period without upgrading our cards.
Since then, recently, a week ago? I was at the EA Town Hall, Parizad was there and I think a dev. I remember there being multiple questions about the TC3 -test graphics/Sims 2.
One quote I can give is. "It will look the same as it does now." (in response to (what if we do not upgrade graphics) I don't have a screen shot and I can not remember for sure who else was there.
No one else here remembers that conversation?
Things change, do not give up hope without hearing further from a dev. Niki probably knows but is being tight lipped. Find out! Tell us what is going on, before ppl quit over this.

 

[Guest]

I know about as much as anyone who has been in the Pub/TH the last few months. I was told that in order to keep playing I would have to get a new card but that I had time to do that, although how much time was not made clear, just soon. I hope its not before I get my other puter that has the new card back from my cousin who is fixing it for me!

In the past conversations about the new graphics have been along the lines of, it will be TS2 graphics, we will get new views etc. (I dont play TS2 so I cant say I know alot about the graphics, are they 3D?) Some talk has been about TS1 houses and TS2 houses so if you dont upgrade you can still play. I dont know if this is still being considered. I know that they are working hard to make it accessible to as many players as possible while still moving forward with the times. The game has been in desperate need of a facelift for years and with the upcoming TS3 even going to TS2 will we still be a generation behind? (I've looked at the news articles about TS3, but not knowing about TS2 graphics I have no way of knowing if it will have better graphics or not. It looked cool tho.)

So there you have in a nutshell my small about of input on the subject which I know is not much.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

so if you dont upgrade you can still play

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the part I was talking about. TYVM

I will continue to be patient and not give up hope. We will find out soon. (The Magic Word)

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I know about as much as anyone who has been in the Pub/TH the last few months. I was told that in order to keep playing I would have to get a new card but that I had time to do that, although how much time was not made clear, just soon. I hope its not before I get my other puter that has the new card back from my cousin who is fixing it for me!

In the past conversations about the new graphics have been along the lines of, it will be TS2 graphics, we will get new views etc. (I dont play TS2 so I cant say I know alot about the graphics, are they 3D?) Some talk has been about TS1 houses and TS2 houses so if you dont upgrade you can still play. I dont know if this is still being considered. I know that they are working hard to make it accessible to as many players as possible while still moving forward with the times. The game has been in desperate need of a facelift for years and with the upcoming TS3 even going to TS2 will we still be a generation behind? (I've looked at the news articles about TS3, but not knowing about TS2 graphics I have no way of knowing if it will have better graphics or not. It looked cool tho.)

So there you have in a nutshell my small about of input on the subject which I know is not much.

[/ QUOTE ]
Lost again.

Then, add this:
<blockquote><hr>

One quote I can give is. "It will look the same as it does now."

[/ QUOTE ]
and you change it to - "Hopelessly lost, again."

With the talk of TS2 graphics, I got the impression that our views and our Sims would be the same as what we see in the off-line TS2 game (just like what we have now is the same as the TS1 off-line game).

Now, we seem to be saying - no, it's going to be the same as it is.
Which begs the question; so why change?

 

[Guest]

They were talking about the Sims 2 graphics. Someone asked what it would look like if they did not get updated hardware. The answer was, that quote.
They were saying that they could play but it would not look as good, it would look the same on the lots that were not sims 2 graphics.
Evidently we are going to have more lot types in the future. If you can not upgrade you will be forced to play on the non PS2 supported lots. Someone asked if anyone could visit those lots and the answer was yes.
So if we upgrade we can go to both lot types but if we don't, we can't.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

Ok, so if I don't/can't upgrade, I could still play, just not go to certain lots? Is that what you're saying Simone? Just trying to be clear. That will at least buy me some time to get what I need. And am I also right in assuming this won't be happening for a while? I mean, they have so much to work on already.

 

[Guest]

Good luck in finding a good deal on a graphics card. Your play will be limited at the least without one.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

Hey, at this point, limited play is better than no play at all until I get everything sorted out...and sell a body part to get either a video card or a new computer.

