so does that mean im just out of luck? I dont need the best performance in the world, but i cant afford to have to buy a new computer every year just to play the games that are popular. 

I hear CS is pretty popular... 

ok, so popular was a bad word choice. 

You should be right for now, don't know about "a few years" though. But if you are willing to turn options down/off, you should be right. There are alot of people playing etc now, with systems far worse than that, and they seem to be surviving :) 

in few years any tech will be outdated.

bleeding edge is not worth the money it costs, cause software is always behind the hardware (that is for average user, not dev/enterprise).

just think what computer you need now and might need in about half a year (by that time new video/cpu models will come and current hi-end will become budget stuff thus you`ll be able to upgrade if needed)
In theory spending 200$ on upgrade each year lets u stay more up to the current standards than spending 500$ every 2 years. If you know what you are buying.

And final words : dont buy gf4 mx, it sucks. 

Thx so far...

Nitin - any suggestions what to do with them as resident Unreal guru?

Gib - thanks for the offer but that wouldn`t make them very accessible to Unreal players.

Wazat - interesting idea but no - I wouldn`t want to impose on Metl and besides an archive of old material is not really worth it here. 

for your input on the hardware, guys. it was very helpful. 

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<Dranz|away> woah!
<Dranz|away> there`s some freaky shit going on

Discuss the possibility that something crazy (like an alien invasion, or some kind of localised apocalypse) caused this.

...yes, I know. 

shambler was probably about to come on. 

i`m too bored to discuss...

about sham`s reviews, just bombard all the Unreal sites you know and see who wants them. you dont have to expect THEM to ask you (they are probably busy with all sorts of stuff). if you make a site you can maybe collect old reviews (also from other good reviewers and make a collection/archive).

pretty vague solution but i`m rushing to revise for a big test 2moro so...

h-hour: consider making/learning to make your own pc. it pays back. you can bolt on bits when you want. and spend time cursing when they dont work but if you like tinkering it`s nice to maybe sell off your 9-month old vid card to a friend and buy a new one and so on. just so you don`t have to worry now about technology in 2 yrs.

metl: your site had made me now more aware of the importance of apostrophes. i`m becoming really fast at spotting them :-)
my old grammar teacher would be proud... 

Hey! GeForce 4 MX is a kick ass card, there`s just more kick ass cards. If you don`t believe me, I have an old TNT I could sentence you to, practically software rendering that.

What`s this with Doom 3 and DirectX 9? Required? Certainly none of the other minimum specs are anything unusual. 

Don`t buy it, you`ll regret it. I made that mistake...

Various games have display problems, and run much more poorly than they should considering the quality of the computer. And the drivers are b0rked so Warcraft III would reset every 5-20 minutes or so, back when I cared about WCIII.

Hopefully I`ll be able to afford a computer worthy of DoomIII`s touch...
Hopefully DoomIII will be worthy of my time. :) 

Im currently a GForce owner... and am just craving the opportunity to spill my beans into a radeon... probably at 9700 tho` as my wallet concerns are of course the ever present issue...

Im also a sound geek, and would spurge on a juicy audigy card. 

I'm waiting until my current speakers give out so I can justify buying a set of these:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/details&CRID=2&CONTENTID=5044&countryid=19&languageid=1 

Don`t get one, loadsa probs get a cheap Ti 4200 maybe, its nice enough for me. 

in case anyone cares

http://www.worms3d.com

they sport a nifty FULLY destructible 3d engine...and supports overhangs and tunnel structures... tho it may not be as detailed as alot of newer engines, I think if they continue to work with this technology alot of interesting things could be done.

Also delving into the topic of not mapping for newer FPS games. It really does boil down to the tools available. sure new engines reguire alot of more work to be put into maps to create something equal to or better than the games release, but if versatile and stable tools were available doing so would be a hell of alot easier... but what do I know 

I`ve had a chance to play UT now - just DM botmatch but I`ve given it a good go. I`m not very impressed. As a game in it`s own right it would be really good BUT as a direct sequel to an already great game I find it lacking. Basically the same game with better graphics (albeit not always used where they will be noticable in MP), the same weapons, some extra tricks (that are too complex to bother with while fighting), silly pills and the replacement of one of the coolest MP gamemodes with bloody football. I`m not sure WHY I would play this instead of UT??

