To determine your in game FPS, both current and average enter show("framecounter()");
at the console. To disable the FPS display enter show(); at the console. The
console is usually accessed by pressing the key below ESC.
Another option is to use Halide's excellent
benchmark script, run after any tweaks to check overall FPS.
Some users prefer to edit their settings via the config file, we have included the
relevant clientprefs entry for most of the settings mentioned in this section. If you
prefer to edit the setting manually then simply locate the relevant $pref:: entry
in base/prefs/clientprefs.cs and adjust as needed.
Graphics Menu
The settings available in this menu mostly help control the load on your CPU
and/or graphics card T&L unit. Full details on the individual settings follow:
Terrain Detail
Controls how the amount of polygons that the engine uses for rendering the terrain. The
lower you set the slider the less polygons are rendered. This usually results in a higher
FPS but you will notice the terrain 'morphing' more as you move across it. Slow CPU or no
T&L on your card, reduce this as much as possible. $pref::Terrain::screenError
entry is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Shadow Detail
Controls how shadows are rendered for players and vehicles. Moving the slider to the far
right creates more detailed shadows at the cost of increased polygons. Moving the slider
to the left reduces shadow detail and polygon count. Slow CPU or no T&L on your card,
disable this option by moving the slider all the way to the left. $pref::Shadows
entry is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Shape Detail
Cntrols the amount of polygons used for players, vehicles and other shapes. Moving the
slider to the far right creates more detailed shapes at the cost of increased polygons.
Moving the slider to the left reduces shape detail and polygon count. Anything lower than
~75% and players turn into stick men at medium to long 'viewable' distance. Slow CPU or no
T&L on your card, reduce this as much as possible but not to such a point that player
visibility is affected too much. $pref::TS::screenError entry is used in
clientprefs to control this setting.
Sky Detail
Controls the level of sky detail and rendering, eyecandy in that higher detail levels show
clouds and storm fronts on some maps. Try skybox only, while it only saves a few FPS at
most it is at no real visual cost. $pref::SkyOn entry is used in clientprefs to
control this setting.
Particle Density
Controls the amount of particles used in weapon effects, smoke trails, explosions etc. Some
cards or driver sets are very poor when using alpha blending heavily. If you have a system
that tends to slow down when smoke, explosions etc. are in view then lower this setting. $pref::ParticleDensity
entry is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Dynamic Light Distance
Controls when lighting from weapons, flags, firing, etc. is classed as too far away to be
rendered. Adjust as needed, can save FPS if you have dynamic lighting enabled. If FPS is a
problem then it is best to disable dynamic lightning completely, see Dynamic Terrain
Lights entry in this section. $pref::Terrain::DynamicLightsClipPix and
$pref::Terrain::DynamicLightsFadePix are used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Precipitation
Controls weather effects such as rain and snow. Disabling this option can help quite a
lot, it depends on the circumstances in game. In the end 'weather' effects are eyecandy
and can even detract from gameplay so save a few FPS. $pref::precipitation is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Decals
Controls the damage is shown on players, vehicles and other objects. If your card is
limited on texture memory then disable this option. In patches prior to 22755 damage to
vehicles still appears to be drawn even with this setting off. If you still wish to have
some decals shown but limit the amount then edit the decal amount setting
$pref::Decal::maxNumDecals (32 should do, not 256 default) in clientprefs. $pref::Decal::decalTimeout,
$pref::Decal::maxNumDecals and $pref::decalsOn are used in clientprefs
to control this setting.
