Working out whether your desktop computer will run it

Why this step comes second

Nothing sours a new game faster than discovering, an hour into a download, that the computer you have cannot run it comfortably. This step gives you a small set of facts about your own machine that you can write down once and reuse for the rest of your life with that computer. It takes about ten minutes and you will never have to guess again.

There is a second reason it comes early. A requirements list is the first piece of concrete, checkable information a publisher gives you. Learning to read one is a transferable skill, and it is excellent practice for Step 3, where you read documents that are longer and rather less precise.

The four numbers that matter

Almost every requirements list for a desktop game is built from the same four things. Once you can name yours, you can compare them to any list you meet.

There is a fifth item that requirements lists mention and beginners often skip: the operating system version. A game may require a recent version of Windows, macOS or a particular Linux configuration, and an older machine that is otherwise capable can fall at that fence. Write your version number down along with the rest.

A sixth, rarely listed but always relevant, is your internet connection. A game of this kind generally needs a working connection to play at all, and the initial download can be large. If your connection is metered or slow, start the download at a time when that will not matter.

Finding those numbers on your own machine

Every desktop operating system keeps this information in a built-in panel. You do not need to install anything to read it, and you should be sceptical of any website that offers to scan your computer and tell you. A site cannot see your hardware unless you give it permission to look, and nothing in this course asks you to.

On Windows

1. Open the system settings from the Start menu and look for the section describing the device itself. On recent versions it is called "About" and sits at the bottom of the System page.
2. Read the processor line and the installed memory line. Write both down exactly as shown, including the model number.
3. Read the operating system edition and version, which appear a little further down the same panel.
4. For graphics, open the display settings, then the advanced display information. The adapter name is the graphics chip.
5. For storage, open the file manager and look at the properties of the drive the game will be installed on. Note the free space, not the total.

On macOS

1. Open the Apple menu and choose the item that shows information about this Mac.
2. The summary panel lists the chip or processor, the memory and the macOS version. Write all three down.
3. On Apple-designed chips, graphics are part of the same chip, so the processor name is also the graphics answer.
4. Open the storage tab in the same window to see free space on the startup disk.

On Linux

1. Most desktop environments include a settings panel with an "About" or "Details" page listing processor, memory and the distribution version.
2. If yours does not, a terminal gives the same answers: the commands that print CPU information, free memory and disk usage are standard on every distribution.
3. Note your distribution name and version, as well as the kernel version, since some publishers state requirements in those terms.
4. Note which graphics driver you are using, because that is more often the limiting factor on Linux than the hardware itself.

Keep the result in a plain text file or on paper. You will compare it against a requirements list in a moment, and you will be glad of it again the next time you buy anything.

Reading a requirements list honestly

Requirements lists almost always come in two columns: minimum and recommended. These two words carry a lot of meaning and it is worth being precise about them.

"Minimum" is the publisher's claim about the floor below which the game will not usefully run. Meeting the minimum exactly tends to mean the game starts, runs at the lowest settings, and is not pleasant for long sessions. "Recommended" is the configuration the publisher expects to give an ordinary experience at ordinary settings. Neither is a promise, and neither is a guarantee about your particular machine, which has its own mix of background programs, drive speed and thermal behaviour.

Two cautions. First, processor and graphics model numbers do not sort neatly: a higher number is not always newer or faster, and manufacturers reuse naming schemes. If a comparison is not obvious, the manufacturer's own product page for your exact model is the place to settle it. Second, a publisher's list describes the game at the moment it was written; live-service games grow over time, and a machine that just clears the bar today may not clear it in a year.

If a requirements list is missing, vague or impossible to find, treat that as information rather than an inconvenience. A publisher that will not tell you what the game needs has told you something about how it handles the rest of its disclosures.

Laptops, heat and power

A laptop that meets a requirements list on paper may behave differently from a desktop tower with the same figures, for two reasons that have nothing to do with the specifications.

The first is heat. Laptops have little room for cooling, so when a game pushes the chip hard the machine protects itself by slowing down. The practical consequences are a warm keyboard, loud fans and a game that runs well for ten minutes and less well for the next ten. Raising the laptop so air can reach its underside, and keeping it off a doona or a cushion, is the entire remedy for most people.

The second is power. On battery, many laptops deliberately run slower. If the game feels sluggish, plug it in before concluding the machine cannot cope. Both of these are ordinary engineering trade-offs and neither means anything is wrong with your computer.

One more practical note for shared machines: a large game installation and its updates will keep consuming storage over time. If the drive is close to full, the whole computer slows, not just the game. Leaving a comfortable margin of free space is worth more than almost any setting you can change.

Why this course says desktop

This workbook is written for desktop and laptop computers running macOS, Windows or Linux. The example program referenced in this course is offered for those systems, and a reader on a phone or tablet is outside what it covers. If the computer you share is the only one in the house, Step 4's installation routine assumes exactly that situation.

That focus is not a judgement about playing on other devices. It is simply the boundary of what this course can speak to accurately, and saying so is better than quietly implying the advice applies everywhere.

The household in our worked example

Our invented household opens the laptop's About panel and writes down four lines: a five-year-old mid-range processor, eight gigabytes of memory, graphics built into the processor rather than a separate card, and about forty gigabytes free on a solid-state drive. They add the Windows version from the same screen.

Comparing that against a typical requirements list for this genre, they find they clear the minimum column comfortably and fall short of the recommended column on graphics, which is what integrated graphics usually means. Their conclusion is reasonable and specific: the game will probably run, they should expect to turn detail settings down, and they should judge it on the first session rather than on the specification sheet.

They also notice the forty gigabytes free is less generous than it sounds, because the laptop also holds photos that are not backed up anywhere. They decide to deal with that before installing anything, which is a better outcome than the one they were looking for.

Before you move on

• Four numbers — processor, memory, graphics and free storage — plus your operating system version answer almost every compatibility question.
• Your own operating system can tell you all of them. No website or downloaded tool needs to scan anything.
• Minimum means the game starts; recommended means it is comfortable. Between the two, expect to lower settings.
• Laptops slow down when hot or on battery. That is normal, and it is usually fixable with airflow and a power cable.