I personally think changing the game's engine to something a little more modern instead if constantly upping the minimum requirements would be a better option...
I am all for an updated game engine, but the reasoning above makes no sense. Any new game engine is going to use DX11 or higher anyway, as well as requiring a recent GPU.
DX9 is over a decade old. (Last update: v9.0c in 2004)
As of March 1st, 2017, Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0. This decision was made in order to improve game performance and to optimize the player experience. In order to make this transition as smooth as possible, we have put together a quick FAQ.
What is the timeline for these changes?
You will have plenty of time to upgrade!
After December 5, 2016, if you are running on Windows XP or using Direct3D 9, or using a Video Card with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0, the launcher will inform you of that fact.
After January 15, 2017 the launcher will change your game settings to use Direct3D 11 if your system is compatible with it.
As of March 1, 2017, Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0.
What Operating System should I be upgrading to?
For the best play experience, Cryptic Studios recommends Windows 10. Note that you will need a Video Card that supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 11.0 or better to play on Windows 10.
The game will run on Windows Vista SP2 or better, or Windows 7 or 8 as well. Be aware that Microsoft is discontinuing supporting for Windows Vista as of April 2017.
What cards should I be looking for if I have to upgrade?
For the best play experience, Cryptic Studios recommends a video card that supports Direct3D Feature Level 11.0 or better. This includes:
NVidia GeForce GTX 400 or better
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5000 or better
Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better
If you are budget conscious, any of the following cards will function. Many of these cards are several years old, but they will still provide a basic Star Trek Online experience.
NVidia GeForce 8000 or better
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2000 or better
Intel G965M Express, or Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better
Above all, take a close look at the Video Card manufacturer’s documentation for any card you are going to purchase, and ensure that the card specifically says it supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher.
Please feel free to discuss this change in this thread, and let us know any further questions. We will be updating this thread with any additional notices or clarifications as needed.
Please note: For those of you currently having issues with your Direct 3D9 cards, Cryptic is still looking into a fix for that particular issue.
Wait it will change me from Direct3D 12 to 11????? WTF?
This decision reeks of making it easier to maintain the code when it comes to the Xbox and Windows versions.
Of course, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see DX12 extensions added at some point as well, because the XBOX One and Windows 10 run a lot of the same code.
Please relay this information to everyone and everywhere you can guys: fleets, armadas, STO leagues, Channels etc people need to know about this important change!
I've spammed it to my fleet already, and as you know we've been looking at it in The Sci Channel thanks to other members spotting it today.
Will keep spamming other channels as well.
May also be worth noting for those who wish to check this out in advance that if you run the DXDiag utility (win key + r then type dxdiag) you will get a list of your cards capabilities. The display tab will show the Direct3D level supported and the feature levels supported.
For those with an integral and dedicated card though I have no idea how to check your dedicated card as Dxdiag on mine only reports the integrated card.
This decision reeks of making it easier to maintain the code when it comes to the Xbox and Windows versions.
But truth be told, DX9 is coming up on it's 15th birthday soon so it is not really a surprise that game stop their support.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
As of March 1st, 2017, Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0. This decision was made in order to improve game performance and to optimize the player experience. In order to make this transition as smooth as possible, we have put together a quick FAQ.
What is the timeline for these changes?
You will have plenty of time to upgrade!
After December 5, 2016, if you are running on Windows XP or using Direct3D 9, or using a Video Card with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0, the launcher will inform you of that fact.
After January 15, 2017 the launcher will change your game settings to use Direct3D 11 if your system is compatible with it.
As of March 1, 2017, Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0.
What Operating System should I be upgrading to?
For the best play experience, Cryptic Studios recommends Windows 10. Note that you will need a Video Card that supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 11.0 or better to play on Windows 10.
The game will run on Windows Vista SP2 or better, or Windows 7 or 8 as well. Be aware that Microsoft is discontinuing supporting for Windows Vista as of April 2017.
What cards should I be looking for if I have to upgrade?