Terrain Details
Controls if detail textures are used on close up rendered terrain. Similar to detail
textures in UnrealTournament and Quake3 whereby a small fine texture 'grid' or 'mesh' is
applied when close up to stop blurring of detail. Untick to disable or tick to enable, no
real gain in FPS when disabled so leave enabled. $pref::Terrain::enableDetails is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Vertex Lighting
Helps save texture memory by not using lightmaps for lighting of levels, instead it uses
vertex lighting to light levels. Enabled can actually be slower on some cards
than lightmap, leave this disabled if you have enough texture memory (16 megabytes in 16
bit colour and 32 megabytes in 32 bit colour) for Tribes2 to load lightmaps. $pref::Interior::VertexLighting
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Dynamic Interior Lights
Controls indoor lighting from weapons, flags, firing, etc. It will also help you find
repair packs located indoors when the generators are destroyed as you will see the red
pulsing glow from the repair pack easier. If FPS 'indoors' is not really a problem then
leave this enabled, minimal FPS gain when disabled. $pref::Interior::DynamicLights
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Dynamic Terrain Lights
Controls terrain lighting from weapons, flags, firing, etc. Adjust as needed, can save a
fair bit of FPS and even with loss of dynamic lighting tracking the flag is
not that hard
to be honest. Patches from 22750 allow clipping of dynamic lights based on distance, see
Dynamic Light Distance in this section. $pref::Terrain::dynamicLights is used in
clientprefs to control this setting.
Interior Textured Fog
Controls fog rendering in indoor locations so that they match the terrain, defaults to off
and saves a fair bit of FPS so leave it disabled. $pref::Interior::TexturedFog is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Hires Shield Effects
Controls the appearance of shield when a player, item or vehicle is taking
damage. Defaults to off
and saves a fair bit of FPS on slow CPUs and/or card with no T&L
support. $pref::useOldShieldEffect is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Visible Distance
Controls how quickly the graphics engine performs fogging/distance clipping on shapes and objects.
A low setting really helps FPS albeit at a cost, players who do not reduce this setting will be
able to see you when you cannot see them. Adjust as needed, really player role dependant.
Slow CPU or no T&L on your card, reduce this as much as possible without interfering
with your team role. $pref::visibleDistanceMod is used in clientprefs to control
this setting.
Texture Menu
The settings available in this menu mostly help control the texture load on your graphics
card and graphics card subsystem(AGP/PCI). Full details on the individual settings follow:
Texture Quality
Controls how textures are stored for your card, their format, depth etc. Palletized is the
best all round option if your card supports it. Note that palletized textures under
Wicked3D OpenGL can cause problems with colours and/or textures so try 16 bit or 32 bit
texture setting (palletized texture issues submitted by Eric Hughes). 16 bit colour reduces
visual quality more than palletized but can save you a little extra texture memory as you
can enable compressed textures if your card supports it. If you have enough texture memory
or wish to have the best visuals then use 32 bit colour textures. $pref::OpenGL::force16BitTexture
and $pref::OpenGL::forcePalettedTexture are used in clientprefs to control this
setting.
Texture Compression
Controls how textures are compressed, fastest uses the lowest quality texture compression
your card allows (usually DXT1) while nicest uses the highest quality texture compression
you card allows (usually DXT3 or above). $pref::OpenGL::compressionHint (GLNICEST
/ GLFASTEST) is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Terrain Texture Detail
Controls texture size for the terrain. Moving the slider to the far right allows more
detailed terrain textures at the cost of increased texture memory usage. Moving the slider
to the left creates less detailed terrain textures which reduces texture memory usage at
the cost of detail. If you have a video card with limited texture memory or a card that
cannot compress textures then reducing texture size/detail can help. Quake players know
this as picmip. $pref::Terrain::texDetail is used in clientprefs to control this
setting.
