My gaming clan is heavy into BF 1942/DC and Battlefield Vietnam. We play at least 15 hours a week in games up to 40 people.
Neither game lags with a decent computer, server and internet connection and there are plenty of servers!
Real System Minimum is:
- 2 gig CPU
- 9500 PRO (5600 FX Ultra) or better (9600 PRO / 5600 FX are a bit too slow full detail)
- 768 meg MINIMUM. The Vietnam game is a memory PIG. DC needs 512.
- DSL or Cable, forget dialup
Note this is all 2 year old technology so gamers should not be complaining.
If you want to complain about the games the real bugs are:
- Technical
..ATI and more so w/Nvidia. Video drivers (on some cards) cause textures to disappear in BF vietnam. A new Nvidia driver appears to have fixed most of this.
..I occasionally get dumped to desktop after an hour or two of playing BF Vietnam, DC is completely stable.
.. None of my clan has had much luck using joystick in BF Vietnam. Probbaly technical issues. I could not even set up my wingman extreme. The commands went in wrong.
- Esthetics
..The damn stupid graphics designers must be half blind and wear coke bottle glasses. The field of view is too limited to the sides. They cut out the feel of peripheral vision. Also, the weapons are too big and "in your face" causing distraction at best and serious disorientation (dizziness) when playing aggressively.
..They did not put a way to turn off or change the gook chatter to english. Also, the english chatter, while realistic for the era is annoying too after a while. DC you can change the Rag chatter to English.
-Detail Complaints
..The M60 in BFV is a little too good. The tanks a little too wimpy.
All of the BF Vietnam bugs are solvable with the first patch, except maybe the in your face feel of the visual field. You do adjust to the feel. It just detracts from the game. Tribes 2 never had that annoying feeling. I'll never understand why it was introduced into BF and made worse in Vietnam.
Summary:
I usually never buy a new game at release buy my buddies made me buy Vietnam. It was worth the money. Game play and visuals are very good. Music is superb. Realism is a little disturbing, I grew up during Nam. Some of the historical detail is incorrect (gooks didn't have helicopters, tanks, there were no guided shoulder launched SAMs back then and the MIGs didn't last very long...).
The first patch and updated ATI/Nvidia drivers should cure any bugs and hopefully add improved controls.