For the best play experience, Cryptic Studios recommends a video card that supports Direct3D Feature Level 11.0 or better. This includes:
NVidia GeForce GTX 400 or better
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5000 or better
Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better
If you are budget conscious, any of the following cards will function. Many of these cards are several years old, but they will still provide a basic Star Trek Online experience.
NVidia GeForce 8000 or better
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2000 or better
Intel G965M Express, or Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better
Above all, take a close look at the Video Card manufacturer’s documentation for any card you are going to purchase, and ensure that the card specifically says it supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher.
Please feel free to discuss this change in this thread, and let us know any further questions. We will be updating this thread with any additional notices or clarifications as needed.
Please note: For those of you currently having issues with your Direct 3D9 cards, Cryptic is still looking into a fix for that particular issue.
This all seems a bit confusing. You say you aren't using d3d9 in the future and that the hardware cannot be less then dx10. You also state you need win vista sp2 or better. So let me break this down.
Win Vista supports up to dx 10.0
Win vista sp 1 (requires win vista to update)supports up to dx 10.1
Win Vista sp2 (requires win vista sp1 to update) supports dx 10.1
Win Vista platform update (requires sp 2 to update) supports dx 11.0
So the last needs to be version 6.00.6002.18107 or higher for dx 11.0 support. You are indicating you need sp2 which is dx 10.1. But you also say cannot be less then 10.0 hardware. You then say for NVidia for example you need geforce 8000 or better.
GeForce 8000 series does dx 10.0
GeForce 205, 210 and 220, GT240 310, 315, 320, 330, 340 and 405 and 405m does dx 10.1 (GTS240 and all other 200 series only do dx 10.0)
Geforce GT420 and 410m and above does dx 11.0 (405 and 405m only do dx 10.1)
--Please change "[*]NVidia GeForce GTX 400 or better" to "NVidia GeForce 410 or better" that will properly exclude the 405 and 405m from the dx 11.0 requirement and not having GTX listed which you have and or GT will keep it from excluding the 410m.--
And note I've only checked NVidia and not Intel nor amd/ati. So you might wanna double check those as well. Just checked amd/ati and The Mobility Radeon HD 2300 does not do dx 10.0 so will not support the min requirements as stated. Also the Intel G965M is actually a GM965 which uses the GMA X3100 (mobile) and does support dx 10.0. The desktop version would be GMA X3500 (desktop) that supports dx 10.0. Gets to confusing going by chipsets and or cpu. Then you have generations. So saying HD2000 or better is not correct as for example the 9th generation are all dx12_1 capable. That being HD 500 and above. It's mind boggling how confusing Intel is. 8th gen is dx11.2 or 12 starting from HD graphics (with no numbers) it's just HD graphics. Arg! Not sure how you can really list Intel so TRIBBLE it. lol
Going back to Win Vista and the Service Packs and the Platform Update. So exactly what is required. You say you need sp2 which is dx 10.1 and hardware that's geforce 8000 series ie dx 10.0. The platform update which you did not state is dx 11.0. You see how conflicting this is. So specifically do we need a dx 10.0 or 10.1 vid card? Is win Vista sp2 enough or does it require the platform update which require dx 11.0?
If only a DX 10.0 vid card is required does this mean the game will run in dx 10 or dx 9ex mode? And if it does run in dx9ex mode which is a Vista and above OS can you please change the following;
"Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0" to "Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0" knowing 9ex and above requires Vista or above and assuming 9ex requires dx 10.0 compatible vid card. I can't honestly recall the last.
Anyways I hope you can understand that clarification is needed and at least 1 change needs to be made. And this part "Above all, take a close look at the Video Card manufacturer’s documentation for any card you are going to purchase, and ensure that the card specifically says it supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher." It's nice to say that. However a lot of people have no clue what their card is capable of. Case in point the people that are already asking if their vid card will work. They're not all like us tech savy geeks. So i'd rather it was a bit more precise. And as i've shown it just takes a little bit of research. Thanks.
