77 réponses à ce sujet

[Gill Kaiser]

So does this mean that Bioware and other companies decide which OS a game will be on based on just how many users on say Steam that has a a 64 bit OS? ps: where has the dit button gone?

No, more like the industry has been waiting to release games that have higher system requirements (to the point where they necessitate the transfer to 64 bit) for a long time, but has been held back by the long previous gen of consoles. Over the last years, and especially now that the next gen is here, system requirements increase, and 64 bit becomes necessary to more people.

[Navasha]

Technically, I believe you could download the 64-bit.iso, burn it to a dvd, and then do a clean installation, then activate it with your current activation key.    There is probably instructions on the web on how to do this, or by contacting Microsoft support.   

[Kantr]

16 bit will probably use a dos box emulator.

[dutch_gamer]

No, more like the industry has been waiting to release games that have higher system requirements (to the point where they necessitate the transfer to 64 bit) for a long time, but has been held back by the long previous gen of consoles. Over the last years, and especially now that the next gen is here, system requirements increase, and 64 bit becomes necessary to more people.

And thanks for that. I have been waiting for this move for many years. Before the last gen consoles as a PC gamer we had to upgrade far more often than we have in the past decade. Not that I truly want to keep upgrading or create a new computer often but I do want games to push current tech to the limits which hasn't been possible for a very long time because of the longevity of the last generation of consoles. And this is mainly because games are mostly made with console tech in mind.

[Lennard Testarossa]

I've got Windows 7 64-bit and I had no problem playing Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, etc..

[aries1001]

Thank you for this, Gill Kaiser. I've completey forgotten about gog.com as a way to get old games running on newer machines.
I'll contact the store that build my my machine last august....and hear what they have to say..about this...

[aries1001]

Another question would be this: If the system requirements on the back of the box says windows 98/Me/2000/Vista, will I still be able to play games like Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring on a 64 bit OS system? or do I have to try out what games I can play on an 64 bit OS? And I guess I have to re-install everything e.g. drivers and games etc. again?

[Grieving Natashina]

Well, there are always "ways" to obtain things on the internet.

 

Just for your information, 64 bit operating systems don't have any problems running the majority of 32 bit executables. Certainly not relatively recent games like Oblivion, or even Morrowind. For really old games like Planescape, GOG.com does a good job of updating and rereleasing them for modern systems.

 

And I imagine 16 bit games can be emulated somehow.

Shoot, just about anything can be game-wise emulated, including the Nintendo DS if you know where to look.  

 

And GOG.com is pretty awesome.  I grabbed the 7th Guest and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers from that site.

[Kantr]

Another question would be this: If the system requirements on the back of the box says windows 98/Me/2000/XP, will I still be able to play games like Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring on a 64 bit OS system? or do I have to try out what games I can play on an 64 bit OS? And I guess I have to re-install everything e.g. drivers and games etc. again?

For a clean install everyhting needs to be re-installed. If a box talks about games running on 98, it's not going to do well on windows either 32 or 64 bit. Which is where GoG come in

[caradoc2000]

I haven't had a 32-bit OS in a decade.

I still have one (the one I am writing this on): 1.46GHz Celeron with a 32-bit Win XP. and it is not even old, bought in 2006. My bike is three times older, and I can use that just fine. Why should I get a new computer every other year.

[Kantr]

I still have one (the one I am writing this on): 1.46GHz Celeron with a 32-bit Win XP. and it is not even old, bought in 2006. My bike is three times older, and I can use that just fine. Why should I get a new computer every other year.

8 years for computers is pretty old. in that time according to moores law the numbers of processors on a single chip has quadrupled? Unlike a bike though which is just a solid piece of metal with a few moving parts, computers have many different and complex parts.

 

Plus a computer tends to slow down over that time.

 

You dont need to get one every year but upgrading once in awhile is good.

[aries1001]

Thanks for all you help Much appreciated...

[caradoc2000]

Unlike a bike though which is just a solid piece of metal with a few moving parts, computers have many different and complex parts.

My computer is pretty much a solid piece of metal with few moving parts
 

Plus a computer tends to slow down over that time.

So do I.
 

You dont need to get one every year but upgrading once in awhile is good.

I does have a sticker that says "Vista capable".

[Kantr]

Well, if you are fine with it then thats good. But don't expect to play all the latest flashy games on it.

[unclee]

Well, if you are fine with it then thats good. But don't expect to play all the latest flashy games on it.

 

Or receive any new security updates.

 

Caradoc, Microsoft stopped supporting XP in April, which means no more security updates. You may want to seriously consider upgrading. I know everyone is careful about downloading things (or I like to hope they are), but all it takes is a website to have some bit of code embedded in it that does a drive-by on your machine and exploits a Windows vulnerability that won't ever get patched.

[bloodreaperfx]

The whole "x64 Requirement" thing is a matter of game engine, specifically the Frostbite engine. A twitter post from DICE stated: 

 

"We'll have Frostbite-powered games in 2013 that will _require_ a 64-bit OS," announced Frostbite 2 rendering architect Johan Andersson on Twitter.

 

The main reason would be how the x64 OS handles RAM, by removing a potential limitation. Now the question would be, does the game actually USES the said RAM? Hard to say.

[Kantr]

It's got to use some of it. I suppose there will be a way to tell when we can actually play it.

[bloodreaperfx]

It's got to use some of it. I suppose there will be a way to tell when we can actually play it.

 

 

Well, the easiest way would be how much of a performance drop would you see by playing the game with 3GB's of RAM (taking out a module or two) vs your full, every-day, configuration. 

[Kantr]

If I took out a module, I'd have no RAM.

[Mornmagor]

Then how does it run on Xbox360 or PS3?

[bloodreaperfx]

If I took out a module, I'd have no RAM.

 

Ah well, in this particular case, I'll be happy to test it when the time comes  . Anyway, I have nothing against the x64 requirement, must go with the flow after-all.

[bloodreaperfx]

Then how does it run on Xbox360 or PS3?

 

Because they both use x64 arhitecture. Xbox360 in particular uses Xenon processors as far as I remember.

[Kantr]

Because they both use x64 arhitecture. Xbox360 in particular uses Xenon processors as far as I remember.

3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon according to Wikipedia