Alt-Tab + SLI /Crossfire.... A MUST!!!!

I can’t speak for others, but for me, a game’s graphic quality is extremely important. That´s why I spent quite a bit of money in my 32-inch monitor and my Radeon 6990 graphic card (there are two 6970s Crossfired inside it.) I think that SE’s efforts to deliver a great graphic experience were outstanding; that experience might very well be the most solid aspect of the game right now.

I am being patient, and am waiting for the many improvements that, I’m sure, are on the way. Having said that, there are some that can't wait. I think Alt-Tab is one of those. I say this knowing well that the Development Team has expressed that it is far from a priority now, or even more, because of it.


Although I now have a job in Network Security, I started my career as a developer. I’m quite comfortable with hardware/software issues. This I mention so that the fact that I’m not speaking out of my shirt’s sleeves is left quite clear.

• FFXIV uses DirectX 9, which is closer to the prehistoric graphics platform FFXI used when it launched on PC, than to the latest iteration of the platform. That chain-and-balling of the game to obsolete technology was almost unacceptable for FFXI. Furthermore, that game should’ve released a DirectX 10 version by mid-2007 for the PC.

• It was unacceptable to have a PC game launch still using DirectX 9 in late 2010, no way around it. DirectX 11 was already out and the technology gap between 9 and 11 was greater than between 7 and 9.

• The problem for High End platforms is that, with DirectX 9, it’s impossible to use two or more graphic card in parallel (SLI or Crossfire) in a window, you MUST use Full Screen. This was fixed in DirectX 10.

• I understand why, for FFXI, SE didn´t want us to Alt-Tab; but now that we can play in windowed mode (something we can also do now in FFXI,) and we can Alt-Tab (although only in windowed mode,) what is the problem with allowing us (the people that have spent quite a few bucks in an extreme-graphics platform) to Alt-Tab

• At this moment, if I want to use all my graphic power—Crossfire in my case--(and I do, for after all FFXIV was built as a graphic-power sucker, perhaps the most demanding game in that respect in the market today,) I only have the option to go full screen. If anybody calls me on Skype the game will crash automatically, and if I need to use a browser, or multitask for whichever reason (my rig is not only a gaming platform, you know…) I simply can't.

I know the game needs a lot of improvements, and that for many people the Alt-Tab thing might seem trivial, but for those that love the graphic quality of the game (and, again, I do) and have spent money in hardware to enjoy that graphic quality, it is frustrating to decide: Either sacrifice one of my two GPUs, or to be exposed to a game crash every time Skype rings on me, or a new email arrives.

Uhhh

Yes.

$_$ walloftextwithoutadamnconsiderationofparagraphs!icantreadanythinginthisshyticarelessaboutthis!ohhellp!ineedhelp!butimwrtingblocksoftextinherecanyouhelpmenowplease?whatsohardjustreadit!yeayeareaditofcoursereadit!

Y U NO PARAGRAPH!

I think they made mention of this in another post, but I totally agree. I think they're working on better optimization already though. I think they did also make mention of DX11, but no idea of implementation or if at all.

Errr FFXI was technical DX7/. Which is significantly more archaic then DX9. There are still new games launching today with DX9 and that is perfectly acceptable. The reason developers do this is because Windows XP is still supported and has large install base. Unfortunately MS screwed consumers and developers alike with their decision not release newer versions of DX for WinXP.

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Originally Posted by AarosLunos

Errr FFXI was technical DX7/. Which is significantly more archaic then DX9. There are still new games launching today with DX9 and that is perfectly acceptable. The reason developers do this is because Windows XP is still supported and has large install base. Unfortunately MS screwed consumers and developers alike with their decision not release newer versions of DX for WinXP.

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Maybe Microsoft wants to earn money? If they just updated Windows XP till the year 3000 I highly doubt they would make much profit. If you pay 200 bucks for a DX11 GPU, you should also be able to pay 100 bucks for Win7 :P
And all the games that come out as DX9 today are shunned(People complain that they are not using DX11). So I can't really think of any reason to make a game with these requirements use such an old interface except failing developers.

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Originally Posted by Coldfire

Maybe Microsoft wants to earn money? If they just updated Windows XP till the year 3000 I highly doubt they would make much profit. If you pay 200 bucks for a DX11 GPU, you should also be able to pay 100 bucks for Win7 :P
And all the games that come out as DX9 today are shunned(People complain that they are not using DX11). So I can't really think of any reason to make a game with these requirements use such an old interface except failing developers.

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Haha yea they are all shunned! All of them! Yea they sure are! I guess Skyrim is going to be shunned too :D Shame on those developers for wanting the largest customer base possible! (Skyrim will only use DX9 shaders LOL)

Not that a DX11 port is impossible, and it was stated they are considering but don't have a timeline. But personally its not a big deal.

that one way to put it on M$ screw's ppl. but is also a good thing or else, people wont be leaving WinXP and wont be moving to Win7 and beyond.

Is the same thing as people can't accept updates.

I hate the WinXP excuse. To be able to play this game at a reasonable settle requires a fairly recent computer, or one that's been upgraded very recently. In either case, there's no reason why you should be running a 10-years old operating system. I noticed quite a large difference when LotRO upgraded to DX10, and I'm sure FFXIV would see a similar impact.

