-- Performance guide -
-
- Getting the best performance possible from your hardware while running AssaultCube, without sacrificing
- too much quality is important to most players. A lot of newer hardware will run AssaultCube very well,
- with no changes neccesary, but some older hardware may need some optimisation to get a good result.
- This guide details some ways on how to do this.
- Note: Although many settings can be changed in-game, for ease of explanation and understanding, this guide only
- details the way to change the settings through configuration files outside of the game.
-
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-
- - Graphics drivers - -
- - General graphics - -
- - AssaultCube graphics - -
- - Sounds - -
- - Mouse - -
- - General - -
- Graphics drivers -
-- The best way to get the best performance out of any 3D application is using the latest and correct drivers, with the - correct settings. AssaultCube is no exception to this rule. If you have any problems running AssaultCube, always check - your drivers first! -
-- To download and install the latest and correct drivers, follow these steps... -
--
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- - Find out the correct name/make/model of your video card. - -
- - Go to the driver/support section of your video card manufacturers website (e.g. - nVidia, ATi, - Intel, - Matrox, etc) - and download the latest and correct drivers for your model and operating system. - -
- - Install and configure the drivers as per the instructions given to you by the manufacturer (make sure previous - versions of the drivers are uninstalled). - -
- Some operating systems and graphics cards have other special drivers and methods that you can explore for your drivers. - Microsoft Windows users may benefit from Omega Drivers, - some nVidia Microsoft Windows users can try using nTune. - Linux users might like EnvyNG. -
-- Warning: If you're using a laptop, you may need to consult your laptop manufacturer for drivers, as laptop graphic - drivers are heavily customised. -
-
- Note: None of these links or drivers are endorsed, maintained or supported by the AssaultCube team.
- Use these links at your own risk. We highly advise it to be best searching the forums and support pages for
- your operating system supplier or graphics card manufacturer if you are having problems with 3D graphics rendering.
-
- General graphics -
-- Note: Where applicable, if there is a way to change the setting through the AssaultCube client, it has been - mentioned (note: in most situations, the drivers need to be enabled in such a way for AssaultCube to be able to change - these settings) but because graphics settings differ from card to card, there may be options mentioned which are - unavailable on your card and many options can't be changed through AssaultCube. - For these situations, please consult your graphics card manufacturer to find out how to do this. There are also many - options for video card performance and eye-candy which are not covered due to the vast amount of them, in that case - we suggest you check with your video card manufacturer for what else you can do to improve performance as this - guide only covers some of the more common ones. -
-- Resolution -
-
- Your resolution in-game determines the amount of detail on the screen. The higher the resolution you use, the more the
- graphics card has to work. If you are having problems with low frame rates, lag or stuttering, then lowering the
- resolution will yield the biggest result.
- Note: LCD panels typically work best at their native resolution rather than a bigger/smaller one.
-
- To change the resolution of your screen, add these parameters to your AssaultCube launcher:
-
- -hX
- - Replace X with your new resolution height.
-
- -wY
- - Replace Y with your new resolution width.
-
- (Instructions on editing the AssaultCube launcher can be found here). -
-- Refresh rate -
-- Making your refresh rate happen at a higher level can generally help increase FPS. Ways to do this differ depending on - your system and setup (consult online documentation for your operating system to find out how). -
-- Colour quality -
-- In most systems, you are able to change the colour quality which may boost your performance. Normally you have a - range of 16/24/32 bit. The ways to change this differ depending on OS, consult your OS manual. -
-- V-sync (AKA: Vertical refresh) -
-- Vsync is a method of synchronising the frame rate of games to the refresh rate of the monitor. Turning on Vsync prevents a - graphic phenomenon called "tearing" from occurring. Screen tearing can occur when the frame rate being output from the - video card is higher than the refresh rate of the monitor and can make the screen look torn into sections and moved - with the high speed motion of the game. Turning this off can help increase performance for many players, but if you - experience tearing, it may be best to turn it back on. -
-
- To turn Vsync off, add this line to autoexec.cfg.
- vsync 0
- (vsync 1 enables vsync).
