Bandwidth and hardware requirements for FG

[Nilram the Grey]

OK, the good news is half my old gaming group got together this last weekend at my place and I ran a module I created in FG for them. We did it sitting around the table with a player computer and GM computer, but otherwise fully FG based (not a single real die to be found). They really seemed to enjoy it and wanted to give this a try at distance since we all live in different cities. We played together from the late 70's until the late 80's, so it would be nice to see FG bring us back together for gaming again. We kept in touch otherwise over the years, but distance and obligations has made gaming face to face impossible for a long time.

Two of them need new hardware and one of them is concerned about his bandwidth. Cost is an object for part of the group. They also want to be able to occasionally game face to face around a table, but in FG like we just did this weekend. They are hooked. Therefore they want to get laptops. My questions are:

If they bought Intel i3-6100U based laptops with 17" screens, 4GB of memory, and Intel's built in graphics would that be enough hardware for them to run fine? They already decided they want a large screen based on this last weekends experiences. They have some really old hardware otherwise as neither of them are big on computers.

If one of them has only 2.4Mb download and 2Mb upload bandwidth will that be enough for them to run fine?

Before they dive in with both feet, I just want to make sure it is viable for us to even try. We want to be able to use WotC official modules which are nicely done with lots of large graphics, etc. We don't really have the time to write out own stuff, so we prefer to buy and modify to our tastes. I looked at the official hardware requirements and there wasn't much to go on there and lots of disagreements about what is really needed. I couldn't find anything on bandwidth.

[Talyn]

FG runs ok on my two-year old Acer laptop. Intel Core i5-4200U and 8 GB RAM. FG runs slower than on my desktop but not too bad overall. I'm not overly familiar with laptop hardware so I don't know how the i3-6100U would perform in comparison.

Bandwidth is only a "concern" (and it's a stretch to even call it that) when first connecting as the GM has parts of the module(s) set to be shared. Or shares images. The slower your bandwidth, the longer it might take to complete that file transfer but most modules have their images pared down in file size, especially the official ones, just for that reason.

Otherwise during a game the bandwidth requirement is just that of text chat, which is practically negligible.

If you're using VOIP that will use far more bandwidth than FG ever does, so if you already do that then you won't even notice FG.

[Zacchaeus]

My bandwidth is less that your mates and I run games just fine. As Talyn says the only issue is when first connecting to a new campaign and you have shared things like the PHB and/or maps etc. These things can take time to d/l to all of the connecting players. Especially if they all connect at once. We are talking a few minutes here; that's all.

I can't advise on Graphics since I too don't know enough about laptop architecture but I don't think FG is too much of a graphic hog. And I would also agree with Talyn on the VOIP thing; stay clear of Skype and go with something like Teamspeak or Google Hangouts

[Mask_of_winter]

Bandwidth is also mainly an issue for the host, especially if you have 5+ players. I used to host games with less than MB upload. I would get players to connect at least 30 mins before the game. I now have 6mb up and with 5 or 7 players it only takes a min or two. Clients use their download speed. So unless they are on a dial-up modem, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Talyn]

...stay clear of Skype and go with something like Teamspeak or Google Hangouts

Have they improved Hangouts? Last time I tried it (video chat with 5 or 6 people) it damn near brought my desktop to its knees and used up all my bandwidth and CPU to the point I had to force-close the browser.

But generally yeah, use a VOIP client with gaming in mind like Discord, C3, TeamSpeak or Ventrilo and not a telephony app like Skype.

[NotRussellCrowe]

As I was setting up our old laptop for my wife to play, it's about 6 years old and predates the i3/i5/i7 processors. It has a dedicated AMD graphics card, 4gb of RAM and 7200RPM drive. It runs Fantasy Grounds just fine.

The one thing I noticed on my newer laptop is that when running it on the integrated Intel graphics the 3d dice didn't roll smoothly, but when I switched Fantasy Grounds to run against the Nvidia graphics card the dice now roll very smoothly. Other than the smoothness of the dice rolling there was no difference in using FG. Perhaps I needed to play with the Intel graphics settings to get smoother dice rolling, no idea, but it's all good.

[Mask_of_winter]

I host FG and a Hangout plus I have a bunch of stuff running on the equivalent of i3 and have no problem.

[damned]

As NotRussellCrowe says = the dice rolling is where you will see the lag on the poorer graphics machines.
The more windows you have open the more likely this is to happen and the more windows the worse it will be.
Realistically most people can use this app happily with less than about 8 windows open and most modern computers with 4GB ram will handle this fine.

The future Unity build may be more resource hungry when Fog Of War, Dynamic Lighting and 3d Dungeons are availble...
My opinion is that you should be fine on all fronts.

[Zacchaeus]

Have they improved Hangouts? Last time I tried it (video chat with 5 or 6 people) it damn near brought my desktop to its knees and used up all my bandwidth and CPU to the point I had to force-close the browser.

But generally yeah, use a VOIP client with gaming in mind like Discord, C3, TeamSpeak or Ventrilo and not a telephony app like Skype.

To be honest I haven't used Hangouts for VOIP but many chaps recommend it so I was just repeating that. I agree, completely that TS, Ventrilo et al are likely the much better options.

[Nilram the Grey]

Thanks for all the responses. It looks like we should be fine with modest hardware. I'm really glad the network bandwidth isn't going to be a challenge as that one is harder to fix for one player. I'd be the GM/server and I have 100Mb down and 20Mb up, so we should be fine on that front. I'll tell the guys to watch their CPU/graphics considerations to future proof for unity.

If anyone has experience with the i3-6100U CPU and graphics I'd love to hear from you.

[damned]

I know you are specifically asking for someone with actual experience of that mode but...
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-6100U+%40+2.30GHz
that i3 is faster than many older i5s.
I ran FG for many years on a Core2Duo quite happily.

[Myrdin Potter]

I have GMed twice on cellular 3G internet and other than a little time upfront, it worked. I also have used shaky VPN connections from hotels in China while running the game as was able to do it. We use Teamspeak (which is permanently running on my NAS at home via a cable modem connection. I have one player that often stays at a hotel near Washington, DC and occasionally his Teamspeak voice breaks up or is robotic, but the game is fine. I think his hotel uses tin cans and string to provide internet, but it actually may be dixie cups and string.

Some of my players use pretty old laptops and no issues reported other than complaining about screen size when big map files are used.