Elemental Forums
The minimum resolution to run Elemental looks to be 1024x768, at least according to the error I get when I try to run it on my MSI Wind, which is limited to 1024x600.
The minimum is indeed 1024x768, and as most netbooks have older intel graphics chipsets, it's going to be below the video requirement anyway unless it's one of the 11" models.
EDIT: Of course, I'm beaten to the punch. Researching the Wind.
I can't begin to understand the logic in companies designing computers, that are supposed to be used primarily to view documents, having such a low vertical resolution. For the most part, I find vertical resolution to be far more important than the horizontal.
Curiously, it took me awhile to narrow down exactly what an MSI Wind even was. MSI, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to name three different computers the 'Wind'. One is a small form factor, the other is an all-in-one setup, and then you have your netbook. They're all called the 'Wind'.
For everyone wondering, the MSI Wind uses the Intel® GMA950 chip. It supports Shader Model 2.0, but Shader Model 3.0 in software only. I hear the engine might not be utilizing SM 3.0, but all things aside this card is very borderline.
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Ah ha! Well, that sucks for me. Oh well. I was aware of the multiple Wind versions, I didn't take the time to verify the DirectX compatibility though. I was hoping the resolution requirement would change, but as it looks, thats a moot point at the moment. Shucks, no mobile Elemental for me for the time being 
I think the netbook stuf wil be comin later..we're going to probably have to make some netbook-specific UI to compensate for the resolution equirements.
As it stands the game still requires 3D rendering I don't think a netbook can really handle anyway, right? So not just UI, but other things I imagine will need to be adjusted for a super low-requirement cloth-map only mode.
The 3D required for the cloth-map only mode should be fairly minimal, and most netbooks have DX9.0c support (even if some work is done in software). Netbook gaming is not unheard of, though certainly not common. Making the game specifically with netbooks in mind should clear up any incompatibility issues. Expectations of performance, however, should be fairly modest.
The GMA950 used in most of them does not have hardware T&L. That alone might be barely tolerable for the basics on a regular laptop, but combined with the weak Atom processor that said T&L will be offloaded onto it's not going to be pleasant at all, if it even starts.
It's probably the upcoming Nvidia Ion models that will be able to play, if we do a netbook-res UI.
Well, that's kinda disappointing, especiallly since Brad has been doing the media circuit claiming to be able to run Elemental on a low end netbooks.
"When the game comes out you will be able to play it on a netbook," he said at one point, "And I don't mean a good netbook. I mean a crappy netbook."
Misquote, or am I missing something?
maybe when the game will come out a new generation of netbook will have enough resources to play a slightly toned down version (in graphics part) . Or maybe they've a bit exagerated
The idea that Brad mentioned was cloth-map only on netbooks. Which really shouldn't be a problem. Yeah, performance would be of modest expectations at best, but it should still be playable.
We'll just have to wait and see what happens. It sounds like netbook support is planned in some fashion, its just a matter of waiting for it to happen. Was hoping to test on it now, but I can wait.
Oh awesome! me happy >.> I would be fine with just a cloth map...
I'm curious. What are the most recent games that support 800x600? Looking around, it doesn't look like too many games released recently (if any) support a resolution so low.
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