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Two new features available in KINGDOM 8.2 affect video card requirements. Volume Co-blending (VuPAK) and Shaded Relief (2d/3dPAK) take advantage of some of the new functions available in updated graphics libraries. Framebuffer Objects, a relatively new extension to OpenGL, is needed to make these two functions display properly.
When shopping for a video card, look for a card that has:
- Shader Support 2.1 or higher
- At least 256 MB RAM (at a minimum - of course, more is better)
If you are unsure if your video card can meet these specifications, you can run a test program like OpenGLViewer.
For example in the screen shot below, you can see that this video card with an older driver only has 66% of the core features needed for OpenGL 2.1.
Video card with old driver
After updating to a new driver, the same video card now supports all features of OpenGL 2.1
Video card with updated driver
VuPAK doesn't require the latest and greatest shader models and GPU functionality, but it does like lots of memory and lots of processing power. That being said, even a moderately priced or older GPU can support VuPAK...if it has shader support and the software running it is up-to-date.
The new ForceWare driver makes these nVidia cards compatible with OpenGL 2.1:
- GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
- GeForce 6200SE TurboCache™
- GeForce 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630a
- GeForce 7050 PV / NVIDIA nForce 630a
The newest Quadro driver upgrades these cards:
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