[XDB] Lo-Fi media package?

[fromhell]

I've been thinking after using old computers thinking about the lower end audience - what if I maintained both a Hi-Fi (nextgen, modern day pc graphics) and a Lo-Fi (2002, Gamecube-esque graphics) version for playability? There's still a large amount of FX5200 victi-err, users, in southeastern Asia.

Lo-fi would have:
- Procedural textures still, but half-size and no bumpmap/normalmap
- No reflective water
- Particles would be fewer and bigger and more opaque to make up for the fill rate
- No normal maps for characters, diffuse texture only, differently painted than hi-fi with shadows and such 'baked'
- Classic Lightmap map lighting as opposed to real-time perpixel lighting (NO VERTEX LIGHT EVER FYI)
- q3bsp still
- OGG'd wav files at half the sample rate and mono (22khz mono)
- Lower polygon players, with no facial features modeled (like eyes and mouth would be flat, and hair would be alpha planes)
- Lack of facial expressions probably, unless it's hacked by texture switching for face or so.
- Aimed at the 1GHz on Geforce2 crowd.

[jackoverfull]

i'm not sure that this would be a good idea. I see two options to achieve that goal:

1) recreating the game simplifying the models, the maps, ecc...
    it may work, but will result in having 2 games instead of one to maintain and a splitted userbase.

2) acting on ioq3 to lower requirements maintaining the game contents as they are.
    i don't see that one as a viable option for ioq3.
    and, anyway, a 300 and more mb are a lot if someone has a 20/10 GB or even less hd...

[andrewj]

Pick a target spec and stick to it I think, otherwise development will be much slower.

When version 1.0 rolls around and the game is wildly popular, then will be the best time to consider LoFi-ifying it.

[fromhell]

i'm not sure that this would be a good idea. I see two options to achieve that goal:

1) recreating the game simplifying the models, the maps, ecc...
    it may work, but will result in having 2 games instead of one to maintain and a splitted userbase.

2) acting on ioq3 to lower requirements maintaining the game contents as they are.
    i don't see that one as a viable option for ioq3.
    and, anyway, a 300 and more mb are a lot if someone has a 20/10 GB or even less hd...

1) for models there would be both versions of the model in the same .blend file.
seperate lo-fi map brush geometries wouldn't be a good idea.

2) this game is not ioq3 based nor is it even q3 based. i'm also aiming for small filesize (20mbish precompressed)

[jackoverfull]

so that would be both 1 and 2 and will end up in a totally separated game...

already chosen an engine?

[fromhell]

already chosen an engine?

yes

[jackoverfull]

darkplaces? O_o for a low-end game???!

i know that it is based on q1, but it'a a bit heavy today...