BF3 not for Windows XP

[CptainCrunch]

I read bashandslash.com and Jock posted up a bit of news about BF3 not being for DirectX9. Here is what he said:

Well, it's not 2011 just yet here in North America, so I can't say this is the first bit of bad news of the new year, because it's very old news from earlier this year.

What?

...looks like those of us using XP will need to upgrade to Windows 7 and a DX10/11 GPU if we want to play BF3.

Johan Anderson, aka repi, a Rendering Architect at DICE who is working on Frostbite and future DICE/EA games made these interesting tweets recently:

DX11 by far, it builds upon DX10 and fixes some of the weak parts of it. FB2 will take it much further

Frostbite 2 only supports the DX11 API but both DX10 and DX11 GPUs. No DX9 support at all though, time to leave legacy HW behind.

Now that I look back, this is not necessarily "news" given that in the summer he had this to say:

Frostbite 2 is primarily developed for DX11. XP & DX9 is _not_ supported, 64-bit OS is recommended. Lots of time to upgrade if you havent!

Now Im pretty sure its been mentioned in these forums before and that BF3 is going to be in Frostbite 2.0, which is only DX10/11. This means no DX9 and XP can only run that. So, it makes sense that no BF3 for XP.

I say all this because normally this would be front page news, but, like Jock said, it was stated a long time ago about FB2 being DX10/11 only and BF3 being FB2. I figure its common with you all on this.

Soooo, if x - y = z and z= BF3 than y is Windows Vista/7/8 and x is XP.

You guys knew that right?

Crunch

[CptainCrunch]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Now here is something to think about as well:

So FB2 is DX10/11 and PC users will need to upgrade OSes and video cards to support DX10/11. What are they doing for consoles that cannot update/change video cards or OSes? Perhaps the FB engine is different between platforms?

Crunch

[Kylee!]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Now here is something to think about as well:

So FB2 is DX10/11 and PC users will need to upgrade OSes and video cards to support DX10/11. What are they doing for consoles that cannot update/change video cards or OSes? Perhaps the FB engine is different between platforms?

Crunch

This fact has left us with a bunch of conspiracy theories. BF3 will have a console version and a PC version... BF3 will do this and that... stuff like that.

[jimykx]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

oh my god!! this might be a good chance!! a good chance of getting a the reall bf back into the pc!! maybe they will do just like bf2 and bf2 modern combat!!
but it is also bad . i hope they optimize the game very well otherwise ill have to be playing it with 3fps and thats not fun believe me

bfbc2 is using FB1.5 right?!"?!? lets hope FB2.0 brings us some awesome vertical destruction, or full building destruction, like strike at karkand , taking down full huge buildings

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

yer heard it a while ago, my reaction? If true, great for a number of reasons, one being that XP is ****ing terrible (let alone not having to cater to old hardware), and two being that it means real work is being put into the PC version

now if they nail the gameplay, there is promise

[signa]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Now Im pretty sure its been mentioned in these forums before and that BF3 is going to be in Frostbite 2.0, which is only DX10/11. This means no DX9 and XP can only run that. So, it makes sense that no BF3 for XP.
Crunch

Not surprising, I mean for a cutting edge platform, do they really need to support a discontinued OS?

[Minmaster]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Not surprising, I mean for a cutting edge platform, do they really need to support a discontinued OS?

but xbox 360 and PS3 are DX9, so they already have done the work when they make the console versions.

[LunaTiK TunaLiK]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

I think they are going to pay closer attention to the PC version for sure. They might even dumb down the console version when it comes to vehicles like they've done in the past.

[Vreki]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

but xbox 360 and PS3 are DX9, so they already have done the work when they make the console versions.

I dont think the PS3 is using DX9, even though the onboard GFX may support it.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlaySta...ystem_software

The 3D computer graphics API software used in the PlayStation 3 is LibGCM and PSGL, based on OpenGL ES and Nvidia's CG.[1] In comparison, Microsoft uses the DirectX 3D computer graphics API

I hope we see three distinctively different implementations of the engine. Console designs has traditionally focused more on the strength of the CPU and less on the GPU, since the console GPUs are obsolete by todays standard. A pure PC engine will hopefully mean more optimization for 2/4 core CPUs.

64bit is also very interesting, suddenly we will be able to take advantage of those 4+ GB of memory found on many PCs. With a modern 2GB GFX card you will be down to 2 GB of usable memory on a 32 bit OS, since they all share the same 4GB address space.

Its a bit of a blow for XP users, but how many BF3-capable PCs will be running XP anyway when BF3 is out?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

It's good to see they are leaving the legacy Windows XP behind and moving forward with support for modern technology. Sometimes it takes the developer to leave legacy hardware and software behind to help bring others into the modern era. As every one that owns technology knows they will need to eventually plan to upgrade in the future.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

I would much rather have DICE produce BF3 whereby it has everything we want (jets etc) and the latest in high tech graphics and have no one be able to run it at max settings straight away. Much like Crysis when it was first released because for me that just makes it feel like a polished, up to date game. I know GFX dont make for a good game but if BF3 doesnt live up to the massive hype visually, then there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans.

[jimykx]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

I would much rather have DICE produce BF3 whereby it has everything we want (jets etc) and the latest in high tech graphics and have no one be able to run it at max settings straight away. Much like Crysis when it was first released because for me that just makes it feel like a polished, up to date game. I know GFX dont make for a good game but if BF3 doesnt live up to the massive hype visually, then there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans.

meh, it will use frostbite engine. i dont know how mutch they can pull it up. sometimes not beeing able to run a game doesnt mean it has awesome graphics, it might mean it is just a bad optimised game. wich most of the time nowadays it is.

[signa]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Lets hope it doesn't have 2 minute load in times like BF2. :hmm:

[WolfAlmighty]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Lets hope it doesn't have 2 minute load in times like BF2. :hmm:

"Verifying Client Files - Please Wait"

Two minutes later you spawn in to find all the planes and tanks have been taken and you spawn right into an artillery strike.

Good times.

[[Expletive Deleted]]

Re: BF3 not for Windows XP

Even now it still takes a long damned time to load a map in BF2!