And +1 for the gpuz download recommendation by freeman. Been using it for years and it pretty straight forward with it's listing of your vid cards capabilities. Sadly some people will still ask questions. So while it's a solution for most being precise as stated previously is still best. And yes I do still understand that even if you list what vid card does or doesn't support X people will still ask. Like the gpuz suggestion adds to lowering the amount of overall questions, which is good.
DX11 is still notoriously buggy. that's the reason everyone still uses DX9 in the first place.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
I'm a lifetime subscriber.
In reply to the original admin post about system requirements...
I am using Windows 10 and I keep my system updated regularly.
The list of "best play experience" video cards says AMD Radeon HD 5000 or better.
My PC uses an AMD Radeon HD 7350 video card, with 1 GB RAM. It does support DirectX 11. As a matter of fact, I can play many recent games.
Yet, whenever I try to play STO, the game crashes within 30 minutes (most often right after I click Engage).
You want us to upgrade, but even when we meet the requirements, the game still doesn't work.
Try as we might, the ball is in your hands, STO.
I downloaded Windows SDK to get the DirectX Caps Viewer. It enables you to check what features your card supports. My AMD Radeon HD 7350 does support Direct3D 11, feature level 11. See picture below.
So, DX9 (and Wine version that actually works without kludges, workarounds and bugs) would be there until after anniv event? Good.
And by then either Wine will be fixed, I'll get a proper gaming PC, or maybe the horse will learn to sing...
But, if neither happens, and I'll need to dual-boot this PC (which I don't want) anyone has any idea how it would work (Intel Pentium anniv. (not overclocked,) 8GB RAM, 1GB GF GT 740 (GDDR5)) with Win10 and STO? ADD: Theoretically it meets the requirements for DX 11 but how does it work in practice may be different...
TY for that link. However it says I'm running DX 11 but Win 10 via dxdiag says I'm running 12
GPU-Z shows what your card is physically capable of. In this case it's reporting that you have a DX11 card.
dxdiag on Windows 10 shows DX12 because that's the API version in Windows 10. DirectX is backwards compatible; so Win10 can still use DX11 cards, just without any of the DX12 features.
tl;dr: You're still fine as far as STO is concerned.
I get the XP cease as TBH XP has had no official surpport for a long time now....
The DX9 thing yes I get it but unless they can say with absolute certainty that they will fix all issues with DX11 this is such a foolhardy and short minded step.
However only time will tell I guess But! I will not be upgrading my GPU for STO when I can run 99% of other things with little to no issues and certainly not ones that crash my system.
I know I am not going to be alone in this mindset.
I'm on a Toshiba Satellite C75D-B7215 Which I have upgraded to Windows 10 from 8.1 with an AMD Radeon R5 graphics card that apparently supports DirectX 12. Can anyone reassure me that I'm safe for now?
jcsteele, you're fine dude. It's a dx 12 card so it certainly supports dx11 and whatever other lower version of direct x they're gonna use.
Wish my Toshiba Satellites worked correctly with Win 10. I upgraded them to win 10 and had to go back to win 7 as the function keys would not work on either and Toshiba refuses to provide a software update for the function keys.
Loved Toshiba til then. Since they're TRIBBLE over thousands upon thousands of people i'll never buy any of their products again. I don't understand the mentality of some software and hardware companies. Are they that stupid? Certainly appears that way.
And no my finger is not pointing at Cryptic. I think their changes make perfect sense in that you can't support an old OS when Microsoft won't support it and the vid card drivers won't support it. The last amd/ati driver for win vista was released in what late 2013. Time to upgrade indeed.
Also, even for those of us already running DirectX 11, there are numerous graphics bugs that still have not been fixed. These bugs were introduced with the new lighting system in "Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts".
NOTE: By "new lighting system", I do not necessarily mean with "Lighting 2.0" turned on. Even with "Lighting 2.0" turned off, there are enough differences compared to before "Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts" that the old lighting system can no longer be said to exist.
