Red Alert 3 beta system specs revealed

Did I misread that.. or does this beta require a total of 18GB?

wtf is EA Link?? 12 GB for something that, I assume, isn't even the main game is... insane....

Originally Posted by Romirez
wtf is EA Link?? 12 GB for something that, I assume, isn't even the main game is... insane....

My thoughts exactly..

I've never even heard of EA Link.. perhaps something to do with the beta testing... Still, it's pretty ridiculous..

18 GB will likely be required because the game will be completely download - no DVD to read textures from or whatever. EA Link is the old name for the EA Store - the process through which the beta is likely downloaded.

Don't worry - when we get our invite we'll let you know more.

??? but all previous CnC games worked fine with no CD cracks and their installs weren't 18gig put together.

Same requirements as CnC 3? or just me going crazy?

It's multiplatform, you expect them to up the requirements? 15fps on the Xbox? Nah.

Same engine, same platform, same specs.

sigh - no 64 bit support? just like C&C3

Originally Posted by CardJoe
18 GB will likely be required because the game will be completely download - no DVD to read textures from or whatever. EA Link is the old name for the EA Store - the process through which the beta is likely downloaded.

Don't worry - when we get our invite we'll let you know more.

Wait.. so If you download it from EA Link it's 12GB.. and on a disc it's 6GB?

Doubling the install size is a bit much for just textures...

Originally Posted by amacieli
sigh - no 64 bit support? just like C&C3

What games actually do support 64-bit atm?

By 'no 64bit support', it'll still run though right? I hope so...
Off the top of my head, games I've played with not just 64bit support, but 64bit specific versions:
Crysis (seemed slightly smoother in x64)
HL2: Lost Coast (not sure what the difference is, but as you load a little message saying "64bit support enabled" pops up in the corner)
um, that's it I think, pretty much everything else just comes with a 32bit binary (which has always worked on Vista x64 for me)

Originally Posted by phuzz
By 'no 64bit support', it'll still run though right? I hope so...
Off the top of my head, games I've played with not just 64bit support, but 64bit specific versions:
Crysis (seemed slightly smoother in x64)
HL2: Lost Coast (not sure what the difference is, but as you load a little message saying "64bit support enabled" pops up in the corner)
um, that's it I think, pretty much everything else just comes with a 32bit binary (which has always worked on Vista x64 for me)

It works in 32-bit mode.. A bit like running an old program in Vista in compatibility mode for XP...

I think...

The only thing that makes me 'wtf' is the EA Link? The hell is it doubled in size just for downloading it?

Can you even get hard copies of Betas?

Not fussed about the lack of 64bit support - I bet my socks it'll run anyway.

Hard Drive – Media: 6.0 GB / EA Link: 12.0 GB

this doesnt make the slightest bit of sense to me... double the content if you go for the digital distribution? (to give you a reason to do so) or 6 GB bloatware aka EA screwed up when copying steam and bloated it to 6GB?

Originally Posted by amacieli
sigh - no 64 bit support? just like C&C3

and here i am, waiting eagerly for RA3 where i know i will not be able to play games with all my flatmates, because all of us are on 64bit Visat.

shame on you EA

Maybe it's 6.0gb of HD FMV's (Media) and 12.0gb of game (EA Link)?
Also was anyone expecting these requirements to differ from CnC3? I suppose it's good to have confirmation of these things though.

Originally Posted by liratheal
The only thing that makes me 'wtf' is the EA Link? The hell is it doubled in size just for downloading it?

Can you even get hard copies of Betas?

Not fussed about the lack of 64bit support - I bet my socks it'll run anyway.

Sony send out hard copies of some of their Beta software, whilst others are added to the PSN store of the testers. Depends on cost really, and the RA3 beta looks to be pretty big, so not very cheap to send physical discs.

OMG 18GB!!!!!!!. And I was unhappy about the 10GB ~ 6GB games. THIS IS a joke for sure. Come on, this means in future we will need 1TB For games only!

And about Specs you ARE KIDDING ME! This means the graphics will sux for sure.. 6800 to run the game! LOL and I was thinking the lowest card they will ask for is the 8600/8800

I think I can run the game on my pc but I will need new gaming hard disk for sure. But I wonder how the hell they will fit 18GB on a 8GB DISK .... Sounds impossible

Thanks for the info BT guys .

in this day and age storage is easy and cheap to get. I am suprised that we dont all run round with 1TB of storage on our main computers now.
you can pick up 2 x 500 gig drives now for 90 quid. thats over 50 installs of red alert 3 beta :p
And to be honest, once I get bored with these games, i generally uninstall them and never get back to them again.

