Considering that the oldest cards that are DX9 compatible are getting dated, this wouldn't be as much of an issue as some would believe. It might even be detrimental to those using older cards since older drivers tend to be more optimized for those older cards.
<!--quoteo(post=1767176:date=Apr 15 2010, 03:45 PM:name=Crazyperson4200)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Crazyperson4200 @ Apr 15 2010, 03:45 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1767176"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Considering that the oldest cards that are DX9 compatible are getting dated, this wouldn't be as much of an issue as some would believe. It might even be detrimental to those using older cards since older drivers tend to be more optimized for those older cards.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You are in fact speaking crazy talk. Drivers for a card ONLY get better optimized for that card.
Typically the only reason to force driver updates is if the game is exploiting some special feature in the game engine. See Mirror's Edge trying to max out PhysX (and the drivers failing for several months). Since I doubt NS2 is doing this, there's no need.
Also, forcing updates of drivers, especially into beta drivers, is a bad idea since it tends to break how other games work. For example, to get Crysis to work I had to get a beta driver that messed up how Mass Effect and L4D played. Simply get the most stable driver required and you're good to go.
But again, NS2 should not need forced driver updating, assuming they aren't exploiting some super shiny new feature in the driver code.
I was talking about legacy cards, which are currently Radeon X1xxx and earlier for ATI as well as 7xxx and earlier for nVidia. Since they are in "legacy support" the only updates they receive are critical fixes. Forcing a more current driver version would render these cards useless for NS2, which may or may not be bad depending on how the final product plays on these older cards.
If the product is still officially supported, then yes, newer drivers are typically better unless they don't work on an individual basis.
I'm slightly surprised the HD 2xxx aren't quite legacy yet.
Games are developed around drivers, not the other way around. It's insane to do something a driver can not do and expect some other company to go fix the problem for you. I doubt there's many people running any driver with such a huge hole in it that it would require "enforcing".
<!--quoteo(post=1767913:date=Apr 19 2010, 06:13 PM:name=Lemming Jesus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lemming Jesus @ Apr 19 2010, 06:13 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1767913"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Games are developed around drivers, not the other way around. It's insane to do something a driver can not do and expect some other company to go fix the problem for you. I doubt there's many people running any driver with such a huge hole in it that it would require "enforcing".<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Lies. See all the wonky beta drivers you HAVE to get when certain games release to make them work. Crysis, Far Cry2, and Mirror's Edge come to mind.
Comments
You are in fact speaking crazy talk. Drivers for a card ONLY get better optimized for that card.
Typically the only reason to force driver updates is if the game is exploiting some special feature in the game engine. See Mirror's Edge trying to max out PhysX (and the drivers failing for several months). Since I doubt NS2 is doing this, there's no need.
Also, forcing updates of drivers, especially into beta drivers, is a bad idea since it tends to break how other games work. For example, to get Crysis to work I had to get a beta driver that messed up how Mass Effect and L4D played. Simply get the most stable driver required and you're good to go.
But again, NS2 should not need forced driver updating, assuming they aren't exploiting some super shiny new feature in the driver code.
If the product is still officially supported, then yes, newer drivers are typically better unless they don't work on an individual basis.
I'm slightly surprised the HD 2xxx aren't quite legacy yet.
Lies. See all the wonky beta drivers you HAVE to get when certain games release to make them work. Crysis, Far Cry2, and Mirror's Edge come to mind.