Building Texture Detail
Similar to Terrain Texture Detail but controls textures for buildings. Moving the slider
to the far right allows more detailed building textures at the cost of increased texture
memory usage. Moving the slider to the left creates less detailed building textures which
reduces texture memory usage at the cost of detail. If you have a video card with limited
texture memory or a card that cannot compress textures then reducing texture size/detail
can help. Quake players know this as picmip. $pref::OpenGL::interiorMipReduction
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Shape Texture Detail
Similar to Terrain Texture Detail but this controls textures for shapes such as players
and vehicles. Moving the slider to the far right allows more detailed shape textures at
the cost of increased texture memory usage. Moving the slider to the left creates less
detailed shape textures which reduces texture memory usage at the cost of detail. If you
have a video card with limited texture memory or a card that cannot compress textures then
reducing texture size/detail can help. Quake players know this as picmip. $pref::OpenGL::mipReduction
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Sky Texture Detail
Controls texture detail for the skybox and clouds. Leave it at default setting, if it is
too low the skybox really does look like a box, the box edges will show. $pref::OpenGL::skyMipReduction
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Anisotropy
Controls the rendering of textures in a more advanced way than trilinear or bilinear. Set
to low on all current cards other than Geforce3. $pref::OpenGL::anisotropy is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Environment Maps
Controls the rendering of the shimmery or reflective textures on players, weapons and
models. Setting this to off can help if you're limited on texture memory or always in
heavy firefights. $pref::environmentMaps is used in clientprefs to control this
setting.
Hires Skins
Controls the rendering of player skins, enabled uses a higher resolution
skin for players (512x512 pixels). Setting this to off can help if you're limited on texture memory or
have no texture compression support. pref::use512PlayerSkins is used in clientprefs to control this
setting.
Interior Environment Maps
Controls the rendering of shimmery or reflective textures on chutes etc. Eyecandy if you
are limited on texture memory but can usually be left enabled with no FPS hit. $pref::Interior::ShowEnvironmentMaps
is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Video
Video Driver
Allows to to change the type of video driver used, some cards perform better in Direct3D
than OpenGL and vica-versa. $pref::Video::displayDevice (OpenGL / Direct3D) is
used in clientprefs to control this setting. A quote from Dynamix: "Typically,
you should use whatever we default your card to use. We've done testing with most cards
and have set your default to the one that runs best. We've allowed the option to switch
drivers simply because we're not sure which drivers will be better in the future as card
companies change their drivers.
Resolution
Controls the displayed resolution (640x480/800x600 etc) and can really help with FPS if
you are fill rate limited. The best all round resolutions for Tribes2 on majority of
current cards will be 800x600 or 1024x768 but experiment to see which gives you the best
FPS and visual compromise. $pref::Video::resolution (Width Height ColourDepth) is
used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Colour Depth
Can help with FPS if you are fill rate limited but can result in screen door/grid effect
on cards that do not have a post filter (TNT, Radeon and Geforce range). 16 bit will be
faster than 32 bit if you are fillrate limited but you may prefer to lower screen
resolution and use 32 bit colour rather than play in 16 bit colour. $pref::Video::resolution
(Width Height ColourDepth) is used in clientprefs to control this setting.
Disable Vertical Sync
Controls your card and drivers vsync function, enabled means that frames will be limited
by your monitor refresh rate or a divisor of it. Disabled allows the card to render frames
as fast as it can so that FPS drops are usually less noticable. You may find that enabling
vsync keeps the framerate steady, if your monitor refreshes at 75HZ and your FPS in game
jumps from 40 to 120 then enabling vysnc will mean it will jump from 37 to 50 or 75. See
which setting feels best for you. $pref::Video::disableVerticalSync is used in
clientprefs to control this setting.
Sound
This can be card and even driver dependant. Try 22KHz sampling at 8bit resolution if you
use headphones or 22Khz sampling at 16bit resolution if you use speakers. If you have a
Soundblaster Live card then use the latest driver set and try Miles or EAX2 with
environment disabled. Removing Liveware and just using driver set is reported to help in
some cases. Always disable MP3 music, it will save a few FPS. $pref::Audio::activeDriver,
$pref::Audio::drivers, $pref::Audio::environmentEnabled, $pref::Audio::frequency,
$pref::Audio::sampleBits and $pref::Audio::musicEnabled are used in
clientprefs to control these settings.
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