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P3 933/GeForce3 or similar Must Read
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RPGDot Forums > Morrowind - General

Author Thread
britborn
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 2
P3 933/GeForce3 or similar Must Read
   

Hi to all,
I'm a dedicated RPG addict and was looking forward to Morrowind in a big way. I unfortunately won't be playing the game after all.
I have a sub-par computer that barely runs Morrowind with the features and resolution dialed way back. I suspect I am one of millions of people who would rather not play a game than attempt to enjoy it with no immersive qualities left at all.
Let's face it, besides the writing of the game's plot, narrative etc. the main attractant of any game is the quality of what you see. If what you see is blurry, fuzzy, pixelated, blocky people and backgrounds with no accompanying eye-candy will you still play the game? I tried to enjoy Morrowind with only the basic visuals and it failed to suspend belief long enough for me to forget the crappy scene my pc provided.
Back to EB it goes. I've been in the computer business as well as building my own private machines since 1983. Due to major health problems and medical bills, it'll be a long while before I have the bread for a new mobo, cpu and ram. If you have a machine like the specs below, either resolve yourself to missing three quarters of the features in the game, buy the required upgrades or do as I have and pass on the game.

I'm not bitter about missing out on one of two RPGs(the other being Dungeon Siege, which I also can't run) that I really looked forward to playing. Three years ago it was ME with the killer system and some other unlucky soul with a Pentium II wrote a similar letter about not being able to play System Shock 2......pretty ironic, isn't it?

Someday I WILL play Morrowind, maybe in 2003

Have fun,
Brit


Pentium III 933mhz not o/c'd
512 mb PC 133 SDRAM CAS2
Intel 815EE mobo 133 fsb
Windows XP
GeForce 3 @ 205/485
Sony 20" Trinitron monitor
Sony CDRW
Samsung CD
Teac floppy
Philips Acoustic Edge sound card
Altec-Lansing ADA-890 4.1 speakers
Toshiba PCX2000 cable modem
Microft Precision Pro joystick
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0
Post Fri May 03, 2002 3:52 am
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Bismil
Guest






   

I don't see how the game doesnt run well for you. I have a Pentium III 800 mhz with same graphics card and memory as you and the game runs fine at 1024x768 with the view slider at half-way and the shadows turned off. I just think that you are trying to pursuade people NOT to play the game for whatever reason you might have, but I sincerely doubt its your computer that is causing you to return it.....
Post Fri May 03, 2002 3:59 am
 
bman
Guest






i don't get it either
   

My system:

Athlon 1.4 ghz
192 mb RAM
geforce SDR (the first nvidia card with hardware T&L)
sb live

I run at 1024x768 and it looks gorgeous. I know I am missing out on some visual details because of my dated graphics card, but morrowind still runs great.
Post Fri May 03, 2002 4:15 am
 
Mack
Guest






   

I dont see why you cant run it well.I have a AMD Duron 1 Ghz and 640 PC133 Ram and A GeForce2 GTS and its very smooth.

Maybe turn your AA off
Post Fri May 03, 2002 4:49 am
 
Spawnster75
Guest






   

i have nearly the same spec as yours but lower spec : here's the download :-

P3 933Mhz, 320mb SDRAM, MSI 32mb GF2MX, 5400rpm h/d, 17" LG monitor, SBLive!Value, Labtec 2514 speakers.

i'm playing Dungeon Seige right now and who says u can't play it. that's weird. FPS is average 20-30. the lowest it went was 8fps in the underground swamp but that's the only incident. r u trying to discourage those who have been eagerly awaiting Morrowind???

please man!!!!
Post Fri May 03, 2002 5:15 am
 
HanshaSuro
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 01 May 2002
Posts: 22
Worth investigating...
   

See, now I'm having a great time with Morrowind, but I can't help but notice that performance is just not what I hoped for. I have a 1.4ghz Athlon, 256mb ram (soon to be 512), and a GeForce 3. Anywhere except indoor locations exhibit poor framerates, and it does not seem to have to do with the resolution. i.e. It's not perfect even at 640x480. Is it just the amount of AI being processed? Why is there such a discrepancy in user results? I would think that I should have similar results as those with similar systems... Anyone know how to turn on a FPS display in game?

Thanks,
_________________
-HanshaSuro

"I read somewhere that in the last census, 1.6 percent of the population was not counted. How can they know that?"
-George Carlin
Post Fri May 03, 2002 6:40 am
 View user's profile
Guest







Re: Worth investigating...
   

quote:
Originally posted by HanshaSuro
See, now I'm having a great time with Morrowind, but I can't help but notice that performance is just not what I hoped for. I have a 1.4ghz Athlon, 256mb ram (soon to be 512), and a GeForce 3. Anywhere except indoor locations exhibit poor framerates, and it does not seem to have to do with the resolution. i.e. It's not perfect even at 640x480. Is it just the amount of AI being processed? Why is there such a discrepancy in user results? I would think that I should have similar results as those with similar systems... Anyone know how to turn on a FPS display in game?

Thanks,

yeah its in the morrowind.ini file open it with notepad. and change the line
Show FPS=0 to Show FPS=1

and now you see your fps in game
Post Fri May 03, 2002 9:06 am
 
Rendelius
Critical Error
Critical Error




Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 16
Location: Austria
   

Here's my advice (my system is 1300/100 with 512MB RAm and GeForce 3 Ti 200, hardly something you would call outstanding).

I run the game with 1280x960. No AA, no shadows. View distance maximum, AI distance untouched. I have excellent framerates in the wilderness and in dungeons, and acceptable ones in the cities.

