Next-Generation Game Performance with the Unreal Engine

[Yellow5]

Anand article here. (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1580)

"It is the latest build of the Unreal Engine that Epic has used to spin off what is being tentatively called the Unreal Performance Test 2002. This benchmark is designed to stress today's systems, from CPU to GPU, using a game engine that will be widely used in the very near future. With Epic's help, we'll be able to provide you all with an idea of exactly how your systems will perform in games that will be coming out in the near future. It's time to put the manufacturers' claims to the test and find out what platforms are truly built for the next-generation games."

Go read the benchmarks and weep.... and start saving your cash for next generation video cards. :/

Also keep in mind the following, it IS a beta build so performance could increase.

"While this is normally where our conclusion goes it should be said that the results we've shown you today are by no means conclusive. We're dealing with an engine that is still in development and over time, with the aid of the major graphics players performance should improve. What we have seen here however is a good starting point for what we can expect to see from the next-generation of games running at the highest possible settings. The performance can and will improve with efforts from ATI and NVIDIA as well as Epic's own efforts to make sure that owners of some of the slower cards will not be hung out to dry"

[SU3000]

yes, I read it and it made me cry.

Cos in addition to the video card, you'll also need a new CPU, and probably a new mobo too.

[Zaccix]

I think those FPS numbers will increase as the engine is tweaked and refined before release. It does look like the minimum card will be a GF2 Ti, though, and as for Voodoo's...



...I'll need an upgrade. ;)

[Law]

This could be a good indicator of U2 and UT2 performance, but on the other hand, it might not be. At this point we don't know about any of the changes that Legend and DE have made and how polys each game is going to push.

Regardless of any changes they make, I'll be purchasing a GF3 when the GF4 comes out in a month or so.

[J. Speed]

That was a good read. Yes.. I may be looking at a GF4. The GF4 should be out before UT2 comes out.

[SimplyCosmic]

Just looking at the video of UT2, one of my first thoughts was how it would play, if at all, on anything less than the absolute latest generation of cards.

I expect to hear another round of complaints about the performance of any given system with this current crop as we did back with the original Unreal.

[ShadowKi][er]

...and the Xbox is supposed to run Unreal Championship? From looking at those specs, it's going to;

a) Look like crap compared to the PC version
or
b) Run like crap

I doubt if the framerates will rise that much in the full version. It looks like i'm stuck with 20~ fps on 1600×1200 with my current setup.

[SimplyCosmic]

ATTENTION PEOPLE: The results posted by Anand are NOT indicitive of what U2 or UT2 perfomance will be. The program created by Epic and used by Anand in those tests is a benchmarking program to push higher end cards, and not representitive of what will actually be in the release version of those games.

Relevant quote from Mark Rein, Epic PR guy, amongst other things:
"The Unreal Performance Test 2002 (UPT) has nothing to do with any of the games using our engine and should not be used to draw conclusions about game performance. I’ll contact Anand and make sure he knows to highlight this. The benchmark is designed specifically to push the latest and greatest graphics cards as hard as we can. UPT is about the future, not the present. All of this will become clearer over the next few months. We will also be adding more features and content to UPT2002 to push things even harder. "Influence, Educate and Improve" will be our motto for the Unreal Performance Test. A lot of cool things are planned. In popular game development lingo what you're seeing now are some preliminary results from what equates to an early alpha version. Stay tuned!

Afterthought: I guess I shouldn't say "as hard as we can" because I'm sure we could push things even harder if we weren't so busy making our game. The Unreal Engine is no longer CPU bound so if you want to make a game that pushes the absolute upper limits of xxx [i.e. insert the name of some imaginary future card that has massively higher fillrate and poly throughput and might be announced the week after next] you certainly could but then, of course, nothing earlier than that could run it. This test is very much about making something to test today's high end cards and the cards of the future. Putting the lower-end cards in the test wasn't really fair because the content wasn't designed to support those levels of performance. Certainly the games using the engine this year wouldn't want to be so aggressive with the content and detail settings. To borrow a phrase from Spinal Tap, the UPT detail settings are set at "11". Unreal2 and Unreal Tournament 2, for example, certainly won't be set at "11" because we want EVERYONE to be able to enjoy them. I suppose Unreal Championship could be dialed up to "11" because it's on Xbox, maybe even "11.5".