-
- Triple buffering -
-- If you use V-sync, enabling this can help improve overall performance in OpenGL games such as AssaultCube. However, if you - don't have enough video RAM, this may cause lag and problems. -
-- Anti-aliasing -
-
- Anti-aliasing is a process that attempts to smooth out the jaggedness of diagonal lines in a 3D game environment.
- To turn anti-aliasing off, add this line to autoexec.cfg.
- fsaa 0
- (fsaa 1 enables anti-aliasing).
-
- Temporal antialiasing -
-- Some graphics cards support "temporal antialiasing". It's basically a driver trick that gives the effect of a - antialiasing, but with less work needed by the graphics card. Try it out, as it is a faster method of - antialiasing, but if you don't like it, or it's still too slow, don't use it. -
-- Adaptive Anti-Aliasing -
-- This is an antialiasing technique which improves the appearance of transparent textures. The performance impact - should not be significant over normal antialiasing, but if you don't like it, or it's still too slow, don't use it. -
-- Catalyst A.I (ATi only) -
-- If this is enabled, it allows ATi graphics cards to make graphics "shortcuts", normally with no noticable reduction - in image quality. It is best to enable this to give yourself better performance. -
-- Mipmap Detail Level -
-- This helps determine how good textures generally look, when combined with AssaultCube's own texture settings. - Changing this can help gain/loose some performance by making the textures appear duller or sharper. -
-- Anisotropic filtering -
-- Anisotropic Filtering helps make textures (the 2D images covering the surface of all 3D objects) at a distance - appear clearer. Setting this lower may help improve performance. -
-- Useful links -
--
-
- - - Tweakguide: Gamer's Graphics and - Display Settings Guide - - This link is extremely useful if you know nothing about optimising your hardware. - -
- - Tweakguide: Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide - Information about - optimising nVidia graphics cards. - -
- - Tweakguide: ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide - Information about - optimising ATi graphics cards. - -
- AssaultCube Graphics -
-- Sounds -
-- Mouse -
-- The mouse input is delayed when trying to rapidly fire in linux -
-- This is a common problem on Linux and is not specific to AssaultCube. - Edit your xorg.conf and set the value of Emulate3Buttons to off. -
-- Aiming is difficult -
-
- If you're using Microsoft Windows, deactivate mouse acceleration.
- If you're using a cheap optical mouse, you may find at quick movements it may stop moving.
-
- Jitters and choppy images after upgrading to Microsoft Windows SP3 -
-- After upgrading to SP3, mice with overclocked USB ports get their polling rates stuck at 125hz. This can be fixed: -
-- Download the mouserate checker. - Then download the new USB port overclocker. - Unrar them both. Go to the driver folder and then install executing "setup". -
-- Then, open the USB port overclocker. Tick 'Filter On Device'. Choose the polling rate you want. Keep "Mouses only" ticked - to save yourself from confusion. Make sure you've clicked/highlighted your mouse. Install service. Then restart. -
-- Then check your hertz with the mouserate checker. If it doesn't read out that its been altered you'll probably have - to restart. Also if you change what port you plug your mouse into you'll have to repeat the process. -
-- General -
-
- Physical ways to increase your computers performance for AssaultCube are: Upgrading RAM, CPU power, Graphics cards,
- use a more powerful power supply, overclocking, use PCI express instead of AGP, etc, etc.
- If you wish to upgrade your systems hardware, please seek advice elsewhere. There are plenty of resources available online!
-
- When running AssaultCube, it would be wise to turn off any un-needed applications, especially those that suck down CPU - performance and graphics rendering. For example: Turn off compiz, music players, windows defender, etc. Also try turning - down the graphics settings used by your operating system for everyday tasks. -
-- Turning off power saving features (for example: on laptops) may help improve performance. -
-- If using Microsoft Windows, defragmenting your hard drive may speed up loading, as the data will be arranged on your - hard drive in a way that will make it easier to find and read by your OS. Also, ensuring that viruses and spyware are - absent from your machine will ensure they aren't taking up any extra resources. -
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