Path of Exile 3.6.0 will not support Windows XP or Vista

GGG add more graphics option! More choice to reduce graphic and not load not required on choice pixels/particles!

@Chris

Is the team thinking about implementing a benchmark demo? So people can test what their system can handle? Eg can my machine run 144fps most of the time w X settings?

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The DirectX 11 version (with shadows) performs much better than the DirectX 9 one did without shadows enabled.

I'm using Win7x64 and the only reason why i changed game settings from dx9+ to dx11 in 3.0 patch was new "dynamic resolution" option which was available only under dx11. In 2.6 i tried both dx9+ and dx11, and dx11 had worse performance. There was plenty of expansions since 3.0, i guess you did a lot of performance improvements for dx11 in them...

Queue inevitable rage.

Support Vulkan!

I usually have around 75 FPS and lowest I seen is around 34 FPS on AMD FX8350 non-overclocked CPU with a Nvidia 1050ti.
Even with the drop in FPS during intense fights the game runs really smooth.

Also I'm using Linux.

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From what we can see, most of the players choosing to use the DirectX 9 version of Path of Exile were not doing so because their operating system didn't support DirectX 11, but because the old renderer allowed you to disable shadows. Path of Exile's game environments are designed around their shadows. Over time, we have relied more and more on shadows as a critical part of the environment, and so the game without shadows has become very different than the experience we intend. Because of this, we made sure that our new renderer had fast shadows. The DirectX 11 version (with shadows) performs much better than the DirectX 9 one did without shadows enabled.

One of the Windows 10 PCs that I occasionally use to play PoE simply crashes when entering Act 9 or Act 10 with DX11. I've reported this to your technical support, gave them all the info they asked for, tried all the things they suggested. Nope, it just cannot enter those zones with DX11. But DX9 works fine. So that was my reason for using DX9. Guess I won't be able to play PoE on that PC anymore. Oh well.

Good decision GGG, I bet the people who run XP OS are the ones running bots.

I suggest finishing support for 32bit as well and go full 64bits.

"free up technical resources for other more impactful tasks"

1. 3.6.0 needs to be a whole lot less buggy. In terms of quality, 3.5 was a train wreck of fubar proportions.

2. Optimise the game. Resources devoted to "prettying up the game" seem to have outstripped those dedicated to performance and optimisation.

My desktop died in 2017 while I was avoiding doing the same, so I decided to buy a laptop since I had no desire to build my own at the time. I bought an ASUS with a GTX 1050 in it. My laptop performed worse under DX9 than under 11 - it only took me 5 months to figure that out (mental laziness, I guess) so I'm happy the option is going away. I see no problem for others if I can afford a PC laptop that will run PoE better on DX11 than on 9 since I am on disability and am horrible (up to this point in life, at least) with finances.

Now I'm hoping for the networking fix one of the other comments was asking for and giving reasons I don't completely grasp as to why GGG is losing $ by not fixing them. I experience disconnects (not too often, thankfully) at the worst possible moments (in Cruel Labyrinth...grumble...) and in other situations that I think would be mostly eliminated if this were done. I also think this would have an effect on the use of bots by forcing those who use them to upgrade their systems in order to continue their abusive software practices.

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RPGNoobANKA wrote:

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Cornish_Bread wrote:

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Chris wrote:

most of the players choosing to use the DirectX 9 version of Path of Exile were not doing so because their operating system didn't support DirectX 11, but because the old renderer allowed you to disable shadows

In the spirit of freedom of choice, could not the option to disable shadows simply be added to DX11?

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Chris wrote:

Over time, we have relied more and more on shadows as a critical part of the environment, and so the game without shadows has become very different than the experience we intend

Wouldn't aesthetic appreciation for shadows in the game's environment be very much player dependant?

Shadows are also used as tool to telegraph XYZ. Like the big bird attack from above in Aquaducts and Channel Map.

My ground is covered in zombies, skeletons, spectres and the hundreds of projectile soup they produce.

I can't see shit on the ground, let alone shadows.