Hey folks,
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.
Comments
My PC is DirectX 11 capable(and I'm running Windows 8.1-Update Edition; it also is NOT Win 10 capable), but really can't run STO in it without severe issues, so I use the 'force DX 9' option in-game, running the original lighting by default.
...in other words, should I be having an anxiety attack, now? ...because I'm not very good with those....
Soo...I -don't- need to be having a panic-fueled meltdown, right now? *slightly confused*
If your system doesn't run the game well now on DX11, then it more than likely won't once all of these changes come into effect. You should tinker with the in-game settings to see if you adjust the settings to a comfortable point where the game plays fine for you. If you can't find a good balance in settings on DX11, including at their absolute lowest. Then that should give you the answer you are looking for.
Fleet Admiral In charge of Bacon
Fighting 5th Attack Squadron
The Devils Henchman
Guess that's my only viable option, at present...; this PC just turned 3 years old in September, and I've been playing STO since that time...; upgrading the card isn't an option, as the PC has an integrated card, and, as my Austistic Spectrum Disorder prevents me from any kind of meaningful employment, aside from Seasonal work(if I'm lucky), I can ill-afford a new PC for the foreseeable future unless this one fails....
Thanks, and I'll just have to see what I can do....
This is my GPU pleaseeeeeeeeee for the love of Trek tell me this is not going to need an upgrade.....
Some motherboards with integrated graphics do also contain a PCI-E x8 or x16 slot. It might be worthing removing the side panel to have a look. A new GPU is definitely a cheaper option compared to a whole new PC. If PWE could actually get the console ports up to speed with the PC version and actually allow a player to transfer their saved data over. Then they may actually offer a viable solution to players with older PC's a console alternative without losing their last almost 6 years of effort they have sunk into this game.
My younger siblings are at risk of becoming obsolete altogether, and given my experiences with the game's DX11 mode, I am likely to have stability issues. (And let's not even go into the part where it takes years to rebuild the DX11 shader cache after each patch...)
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
If you have one nearby, you might want to check out Best Buys Clearance section.
A new, but last years model of a Nvidia or AMD video card, would probably cost $60 or below.
I'm sure since your PC is only three years old there will be a compatible card available and you don't need a Top-of-the-Line model to run STO.
This is how I always upgrade my card, as my financials aren't the greatest either.
This BTW, is really BIG news, funny that They picked a Sunday afternoon to announce it.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
It's an "All-in-one" PC; a Dell Inspiron 2020...everything except the mouse and keyboard is built into the monitor housing....
That, and I am -not- tech-hardware savvy...; I'm great with the internet and such, but haven't even the slightest clue about how to fix/modify/upgrade a PC, myself...; so for that reason, I -really- don't want to even attempt to mess with this thing, nor could I afford much of a replacement if I *did* damage it, as a result. >_<;
I'm sorry if I sound like a major wimp, but it doesn't take much to send me into anxiety attacks, so when something like THIS comes along, I end up with literally crippling headaches just thinking about what might happen...and you really don't want to know what would happen if a -real- crisis ever occurred....
That said, I -do- appreciate your suggestions, so far...I'll ask someone I know about maybe looking at it for me.
I'm gonna feel REAL stupid if I'm able to actually get it 'playing nice' with DX 11 and this was all me panicking for nothing!
Yeah, messing with an "All-in-One" Monitor Computer's innards is a real PITA.
I can see why you don't want to go there.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
This is not something that can be ignored or talked about in just the Forums.
This could conceivably effect a very large population of the game.
We should also spread the word within the games chat channels as well.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
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, Yes it would take more time and the servers would have to be taken down for the changes to take effect, but players can deal with servers being down for a week or so, so long as it does not affect events.
Heh...
Friday would have been better choice, as I can't believe that this decision was made just yesterday, but what is done is done...
And good luck with it NOT being a nasty surprise for many at this point come tomorrow.
As a Klingon might say..., The Chit-Storm Will Be Glorious!!!
Heh, now I see why Trendy chose last week to announce her semi-departure...
Feeling a bit down-trodden there yet Ambassadorkael, if not, wait till tomorrow evening.
<chuckle>
May your shoulders be strengthened by the souls of a thousand Klingons from Sto"Vo"Kor.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
All available through Amazon and/or Newegg
1st Budget PC @ $567
- Case NZXT Source 210 $55
- Power Supply EVGA 600B $50
- CPU Intel i3-6100 $105
- Heatsink Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $28
- Motherboard ASUS Z170-P $90
- Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 $58
- Graphics Card Gigabyte RX 460 $90
- Hard Drive Western Digital Black 1TB $69
- DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW $22
2nd PC Choice @ $827- Case NZXT Source 210 $55
- Power Supply EVGA 600B $50
- CPU Intel 6600K $220
- Heatsink Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $28
- Motherboard ASUS Z170-A $145
- Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 $58
- Graphics Card RX 480 / GTX 1060 3GB $180 / $200
- Hard Drive Western Digital Black 1TB $69
- DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW $22
3nd PC Choice @ $1134Are these all available on Amazon or through other sources?
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Sorry about that (Update my original Post)
Yep; I'm in a real 'no-win scenario' unless I can convince this PC to run STO in DX11 without any serious issues...with that said, when I play tonight, I'll switch to DX11 mode, then disable Lighting 2.0 if it tries to re-activate, and make sure everything is set to minimum, as an above-poster mentioned...may even turn my renderscale down to .90...keeping it at .98 has dealt with the visual issues that cropped up in DX9 mode since Lighting 2.0 went live....
Windows 7 64-Bit (Win10 Caused Graphics Driver crashes since it's too old for updates)
D3D 11.1 (Win7 only supports SOME of 11.1's functionality)
ATI Mobiliy Radeon HD 4200 w/256MB of VRAM
I have NO BUDGET to upgrade. Literally all of my money goes to bills and shopping, otherwise I would have upgraded long ago.
As many of us who can use DX11 don't for many many reasons.
Already on it with the fleet I command But i have been suspecting this move for a while. Windows XP support has been dropped by Microsoft for years.