Working out whether your computer can run it

First: the platform question

Before anything to do with speed, there is a yes-or-no question: does the game run on the kind of computer you own at all? A platform is the combination of operating system and device type that software is built for. A program built for desktop Windows does not run on a tablet, and a program built for Windows and macOS does not run on Linux unless the publisher says it does.

For the title used as this course's example, the vendor's material covers desktop and laptop computers running Windows or macOS. Linux is not among the systems covered. There is no supported phone or tablet version. If your household's only computer runs Linux, or the plan was to play on a tablet, the honest answer is that this particular title is not for that machine, and the remaining steps will not change that.

The five numbers that matter

A requirements list looks intimidating because it is written in part numbers. Underneath, it is asking about five things.

What a requirements list is actually asking

Term	What it means	What goes wrong if it is short
Operating system	Windows, macOS, and which version.	The game will not install or launch at all.
Processor (CPU)	The general-purpose chip that runs the game's logic.	Stutters when a lot is happening at once; long loading.
Memory (RAM)	Working space, measured in gigabytes.	The computer swaps to disk; everything becomes jerky.
Graphics (GPU)	The chip that draws the picture. May be built into the processor ("integrated") or a separate card ("discrete").	Low frame rate, or the game refuses to start.
Storage	Free space on the drive, in gigabytes, plus whether it is a slow mechanical disk or a fast solid-state drive.	Installation fails; loading screens take minutes.

Two of these deserve a note. Integrated graphics — a graphics chip built into the main processor rather than a separate card — is what most thin laptops have, and it is the most common reason a game technically runs but is unpleasant to play. And storage figures published by a game are almost always for a fresh installation; patches add to that over months, so treat the published number as a floor and leave yourself room.

Finding them on Windows

This takes about four minutes and installs nothing. Everything used here is part of Windows already.

1. Press the Windows key, type About your PC, and open it. Note the edition and version of Windows, the processor name, and the installed RAM.
2. Press the Windows key, type dxdiag, and press Enter. The DirectX Diagnostic Tool opens. On the Display tab, note the graphics chip name and the amount of display memory.
3. Open File Explorer and select This PC. Note the free space on the drive you intend to install to, usually C:.
4. In File Explorer, right-click that drive, choose Properties, then the Tools tab, to confirm which drive it is. If you want to know whether it is solid-state, search the Start menu for Defragment and Optimise Drives — the Media type column says "Solid state drive" or "Hard disk drive".
5. Write all five values on one line in your notes.

Finding them on a Mac

1. Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. Note the macOS version name and number, the chip or processor, and the memory.
2. In the same window, choose More Info and then System Report for the detail, including the graphics entry.
3. Still in About This Mac, open Storage to see free space. Apple's current machines use solid-state storage, so the slow-disk question usually does not arise.
4. Note whether the chip is an Apple silicon chip or an Intel processor. Some games are built for one and run on the other through a translation layer, and some are not offered for both at all. If a game's own page does not say, treat it as unanswered rather than assuming.
5. Write the values on one line in your notes.

Reading minimum against recommended

Published requirements usually come in two columns. The minimum column is the configuration below which the publisher will not promise the game works. The recommended column is the configuration at which the publisher expects a pleasant experience at ordinary settings.

A useful way to read them: minimum means "it starts and you can play, probably at low settings and a modest resolution." Recommended means "you will not spend your first evening fiddling with options." Neither is a guarantee, because a requirements table cannot know what else is running on your machine or how hot your laptop gets after twenty minutes.

Three practical rules follow.

• If you are below minimum on any single line, treat that line as decisive. Being generous on memory does not compensate for an unsupported operating system.
• If you are between minimum and recommended, expect to play at reduced settings, and expect that to be fine. Lowering a graphics setting is not a failure.
• If you are below recommended on graphics specifically, and your graphics are integrated, plan to start the game at its lowest preset and work upwards rather than downwards.

Where do you find the table? On the vendor's own pages, because that is the only place it is authoritative, and because published figures change between major updates. This course does not reproduce any game's requirements, since a number copied once and left to age is worse than no number at all.

Visit the World of Warships website

Paid affiliate link. A commission is paid to the publisher of this site if an account is created and activated after following it. The step works identically if you reach the vendor's site some other way.

The connection, not just the computer

An online game needs two different things from your internet connection, and people often check only one of them.

Capacity decides how long the first download takes and how quickly patches arrive. A large client is tens of gigabytes. On a typical Australian fixed-line connection that is a background task measured in hours rather than minutes, and on a mobile broadband plan it may be a serious portion of a monthly allowance. Check your plan's included data before a first download, not after.

Latency — the delay between your computer sending something and the server replying — decides whether the game feels responsive. It is affected by distance to the server and by what else is using the connection. Most online games let you choose a server region; choosing one geographically nearer usually gives a lower delay. Australia's distance from servers in Europe or North America is a real factor, which is why a game offering an Asia-Pacific or Oceanic region is worth noting during Step 3.

If the connection is shared, the practical test is not a speed measurement but a household conversation: a very large download in the evening will be noticed by everyone else using the same connection. Scheduling it overnight solves most of that.

The worked example continues

In the hypothetical Brisbane flat, the adult runs through the Windows list in four minutes. The laptop is four years old, runs a current version of Windows, has 8 GB of memory, uses integrated graphics, and has 180 GB free on a solid-state drive. The connection is a shared fixed-line service with a generous but not unlimited monthly allowance.

Comparing that with a published requirements table, they find the operating system is comfortably supported, the memory is at minimum rather than recommended, and the graphics are the weak line. Their conclusion is not "no". It is: this will run, it will need low settings, the first download should happen overnight, and nobody should expect it to look like the trailer. They write that sentence in the notebook and move to Step 3.

The second hypothetical outcome is worth stating too, because it is common. Had the laptop been running an operating system version the game no longer supports, the correct decision would have been to stop — not to update the whole machine for one game, and not to look for an unofficial way around it. Step 4 explains why that last option is a bad one.

Step 2 checklist

Fifteen minutes, nothing installed, nothing downloaded. Keep the results; Step 4 uses them.

1. Confirm the operating system and version on the computer you intend to use, and write it down exactly.
2. Confirm the game supports that operating system, from the vendor's own page.
3. Note the processor name and model number.
4. Note the installed memory in gigabytes.
5. Note the graphics chip, and whether it is integrated or a separate card.
6. Note free space on the drive you would install to, and leave at least half as much again for future patches.
7. Find the vendor's published minimum and recommended requirements and compare them line by line against your five values.
8. Mark any line where you fall below minimum. One such line is enough to stop here.
9. Check your internet plan's monthly data allowance against the size of the download.
10. Decide when the download will happen, so it does not interrupt anyone else in the household.
11. Note whether the game offers a server region near Australia, and plan to select it in Step 4.

All five checklists, formatted to print.