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Technical Analysis of StarCraft II by Kalos

Update:
StarCraft 2 Graphics Requirements Confirmed - Contents of this analytical article was later confirmed by documentation from Blizzard/AMD.

Recently I was asked about the demands and requirements StarCraft II would place upon a user’s computer system. The first section I have put together is a simple system that will most likely boot and operate the game to a basic degree. Underneath I have also gone into more formal analysis of some of the specifications and demands we know StarCraft II to have from what Blizzard has released so far, and what is in that section is designed to be said with certainty. Something like this, or better should be used to play StarCraft 2.

StarCraftWire.net Minimum Specifications:

• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500
• Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*

StarCraftWire.net Alternative Minimum Specifications:

• CPU: Athlon XP 2500+
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9700
• Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*

* See “Recommended Specs” on page 2

This rig obviously isn’t going to run the game well, it’ll be about as choppy as a storm in the middle of the Atlantic, but it shouldn’t be too far from the base line. These projections can’t be said to hold overwhelming accuracy or the foresight worth of a great prophet, merely a guide that if you hardware is below this bar, don’t expect to be able to run the game in a playable fashion that isn’t a slideshow (just like every “min spec” out there!).

The technical bit:

As it stands, Blizzard has given away titbits of information over the last few months that I have been busily trying to put together. While much of this may be obvious to those of a similar technological disposition, it may help to confirm what we do know so far.

• Thanks to Xordiah we have it confirmed that the game will be based upon Pixel Shader version 2.0. This comes as no surprise, and has become a pretty basic level of shader technology to most graphics cards for the last five years. Nothing requiring outrageously demanding in terms of the graphics cards inherently in that. (more on shaders)
• We know that the game is not a Vista exclusive title; it has to run on XP and Mac OSX as well. This means it cannot be a native DirectX 10 title at heart, because that simply wouldn’t run on XP as XP doesn’t have the appropriate API libraries and therefore wouldn’t run the game. So don’t expect out of this world next gen graphics through this route (though some use of X10 features while using Vista through extensions would be possible). (more on Vista & DX10)
• The use of DirectX 9 is also in line with the use of Pixel Shader 2.0 technology discussed in the first bullet point. More specifically, it looks as if Blizzard would be using either DirectX 9.0 or 9.0a as the DirectX basis, not 9.0c as that would be using Pixel Shader 3.0 then. (more on Shaders & DX10)
• Additionally it also has to have an OpenGL rendering capabilities which would be necessary to run on OSX, as it has no DirectX APIs of any kind to speak of, thus the game must have an OpenGL mode, just as its predecessors World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3 did. It would be possible then to use one mode or the other for rendering for either on Windows XP or Vista.
• Blizzard licensed Havok’s Physics technology and development tools nearly two years ago, well before the announcement of Starcraft II, for use in their games. This technology would ease the creation of realistic movement, destructibles, and basically enhancing realistic appearance. Blizzard confirmed in an FAQ listed on their website that the Havok Physics engine has been integrated into Starcraft II and will feature in the game. (more on Havok)
• At this point there are few Product lines that will/will not work by definition:
  • Sorry all of you out there with Nvidia Geforce 1-4 cards, you have no Pixel Shader 2.0 support, and as far as Blizzard have made clear that’s a basic part of the game’s requirements. Without compatible cards with the PS 2.0 standard, they are a no-go, not that the performance of these cards have allowed for their owners to have any real gaming use out of them in the last few years anyway.
  • Compatible Pixel Shader 2.0 and above cards start with the Geforce FX series from Nvidia, the Radeon 9500 and above from ATI/AMD, and the GMA 900 onboard graphics from Intel. These are pretty much the bottom grade possible to get StarCraft running with Blizzard’s technical demands. These aren’t recommendations to rush out and buy for your machine as most likely these cards would run awfully, but they’d get the game going on a bare level, and if you have worse than that… Unlucky

Recommended Specifications on Page 2.

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