Game Development Community

TGEA Compatibility

by Frank Korf · in Torque Game Engine · 04/09/2007 (11:01 am) · 6 replies

Quick question:

What percentage of users can run TGE but cannot run TGEA because of hardware limitations?

I just want to know how much of the market I would be cutting out by going with TGEA instead of TGE. I know that TGEA requires (among other things) Shader 1.1 and recommends shader 2.0. However, I cannot find any stats on the current market penetration of Shader 1.1 or better. Make sense?

Thanks
NextNext Thread
PrevPrevious Thread
More from Torque Game Engine


Torque Owner Andrew Edmonds
EiKON Games
#1
04/09/2007 (11:47 am)
Hi Frank,

We had a similar dilema, but the ability to do certain things that were essential to us (that we couldn't do in TGE) led us to migrate to TGEA.

FYI - we used this to get an indication on what hardware people are running these days: www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

Associate Jaimi McEntire
King of Flapjacks
#2
04/09/2007 (12:07 pm)
According to that survey, 26% will not be able to run TGEA. That's 26% of people who use Steam (halflife 2 players, etc). If your target is casual games, then that percentage is significantly higher.

Torque Owner Frank Korf
#3
04/09/2007 (12:15 pm)
Wow. Thanks for the info.

Braedon Hinchcliffe
#4
04/11/2007 (6:31 pm)
Almost every game made in the last couple of years requires shader 1.1 or higher.

I dont think its a big deal..

Torque Owner John Doppler Schiff
#5
04/11/2007 (10:51 pm)
Depends entirely on your target audience, Braedon. If you're aiming at FPS gamers, chances are good that they have high-end systems already. If you're aiming at causal gamers who have less incentive to upgrade their systems, then your user's average system is going to be much less powerful.

It's definitely a big deal. =)

Torque Owner Gary "ChunkyKs" Briggs
#6
04/12/2007 (11:46 am)
Other than hardware, it's also a big deal when TGEA doesn't actually run on the system you own.

Think "linux". Think, more importantly, "Mac". Think "solaris" [k, don't really think solaris..]. If you're writing a game using TGEA, you're immediately booting mac users from your intended audience.

Gary (-;