[fishcube]

I heard that one can play adventure games such as both Longest Journey games and Mysts on the new Sony Vaio UX 180P.

I'm saving for one now! I love the form factor.

[fov]

I poked around a little to see the system specs for this thing and found them here.

Intel® 945GMS chipset

This is going to cause you problems for some games, especially newer ones. It denotes integrated graphics that do not support hardware T&L, which is needed for a lot of games. I know that Telltale's games (Bone, the latest CSI game, and the upcoming Sam & Max games) won't work with this type of graphics.

TLJ and the older Myst games will probably be fine. Myst V, probably not.

It is a cool looking gadget! Way out of my price range, though.

[fishcube]

Just got confirmation that Myst IV and V work great on the UX180P. great news!

[Jayel]

Originally Posted by fov

This is going to cause you problems for some games, especially newer ones. It denotes integrated graphics that do not support hardware T&L, which is needed for a lot of games. I know that Telltale's games (Bone, the latest CSI game, and the upcoming Sam & Max games) won't work with this type of graphics.

Hmm... I'm pretty sure the integrated gfx board on those things are DirectX 9 compliant. Not only do they have hardware T&L, they also have pixel shaders.
But unbearably slow, no doubt.

I personally don't recommend Sony products. especially Vaios.

[fishcube]

Can't one download the Direct X9 to the PC?

[fov]

Originally Posted by Jayel

Hmm... I'm pretty sure the integrated gfx board on those things are DirectX 9 compliant. Not only do they have hardware T&L, they also have pixel shaders.
But unbearably slow, no doubt.

I was basing my comment on this list of Intel chipsets that do not have hardware T&L. But it seems I may have misread it, because it says 945GM, not 945GMS. Are the 945GM and 945GMS two different things?

[Jayel]

My bad. seems like a strange thing to not support. especially since they have pixel shaders.

(maybe the pixel shader thingy is specifically for Vista)

also... I'm sure 945GM and 945GMS are different in some respect, but they both seem to use the same graphics board

edit: nv

[SirDave]

Portable gaming is my passion! I am currently testing various games on the Vaio UX180p and it is, as expected, a mixed bag. For one thing, it uses the Intel Graphics Media chip so that can cause problems from the get-go. Also, is the fact that sometimes the on-board audio/video onboard chips in these teeny-tiny units do not work exactly the same as similiar chips on bigger computers.

When it comes to running AGs on the UX180p: Don't try installing any game that will require much above 1gHz cpu speed since it only has an Intel Core 1.2g CPU onboard.

So far I am successfully running Barrow Hill (runs absolutely perfectly & beautifully) and Celtica (vintage 1998 of all things!).

Nibiru was an example of what I mentioned above: It installed and basically ran okay, but the game defaulted to 'windowed graphics' due to limitations of the Intel chip and then, although the game ran full-screen, part of it didn't show- the part that allowed access to the menu, so that didn't work!

[fishcube]

Did you zoom out on Nibiru?

I've heard the ux180p works really well for both TLJs, Myst games. I realize some games won't work on it, but its nice to know that some will. Glad to hear about Barrow Hill

Keep us updated on what games work, don't work. thx!

[SirDave]

Originally Posted by fishcube

Did you zoom out on Nibiru? I've heard it works really well for both TLJs, Myst games. I realize some games won't work on it, but its nice to know that some will. Glad to hear about Barrow Hill

Keep us updated on what games work, don't work. thx!

The zooming has limitations- unless I'm missing something. It allows you to see text and hotspots more easily, but you don't have the same control over the cursor. But, all that aside, there are limitations from the get-go when it comes to playing AGs on portable units like this. I'm willing to deal with those, but a deal-breaker for me is if the game is not playing correctly whether it is the correct graphics position on the screen or the sound. That's why I mentioned Barrow Hill. It plays exactly as it does on a full-size computer and, boy, does it look beautiful on the UX180p screen!

I might add also that I am trying to pick AGs for the UX that don't have too much pixel-hunting for obvious reasons and also, games with heavy inventories such as many of the Kheops games.

[fishcube]

About Barrow Hill, how did you get a hold of one? From what I've seen its not out till Sept 6th?

[Melanie68]

You can buy it directly from the Barrow Hill website:

http://www.barrow-hill.co.uk/

You can also get it at the JA store:

http://www.justadventure.com/BuyGamesJA.shtm

[fishcube]

Just adventure says its a preorder due out Aug 16th. As for UK site, I was looking for source in US.

[SirDave]

Originally Posted by fishcube

Just adventure says its a preorder due out Aug 16th. As for UK site, I was looking for source in US.

My guess is that, now that Barrow Hill has a U.S. publisher, it is not available directly from the developer, at least for U.S. purchases. Obviously, that would be counterproductive for the deal between the developer & the publisher.

[Melanie68]

^ I didn't think of that - sorry Fishcube. I preordered mine so I got it quite early.

[fishcube]

I take it you both bought yours from a overseas company?

[Melanie68]

When the developers who made Barrow Hill, Shadow Tor Studios, offered them for presale, I ordered. So I got it directly from them but like SirDave said, now that they have a publishing deal, directly ordering from them has likely ceased. It shipped from the UK (where Shadow Tor is based).

[fishcube]

Ahh..I see. Thx for the clarification. I look forward to it coming out in the US.

[fishcube]

So, anyone else have the Sony Vaio UX or looking to purchase it? I'm currently saving for one.

[artwking4]

Personally, I'm contemplating buying the Samsung Q1 someday. Remember "Project Origami" and how a lot of people thought it was Microsoft's portable Xbox game machine? This is one of the models of the "UMPC" (Ultra Mobile PC). It's a beauty...