We purchased Automation about a week ago and when we try to open it is giving me an error message (Pixel shader 3.0 required). I’m afraid our system is just too old for this game. Keep in mind when you respond that I am not a gamer and do not know what that error means. I can provide you with specs for my system, but you might have to walk me through where that information is located. Thanks.
If know your graphics card then you can look here…
A used PS 3.0 capable card (Radeon X1300) isn’t expensive through ebay.
Do tell us if you have updated the drivers or DX
I don’t know if I do. It’s an old system. Probably not. It’s on an old Dell with Windows XP. I can check tonight.
Sorry. Misread that last message from ram. I have not updated anything. I don’t even know what that means to update my driver. I’m really wanting to get a refund on this. My 8 year old wanted this game, but It’s been a nightmare trying to figure out how to get it running on this old computer. Where would I look to find out what kind of graphics card I have?
Yeah, most likely it’ll be due to an old graphics card that isn’t up to the required specs
If you want to find out what graphics card you have, you can do so via this process - http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/how-to-run-a-directx-diagnostic-on-xp/ - On the “Display” tab it’ll tell you the name of your graphics card.
I suspect though that if it’s an older Dell it’ll most likely be well below the required specs. If that’s the case, you can request a refund like this - http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/
While hopefully you work this issue out, the game clearly advertises in its system requirements that it needs pixel shader 3.0. If you don’t understand the requirements, either find out before you buy or don’t buy the software.
Eh, PC system requirements can be really confusing sometimes, paticularly if you’re not usually a gamer.
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I know people make mistakes, but it’s quite annoying when people go in blind and then complain to the producer about a product that is working as advertised. I suppose Steam could force people to click through the system requirements if there are still people that don’t understand that software can’t run on every computer.
Eh, I don’t mind, we were all new to PC hardware once 
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Which is something he is not doing, he asked politely about his problem, I don’t understand why you come with all the actitude, instead of trying to help or provide a solution (which as it happens, was already provided for other forum members, so what was the function of your post?)
You know what is quite annoying too? When new users of the forum come all dense and with a lot of attitude to others.
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I’m sorry you feel that way. 
The function of my post is to maybe inspire some users to actually take responsibility and carefully consider their purchases. Why should devs have to waste their time trying to fix a problem they didn’t create? It would be a completely different situation if Camshaft Soft didn’t explain that PS 3.0 was needed and a person wasn’t able to run the game because of it.
I wasn’t trying to chew this user out, if that’s how it comes across…
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As the OP had mentioned, he/she/they don’t know computers, so none of it is their fault.
That is nonsense logic, but I’m going to step out of this thread. It is correct to say this thread should be for support. I thought a small side comment wouldn’t be out of place but clearly not, and I don’t want to pollute it anymore.
Thanks, all, for the comments. I appreciate the help.
It seems that I need to update my driver (I think.) Again, I am not tech savvy so I really don’t understand all the systems. It would be easier just to get a refund from Steam, but that is turning out to be a nightmare. They are claiming that I have “excessive amount of playtime” which…I don’t understand. I have not opened or played it, because, uhm, I can’t.
I just read a review of Valve/Steam on the Better Business Bureau and they are at a severely low rating of customer service. They are very nice, but I feel like they are politely trying to rip me off.
For anyone who wants to consider dealing with them, probably read this first:
https://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/computer-software-publishers-and-developers/valve-corporation-in-bellevue-wa-27030704/complaints
I paid $29.99 for this thing that doesn’t work, but they are claiming we are playing the game. Someone said, if you loan someone $20 and never see them again, it was probably worth it.
I’m getting close to kissing that $29.99 goodbye because this is getting ridiculous.
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Their refund policy is pretty clear cut though, you can check the registered game time in your steam library. 2h of play time is the limit, which of course you should not be able to achieve unless the timer bugged out due to the crash. The other limit (I think) is “within 2 weeks of purchase”.
Unfortunately we cannot help you getting a refund as we have nothing to do with the store itself, but in the unlikely case they ask you for our stance, we’re of course happy with you getting a refund.
If things don’t work out I guess you won’t be on an old XP system with ancient graphics processor forever.
Anyway, we’re sorry this turned into a mess for you.
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Thanks. I appreciate the response. I think that’s kind of where I am. I requested a fix or a refund within the two weeks, and I don’t know how the game time would have ticked forward at all since it crashed upon launch.
Anyways, I am still in talks with them, but I suspect they won’t budge. And I didn’t think you guys could help with the refund, but I appreciate the support. I’ll let you know what happens.
Killrob - question. Is this download only good for one computer? We have a MAC (I think it’s 10.4.1…something like that.) would we be able to install on that one? I guess it depends on (a) if they allow more than one download per purchase; and (b) if I have all the technology on the MAC that would make it compatible with the game.
If it can be downloaded there, I can come back with you on the specs of the MAC and see if that works. Worth a shot.
Thanks again for your help.
Currently the game is Windows PC only, but we are looking into making a Mac version further down the line of development when we switch out our game engine.
Using Steam you can install any game on as many systems as you want, but only ever play one copy at once. One of the advantages of the platform.
If you are confident maybe you can use some Virtual Machine like Parallels OS to run Windows on the Mac and give Automation a try? I think it’s been tried, but I don’t remember how successful it was.