GAMINGPLATFORM PC Bernd Jaekel DAP02

Table of Contents Introduction History of PC-Games Different types of Games Hardware Pros and Cons Questions and Answers Opponents Part

History of PC-Games Grand Prix Circuit ( from 1988 ) Aces of the Pacific (1992, 1990 Red Baron)

History of PC-Games Point and Click Adventures Kings Quest I (1984) Monkey Island (1990)

History of PC-Games Comanche (1993 with “Vortex-Engine) Civilisation (1993)

History of PC-Games Lemmings (1990) Wing Commander (1990)

History of PC-Games Wolfenstein 3-D (1992) Doom (1993)

Different types of Games Simulations Adventures RPG Strategic Games Ego-Shooters Jump ‘n Run Flash Combined Games

Simulations Sports games Flightsims Other Vehicles Economic Simulations Real-Life Sims

Adventures Complete missions by finding items and using them in the right place …..

RPG Role Playing Game Kill the evil Gain experience and levels Find better equipment

Strategic Games Build and Rush Round based Games Chess

Egoshooter Single Player Multiplayer

Jump ‘n Run Super Mario….. No games nowadays

Combined Games CB’s have elements from different types of games There are no further “fields” of computer games

Hardware What do I need? Prozessors Graphics Accelerators RAM Problems by buying complete PCs Upgrading your system

What do I need? PC Mainboard CPU RAM HD Mouse Keyboard OS DVD/CD-ROM Internet Soundcard Speakers Graphics Accelerator Monitor Joystick

CPU What is the best CPU for my PC? Different performances between AMD and Intel Different “Names”

Graphic Accelerator Technology DirectX Performance and Quality Categories Conclusions

Technologies DirectX : Standarts for 3D and music effects API – interfaces : Direct3D, 3DFX, OpenGL Shader : Mathematical definition of a certain effect, e.g. a wet and reflecting stone Textures : can be wrapped around any 3- dimensional object

DirectX 7 Use of textures T&L (Transform and Light) Counterstrike and Unreal Battlefield 1942

DirectX 8 Programmable Graphics Chips Pixel and Vertex Shader More realism Pixelshader with DX8.0 Shader 1.4 in DX8.1

DirectX 9 More complex shaders Shader 2.0 and 3.0

Compare of Shaders Same or similar effects The lower the shader version the less intensive in calculations Compatibility downwards

OpenGL Comes from professional workstations Most Direct3D effects can be made with OpenGL For not predefined effects OpenGL extensions can be used Not only for Windows

Performance and Quality Performance is measured in FPS For most applications 25 FPS is enough For First Person Shooters at least 35 ( more is better)

Effects on performance Resolution : 640*400, 800*600, *1200 The higher the resolution the lower the performance

Effects on performance FSAA: "Full Scene Anti Aliasing“

Effects on performance AF: “Anisotrope Filtering”

Image Quality Because of “improving” the drivers to get a higher FPS-rate in Games, the image quality suffered. Benchmarks ( Programs to analyze your system performance) like 3dMark were the main influence on customers buying decisions. Cheating in Benchmarks was common during the last years.

Categories Low-Budged : 0-150$ Mainstream : -200$ Enthusiast : 300$- DirectX Shadercompatibility

Categories AGP or PCI-Express?

PCIx or AGP? Most Cards do have enough RAM (128 – 256 MB), so that a datatransfer via AGP Bus is not necessary Cards do have a bandwith of up to 30 GByte/s PCI just 4GBytes/s

Conclusion Nowadays it does not matter if someone uses/buys AGP or PCIx Never buy a enthusiast category accelerator The CPU and the graphics accelerator should be “equal”, otherwise the slower component would reduce the faster components performance too

RAM Differences in FSB-Speed: 133,166,…533 Rule : the more RAM the better, but today 1GByte of RAM is enough for all Games Compatibility problems with “no-name” RAM

Problems by buying a complete PC No exact description for all components Often “no-name” components in use, which can cause troubles after upgrading a system A lot of great sounding components, which are not so great

Upgrading a System If you want to upgrade in order of getting better performance in your games: 1.Check out your system, where to invest into a new component/s 2.If you have chosen a new component, check out if your system needs other upgrades ( ATX-Power-Supply) 3.Define your demands

Upgrading a System 4. Check out your budget 5. Compare products and prices by using the WWW 6. Never buy the newest, because of stability and price 7. Hope that everything works after installing ( 8. Overclocking)

Pros and Cons PRO If you already have a PC, why not use it for games Best looking games, because of most developed technologies CONS Price Stability Compatibility of games to certain hardware components Some PC knowledge demanded ( compared to X- Box) New games need high-end equipment to be played

Appendix

Questions?

Opponents part