Natural Selection will run great on my computer, but my brother needs to get in on this and I could never get Counter-strike working well on his comp (my old one). He's packing something like a 366-400mhz cpu with plenty of memory (probably 256megs) but only a 32meg radeon (PCI! <!--emo&:angry:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'><!--endemo--> ). Even with the poor cpu and pci video card, I figured he should still be able to get Counter-strike running, but we had to run it at lowest res (512 X something?) and it still wasnt playable. Yeah I've done the driver hunting thing with him, didnt help. Anyone got any ideas for help, or in case of off-topicness, maybe a link to somewhere else that could help?
Necro<insert non-birthday-related title here>Join Date: 2002-08-09Member: 1118Members
<!--QuoteBegin--Dr_Shaggy+Oct. 09 2002,03:55--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (Dr_Shaggy @ Oct. 09 2002,03:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Natural Selection will run great on my computer, but my brother needs to get in on this and I could never get Counter-strike working well on his comp (my old one). He's packing something like a 366-400mhz cpu with plenty of memory (probably 256megs) but only a 32meg radeon (PCI! <!--emo&:angry:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'><!--endemo--> ). Even with the poor cpu and pci video card, I figured he should still be able to get Counter-strike running, but we had to run it at lowest res (512 X something?) and it still wasnt playable. Yeah I've done the driver hunting thing with him, didnt help. Anyone got any ideas for help, or in case of off-topicness, maybe a link to somewhere else that could help?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> up.grade. its not THAT expensive 2 get a bit better computer even an athlon duron say 800, gf4(or 2)mx would possibly cost abvout what 100 dollars 200 at max?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->And probably a GF4 MX<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> OUCH! Dude don't let her buy you this sorry excuse for a GF 4. The best card for the same price (or lower?) is the Radeon 8500. Right now you can probably get one for 90 or 100 bux on www.pricewatch.com With 256 ddr and a Radeon 8500 your comp will handle most any game you want to play with ease.
Once Doom 3 comes out, then its a different story. Better start saving for that 400 dollar Radeon 9700. <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
He wont be able to run the newest ATI or Nvidia cards - they are usually AGP and he's describing a PCI system.
Check out computers.com or tomshardware.com for pricing, and grab yourself a GF2MX 32 or 64MB card. They can be found in PCI and are in the $30-$50 range these days. They will run NS at 1024x768 with ease.
<!--QuoteBegin--Merkaba+Oct. 08 2002,21:10--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (Merkaba @ Oct. 08 2002,21:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Re: Earlier post where someone claimed that FPS depends on operating system - I think what you'll find is that FPS largely depends on the drivers used, which can be different depending on what operating system you're using. Did you upgrade to the latest w2k drivers before testing?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> That was me, and yes I did the whole 9 yards with the drivers. However it was an actual issue with the video card itself, and Windows XP. The VC was a ATI Rage 128 Pro 32mb. Unfortunatly, at the time ATI pretty much stated that they wern't going to update the drivers for optimization with XP for that particular card. They may have now, who knows, but I wasn't willing to wait.
So ok, it more depends on your drives with the OS, but sometimes, the vendor fecks over its customers. Despite this, my next purchase probably will be the ATI 8500, after it drops in price. It HAS been optimized for WinXP, and I was very happy with the Rage's performance under Win98.
Well I kinda meant "What can I do for the computer <i>aside</i> from upgrading." Theres no point upgrading that piece of feces, I'm gonna give him my computer when I build my next one.
Well, since you dont really describe your problem very well i cant help you right now. However, CS should run in a computer with those specs, heck, that vidcard has more memory than mine so its should run even better.
Just tell me exactly what happens when you try to run it and ill see if i can help. Although im more of a voodoo specialist, i do know how to get crappy comps running decently <!--emo&:p--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'><!--endemo-->
Well basically, the framerate is unplayably slow. I've been meaning to find out what kind of motherboard he's got so I could look up some new drivers for it. I'm also thinking of running through those Win2k tweaks from readyroom.org. I don't know how else to explain this, game set to worst detail and smallest resolution and it runs slower than I think it should. He's even run warcraft 3 on that thing (although slow as expected).
shaggy, i believe HL had some problems with ATI cards before this patch (not only the overflow problem), look this is in my CS config , i haven't messed with these since i don't have a ATI card
ati_subdiv "2.0" ati_npatch "0.0"
try messing around with those values (i believe you have to change the last one to 1). I read about this "fix" a while ago on PHL (i think, 80% sure it was PHL), look through their archives , it should be in there somewhere.
