Low Settings and Cloaked Units

Just before the end of beta phase 1; I pleyed on a low end comp. I went to my bestfriend's house where he has a new alienware and a 6 year old Dell.

We played a few games agaisnt each other; we switched comps between games.

The ****ty Dell did not only not display cloaked units. It also relayed commands about 3 seconds slower. I couldn't begin to play on lowest settings. I had vikings in position to rape his mutas and base; but the flew past EVERY attack command. I lost every time on the ****ty Dell, low end systems kill micro.

I continue to argue that current cloaking animations should appear on mid range comps. If your're on a low end system; you can't play competitively for other reasons.

 

And since Blizzard want all ranges of computers to have competitive players, this option should be turned off for match ups where one of the computers involved is low end. The feature being the shimmering in cloaked units.

 

Guys I think we can all agree on this is a small but critical thing and should be deeply looked on.




Why should some low end (no matter how) users be at such an disadvantage?

 

Because they are playing on 7 year old comps. Stop the QQ and buy a new GPU or comp already. If you can't afford one, I'm sorry, I don't give a ****. I and plenty of other Blizz fans can and did buy new systems just for this game. I don't want features in the game to be sacrificed just because not everyone is as fortunate. You guys should feel lucky the game runs at all on old computers.

 

I see your point however we should not discuss whether the feature should be in or not


It is to be in of course however blizzard should tweak it so its possible to be seen by low low end computers

Just like in many games where shadows are necessary the company has to finetune these things to work for even low end computers.

 

I do feel lucky that the game can run on my 4 year old laptop. I do not want the feature to be scrapped, just that they should find a way for it to be available on low end computers.

Even though I want t buy a new computer, I cant because I have a 5k student loan and not even done with college yet, so parents wouldn't allow me to pull what little money I have out of my bank for a new computer when my current one still works perfectly fine.

 

That's the distinction that some people seem (inexplicably) unable to draw. If blizzard can find a way to represent cloaked units that works for lower end machines than they should. What they shouldn't (and never would) do is scrap a graphics feature because it provides an advantage but can't be run on really old/low end machines.

And this isn't something specific to SC2 or its cloaking feature. Pretty much any recent game that can be played competively and intends on making use of modern graphics capabilities (i.e. something that isn't the game of solitaire that came pre-loaded on your laptop) is going to offer a competitive advantage to players with better hardward. Whether it be visible distance, shadowing, just plain FPS, or what have you the higher-end machine is going to provide an advantage. Balancing a game around low-end hardware capabilities is plain idiocy.

edit: And as an aside I do know the pain of having to play on low end gear. I typically have to run my equipment into the ground. It is not the best when I get it, and I tend to use it for 5-8 years.

 

Despite as being as blasé as I was; yeah, that sucks dude. I wish every big SC2 fan could play on ultra. It just bothers the **** outta me when someone thinks thats big SC2 fans with the budget need to loose features so they match other big SC2 fans without the cash.

Eon, for your considerate post and long time involment in this site; I'd like to buy you a new comp...sadly, I'm not rich. Lemons people, lemons...

 

I like lemons, love that sour taste

Wish I could play on ultra, but at least I know when I do eventually buy a new computer in a year or two, I'll be able to play at least on high settings even if I do buy a fairly low-cost system

 

Prove this to me with a quote from Blizzard. Otherwise there is no proof this is not true. I always thought Blizzard wanted the same experience for computer capable of playing their games. But if this is wrong prove it to me with the blue post.

 

You want me to prove my personal feelings with a blue post? LMAO

I'm guessing you misquoted.

 

Due to the enormeous range of availbile hardware it just isnt possible to create a game that has every possible feature avalible in some form on every piece of hardware that can actually start the game.

Why? Because its a huge waste of time from Blizzards point of view since your hardware will be completely obsolete in a year or so.

Also, a low-end version of the ripple effect would most likely be some sort of semi-transparent drawing which I think would be alot easier to spot than the high/ultra effect. It would be REALLY stupid if people with good hardware played the game on lower settings to take advantage of this effect, and I think this is the reason why blizzard simply didn't implement one for low/mid settings.

And as someone else already said, if you are playing SC2 on ancient hardware the ripple effect is probably not your biggest problem.

 

Seriously, I play with all settings turned down to the lowest and I can see cloaked units. Not while they are standing still, but when they are moving. I have no clue, but I do believe that's the same for all players on all graphic settings.

And also, if it's really completely 100% invisible for you and you really can't see moving cloaked units, then keep in mind that it's just a beta. The retail might be different.

 

Hrmm this is a good point. A few of my buddies play competitive games and they always tell me to turn my stuff on the lowest setting to gain the upper hand because you wont lag as much. They plan on playing Sc2 thing should be fun.

 

This is a very interesting problem. Blizzard probably didn't include the ripple because it takes too much graphic power for the low setting, so simply adding it is out of the question. But if they used a different tactic, like changing the RGB a bit, like Jasmine suggested, there is a chance that low level players might actually have an advantage, because they can clearly see the outlines. The visuals of cloaking are great, and quite iconic for starcraft, so simply removing it is out of the question as well.

Maybe add a small RGB manipulation to the ripple effect as well? But that would probably diminish the look.
Perhaps a different ripple effect for low settings. Could be annoying for Blizz to put out in this last few weeks, but a tear-shaped ripple for ships(size determining size) and something different(not quite sure what yet) for ground.



Free lemon cookies and invitations to space junk for everyone.


Also, stop mocking people that can't or won't invest in new computers, while there old ones are only 3 or 4 years old. One of blizz's goals is to make this game accesible in a competive way for as many players as technically possible.

 

While I realize you might not be including me at all, I'd just like to point out I'm not mocking people who won't (or can't) invest in new computers, but rather anyone making such the insipidly stupid argument that game features should be removed for game balance because older computers can't handle them.

And damn you for posting that picture of lemons cookies. I'm probably going to have to stop at the bakery now. And they are probably closed because it is the 4th. DAMN YOUUUUUU!

 

The point is that Blizzard intends for the features to be available for as many players as reasonable. Reasonable is defined by their lowest settings. Thus all features that don't just look pretty but also serve a function should be included.