Is this game actually educational?

[Famix]

I've seen too many simulator games that are jokes with the punchline being "le bad controls". Is this different?

[Minerva]

Would like to know too.

[BonPadre]

There is actually a fair part of it that can be percieved as educational.

I mean I have built my own PC (before starting to play this game, I play this game because I enjoy building PC's IRL, have done it for myself, my stepfather and my mom)

That beeing said, I never IRL OC a PC, and thus, due to me not willing to mess up things that works for what I do in stock speeds, never wanted to go the route of maybe breaking stuff IRL.

This game tougth me some of that, along with the silicon lottery etc.

So yeah it can be educational, to a certain extand, because after all it still remains a game and doesn't cover maybe certain IRL precautionary steps for building your own PC.

It also has the correct streamlined process on how you actually choose your parts as to how to build a PC. That is also a good educational take on that part even if you simply choose your parts and then pay to get them assembled by a pro.

[Darzai]

Itll give you an idea how to build a PC. This part is executed very nicely and is fun to do. But it is not that educational though. You don't have to deal with details and settings, which is usually where people tend to go wrong. Even though building a PC nowadays is as easy as building IKEA furniture. Just check the provided instructions that come with the hardware. For this you also don't really need specific training, just basic reading comprehension skill and some patience.

The business side is not educational. It is oversimplified and plays more as a simple reason to build PC's.

Then there is the troubleshooting PC's part. Or better said, lack of. This game will not educate you how to troubleshoot a faulty PC. It will say 'this part is dead, replace it'. 'It has virusses, click this button to remove them(and make a very basic mistake in the process too)'.

That does not mean it is not a fun game. But it is just that. A game, and not much of a simulation that could educate you.

[Commissar Mydrinn]

also some things are not implemented into the game, yet . like case modding...although the devs scratched that from the roadmap[favro.com] i guess it wasn't possible

[Minerva]

Thanks for the detailed answers!

[Six Assed Monkey]

Ok, I'm a systems administrator and a REAL PC builder and have been building rigs longer than I care to say because I do not trust the mainstream manufacturers all trying to make their systems $5.00 cheaper than their competitors. I saw this "game" and started laughing. There is absolutely no way this is educational.

"Would you like to know more?"

Every manufacturer will tell you their hardware is the best, because they want to sell it. If they are all the best, then why are there so many awful PCs out in the world? Did you ever consider why there are board revisions to most hardware components? Has the game incorporated faulty drivers or software incompatibility? Improperly configured BIOS settings? How much RAM does a system require in the game that warrants turning off the swap file to boost performance? What Windows settings should be adjusted if you run an SSD? How do you identify a piece of hardware on the motherboard if the documentation does not specify and the OS cannot identify it? I could literally make this list go on for quite a while.

Anybody who buys this game and thinks they are going to do anything more than simulate "best case scenarios" on hardware that is likely not as good as the manufacturer contends is fooling themselves. Building PCs is more complex than sticking random components together and running benchmarks. Compatibility is not so cut and dry.

Over the years, I have come to trust some brands and simply will not buy others (i.e. AMD/ATI). This is not because I am an Intel/nVidia fanboi. It's because I have come to trust these brands through years of experience having dealt with 1000s of PCs over the years, most of which were serviced systems other people had trouble with. Yet, you have many who believe they can save money and buy a better processor with AMD. (You always get what you pay for!)

I'm not going to entertain any trolling here. I'm just trying to tell anyone who cares to listen that this game is pure fantasy. You might learn the necessary components to build a system, but what this software REALLY is boils down to hardware commercials, and every manufacturer's wish to sell you the hardware you are tinkering with on a virtual environment that has no real substance.

Play the game if it's fun for you, but don't think after a few hundred hours you are ready to work as a technician, or even to understand how these components fair in real life.

[StardustLuna]

I feel like it just scratches the surface of all you can do. If you're someone completely new to PCs, it gives a visual as to how certain boards don't support certain features, compatibility issues, etc. If anything this game will make sure that you'll never forget thermal paste again!

Other than that you'll actually have to get your hands on a PC and start tinkering with it to learn more.

[RaiderzNation]

Short answer. Yes!

[fluff]

Originally posted by RaiderzNation:

Short answer. Yes!

... to a certain extent

[RaiderzNation]

Originally posted by Fluff * ੈ✩‧₊˚♡:

Originally posted by RaiderzNation:

Short answer. Yes!

... to a certain extent

If you knew nothing about pcs this game would educate you on the basics.

[Famix]

Thanks for giving a good answer :P

[RaiderzNation]

Np

[lordbean]

Originally posted by Darzai:

Then there is the troubleshooting PC's part. Or better said, lack of. This game will not educate you how to troubleshoot a faulty PC. It will say 'this part is dead, replace it'. 'It has virusses, click this button to remove them(and make a very basic mistake in the process too)'.

Right? Plug troubleshooting stick into infected system and use it to install programs = infected troubleshooting stick. My IRL troubleshooting stick is a portable full ubuntu install that I boot from and then mount the PC's drives to scan. Low to no risk of infection spreading, and a lot less pulling your hair out trying to fight with a virus-ridden system.

[Six Assed Monkey]

So maybe educate means something different to me. I suppose as well the OP was a little vague on the level one could expect to learn. Yes, you probably can learn something from this game if you knew nothing of PCs. However, I feel people already think they know more and are qualified for things they have little practical experience with. (most everyone favors themselves)

Someone already said "this game barely scratches the surface". I think that statement is the takeaway here and the most accurate measure of what you might expect to learn. As long as people realize this game is not a replacement for real education, nor even a close facsimile to practical experience. I see it as a false promise.

all that being said, you can already learn most of this for free by searching and reading content on the Internet.

There are plenty of people out there who benchmark. Each of these people typically list off all of their components used in the benchmark. There are YouTube videos galore out there that will teach you step-by-step how to do virtually anything, including building a rig. Manufacturers post specifications on their websites that most have the pertinent information needed to make educated decisions to check for compatibility. Any software problem you can think of has more than likely loads of other people out there with the same or similar problems with apparent fixes when digging deep enough.

With all the Internet at our fingertips, I cannot fathom how someone would prefer this "game" to real data derived from first hand application and posted by consumers instead of hyped data derived from a virtual environment posted by manufacturers who only want to sell their product.

[Six Assed Monkey]

Originally posted by Famix:

Thanks for giving a good answer :P

A seemingly biased question, as that was the answer you wanted in the first place. That answer had absolutely zero context. How do you measure it to be the correct answer based on the information contained in the answer?