[Edit] did a search on google( couldn't find it on PHL) "ati_npatch 0" should give you better FPS, put this in the autoexec.cfg , if he doesn't have one, just make a notepad file and put that line in it, then save it as autoexec.cfg and put it in the MOD folder (sierra/half-life/cstrike for example)
Right, I play CS on a 766 celeron, 128 RAm and a crappy onboard intel GFX, no probs. Defrag your H/D, then go to
<a href="http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk</a> Check the startup guides..( run msconfig.exe etc ) and see if you are running lots of crap in the B/ground..seriously, windows runs so much stuff you probably do not need, calendar reminders , etc..
Preferably install HL after a fresh defrag, shut down EVERYTHING in the background that you don't need, screensavers, the lot...
Also try <a href="http://www.tweak3d.net" target="_blank">http://www.tweak3d.net</a> for more tips..
Also, I have a HL tweak guide that I could post, but I've lost the link and its a page or two long..if you want it and no-one objects to a loooong post I could stick it up for you to have a look at.. It's a pretty thorough list of ways to trade off graphical quality for increased fps. I found it pretty useful..
coilAmateur pirate. Professional monkey. All pance.Join Date: 2002-04-12Member: 424Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
And if you have the resources, a reformat can bring an aging computer back to life. My 4-year-old P2 266 ran like brand new after a reformat, and I also completely revitalized my bro's P3 800 (which is now my current machine).
Necro<insert non-birthday-related title here>Join Date: 2002-08-09Member: 1118Members
<!--QuoteBegin--coil+Oct. 11 2002,13:01--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (coil @ Oct. 11 2002,13:01)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->And if you have the resources, a reformat can bring an aging computer back to life. My 4-year-old P2 266 ran like brand new after a reformat, and I also completely revitalized my bro's P3 800 (which is now my current machine).<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> ah well i dont got anyproblems with my gf4 ti4400 and athlon xp 2000 <!--emo&:p--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'><!--endemo-->
even if i did i'd use my dads athlon tb 1.2ghz with a gf2 or my brothers athlon tb 1.3 with a gf3
<!--QuoteBegin--Necro-+Oct. 11 2002,14:10--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (Necro- @ Oct. 11 2002,14:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->ah well i dont got anyproblems with my gf4 ti4400 and athlon xp 2000 <!--emo&:p--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'><!--endemo-->
even if i did i'd use my dads athlon tb 1.2ghz with a gf2 or my brothers athlon tb 1.3 with a gf3
/me runs<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Oh yea, well if my Tandy 1mb ram, 50 meg harddrive has any problems I'll just use my Athlon 166 w/ Windows 3.1.
Found it in the murky depths of my Sierra folder..
Tweak Guide compiled by [NUKE]Goody..( resident BY tweak ninja and all- round clever bloke) cs specific, but applies to a lot of HL games..you dont have to do everything in it, just play around till you get an acceptable compromise between graphics quality and framerate performance
If this post is too big or something, just delete it, thought it might be handy for peeps with elderly PC's..