One more thing (this will be corrected in the article shortly): Dan Vogel said the flyby had “as many as 100,000 triangles.” – to clarify that it should say as many as “100,000 triangles in view.” There are certainly a LOT more than 100,000 triangles in the demo.

[pine]

Originally posted by ShadowKi][er It looks like i'm stuck with 20~ fps on 1600×1200 with my current setup.

I wouldn't whine, with my setup it looks extremely doubtful that I will be able to get as much as 10 fps...at ANY graphic setting. I'm kinda pissed that I'm going to have to basically upgrade my whole computer to even run this game. :(

[hal]

Pineconeboy: did you not read the post above you, or the article in question?

It's simply a test to push graphics cards using Unreal Engine Technology. It's not indicative in any way of what U2 or UT2 will run like on your PC.

[ShadowKi][er]

Thanks for clearing that up, I just read the benchmark results :).

[2COOL4-U]

The benchmark was run on the latest build of the engine. This is not the build U2 and/or UT2 will use.

[Wowbagger]

Its a stress test!.
When thy make the game(s) theyll try to do all the cool stuff with less stress as possible.

Its just a very heavy(deliberatly) benchmark for the next gen. gfx cards. It has nothing to do with the FPS for the actual games.

All IMESHO of course :D

[Bazzi]

I think U2+UT2 will run twice as fast as the benchmark runs....

[quaker]

Originally posted by Bazzi
I think U2+UT2 will run twice as fast as the benchmark runs....

surely not that fast. anyway, considering that it was meant to push the limits of todays tech, i am pleased. i thought id have to upgrade far more stuff. as it stands, its looking like my 1.4ghz will be enough, atleast for unreal2 (need a new 3dcard though). as for ut2, i wont be getting a very smooth ride i suppose...

[hal]

If you can run U2 very well, you should expect to run UT2 well also.

[quaker]

yes, both games might run the same, but im fine with having 30-35 fps on a single player game, not so when playing multi.

[pine]

Originally posted by hal
Pineconeboy: did you not read the post above you, or the article in question?


Sometimes I don't read the whole thread before I reply, sorry :D.

I'm still pretty pessimistic about this though. I mean, on a system that kicked mine's ass my video card got 13 fps at 640x480. OUCHIE. How much faster is U2 gonna be? It'll have to be a hell of a lot.

[IntRed]

lol
the first post stated that they needed a gf4 and if you look more to the bottom of this thread it states that the fps will be twice as large as the orignial benchmark. You guys crank me up :lol:
the eninge isn't ready yet, its to early to speak about fps. And surly you could have seen it yourself it was a stress test, it bas a flyby and it showed 100.000 triangles or poly's, i forgot. In any case way to much for games/systems of today :)

[NeoNite]

oh no we're dooooomed :o

:)
;)
:D

[Zenda]

I'm waiting to ROFL when it comes out and I read the recommended 'Minimum Specs' on the box:D

[SugarBear]

as long as you have a good computer now, i can't imagine that any game within the next year or two will need more machine than what is available now.

i would imagine that a P4 at say..1.2-4
gforce 2 gmx or gforce 3
700 ish meg ram

that should run just about every "normal" game coming out for a while.

considering that you can build the above PC for about 250-300 dollars, it won't take much to play these games so...don't stress yourself.

[Zaccix]

Originally posted by Zenda
I'm waiting to ROFL when it comes out and I read the recommended 'Minimum Specs' on the box:D
Minimum Specification:

800Mhz Processor or higher.
128MB RAM.
32MB Geforce 2 or better.
Windows 98 or later.
56k modem connection or better for internet multiplayer.

Recommended Specification:

1.4Ghz Processor or higher.
256MB RAM or more.
64MB Geforce 3 or better.
Windows 98 or later.
128K ISDN connection or better for internet multiplayer.
Well, that's my guess, anyway. :)

[Bazzi]

Originally posted by Zaccix
Minimum Specification:

800Mhz Processor or higher.
128MB RAM.
32MB Geforce 2 or better.
Windows 98 or later.
56k modem connection or better for internet multiplayer.

128MB RAM, :D

Guess you've got 5 MInutes to load then! :D