GOTY 2014

Dragon Age: Inquisition Walkthrough

By the Maker! The Dragon Age: Inquisition walkthrough has been completed and is now posted!

ArcheAge Graphics Quality Settings

While watching a fair amount of ArcheAge streams across Twitch (including one of my fave channels, WeAreTheRomantics), I've been seeing one of the most asked questions viewers have is about how well will ArcheAge run on low-end computers. I have configured ArcheAge to run very nicely on my low-end computer, and am sharing the settings I've found that work best to hopefully answer that question for my fellow gamers.

First, my computer specs:

Cyberpower GXi250

Processor: Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 2100 3.10 GHz; Memory: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT520 1GB (HDMI)

Most notable here is that I only have an i3 chip, and a decent but older graphics card.

ArcheAge Graphics Quality Settings

Screen:

Screen Resolution = 1600x900

Multithread Rendering = Enabled

Directx 11

Quality:

Environment Quality = High

Character Quality = High

View Distance = Very Far

Terrain Detail Distance = Very Far

Terrain Detail = Very Far

Object Distance = Very Far

Grass Distance = Very Far

Character Detail = Far

Display Shadows = Enabled

Shadow Distance = Low

Characters = Low

BG = Low

Shader Detail = Low

Atmosphere Effects = Enabled

Cloud Effects = Enabled

Effects Quality = High

Water Quality = Normal

HDR Effects = Enabled

Depth of Focus = Enabled

Anti-Aliasing = PostAA 1x

I worked through the ArcheAge graphics settings for about two hours, testing out I think every combination of on/off, low/medium/high available, and finally hit on a very comfortable balance of quality graphics and smooth framerate for my computer. If you also have a less-than-stellar computer, try these settings as a baseline for yours, then adjust as necessary.

For an actual visual evidence of my settings and the effect on my gameplay, look to the ArcheAge playlist on my YouTube channel. Videos #1 - #4 were made with older settings (predominantly in Directx 9); video #5 and onward were recorded with the above settings in play.

*NOTE: ArcheAge is currently in the ALPHA phase of development as of this post. Everything in game is subject to change at any moment, including the effects of these settings. 

Operation Supply Drop / 8Bit Salute 2014

I'm the captain for Team Armchair General in this years' Operation Supply Drop / 8Bit Salute. We have a goal of raising $250 to help provide our deployed troops with morale-boosting games and gaming supplies. We would absolutely love to have your support in this effort, by either signing up and joining Team Armchair General, or buy making a donation towards our goal.

To make it more enticing, if that's even possible, for each person who signs up and joins Team Armchair General, OR donates to our campaign, I have an exclusive promo code to HistoryNetShop.com for 10% off your total at checkout. Yep, you read that correctly - 10% off! Subscribe to the Weider History magazine you've always wanted, buy that military history collectible, book, and/or movie to add to your collection, or pass the code along to your favorite military history fan!

I'll be notified when donations are made, but you can also message me or make a comment here to confirm your donation, and tell me how you want me to send you the promo code.

For U.S. troops all over the world, let's do this!

*Team Armchair General Donation Page*

My 8BitSalute Games List
List of games I'll be playing during my 24-hour game-a-thon.

• Age of Wonders III
• Company of Heroes
• Defiance
• Firefall
• Heroes & Generals
• MechWarrior Online
• Path of Exile
• Panzer General Online
• Planetside 2
• Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
• Star Trek Online
• Star Wars The Old Republic
• The Lord of the Rings Online
• The Secret World
• Tribes Ascend
• War Thunder
• Warframe
• Wargame: Red Dragon
• World of Tanks
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown

World War II - The First 25 Years DVD-ROM

A couple months ago, just as I was diving into the video production gig, Armchair General asked me if I would be interested in making an explanatory video for a product on our online store. I accepted. Click the link below to see my first 'professional' video work.

World War II - The First 25 Years DVD-ROM

Achievement!

Just noticed this about my Legends of Eisenwald Preview video:

It now has over 1,000 views! It's the first video made by me to achieve that. Now to get the quality of entertainment up so that my other videos can also reach that number, in both views and Likes.

Legends of Eisenwald - PC Game Preview

Yesterday, I officially turned a page in my PC game journalist career, by publishing my first PC game preview in video format. Since launching my Twitch channel last year, I've been consuming and studying gaming videos, and seeing their power and advantages over text. I decided to try my hand, err, voice, at it, and see how well (or not) I can do it. What do you think?

Legends of Eisenwald - PC Game Preview