directX11 posts

Many gamers who bought Total War Shogun 2 when it first game out one month ago were disappointed that the long awaited RTS game didn't come with DirectX 11 graphics support out of the box. At the time the game's developer The Creative Assembly announced that a patch would add DirectX 11 support in two to four weeks after the game's launch.

That deadline has come and gone without the patch being released but now a new message from the developer on the game's official message boards says not to worry. The DirectX 11 patch is now due for release sometime in the first week of May.

[Via Blue's News]

The Unreal Development Kit (UDK) beta, a free-to-use version of the Unreal Engine 3 development tools, has been updated with the latest updates and improvements. The March 2011 update includes DirectX 11, Nvidia APEX physics support and more. For more information, visit the official website. Continue after the jump to watch a realtime demonstration video showcasing the new features.

Download Unreal Development Kit March 2011 Beta (1.29 GB)
Download the 'Samaritan' Unreal Engine 3 Demonstration Video (220 MB)
Check out all Unreal Development Kit related Downloads

Several years ago, PC processor maker AMD announced plans to release a new product that would combine both a CPU and a GPU in one. The product was named, not surprisingly, Fusion. After years of waiting, AMD announced today that the first Fusion-based PCs (desktops, notebooks and especially netbooks) are now available from a variety of PC makers.

The graphics core in the Fusion processor supports DirectX 11 graphics. The Fusion is expected to be a big contender in the netbook PC business which may mean that more high end PC games may actually be playable on netbooks. AMD will be showing off PCs with Fusion at this week's Consumer Electronics show and a number of game developers and publishers will be showing off games running on Fusion including BioWare, Firaxis, Turbine and more.

The install base of Windows XP-based PCs among users of Steam has dropped considerable in just the past few months. The operating system, which is over 10 years old, is now used by only 25 percent or so of Steam users, according to the PC game download site's latest survey figures. That's down from over 33 percent of Steam users from the result of July's survey.

Windows 7, especially in its 64-bit version, is the current king of the hill with over 35 percent of Steam users having the OS installed and its expected that the percentage will continue to grow as more PC gamers update their systems. That's good for people who want to play games that will only run on DirectX 10 or DirectX 11. This weekend some web site spotted info that was actually first announced last summer. Battlefield 3, which will use a new version of developer Digital lllusions' Frostbite Engine, will be a DirectX 10-11 exclusive. That means Windows XP and its DirectX 9 API won't be able to run the game when it comes out in late 2011.

Several months after Capcom released the console versions of its sci-fi third person shooter Lost Planet 2 the developer has annnounced that the PC port of the game will finally be released on October 15. In addition to the game itself, Capcom has now released a benchmark test of Lost Planet 2 that should allow gamers to see how the full game will run on their PC rigs.

The benchmark, which you can download right here at Big Download, contains a gameplay area along with a DirectX11 benchmark. The full game will support both DirectX 9 and DirectX 11. It will also support Nvidia's 3D Vision and its recently launched multi-monitor 3D Vision Surround technology. You can check out the minimal and recommended PC hardware requirements for the game along with the specs for the 3D Vision support after the jump.

Download the Lost Planet 2 Benchmark at Big Download (955 MB)

If you are one of the lucky folks who got into the closed beta test for World of Warcraft Cataclysm, you may not be aware that the beta for Blizzard's upcoming third MMO expansion pack actually has some hidden support for a DirectX 11 supported graphics mode. Now PC Games Hardware has posted some instructions on how to access those mode (if you have a DirectX 11 capable PC gaming rig of course).

The article also has some screenshots showing the beta build running in DirectX 11 mode. To be frank its a bit underwhelming at this point with only some more realistic water reflections as evidence that the beta is even running in a higher graphical mode. Perhaps Blizzard will put in some more advanced features before the final commercial version is released.

[Via Blue's News]

While Futuremark has been busy of late with their PC game development division and their first person shooter Shattered Horizon, the company is still best known for their PC benchmarking software and tools, particularly their 3DMark software. Today Futuremark officially announced its plans to release the latest entry in the series 3DMark 11 which will fully support the new DirectX 11 graphics API.

Using an in-house graphics engine, 3DMark 11 will be able to benchmark even high end gaming PCs using DirectX 11 features like tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. 3DMark 11 is currently schedule for release in the third quarter of 2010. There's no word yet on the pricing for the full version although a version with limited features will be released for free.

Aliens Vs Predator looks like it's going to be a lot of fun to play when it's released next month and now the fan site AVPGalaxy.com has revealed what kind of a PC rig you will need to run the upcoming first person shooter from developer Rebellion and publisher Sega. While it's not mentioned in the post you should keep in mind that AVP will be one of the first PC games that will natively support DirectX 11 graphics out of the box:

Minimum Requirements
Windows 7/ XP/Vista
1 GB System RAM (XP)/ 2 GB System RAM (Vista)
3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4/Athlon 64 3000+ or equivalent processor
DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better, ATI X1600 or better)

Recommended Requirements
Windows 7/ XP/Vista
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or equivalent processor
2 GB System RAM
DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA 8800 series, ATI HD2900 PRO or better)

AMD is currently leading the next-gen PC graphics card race with its recent ATI Radeon products that support DirectX 11. However Nvidia has been hinting that their own entry in the race, known both as Fermi and the GF100, will also be a powerful chip. Today an embargo was lifted and a number of hardware based web sites got to reveal info they learned about the upcoming chip from Nvidia.

Unfortunately, Nvidia is still keeping some major details of the upcoming graphics chips secret including a launch date, clock speed, and the big one: cost. However it has revealed some technical details on the chip itself which suggests it will be twice as powerful as Nvidia's current champion, the GT200. Firing Squad reports that Nvidia claims the chip will run Far Cry 2 at 84.3 frames per second with 1920x1200 resolution with 4xAA/16xAF. Dark Void ran at 76.82 frames per second at the same settings. You can see a demo of in-engine graphics running on the chip above.

It's always good to hear that a developer definitely has plans to release a free demo of their upcoming AAA game title. In this case Rebellion is confirming that they will be making a demo for their upcoming movie-based shooter Aliens Vs Predator.

The info comes from an interview over at fan site AvPGalaxy.com where Rebellion's Alex Moore is quoted as saying, "There will be a demo ...that's all we can say." So basically there's no word on the demo's content or whether it will be released ahead of the game's mid-February ship date. As we have reported before, the PC version of Aliens Vs. Predator will be one of the first PC game titles to support DirectX11 graphics. Let's hope the demo does the same.

[Via Joystiq]