1. GAMINGPLATFORM PC Bernd Jaekel DAP02

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. Strategic Games Build and Rush Round based Games Chess

13. Egoshooter Single Player Multiplayer

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

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

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

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

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

21. Graphic Accelerator Technology DirectX Performance and Quality Categories Conclusions

22. 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

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

24. DirectX 8 Programmable Graphics Chips Pixel and Vertex Shader More realism Pixelshader1.0- 1.3 with DX8.0 Shader 1.4 in DX8.1

25. DirectX 9 More complex shaders Shader 2.0 and 3.0

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

27. 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

28. 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)

29. Effects on performance Resolution : 640*400, 800*600,.. 1600*1200 The higher the resolution the lower the performance

30. Effects on performance FSAA: "Full Scene Anti Aliasing“

31. Effects on performance AF: “Anisotrope Filtering”

32. 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.

33. Categories Low-Budged : 0-150$ Mainstream : -200$ Enthusiast : 300$- DirectX 7 8 9 Shadercompatibility

34. Categories AGP or PCI-Express?

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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)

41. 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

42. Appendix www.Webopedia.com www.archive.org www.tomshardware.com www.tomshardware.de www.pcgames.de www.hardware-mag.de www.microsoft.com www.google.fi

43. Questions?

44. Opponents part