Here's what I did: Game is installed on a frehsly formatted drive. All other tasks, including virus scanners are off. Texture quality is maexed out in Geforce Tweak Utility. I am using AGP 4x. I have overclocked my geForce to 195/445. The results are more than acceptable.
_________________
Rendelius
former Senior Editor RPGDot
now at http://www.theastronomers.com
Post Fri May 03, 2002 9:30 am
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Shrapnel
Rocket Scientist
Rocket Scientist




Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 1325
Location: Newark, NJ
   

I have a PIII 1.4, GeF3 and 256 MB Ram and I was suprised myself that I actually had to tweak a little. I just assumed I could throw it up full blast and enjoy it. No dice. My view distance is about 3/4 and shadows is 3/4 and even then outdoors in cities gets a little rough around the edges. Looks likes its time for a GeF4
Post Fri May 03, 2002 11:36 am
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Danicek
The Old One
The Old One




Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic
   

Well, we read about 2 GHz + strongest GF4, still not really chance to run it with all on max. At least without some slowdowns.
Post Fri May 03, 2002 12:05 pm
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Guest







   

P3 700,256 Ram,gforce 3 and machine tweaked for 3d gaming , and it runs fine for me. Same as the moderator, I have aa off ( I think) and no shadows. Game is great, and maybe next year ill upgrade my whole system and renew my interest in the best RPG ever made.
Post Fri May 03, 2002 12:27 pm
 
britborn
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 2
   

To all who dispute my hardware being inadequate for MW,

First of all, how can anybody derive ANY dissatisfaction on my part after my compliments on Morrowind?! My props weren't veiled dislike, they were right out there in the open as compliments. If the people responding that I don't like Morrowind are in deed older than 16, you need an English lesson. I have doctorates in English Lit and A.I./Computer Science, maybe a hardware lesson is due also.

As for the hardware side of things....Have none of you been to the official Morrowind site??!! There, right in the forum for the world to see is a thread asking for people's system specs and performance rating. I'll save you the inevitable English problems there as well....out of All the posts there, with processors running up to 2.4ghz NONE, I repeat NONE can run the game PERFECTLY. As a matter of fact, if you DID read the thread you'd notice that only procs above 1.4ghz can even begin to have smooth frame-rates. I have a PIII 933, not a 1.4 and not a 2.4ghz. Pay attention people to what others are saying not what you want to believe is true.

Lastly, I have spoken to techs working on the game. Do you want to know what they said?! Their quote was "Anything below a P4 1.8 or XP 2000+ w/ 512 mb DDR or RDRAM and GeForce 3 will NOT be able to run the game with all features turned on. Even with reduced options, frame-rates will be very slow in cities, say around 5-8 fps. Maybe you could reduce all the settings and see if that's tolerable. If not we're sorry that you didn't enjoy the game."

Continue replying if you want, as of this morning I returned MW and will not be returning to this site. AGAIN I SAY....I HOPE ALL WHO ARE PLAYING MORROWIND ENJOY THE GAME. Is that a clear enough compliment and best wishes??!!

Brit
Post Fri May 03, 2002 1:46 pm
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mier
Guest






The problem is
   

quote:
Originally posted by britborn
Lastly, I have spoken to techs working on the game. Do you want to know what they said?! Their quote was "Anything below a P4 1.8 or XP 2000+ w/ 512 mb DDR or RDRAM and GeForce 3 will NOT be able to run the game with all features turned on. Even with reduced options, frame-rates will be very slow in cities, say around 5-8 fps. Maybe you could reduce all the settings and see if that's tolerable. If not we're sorry that you didn't enjoy the game."
Brit


I have the same system as you, P3-933 with a GF3, 384MB RAM. So what if you can't max the options? The main thing you have to do to get acceptable framerates is to turn off shadows and pull the max view distance in. This does not affect the quality of the models or textures as you tried to claim in your initial post. With shadows off and view distance at 50% (which is still a good ways off in the distance) I can run the game at 1280x960 with no problem save one or two areas where it drops under 10fps. Then I just pull the view distance in a bit more. This is not a shooter, 12-15fps runs pretty smoothly for me as long as it doesn't drop below 12.
Post Fri May 03, 2002 1:58 pm
 
Sledgehammer
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 12
Location: Virginia
my system's performance...
   

I am enjoying Morrowind on an XP 1700+ 512MB GF3 Ti200 Win2000 and i get silky smooth gameplay at 1024 x 768... really. No exaggeration here. I've noticed that it runs best with anti-aliasing off and shadows turned down. I have everthing else turned all the way up, including view distance, and there is no slowdown. Hope this helps some who are wondering.
_________________
"Alright, but just remember you're still suspecto numero uno. Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you. That's police talk. Now get out" - Sledgehammer
Post Fri May 03, 2002 2:22 pm
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Breakapart
Village Leader
Village Leader




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 84
   

britborn, not sure why your upset? People are just posting suggestions.

Anyhow, i agree that (you) may want to wait awhile until you can play this game at your acceptable settings. It's not like this game is limited edition and will disappear anytime soon. Plus, you'll more that likely start playing around the time a few mods are released/created so there will be even more options on how to play.

After the DISASTER that was Ultima9 was released, these same questions were posted about it being slow. In Ultima9's case it was shoddy programming, in Morrowinds case it seems to be creative programming--squeezing the most out of current computers.(night sky with stars, water ripples, character details, NPC reaction based on your reputation/items your holding/etc)

When you play it is less important then how much fun you have playing it.
Post Fri May 03, 2002 2:25 pm
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