The Firing Squad have thrown up a new article called GeForce FX and Half-Life 2: DirectX 8 only? It's well worth checking out!
Like most of today?s games, Valve?s Half-Life 2 automatically detects the hardware running inside your PC and configures itself to run with the appropriate settings for your hardware. On the CPU side, this includes looking for features such as MMX and SSE/SSE2, 3DNow!, while graphics hardware is checked for the presence of pixel/vertex shader-capable hardware, and if present, shading capability (i.e. DX8/DX8.1, DX9, etc).
Auto-detecting hardware is good for gamers who know little or nothing about their PC?s hardware. The typical consumer frequently knows little about the hardware within his or her PC other than the processor inside. These guys know nothing about shaders, trilinear and anisotropic filtering, or anti-aliasing. By auto-detecting their hardware, Valve can configure these settings appropriately with no intervention from the end user. This is a win-win scenario for both, as Valve can deliver the best overall gaming experience for that user?s hardware, while at the same time he doesn?t need to know all the fine details about his PC in order to play the game.
Auto detection is also good for those who don?t have the patience to tweak the plethora of visual settings present within Half-Life 2. Checkboxes for model, texture, water, and shadow detail are located within the video section?s advanced menu, while anti-aliasing and texture filtering can also be adjusted here. This still doesn?t include the console! It can all be pretty intimidating if you don?t know what any of these settings does.
Arguing the case for auto detection is an easy one, clearly it benefits all parties. But what happens if end users are forced down one set path, and aren?t allowed to adjust certain settings? This appears to be the case for GeForce FX card owners.
GeForce FX and Half-Life 2: DirectX 8 only?
Like most of today?s games, Valve?s Half-Life 2 automatically detects the hardware running inside your PC and configures itself to run with the appropriate settings for your hardware. On the CPU side, this includes looking for features such as MMX and SSE/SSE2, 3DNow!, while graphics hardware is checked for the presence of pixel/vertex shader-capable hardware, and if present, shading capability (i.e. DX8/DX8.1, DX9, etc).
Auto-detecting hardware is good for gamers who know little or nothing about their PC?s hardware. The typical consumer frequently knows little about the hardware within his or her PC other than the processor inside. These guys know nothing about shaders, trilinear and anisotropic filtering, or anti-aliasing. By auto-detecting their hardware, Valve can configure these settings appropriately with no intervention from the end user. This is a win-win scenario for both, as Valve can deliver the best overall gaming experience for that user?s hardware, while at the same time he doesn?t need to know all the fine details about his PC in order to play the game.
Auto detection is also good for those who don?t have the patience to tweak the plethora of visual settings present within Half-Life 2. Checkboxes for model, texture, water, and shadow detail are located within the video section?s advanced menu, while anti-aliasing and texture filtering can also be adjusted here. This still doesn?t include the console! It can all be pretty intimidating if you don?t know what any of these settings does.
Arguing the case for auto detection is an easy one, clearly it benefits all parties. But what happens if end users are forced down one set path, and aren?t allowed to adjust certain settings? This appears to be the case for GeForce FX card owners.
GeForce FX and Half-Life 2: DirectX 8 only?
