I'm recording this here just to demonstrate what the user experience is like with a low spec machine.
This is mainly for those people who think that the demo has hung or is broken, but in reality it's probably their PC specs at fault.
This was done on the following spec machine:
2.4Ghz Pentium 4
2Gb Ram
NVidia GeForce 6200 256Mb
1280x1024 LCD Display
XP Pro
1. On start expect to wait minutes (like 5-10) to get to the menu, most of this time will be spent looking at the copyright screen.
Wait for the startup to get to the videos and hit Esc to skip each one to make it faster.
2. First thing to do is go to the graphics options and set them to the lowest possible. After confirming the change expect to wait for several more minutes
looking at a progress bar while the graphics are re-cached (I assume). You need to do this each time you start the demo as it doesn't save the settings.
3. Might be worth adjusting the effects sound volume down a bit at this point. I started the land tutorial and found the voice at about the right level but
the cannonfire rattled the house (hey - maybe you like that). This is quick to save.
The play after this seems to be workable although expect it to still be a bit choppy.
I'm now eagerly awaiting my new baby - 3.16GHz Core2, XP Pro, 4Gb DDR2-800, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512Mb...
