Do you guys experience it....

[alexpoh85]

Hi guys, i'm new here and new to DOW. DOW is a nice game, nice animation...but, do u guys experience a massive slowdown when turning the shadow detail from medium to high? That was rather annoying for I'm so keen to see the the beautiful landscape and buildings casted with shadows. Besides that, everything runs just fine. I have an above average PC that most of you guys own

[hangar-8]

Shadows are one of the things that will slow any game down a lot. Have you asked about this in the Technical Assistance Forum ?

[n0z3k1ll3r]

Yeah, dynamic shadows like those in DoW are a real resource hog, and TBH I've never seen a game where they were worth the slowdown.

[hybris]

What exactly is this "above average computer" that you own?
I'm for one, am not experiencing any slowdowns with shadows on high, and I thought that I had an "above average computer"

[Void]

I have no problems whatsoever... Everything on max and even -forcehighpoly. I have 1 gig of RAM and fx 6600 at 256. and, define "above average"

[Sajuur]

Moving to correct forum.

[TBS]

Shadows are a real resource hog, post a dxdiag and we'll see how above average your computer is

[threatcon_1]

you havn't mentioned your processor speed.

[alexpoh85]

i've tried DOW on both my desktop and laptop...

specifications:
desktop- AMD 64 2800+
1 GB PC3200 DDR RAM
80GB SATA HDD
Abit KV8 Pro Mobo
Radeon 9800XT 256MB 128bits AGP(downgraded
version, scoring 4500+ in 3dMark03)
Windows XP SP2
Catalyst 5.6(heard from people that 5.6 is the best
version for the moment)

laptop- Intel Pentium M 740(1.73 GHz 533Mhz FSB)
80GB ATA HDD
512 MB DDR2 RAM
ATI MObility X700 128MB(scoring 6100+ in 3dMark03)
mobility catalyst version ????? no idea
Windows XP SP2

For both the systems above, both experience the same lagginess when shadow turned to high...
and i agree with those of you saying that DOW is the first game that demands so much on shadow

[TBS]

5.7 catalysts cause problems with DoW, some people have reported improvement with 5.8...but yes, you are probably best sticking with 5.6.

and turning off shadows

[Old Painless]

when your scoring above 10'000 in 3DMark03 thats above average.

Radeon 9800XT 256MB 128bits AGP(downgraded

What does this mean ?

[alexpoh85]

well, scoring 10,000 and above could means only the X800 and GF6800 series...can't afford that..guess I just got to stick with the shadows at medium detail level...

ah ya downgraded version, if that is the word to use...I've made my biggest mistake ever by buying this card, although it's cheaper, and it uses R360 core chip, the same as original 9800XT, but this card had been downclocked. And it's not 256bits but 128bits...it's worse than a typical 9800pro 256bits...might be worse than 9700 as well, not sure

[Vertigo]

and i agree with those of you saying that DOW is the first game that demands so much on shadow

Nah. Some games in the past have DIED with shadows on, often combined with specific driver releases. Hell, HW2 took a BEATING from shadows(on ATI cards) for a while before it got fixed up. Looked like crap, too. I'm glad they ironed that out, eventually.

I also recall Deus Ex 2 had some serious performance issues with shadows. And early C&C Generals, too.

FEAR is the one currently killing my system. Nothing like going from 60 FPS to 14 by changing a single option (soft shadows). Time to upgrade... rest in piece 9800 Pro, you lasted longer than I expected....