Modern games with truly low system requirements

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

I understand that most of small indie teams doesn't give a shit about things like old operating system or really old hardware because they are using modern resource hog engines but it's kinda annoying that game demands so much computing power comparing to how it looks like.

Question is - are there any glorious exceptions to the rule?

And no, pixel art game demanding 'just' Core 2 Duo is not an example of low requirements, it is an absurd when a CPU that handles Crysis fine can barely run Hades, wtf?

I've read that minimum specs for CrossCode is low-end Pentium 4 so let's say it is a borderline.

Any ideas?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

most of them do, bg3 runs on ultra* on my dozen years old rig. if they run like shit or don't at all it's all just because artificially placed obstacles. tinfoil hattery at its extreme: i wouldn't be surprised to discover new graphics cards aren't more powerful at all, just code tells to run slower on older hardware.

*: i found out by chance it set everything automatically on max, then i lowered almost every setting, noticing no difference.

 

[spectre]

If it's a console port or done on Unity, you can pretty much forget about it being optimized (cause that would be what you're asking about).
It's a bit tricky to research, cause listed system requirements not always correspond to the actual minimum requirements,
there's also the question of requirements vs. what's actually on offer when it comes to visuals (or what's simulated, simplistic graphics do not preclude lots of shit being simulated
like physics, or AI routines).

I tried ignoring the low hanging fruit of 2D sprite based stuff, and here's some stuff I've come across.
None of these are: will run on pentium, but it's my offering to kick off the discussion.

Factorio (this one would be the case of "lots of shit being simulated").
The batman games - Arkham Asylum reportedly have unexpectedly low system requirements.
The GRID series also reportedly have very good visuals offered/sys requirements ratio.
Mad Max is a game I wanted to revisit at some point.

 

[potatojohn]

Core 2 is probably listed because the game was compiled to use SSE3 instructions. Older CPUs won't be able to run it, even if they have enough computing power.

It's kind of silly to expect developers to target anything older than Core 2, since targeting newer instruction sets will give better performance on newer CPUs

Of course, all games should be open source, then the user can compile for whatever coffee machine CPU they have.

 

[taxalot]

I find that if you are not a graphic whore, the "requirements" thing is retarded. I am playing Starfield and Jedi Survivor on an 8 year old never upgraded computer with no issue and people keep crying over how badly unoptimized both games are.

For kicks, I also tried to run Jedi Survivor natively on the Steam Deck. It's fine. I also tried setting to 720p, set graphics to low, and FSR to ultra quality and then hook up the deck on my 55inch TV. Go past 2 minutes of "this could look better" and you're having fun.