Fps guide
Ok not all of us have amazing pcs so i thought id write a good about how to squeeze the greatest fps possible for those of us too cheap to buy a new computer. Firstly theres the simple things you can do to make sure your computers running at its best. Always keep your hard disk defragmented , and if you can try and install half life right after a defragment. Always ensure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card . They can be found here- Vodoo based cards : <a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a> <a href="http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm" target="_blank">http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm</a> Geforce based cards: <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers" target="_blank">http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers</a> ATI based cards: <a href="http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html" target="_blank">http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html</a>
To ensure you dont get slowdown if youve had your computer on for a while download this handy utility- <a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/maxmem.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/maxmem.htm</a> which will wipe all programs from your system memory , making sure your computers always runs as fast as when you just start up. This utility- <a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a> will also help ensure your hard disk is running as fast as possible for games(recommended using power settings which come with this proggy). Lastly some of the newer graphics cards dont run well in under 800x600 mode. experiment with which resolution gives you best fps , you may be surprised. Theres also a couple of settings you can change on your graphics card to get better fps. Right click on your desktop , choose the settings tab , then advanced.There should be a tab with your graphics card displayed on it. Click on it then click on "additional properties" if its a geforce(may vary for other graphics card but it should be easy to figure out).Then click on "Open Gl settings" and ensure both "v synch" and "Anistropic filtering" are turned off. There are player models which help your fps. Download the high fps player models here- <a href="http://www.zeroping.com/main/engine_files.cfm?page=detail-page1&file=3543&game=9" target="_blank">http://www.zeroping.com/main....&game=9</a> which basically replace your player models with models with far fewer polygons and can significantly help your fps. If your using xp you may need to download a xp refresh rate fix to get more than 60 fps.Availible here-Geforce based cards: <a href="http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip" target="_blank">http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip</a> <a href="http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip" target="_blank">http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip</a> <a href="" target="_blank">ftp://files.realgn.com/pub....omp.zip</a> Voodoo based cards: <a href="http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-frequenz-selektor.zip" target="_blank">http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-frequenz-selektor.zip</a> ATI based cards: <a href="http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refresh-rate-fixer.zip" target="_blank">http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refresh-rate-fixer.zip</a>
If you have a via motherboard downloading the latest 4 in 1's may also help performance , they can be found here : <a href="http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2" target="_blank">http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2</a>
Then we move onto config changes. Your config.cfg can be found in your cs directory . Some of the settings will already be in your config , in which case alter the value given for them ,others youll need to add in yourself.Once added its a good idea to right click on the config , go to properties and change it to read only. Half life has a habit of overwriting a lot of settings. The following is a list of all the settings that should improve your fps, what they do(if i dont know i reserve the right to make it up) , and the different values you can give them.
gl_picmip "0":Perhaps the biggest setting you can change ,it sets the rendering quality.Basically the effect will be to blur everything slightly , make textures simpler , the hud will be affected so at values above 2 it will be unreadable and your zoomed in crosshairs will suffer. "0" is default for this command and values above "2" will be very unstable in half life and cause a lot of crashes. Personally i use "2".Dont use this if you want cs too look half decent , it really does deteriorate graphics quality quite badly.
Hint:Your zoomed in crosshair for aug/sig may become invisible if you use this.To avoid this add this bind into your config. bind "x" "sprite" alias sprite "spriteon" alias spriteon "gl_spriteblend 1; alias sprite spriteoff" alias spriteoff "gl_spriteblend 0; alias sprite spriteon" Where x is the button you want to press. This will change blending of sprites on and off , off for using the sig/aug , on for using the scout/awp/auto snipers.
gl_max_size "128": Sets the maximum size of all textures in the game including walls, player models , gun models ect. Default is "512". I use "64". Dont got below "64" and always use multiples of 64 , ie 64,128,256,512. Also gives a large boost to fps , although values below 128 will give extremly blocky textures. "256" is probably best if you want to improve fps without making cs look too bad. I use "64" for maximum fps boost.
gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST":Another good command for boosting fps , controls rendering quality.The following settings are listed in order of speed , first being fastest but poorest quality , last being best quality but slowest.
fastsprites "0":Controls the quality of smoke from smoke grenades. "0" is default with transparent smoke and slowest. "1" is white smoke partially see through. "2" is extremely blocky non transparent black smoke. Useful for if smoke grenades slow you down , "1" provides a good compromise of being able to still partially see through smoke but not dropping your fps too much , however if you still find yourself having bad fps drops use "2". I use "2".
hisound "0" Sets the sound quality , 0 being low and best for performance , 1 being high and best quality sound. On older computers setting this to 0 can make a large difference , but the drop in quality is extremely high
r_drawviewmodel "0": A big boost if you find your fps dropping during fire fights. Basically it turns off the gun model on screen, so you wont see it. Not good if your a fan of custom models but does stop some of the big fps drops in combat. "0" is off , "1" is on with "0" being fastest.
gl_keeptjunctions "0" Deals with the filling in of cracks between textures or surfaces.Set to "1" and high quality will fill them in , set to "0" and fastest it wont , resulting in dots appearing between the junctions but more fps.
gl_playermip "2":Sets the rendering quality of player models. Can be set at "0" which is best quality but slowest, "1" which is medium , and "2" which is worst quality but fastest. I use "2".