Hi, Playing sto has always been fiddly in a single update (eg. delta) arc can hang. It took me 2 weeks of searching the forum to find out you have to run it on dx9 instead of dx11. There was a lot of lag on dx9 and had to reduce graphic setting. After lighting upgrade, can run under dx11 again all graphic setting to max and very smooth but the lighting 2.0 tab is disable. Why is the lighting 2.0 tab disabled? after all it running on dx11.
My pc cpu is intel(R) core(TM) i3-3229 cpu @ 3.30 ghz and graphic NVDIA GeForce 210. I am running using dx11, i think my cpu is ok but is my graphic card ok? If not, i take to the shop on 1st march 2017 to make sure graphic card can run sto wont buy the card bfore as sto is fiddly does not mean you buy a new graphic card can run smoothly. Also in 3 months graphic card price and model(spec) can change.
It's not on the launcher, but considering the reason given for the announcement on Sunday a patch is to be expected.
Still, large announcements outside office hours....
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
I'm actually glad to see this change coming. DX9 is so dated at this point that it's time it went the way of Betamax and VHS. Hopefully more time for the devs to focus on a smoother DX11 experience.
Join date is wrong, I've actually been around since STO Beta.
True alters don't have a "main". Account wide unlocks for all unique event rewards!!
I'm a lifetime subscriber.
In reply to the original admin post about system requirements...
I am using Windows 10 and I keep my system updated regularly.
The list of "best play experience" video cards says AMD Radeon HD 5000 or better.
My PC uses an AMD Radeon HD 7350 video card, with 1 GB RAM. It does support DirectX 11. As a matter of fact, I can play many recent games.
Yet, whenever I try to play STO, the game crashes within 30 minutes (most often right after I click Engage).
You want us to upgrade, but even when we meet the requirements, the game still doesn't work.
Try as we might, the ball is in your hands, STO.
You will have to turn down shadows to medium or lower. This has been an on going issue with the coding of the game that stretches all the way back to the introduction of the Devidian FE's launch. It is a known issue and there are plenty of threads on it over the years that PWE still avoid to this day. Hopefully this update will fix that issue but don't get your hopes up.
For those with an integral and dedicated card though I have no idea how to check your dedicated card as Dxdiag on mine only reports the integrated card.
After December 5, 2016, if you are running on Windows XP or using Direct3D 9, or using a Video Card with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0, the launcher will inform you of that fact.
It's not on the launcher, but considering the reason given for the announcement on Sunday a patch is to be expected.
Still, large announcements outside office hours....
If they are going to patch the graphics-card detection logic, maybe they can fix the bug that sometimes causes long loading times on systems that use Nvidia Optimus or AMD Hybrid Graphics. Often STO will fail to detect the dedicated graphics card on such systems after a patch, causing the client to recompile the shader cache files for Intel integrated GPUs instead. This is causes long loading times while the files are being compiled. I'm not sure whether the bug is in the launcher or the client, but the client can see the dedicated graphics card properly after the game has fully loaded. See the threads below for reference.
Comments
DX9 is over a decade old. (Last update: v9.0c in 2004)
Wait it will change me from Direct3D 12 to 11????? WTF?
Of course, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see DX12 extensions added at some point as well, because the XBOX One and Windows 10 run a lot of the same code.
I've spammed it to my fleet already, and as you know we've been looking at it in The Sci Channel thanks to other members spotting it today.
Will keep spamming other channels as well.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starfleeteliteforces
For those with an integral and dedicated card though I have no idea how to check your dedicated card as Dxdiag on mine only reports the integrated card.
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
It tells you everything you need to know about your GPU(s). It's freeware, and no installation necessary. Just run it.
But truth be told, DX9 is coming up on it's 15th birthday soon so it is not really a surprise that game stop their support.
This all seems a bit confusing. You say you aren't using d3d9 in the future and that the hardware cannot be less then dx10. You also state you need win vista sp2 or better. So let me break this down.