And the maps...I`ve only walked through the DD, BR, and CTF maps - THEY at least seem consistently good and often make much better use of the new engine. CTF-Lavagiant2 seemed particularly stunning. But for DM....there seems to be an obvious bi-polar theme. Either they are boring indoor arena maps or sprawling outdoor theme maps, with very little inbetween. Overall not as good - and not nearly as many - as the original UT. Plus the new engine only works well in a few...although those few are quite inspiring.

DM-Antalus - very nice, this is what they should be doing with the engine - where it looks great, plays well, and the terrain features actually make a gameplay impact. One of the best IMHO.

DM-Asbestos - yawn boring. Okay theme but entirely forgettable.

DM-Curse3 - Ugh, cramped and confusing. Okay theme though, if patchy design aesthetics.

DM-Compressed - good, solid gameplay via the obvious but very effective design. Again more theme would have been good.

DM-Flux2 - hmmm almost there. Reasonable theme and interestingly play but needs more interaction between in and out.

DM-Gael - A rocket arena map. Wow. Next. Quick. It`s boring me already.

DM-Inferno - dramatic and exciting design, not so convinced about the gameplay but still a very worthy map for it`s distinct style.

DM-Insidious - Another arena. Nice atmosphere in this even if it only reaches it`s full potential at those vats. Once again forgettably symmetrical gameplay.

DM-Leviathan - Yet another arena...at least the theme`s a bit better. Not at all memorable though.

DM-Oceanic - okay for this sort of map, decent design, could have done with a stronger theme.

DM-Phobos2 - good and well detailed but lacks the purity and directness of Phobos due to the complex bloated nature.

DM-Plunge - not a patch on Morbias. Garish lighting, too many jump pads, too sprawling and bloated. Okay but again lacks the essence of it`s predecessor.

DM-Serpentine - hahaha what the fuck? A box map with a maze in the bottom? What is this Q1 DM newbie map time or something. Maybe it`s supposed to be a concept map or something but surely loathsome to any self-respecting player.

DM-TotoraForest - ahhhh yes. Utterly brilliant in every way except the underuse of the upper levels in botmatch. The map of UT DM as far as I`m concerned.

DM-TrainingDay - more boring and not as well themed as the UT intro maps. 

...why not delve into it in the actual topic? 

[quote]I`m not sure WHY I would play this instead of UT??[/quote]

You said it all right there...

I agree almost completely with your comments/observations for every map. Antalus is the best of the lot, TokaraForest is something to behold but the size ruins the fun for me. Most of the weapons feel all but useless over such huge spans.

Id sum up the DM maps of UT2003k as follows, just because you can do something... does not always mean that you should. Firstly,I am thinking about the scale of the maps. Secondly, the over-use of detail makes them all look very cluttered and over designed. 

any one know of software openGL implementation ?
like mesa GL, but compiled win32 dll

url please 

I would send them to hellscrag but a lot of the maps you reviewed have already been reviewed there. But I`m sure they could serve as an added opinion or something. Not sure if that`s quite what you want though. 

Microsoft and SGI both do an opengl dll.
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/nuclear/274/ 

I agree totally.

I also think they made the flak cannon far less interesting. The overdone flak trail just ruins it... 

The newer worms games have taken a persona or image that just seems goofy and uninteresting to me. Tacky.

And one thing I`ve noticed about 2d games making the transition to 3d is that it almost always fails. The physics and looks and controls are just so worthless. It`s like they don`t quite know what to do with this new-fangled "thiiiiird dimention".

Mario 64 did it right. It went downhill from there. 

did a good job of capturing some of the elements of the metroid series: exploration, platform jumping, lots of secrets, and moody, alien environments. It wasn't 100% good in all those respects (i think the atmosphere/feeling fell short in some of the zones.)