gl_smoothmodels "0": Controls smoothing of player models. Set to "0" to disable and get best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".
cl_highmodels "0":Toggles higher quality player models on and off. Set to "0" to disable and give best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".
max_smokepuffs "0":Sets the number of smoke puffs , as seen when bullets hit objects. Again useful to keep your fps up in firefights , set it to "0" for greatest fps boost and to totally disable smokepuffs. Can be set to any other number you want. I use "0".The lower the number the better the fps.
max_shells "0": Sets the number of shells on screen shown at a time (ie those ejected from your gun). Set to "0" to disable and give greatest fps boost. Can be set to any other number.The lower the number the better the fps.
cl_corpestay "0" Sets the time before bodys on ground start to sink into ground. 600 is default and bodys will stay throughout the round , 0 and bodys will start to sink within seconds.
cl_minmodels "1" Sets half life to use the minimum model set possible , 1337 a ct skin and vip . Use 1 for best fps or 0 to see all models
cl_dynamiccrosshair "0" Switches off the dynamic crosshair (expands and contracts depending on accuracy). Switching it off is useful if your fps is very poor as it takes a long time to return to normal.
gl_cull "1": Sets half life to only draw visible objects. "1" is on(ie only draws objects in view) , 0 is off. "1" for more fps.
violence_ablood "0" , violence_agibs "0" , violence_hblood "0" , violence_hgibs "0": This set of commands controls displaying of blood.Set to "0" and no blood , improving fps.Set to "1" and blood will show. I use "0"
gl_round_down "100": Another one that controls texture quality.The lower the number the better quality graphics, higher the number the fastest. I use "10" for best fps boost , but can be set to any number.
gl_wateramp "0": Sets the height of waves in water. Only common cs map which will be affected by this will be aztec but it can give a nice boost especially if like me water+large open space kills your fps. Can either be "1" or "0" with 0 being the fastest. I personally use "0".
mp_decals "0": Sets the number of decals to be shown. Decals are used to draw bullet holes in walls as well as custom tags/sprays.Set to "0" to disable completely , "300" is default.I use "0". The lower the number the better the fps.
r_dynamic "0":Sets dynamic lighting(ie reflections ect) , "0" being off and fastest , "1" being on and slowest.I use "0".
r_mirroralpha "0":Similar to dynamic lighting , controls reflections on objects."0" is fastest and off , "1" is slowest and on.I use "0" for best fps.
gl_clear "1":Controls the blending of textures together. "0" is off and looks best but is slowest."1" is on and is fastest, however cracks between textures may show. I use "1".
r_shadows "0":Turns off player shadows. "0" being shadows off and "1" being shadows on. I use "0".
gl_dither "0":Turns dithering on and off. "0" is off , "1" is on. Use "0" for best fps , "1" for best quality. I use "0".
fps_max "50" , fps_modem "50" , fps_lan "50" : These commands control the maximum fps you will get. Its best to set them all to the same to make sure works (modem is for 56k connections , lan is for better quality connections). You might think its better to put it to a 100 and get the best fps you can constantly , however fps drops during fire fights can make mouse control difficult. Its best to set this to something your relatively sure of being able to maintain the majority of the time.
Those are all the tricks i know to improve fps , if you know any more feel free to post them(not including the "buy a new computer" one <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo--> ) Thanks to tekkobra off the Dod forums for whom i ripped off a lot of the links at the top and all the other cs sites which ive mainly forgotten.
<!--QuoteBegin--coil+Oct. 11 2002,15:26--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (coil @ Oct. 11 2002,15:26)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Do you have a point, or are you just trying to be annoying?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> haha coil, I love spite. Well thanks <i><b>VERY MUCH</b></i> everyone, especially CrouchingHamster,HiddenElvis (your nick is too darn long). I'll give all this stuff a shot when I get the chance, unfortunately I've gotta meet up with the family for thanksgiving this weekend. See you on Monday/Tuesday. Oh and if someone finds the time, could they release that little mod thing for me to come back to?
<!--QuoteBegin--CForrester+Oct. 08 2002,08:20--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (CForrester @ Oct. 08 2002,08:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->How would it handle on a 1.80 GHz P4 with 256 MB DDR RAM and a 32MB ATi Rage 128 PRO video card?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> show off <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
Comments
up.grade.
its not THAT expensive 2 get a bit better computer
even an athlon duron say 800, gf4(or 2)mx would possibly cost abvout what 100 dollars 200 at max?
