X-bit labs explains the Anti-Aliasing problem in Half-life 2

[Axyon]

X-bit labs has posted an article that explains in detail why Anti-Aliasing may be a problem in Half-Life 2. They got their key information from none other than... HalfLife2.net!

The most shocking news of this development is the fact that ATi cards may be able to alleviate this problem, while nVidia cards are pretty much stuck:

"The developers of the legendary Half-Life game said that drivers are not likely to solve the problem, however, it still can be solved for graphics cards based on VPUs from ATI Technologies, such as RADEON 9500-, 9600-, 9700- and 9800-series. As for NVIDIA GeForce and GeForce FX-series, there are practically no chances to find a workaround, according to Valve."

It's an interesting read, you can find it here.

 

[ferd]

finally and explanation on those gfx cards, thx

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by ferd
finally and explanation on those gfx cards, thx

Yeah, I'd thought it would be better to wait until a professional site explains it rather than if I tried to, heh.

 

[The Mullinator]

Well it looks like an upgrade is in order for me. Thnx man.

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Well, sense I only use ATI cards now it won't be a problem. And sense I will be buying a Radeon 9700 AIW next month it will definetly not be a problem.

 

[TheWart]

Originally posted by Buckaroo Banzai
Well, sense I only use ATI cards now it won't be a problem. And sense I will be buying a Radeon 9700 AIW next month it will definetly not be a problem.

Well, that is not neccedssarily true unless ATI fixes the problem.

 

[Apos]

I hope this doesn't get Valve in hot water: I'm not sure they intended one helpful email to a fan to turn into a pubic spectacle that's clearly a bad bad thing for NVIDA. Hopefully NVIDA will take it in stride instead of getting pissy about the bad press.

 

[Apos]

Though this sort of goes to show you how thin information is that these tech sites base their articles on: rather than demonstrating any sort of new technical understanding of issue that they could have explained to us to reveal the roots of the problem in further detail, they basically just copied the tech jargon right out of the thread verbatim without even trying to clarify it. So I wouldn't rely on their say so when trying to figure out: all the official info from technologiclaly in-the-know people is in the thread, and the article just repeats it, making it sound like they've talked to other industry sources and so on (when, again, they are simply drawing off what was said in the thread).

 

[Ridic]

im laughing at a few people right now.


you know who you are!

 

[dscowboy]

Apos, I noticed that too. I was expecting some kind of analysis, but they don't even identify the 'industry source' that confirmed the FSAA problem.

I'd like to see a little more detailed explanation that what we've seen so far.

 

[x-DarkRage-x]

I don't get what the hell X-bit labs meant but simply put, does this mean Half Life 2 isn't going to work on NVIDIA graphic cards or its going to have lower quality graphics?

 

[The Mullinator]

It just means you can't use anti-aliasing on the current NVIDIA graphics cards. Thats really not such a big deal though, it just means the graphics can't get to there absolute maximum potential.

 

[Apos]

FSAA is really sort of a waste at high resolutions of course, and a 5900 will probably get you a very playable 1600x1200 resolution, making the point moot. It's the lower end NVIDA cards that could bear the brunt of this drawback.

 

[green1152]

Good thing I got an ATI

 

[Matrix302]

I am trying to build a new comuter next month espacialy for this game and doom3.

So I am going to purchase PowerColor ATI 9800 with 256MB. And say goodbye to N****ingvidia.

:cheers:

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Originally posted by Matrix302
I am trying to build a new comuter next month ........

:cheers:

And where will you be :dork:comuting :dork:?

:cheers:

 

[LoneDeranger]

I'm a comuter, but I'm not up for sale

 

[NeoNight]

Originally posted by Apos
FSAA is really sort of a waste at high resolutions of course, and a 5900 will probably get you a very playable 1600x1200 resolution, making the point moot. It's the lower end NVIDA cards that could bear the brunt of this drawback.

say WHat! I have a geforce 2 gts.... so uh what does that mean for me .... :flame: ;(

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by NeoNight
say WHat! I have a geforce 2 gts.... so uh what does that mean for me .... :flame: ;(

Just no AA, it's not that big-a-deal, besides, with a GeForce 2, you won't be able to enable AA in most modern games anyway, right?

 

[Apos]

I'm not sure that we even know whether or not this problem will affect non-DX9 level cards, because the conflict seems to come from a process that older cards may not even support in the first place. We'll just have to await more word on exactly what the problem really is.

 

[semi-psychotic]

Well, I'm running at the low end of the high end right now. I run a GeForce4 MX420. I'm not quite sure if it's really good, or not good, or if it's even DX9 based. Can someone help me there?

I'm not sure if I would want to run AA anyway, considering that in one of my other games, the game looks worse and the frame rate plunges with AA.