Steam Store idea - Spec comparison on Store pages

[Havocme]

As games submitted to the Store have to provide a minimum system spec and a suggested system spec, I have an idea to expand upon that section of the Store.

I have been building and maintaining my PC for over 20 years. As such, I have pretty much given up on keeping my system spec info in my head and just use my OS to tell me what is inside when I need to see it.

Steam also records your system info and will submit it to Steam system surveys when approved by the user.

Can this information be a 3rd column in the program Store page? 1st column being the minimum spec, 2nd the programmers suggested spec, and the 3rd column being your current system spec with percentages showing how your system compares to each spec. This comparison with help users figure out how their system will play the game, show them a continued system deficiency or their systems strong attributes and they can either pick games that best suit their build or help plan for a future upgrade.

This, of course, can be a voluntary option given that the submission of system data is voluntary as well.

Just a though.

[Crazy Tiger]

If it would be accurate, it would be lovely. But both the various canirunit sites and the compatibility check in the MS store show how inaccurate, and thusly pointless, it all is.

I've gamed on a potato laptop for years and if I actually believed those canirunit sites, quite some games I played without issue I wouldn't have bought.

It also doesn't help that there is no actual standard in system requirements mentioned on store pages. For example minimum specs: for some it's simply a machine they used, for others it's the absolute bottom and again others picture low settings and 30fps. No standard.

Take for example this game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1131140/The_MoneyMakers_Rallye/
Look at the minimum specs. The developer mentioned in the game hub that they put those minimum specs in because that's the lowest machine they had. I've played the game on a laptop that had a GT 745M as GPU and it ran fine on that.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

You mean match your specs with the open text field where they can enter whatever they want?

Example...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/351450/Scribble_Space/

Sure.

That worked out so well for Microsoft that they stopped doing it years ago.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

That worked out so well for Microsoft that they stopped doing it years ago.

Actually, they reintroduced the compatibility check again. Still doesn't work, though. It cleared the laptop of my ex-wife for the latest Microsoft Flight Sim even though that laptop has underpowered CPU and no dedicated GPU.

[nullable]

Originally posted by Havocme:

As games submitted to the Store have to provide a minimum system spec and a suggested system spec, I have an idea to expand upon that section of the Store.

Sounds good, but those specs are free form text and are something a human can fudge through, but are bad for any sort comparison.

I mean I like the idea and it would be great for a lot of users, but there's a lot of momentum behind fuzzy system requirements and until that goes away I think users will be on the hook to understand the hardware in their system and how to compare it to the stated systems requirements for any software.

And ultimately the problem is trying it as is would just lead to more fuzzy and inaccurate results. And if there's one thing users hate more than no tool, is a bad tool. Every time that comparison thingy gets it wrong people will pitch a fit and they'll be pitching fits all the time.

Originally posted by Havocme:

I have been building and maintaining my PC for over 20 years. As such, I have pretty much given up on keeping my system spec info in my head and just use my OS to tell me what is inside when I need to see it.

Steam also records your system info and will submit it to Steam system surveys when approved by the user.

Can this information be a 3rd column in the program Store page? 1st column being the minimum spec, 2nd the programmers suggested spec, and the 3rd column being your current system spec with percentages showing how your system compares to each spec. This comparison with help users figure out how their system will play the game, show them a continued system deficiency or their systems strong attributes and they can either pick games that best suit their build or help plan for a future upgrade.

This, of course, can be a voluntary option given that the submission of system data is voluntary as well.

Just a though.

The further problem is performance can't always be summed up into a single value comparison. And a vague percentage isn't going to be accurate. It'll probably be fine any time you greatly exceed the requirements, but less so any time you need some precision because you're close to the line.

The other problem too is the system requirements themselves aren't standardized or predictable. What I mean is, what kind of performance does matching the minimum requirements of a game get you?

I've played games where you could get decent performance on 1080p medium/low settings. And the actual floor was much much lower.

I've played games where the minimum requirements were targeted at the lowest possible settings at 720p. Which again makes technical comparisons harder to make because the targeted performance is often omitted.

And the problem is if the tool says you're good to go, but the reality is the performance is unacceptable to you. What's going to get blamed? The "garbage tool" that didn't meet your expectations, didn't tell you what you wanted to hear.

It's a messy problem. If system requirements could be overhauled and made to meet some consistent standards, then comparisons would be easier to make. No one seems interested in doing that though.