OUCH! Dude don't let her buy you this sorry excuse for a GF 4. The best card for the same price (or lower?) is the Radeon 8500. Right now you can probably get one for 90 or 100 bux on www.pricewatch.com With 256 ddr and a Radeon 8500 your comp will handle most any game you want to play with ease.
Once Doom 3 comes out, then its a different story. Better start saving for that 400 dollar Radeon 9700. <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->
Check out computers.com or tomshardware.com for pricing, and grab yourself a GF2MX 32 or 64MB card. They can be found in PCI and are in the $30-$50 range these days. They will run NS at 1024x768 with ease.
That was me, and yes I did the whole 9 yards with the drivers. However it was an actual issue with the video card itself, and Windows XP. The VC was a ATI Rage 128 Pro 32mb. Unfortunatly, at the time ATI pretty much stated that they wern't going to update the drivers for optimization with XP for that particular card. They may have now, who knows, but I wasn't willing to wait.
So ok, it more depends on your drives with the OS, but sometimes, the vendor fecks over its customers. Despite this, my next purchase probably will be the ATI 8500, after it drops in price. It HAS been optimized for WinXP, and I was very happy with the Rage's performance under Win98.
Just tell me exactly what happens when you try to run it and ill see if i can help. Although im more of a voodoo specialist, i do know how to get crappy comps running decently <!--emo&:p--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'><!--endemo-->
ati_subdiv "2.0"
ati_npatch "0.0"
try messing around with those values (i believe you have to change the last one to 1). I read about this "fix" a while ago on PHL (i think, 80% sure it was PHL), look through their archives , it should be in there somewhere.
[Edit]
did a search on google( couldn't find it on PHL) "ati_npatch 0" should give you better FPS, put this in the autoexec.cfg , if he doesn't have one, just make a notepad file and put that line in it, then save it as autoexec.cfg and put it in the MOD folder (sierra/half-life/cstrike for example)
<!--EDIT|InterFect0r|Oct. 11 2002,10:41-->
<a href="http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk</a>
Check the startup guides..( run msconfig.exe etc ) and see if you are running lots of crap in the B/ground..seriously, windows runs so much stuff you probably do not need, calendar reminders , etc..
Preferably install HL after a fresh defrag, shut down EVERYTHING in the background that you don't need, screensavers, the lot...
Also try
<a href="http://www.tweak3d.net" target="_blank">http://www.tweak3d.net</a> for more tips..
Also, I have a HL tweak guide that I could post, but I've lost the link and its a page or two long..if you want it and no-one objects to a loooong post I could stick it up for you to have a look at..
It's a pretty thorough list of ways to trade off graphical quality for increased fps. I found it pretty useful..
ah well i dont got anyproblems with my gf4 ti4400 and athlon xp 2000 <!--emo&:p--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'><!--endemo-->
even if i did i'd use my dads athlon tb 1.2ghz with a gf2 or my brothers athlon tb 1.3 with a gf3
/me runs
even if i did i'd use my dads athlon tb 1.2ghz with a gf2 or my brothers athlon tb 1.3 with a gf3
/me runs<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh yea, well if my Tandy 1mb ram, 50 meg harddrive has any problems I'll just use my Athlon 166 w/ Windows 3.1.
Tweak Guide compiled by [NUKE]Goody..( resident BY tweak ninja and all- round clever bloke) cs specific, but applies to a lot of HL games..you dont have to do everything in it, just play around till you get an acceptable compromise between graphics quality and framerate performance
If this post is too big or something, just delete it, thought it might be handy for peeps with elderly PC's..
Fps guide
Ok not all of us have amazing pcs so i thought id write a good about how to squeeze the greatest fps possible for those of us too cheap to buy a new computer.
Firstly theres the simple things you can do to make sure your computers running at its best. Always keep your hard disk defragmented , and if you can try and install half life right after a defragment.
Always ensure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card . They can be found here-
Vodoo based cards : <a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm" target="_blank">http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm</a>
Geforce based cards: <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers" target="_blank">http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers</a>
ATI based cards: <a href="http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html" target="_blank">http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html</a>
To ensure you dont get slowdown if youve had your computer on for a while download this handy utility-
<a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/maxmem.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/maxmem.htm</a>
which will wipe all programs from your system memory , making sure your computers always runs as fast as when you just start up.