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Originally Posted by Dreamer

I hate the WinXP excuse. To be able to play this game at a reasonable settle requires a fairly recent computer, or one that's been upgraded very recently. In either case, there's no reason why you should be running a 10-years old operating system. I noticed quite a large difference when LotRO upgraded to DX10, and I'm sure FFXIV would see a similar impact.

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Thats the thing here, this is less about WinXP and more about DX9. When WinXP was originally released I think DX7 was the norm. DX9 isn't really that old. If SE were to implement DX11 it would need to be dual mode for DX9 backwards compatibility. Some modern games even do this because they don't want to miss out on additional sales.

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Originally Posted by AarosLunos

Haha yea they are all shunned! All of them! Yea they sure are! I guess Skyrim is going to be shunned too :D Shame on those developers for wanting the largest customer base possible! (Skyrim will only use DX9 shaders LOL)

Not that a DX11 port is impossible, and it was stated they are considering but don't have a timeline. But personally its not a big deal.

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Did you actually research that? 'Cause Skrym will have DX11 support from the beginning. And there are no DX9 shaders. Something like that doesn't exist.

Maybe weather and water would actually look good with DX11.
Especially water...jesus.

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Originally Posted by Coldfire

Did you actually research that? 'Cause Skrym will have DX11 support from the beginning. And there are no DX9 shaders. Something like that doesn't exist.

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Really? Where did they say that at?

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Originally Posted by Viejoguillo

I can’t speak for others, but for me, a game’s graphic quality is extremely important. That´s why I spent quite a bit of money in my 32-inch monitor and my Radeon 6990 graphic card (there are two 6970s Crossfired inside it.) I think that SE’s efforts to deliver a great graphic experience were outstanding; that experience might very well be the most solid aspect of the game right now.

I am being patient, and am waiting for the many improvements that, I’m sure, are on the way. Having said that, there are some that can't wait. I think Alt-Tab is one of those. I say this knowing well that the Development Team has expressed that it is far from a priority now, or even more, because of it.


Although I now have a job in Network Security, I started my career as a developer. I’m quite comfortable with hardware/software issues. This I mention so that the fact that I’m not speaking out of my shirt’s sleeves is left quite clear.

• FFXIV uses DirectX 9, which is closer to the prehistoric graphics platform FFXI used when it launched on PC, than to the latest iteration of the platform. That chain-and-balling of the game to obsolete technology was almost unacceptable for FFXI. Furthermore, that game should’ve released a DirectX 10 version by mid-2007 for the PC.

• It was unacceptable to have a PC game launch still using DirectX 9 in late 2010, no way around it. DirectX 11 was already out and the technology gap between 9 and 11 was greater than between 7 and 9.

• The problem for High End platforms is that, with DirectX 9, it’s impossible to use two or more graphic card in parallel (SLI or Crossfire) in a window, you MUST use Full Screen. This was fixed in DirectX 10.

• I understand why, for FFXI, SE didn´t want us to Alt-Tab; but now that we can play in windowed mode (something we can also do now in FFXI,) and we can Alt-Tab (although only in windowed mode,) what is the problem with allowing us (the people that have spent quite a few bucks in an extreme-graphics platform) to Alt-Tab

• At this moment, if I want to use all my graphic power—Crossfire in my case--(and I do, for after all FFXIV was built as a graphic-power sucker, perhaps the most demanding game in that respect in the market today,) I only have the option to go full screen. If anybody calls me on Skype the game will crash automatically, and if I need to use a browser, or multitask for whichever reason (my rig is not only a gaming platform, you know…) I simply can't.

I know the game needs a lot of improvements, and that for many people the Alt-Tab thing might seem trivial, but for those that love the graphic quality of the game (and, again, I do) and have spent money in hardware to enjoy that graphic quality, it is frustrating to decide: Either sacrifice one of my two GPUs, or to be exposed to a game crash every time Skype rings on me, or a new email arrives.

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Please check the Spoiler TC and Copy/Paste that over your original post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AarosLunos

Errr FFXI was technical DX7/. Which is significantly more archaic then DX9. There are still new games launching today with DX9 and that is perfectly acceptable. The reason developers do this is because Windows XP is still supported and has large install base. Unfortunately MS screwed consumers and developers alike with their decision not release newer versions of DX for WinXP.

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I would just like to point out Microsoft officially ended their support for WinXP months before FFXIV came out (Source: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...lp/end-support). Anyone buying a computer nowadays is going to be using Win7. And anyone playing FFXIV would need a computer built in the last year or two due to the technical requirements. So I don't think SE designed this game for WinXP users unless they are absolutely crazy, which is entirely possible.

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Originally Posted by Benji

Really? Where did they say that at?

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An IGN interview I think.

I agree with Coldfire, since Morrowind Bethesda has done great looking games, even with DX9, but anyway you could do ALT-TAB back in 2003

It really is rather frustrating that over a decade later, this is still an issue for a lot of games. It's affected literally every gamer who has ever touched the product. It's screwed countless events via accidentally hitting Alt/tab by instinct or accidentally hitting the Windows button. It's time to find a workaround?

I'm not saying, "SE! SOLVE THIS!" because it's not a strictly Square Enix problem, it happens to a lot of games. However, that's no excuse to ignore it and not, at least, look for a loophole. At this point, I wouldn't even care if the screen had to do it's auto resolution adjustment and black out for a few seconds as long as it didn't completely crash my game.

This would be a much appreciated addition, along with a V-sync option, I dont understand how a game this recent cannot have these features in this day and age, its completely rediculous.

It took me a while to understand.... but thanks and I already did the change....