Originally Posted by ComputerKing
OMG 18GB!!!!!!!. And I was unhappy about the 10GB ~ 6GB games. THIS IS a joke for sure. Come on, this means in future we will need 1TB For games only!

And about Specs you ARE KIDDING ME! This means the graphics will sux for sure.. 6800 to run the game! LOL and I was thinking the lowest card they will ask for is the 8600/8800

I think I can run the game on my pc but I will need new gaming hard disk for sure. But I wonder how the hell they will fit 18GB on a 8GB DISK .... Sounds impossible

Thanks for the info BT guys .

These will be the lowest requirements for the GPU, so 6800 is A Good Thing.

You only have a 8GB hard disk?!

Originally Posted by DriftCarl
And to be honest, once I get bored with these games, i generally uninstall them and never get back to them again.

Same thing here. but It take times to get bored or complete them.

If RA3 is 18GB now days in future ( 6 - 12 months ) we can expect ( 20 - 40 GB ) games.

How do you get into the beta? Is it still buying Kane's Wrath, and getting a key? Does everyone get in on the beta?

After having a quick look at the Steam hardware survey (http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html), only about 2.5% of Steam users have a x64 based OS, so I can see why not many firms go out of their way to add a bespoke 64 bit version.
(I think the release of Adobe CS4 on x64 will probably drive the change)

Originally Posted by CardJoe
You only have a 8GB hard disk?!

I don't even think just XP would fit on that...

What the hell Phuzz, Adobe CS4!!!!! Oh Adobe will not stop until they buy every media software is out. the CS3 Master is 4 DVDS! so I think CS4 will be 8 DVDS.

see my buddy we need a 1TB for MAIN programs and games not storage ;)

About 64bit, I used Vista Ult 32bit for long time. Now I got my hands on 64Bit DVD and I have my key, I will install it and see how it will work out. Every one says it rocks and soild. So I don't have any thing to lose :D

Originally Posted by Krikkit
How do you get into the beta? Is it still buying Kane's Wrath, and getting a key? Does everyone get in on the beta?

There was a promotion which came with Kane's Wrath and for a time you could sign up online. Now I think the promotion is closed unless you're in on the EA Friends and Family scheme.

Just have to love the internet - the only place in the world where someone who genuinely doesnt know something, does a poor job at interpreting it, only to have it validated because many more ride the wave :(

If you actually read the specs HD requirements are 6GB for media OR 12GB for EALink, the reason you will need 12GB for EALink is because you actually download the contents of the DVD with a different anti-piracy protection. After download you then install these files.

For those slow on the uptake think having to copy the DVD to your HD before being able to install.

Oh and for the record I strongly recommend staying as far away from EALink as possible, not because of the increased HD requirements, but because theres some nasty small-print governing the amount of times you may DL YOUR OWN paid for games.
EALink is more like EA rental at the same price as the finsihed product :(

Originally Posted by CardJoe
There was a promotion which came with Kane's Wrath and for a time you could sign up online. Now I think the promotion is closed unless you're in on the EA Friends and Family scheme.

Bugger! How the hell did I miss out on this one? :(

I got my code, howeve rI dont think my pc will run this :( will wait and see when the beta starts for us :)

Originally Posted by abob

Oh and for the record I strongly recommend staying as far away from EALink as possible, not because of the increased HD requirements, but because theres some nasty small-print governing the amount of times you may DL YOUR OWN paid for games.
EALink is more like EA rental at the same price as the finsihed product :(

EA is evil -- everyone knows this. :)
However, I think that running the entire game off of your HD would seem like an advantage over DVD. :|

Those complaining about drive space;

You obviously didn't play Age of Conan ~25GB install :P

What you may also find with the EA Link download is that you probably have to account for space for the download (Guessing 5-6GB) + install space (12GB?)
Also remember that installed it wont refer to the discs at all so ALL the disc data + game will be installed on your hard drive.

Is 12GB really that hard to find on your hard drive? Either delete some pron or buy a bigger drive. 500GB drives aren't exactly expensive and neither is a drive that's ~200GB+

Timmy_the_tortoise; XP installs on a 6GB drive with space for apps also though obviously you may struggle if you keep your swap on the same drive or enable hibernation and have >512MB ram.
IIRC the min spec is a 4GB drive with 1.5GB free to install XP ;)

Hahaha. I can delete some porn :( Dude I have 3TB only 300MB free now :D

Is this game going to run off the cnc 3 engine? or is it a whole new game engine?

Originally Posted by Solidus
Is this game going to run off the cnc 3 engine? or is it a whole new game engine?

Generals -> CnC3 -> RA3.
it's a perfectly good engine, just like Halo, simply add more shiny effects and people will love it

I cannot wait for this! :D wooooo