Win Vista supports up to dx 10.0
Win vista sp 1 (requires win vista to update)supports up to dx 10.1
Win Vista sp2 (requires win vista sp1 to update) supports dx 10.1
Win Vista platform update (requires sp 2 to update) supports dx 11.0
So the last needs to be version 6.00.6002.18107 or higher for dx 11.0 support. You are indicating you need sp2 which is dx 10.1. But you also say cannot be less then 10.0 hardware. You then say for NVidia for example you need geforce 8000 or better.
GeForce 8000 series does dx 10.0
GeForce 205, 210 and 220, GT240 310, 315, 320, 330, 340 and 405 and 405m does dx 10.1 (GTS240 and all other 200 series only do dx 10.0)
Geforce GT420 and 410m and above does dx 11.0 (405 and 405m only do dx 10.1)
--Please change "[*]NVidia GeForce GTX 400 or better" to "NVidia GeForce 410 or better" that will properly exclude the 405 and 405m from the dx 11.0 requirement and not having GTX listed which you have and or GT will keep it from excluding the 410m.--
And note I've only checked NVidia and not Intel nor amd/ati. So you might wanna double check those as well. Just checked amd/ati and The Mobility Radeon HD 2300 does not do dx 10.0 so will not support the min requirements as stated. Also the Intel G965M is actually a GM965 which uses the GMA X3100 (mobile) and does support dx 10.0. The desktop version would be GMA X3500 (desktop) that supports dx 10.0. Gets to confusing going by chipsets and or cpu. Then you have generations. So saying HD2000 or better is not correct as for example the 9th generation are all dx12_1 capable. That being HD 500 and above. It's mind boggling how confusing Intel is. 8th gen is dx11.2 or 12 starting from HD graphics (with no numbers) it's just HD graphics. Arg! Not sure how you can really list Intel so TRIBBLE it. lol
Going back to Win Vista and the Service Packs and the Platform Update. So exactly what is required. You say you need sp2 which is dx 10.1 and hardware that's geforce 8000 series ie dx 10.0. The platform update which you did not state is dx 11.0. You see how conflicting this is. So specifically do we need a dx 10.0 or 10.1 vid card? Is win Vista sp2 enough or does it require the platform update which require dx 11.0?
If only a DX 10.0 vid card is required does this mean the game will run in dx 10 or dx 9ex mode? And if it does run in dx9ex mode which is a Vista and above OS can you please change the following;
"Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP and Direct3D 9, or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0" to "Star Trek Online will no longer be supporting Windows XP or Video Cards with a Direct3D Hardware Feature Level less than 10.0" knowing 9ex and above requires Vista or above and assuming 9ex requires dx 10.0 compatible vid card. I can't honestly recall the last.
Anyways I hope you can understand that clarification is needed and at least 1 change needs to be made. And this part "Above all, take a close look at the Video Card manufacturer’s documentation for any card you are going to purchase, and ensure that the card specifically says it supports Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10 or higher." It's nice to say that. However a lot of people have no clue what their card is capable of. Case in point the people that are already asking if their vid card will work. They're not all like us tech savy geeks. So i'd rather it was a bit more precise. And as i've shown it just takes a little bit of research. Thanks.
And +1 for the gpuz download recommendation by freeman. Been using it for years and it pretty straight forward with it's listing of your vid cards capabilities. Sadly some people will still ask questions. So while it's a solution for most being precise as stated previously is still best. And yes I do still understand that even if you list what vid card does or doesn't support X people will still ask. Like the gpuz suggestion adds to lowering the amount of overall questions, which is good.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
In reply to the original admin post about system requirements...
I am using Windows 10 and I keep my system updated regularly.
The list of "best play experience" video cards says AMD Radeon HD 5000 or better.
My PC uses an AMD Radeon HD 7350 video card, with 1 GB RAM. It does support DirectX 11. As a matter of fact, I can play many recent games.
Yet, whenever I try to play STO, the game crashes within 30 minutes (most often right after I click Engage).
You want us to upgrade, but even when we meet the requirements, the game still doesn't work.
Try as we might, the ball is in your hands, STO.
