As mentioned in the news, Swordmaster revealed his second EMI.com column today. Check it out <a href="http://www.escapemi.com/column02.html">here</a>) and give some feedback in this forum.

ZeroXcape
zeroxcape@escapemi.com

"Now we'll all have to get 3D accelerators (sp?) too!"????

I feel sorry for any gamer who doesnt have a 3D card. Its impossible to play most new games without one. The new ones are expensive but some older models, which are still good cards, are more reasonably priced.

Besides, its natural evolution to go from 2D to 3D. If adventure games are to be competitive with other genres they cant rely on dialogue to give them realism. They will have to excel in all fields: graphics, sound, dialogue, story, gameplay. Too bad its impossible to have multiplayer, itll become and RPG if you do that.

How good of a 3d accelerator will this game need? For games I play(mostly Quake 3) I need a strong card, and I need a new one, but will my wea Voodoo3 2000 be able to handle this?
If so, it will be easy for gamers, because that Voodoo3 is now under $100, and many above it are close in price.

Adios,

-Kighr

Well I'm only judging by the screens, but I'm guessing you won't need much, a first generation Voodoo card could even work fine, and you can pick one of them up for around $50. But that's just an educated guess.

I think EMI will require a Voodoo2 card or greater. My recommendation is that if you don't own a 3D card now, buy a 32MB TNT2 card. They are better than the Voodoo3's and will be fine for future games too. But if you want TV-out capabilities you need to go with the Voodoo3.

I think that 2D graphics is the way to go with adventure games. The 3d graphics screenshots look really bad in my opinion, and I would much prefer the old 2d style of play.. as I loved it. I realize it's too late but I doubt I will buy the game now. I really don't think 3d is nessecary at all... 2d graphics can be very breathtaking and often better than 3d. Take a look at a game like fallout or fallout 2. Completely awesome games that would have been ruined if the developers "sold out" and went with 3d graphics just to appeal to the gotta-have-eye-candy people.

Voodoo 3 should be fine. If you are gonna get into gaming in a hardcore manner I would recomment a GeFroce DDR, even better to get a GeForce 2GTS or a Voodoo 5.

I was not happy with GF being 3D, however after I played it I realized it was the best game ever. You just felt more in control with Manny moving according to you keys. CMI looked great, but if Lucasarts is to attract new gamers its gonna need 3D. Plus they have the technology, all they need is textures aand they can start creaing maps. With a 2D game, everything has to be drwn out and making alot of sprites is a pain, or so Ive heard.

I think the gameplay and how entertaining a game is determines its value, and from what Ive sen from LucasArts previously I am confident this will be a good game.

Listen, all it's going to need is a first gen card. Why? Because the backgrounds are 2d images (it's just the characters and certain items that are 3d). Since ACTION games in full 3d (such as half-life, Force Commander, Pod Racer) run perfectly at a good res on my low-spec (225MhZ) PC with Voodoo 1 card, I don't think ANY current game specifies that you MUST use a certain level of 3D accelerator, they just specify you need one. It's the processor speed I'm worried about - that just keeps crawling up with every new Lucasarts release, even on games you'd think wouldn't need a high powered machine. Processors are more expensive, and more difficult to replace...

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So speaketh Moribundman...

Only reason Im reccomending a high end 3D card is because if you are gonna buy a card now and plan on playing games, buy a good one!
If you dont youll have to replace, the thing might start overheating. Plus if you have a slow CPU then a 3D card such as the GeForce which is a GPU can relieve stress from your CPU and allow load times to decrease and the game to run at a smoother framerate.

If you are gonna play games, dont buy a first gen 3D card, youll have to replace it later on considering as system specs rise in games.

That's true if you play alot of action games (Like me), but alot of MI fans just stick to adventure games, which aren't exactly pushing the limits technologicaly. For someone who just plays adventure a 3rd or 4th generation 3D card will be wasted power for quite some time now, and a 1st gen card will most likely suffice for at the least a year or two more, most likely longer. However, if you're a gamer looking forward to action games like Max Payne or Halo, you'd be absolutaly correct LeChuck.

Yep.
I love action games. TF, UT, QIII, CS, HL, and Deus Ex are gonna get me through till LEC releases its next batch of gmaes.

Max Payne and Halo look amazing.
Also I just heard Shiny nabbed the rights for The Matrix. Gonna be a good year ahead.

Don't know about you guys but I'm waiting for Duke Nukem Forever. Rumer has it there will be some adventure games style gameplay inserted in. Even to go as far as dialog trees when speaking to certin charictors. (Max Payne looks cool too.)

-Inferno86

While we're on the subject, the non-adventure games I'm looking forward to are: Oni, Max Payne, Halo, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, Black & White, and most of all Metal Gear: Sons of Liberty.