I should install EALand on mom's computer....She just got a new one so her boyfriend could use the old one upstairs to learn on. But if I installed it on Mom's new computer, my mom would never see her computer again.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Ok, so if I don't/can't upgrade, I could still play, just not go to certain lots? Is that what you're saying Simone? Just trying to be clear. That will at least buy me some time to get what I need. And am I also right in assuming this won't be happening for a while? I mean, they have so much to work on already.

[/ QUOTE ]The impression I get, and I could be wildly out in left field on this, but - if you use the DX8 client, you will see the house in isometric view as we do currently. If you use the DX9 client, you will see the house in true 3D, with movable cameras and the whole nine yards. Since the data coming from the game server is identical, and that graphical rendering is done by the client, I think this is what they were all talking about.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Ok, so if I don't/can't upgrade, I could still play, just not go to certain lots? Is that what you're saying Simone? Just trying to be clear. That will at least buy me some time to get what I need. And am I also right in assuming this won't be happening for a while? I mean, they have so much to work on already.

[/ QUOTE ]The impression I get, and I could be wildly out in left field on this, but - if you use the DX8 client, you will see the house in isometric view as we do currently. If you use the DX9 client, you will see the house in true 3D, with movable cameras and the whole nine yards. Since the data coming from the game server is identical, and that graphical rendering is done by the client, I think this is what they were all talking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

This I could definitely live with, too.

TY for the response.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

You're kidding me right? You're seriously comparing a &lt; 1 year old touch-screen tablet laptop to a DX-6/7 chip or just being overly sarcastic for your own amusment? PS2 is just an abbreviation for Pixel Shader 2.0 which if you want to google it will bring you to a wikipedia article on what exactly it does and what cards support it.

[/ QUOTE ]First of all, calm down. I was only stating matter-of-fact, and no amount of snarkiness is going to change the facts I provided.

Second, thank you for explaining what "PS2.0" meant. I am very familiar with Pixel Shader technologies, but - "PS2" means something completely different to a hardware Geek like me.

With that said, most dedicated graphics GPUs made within the last four years (dedicated GPUs, mind you - not IGPs) support at least Pixel Shader 2. Hell, my four-year-old laptop fully supports it.

My comparison to a DX6/7 chip was in response to your statement that the company should provide backward compatibility. My point was, where should they draw the line? I recall a number of people got left behind when TSO made the move to DX8 some years back. Most of them realized an upgrade was inevitable and quickly caught back up. As it is right now, EAL is a full two generations behind, graphically speaking. The move to DX9 will still make it one generation behind. So, again - where do you draw the line?

[/ QUOTE ]

First, I am calm. I was looking for an answer on my initial question not a diatribe on ancient chipsets that are obviously an extreme example which snarkily tries to drive your point home.

Secondly, yes I am not happy about the prospect of having to buy new hardware to continue to play this game. Like Gilly said, nothing to worry about till it's here but I wasn't encouraged by the way the conversation on the blog went to which I also responded with a link to a huge comparison of graphics cards for laptops so that everyone could see what levels each card is good to.

Third, if you know what Pixel Shader 2.0 is then you simply don't need to Google it. I wasn't trying to be cagey about it, and even looking at it prior to your post I realized it looks like I was talking about a Playstation 2 but that is neither here nor there.

I understand that TSO is several generations behind, but that does not make it a bad thing either. Ultima Online is way behind as I mentioned earlier and it still has a huge subscriber base. In my opinion games are about content not eye candy, and this shift some game companies are on to cram more garbage into higher end hardware is just a band aid approach to a problem that roots much deeper than that.

Perhaps I should have elaborated on that issue firsthand, but really all I was seeking was an answer to the initial question which I have now, so Good day to all and happy Simming.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

your "perception " was incorrect.

katheryne was in no way "attacking" you and personally I found your reply to be quite rude and uncalled for. If YOU had read back on any of HER posts I think you would have found her to be nothing but genually sincere and helpful and I seriously think you owe her an apology.

[/ QUOTE ]

Duly noted and disregarded.