TY for that link. However it says I'm running DX 11 but Win 10 via dxdiag says I'm running 12
https://s16.postimg.org/6bbyelfnp/AMD_Radeon_HD_7350.jpg
And yet, STO crashes all the time.
So, before telling your users to update their tech, how about you fix your software?
And by then either Wine will be fixed, I'll get a proper gaming PC, or maybe the horse will learn to sing...
But, if neither happens, and I'll need to dual-boot this PC (which I don't want) anyone has any idea how it would work (Intel Pentium anniv. (not overclocked,) 8GB RAM, 1GB GF GT 740 (GDDR5)) with Win10 and STO? ADD: Theoretically it meets the requirements for DX 11 but how does it work in practice may be different...
dxdiag on Windows 10 shows DX12 because that's the API version in Windows 10. DirectX is backwards compatible; so Win10 can still use DX11 cards, just without any of the DX12 features.
tl;dr: You're still fine as far as STO is concerned.
Just asking because for many this will be an investment.
Haha upgrade your PC before March 1st 2017 and get a free Golden Ferengi Ship (just kidding)
The DX9 thing yes I get it but unless they can say with absolute certainty that they will fix all issues with DX11 this is such a foolhardy and short minded step.
However only time will tell I guess But! I will not be upgrading my GPU for STO when I can run 99% of other things with little to no issues and certainly not ones that crash my system.
I know I am not going to be alone in this mindset.
Wish my Toshiba Satellites worked correctly with Win 10. I upgraded them to win 10 and had to go back to win 7 as the function keys would not work on either and Toshiba refuses to provide a software update for the function keys.
Loved Toshiba til then. Since they're TRIBBLE over thousands upon thousands of people i'll never buy any of their products again. I don't understand the mentality of some software and hardware companies. Are they that stupid? Certainly appears that way.
And no my finger is not pointing at Cryptic. I think their changes make perfect sense in that you can't support an old OS when Microsoft won't support it and the vid card drivers won't support it. The last amd/ati driver for win vista was released in what late 2013. Time to upgrade indeed.
That was my first thought as well.
So presumably someone will be updating the system requirements on this page.
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online
Also, even for those of us already running DirectX 11, there are numerous graphics bugs that still have not been fixed. These bugs were introduced with the new lighting system in "Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts".
NOTE: By "new lighting system", I do not necessarily mean with "Lighting 2.0" turned on. Even with "Lighting 2.0" turned off, there are enough differences compared to before "Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts" that the old lighting system can no longer be said to exist.
My pc cpu is intel(R) core(TM) i3-3229 cpu @ 3.30 ghz and graphic NVDIA GeForce 210. I am running using dx11, i think my cpu is ok but is my graphic card ok? If not, i take to the shop on 1st march 2017 to make sure graphic card can run sto wont buy the card bfore as sto is fiddly does not mean you buy a new graphic card can run smoothly. Also in 3 months graphic card price and model(spec) can change.
It's not on the launcher, but considering the reason given for the announcement on Sunday a patch is to be expected.
Still, large announcements outside office hours....
You will have to turn down shadows to medium or lower. This has been an on going issue with the coding of the game that stretches all the way back to the introduction of the Devidian FE's launch. It is a known issue and there are plenty of threads on it over the years that PWE still avoid to this day. Hopefully this update will fix that issue but don't get your hopes up.
If they are going to patch the graphics-card detection logic, maybe they can fix the bug that sometimes causes long loading times on systems that use Nvidia Optimus or AMD Hybrid Graphics. Often STO will fail to detect the dedicated graphics card on such systems after a patch, causing the client to recompile the shader cache files for Intel integrated GPUs instead. This is causes long loading times while the files are being compiled. I'm not sure whether the bug is in the launcher or the client, but the client can see the dedicated graphics card properly after the game has fully loaded. See the threads below for reference.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/4ja2rc/technical_question_for_people_who_suffer_the_long/
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/4ty0kn/logins_after_patches_updates_taking_forever/