This utility-
<a href="http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm" target="_blank">http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a>
will also help ensure your hard disk is running as fast as possible for games(recommended using power settings which come with this proggy).
Lastly some of the newer graphics cards dont run well in under 800x600 mode. experiment with which resolution gives you best fps , you may be surprised.
Theres also a couple of settings you can change on your graphics card to get better fps. Right click on your desktop , choose the settings tab , then advanced.There should be a tab with your graphics card displayed on it. Click on it then click on "additional properties" if its a geforce(may vary for other graphics card but it should be easy to figure out).Then click on "Open Gl settings" and ensure both "v synch" and "Anistropic filtering" are turned off.
There are player models which help your fps. Download the high fps player models here-
<a href="http://www.zeroping.com/main/engine_files.cfm?page=detail-page1&file=3543&game=9" target="_blank">http://www.zeroping.com/main....&game=9</a>
which basically replace your player models with models with far fewer polygons and can significantly help your fps.
If your using xp you may need to download a xp refresh rate fix to get more than 60 fps.Availible here-Geforce based cards: <a href="http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip" target="_blank">http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip</a>
<a href="http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip" target="_blank">http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip</a>
<a href="" target="_blank">ftp://files.realgn.com/pub....omp.zip</a>
Voodoo based cards: <a href="http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-frequenz-selektor.zip" target="_blank">http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-frequenz-selektor.zip</a>
ATI based cards: <a href="http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refresh-rate-fixer.zip" target="_blank">http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refresh-rate-fixer.zip</a>
If you have a via motherboard downloading the latest 4 in 1's may also help performance , they can be found here :
<a href="http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2" target="_blank">http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2</a>
Then we move onto config changes. Your config.cfg can be found in your cs directory . Some of the settings will already be in your config , in which case alter the value given for them ,others youll need to add in yourself.Once added its a good idea to right click on the config , go to properties and change it to read only. Half life has a habit of overwriting a lot of settings. The following is a list of all the settings that should improve your fps, what they do(if i dont know i reserve the right to make it up) , and the different values you can give them.
gl_picmip "0":Perhaps the biggest setting you can change ,it sets the rendering quality.Basically the effect will be to blur everything slightly , make textures simpler , the hud will be affected so at values above 2 it will be unreadable and your zoomed in crosshairs will suffer. "0" is default for this command and values above "2" will be very unstable in half life and cause a lot of crashes. Personally i use "2".Dont use this if you want cs too look half decent , it really does deteriorate graphics quality quite badly.
Hint:Your zoomed in crosshair for aug/sig may become invisible if you use this.To avoid this add this bind into your config.
bind "x" "sprite"
alias sprite "spriteon"
alias spriteon "gl_spriteblend 1; alias sprite spriteoff"
alias spriteoff "gl_spriteblend 0; alias sprite spriteon"
Where x is the button you want to press. This will change blending of sprites on and off , off for using the sig/aug , on for using the scout/awp/auto snipers.
gl_max_size "128": Sets the maximum size of all textures in the game including walls, player models , gun models ect. Default is "512". I use "64". Dont got below "64" and always use multiples of 64 , ie 64,128,256,512. Also gives a large boost to fps , although values below 128 will give extremly blocky textures. "256" is probably best if you want to improve fps without making cs look too bad. I use "64" for maximum fps boost.
gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST":Another good command for boosting fps , controls rendering quality.The following settings are listed in order of speed , first being fastest but poorest quality , last being best quality but slowest.
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR"
I personally use gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST".
fastsprites "0":Controls the quality of smoke from smoke grenades. "0" is default with transparent smoke and slowest. "1" is white smoke partially see through. "2" is extremely blocky non transparent black smoke. Useful for if smoke grenades slow you down , "1" provides a good compromise of being able to still partially see through smoke but not dropping your fps too much , however if you still find yourself having bad fps drops use "2". I use "2".
hisound "0" Sets the sound quality , 0 being low and best for performance , 1 being high and best quality sound. On older computers setting this to 0 can make a large difference , but the drop in quality is extremely high
r_drawviewmodel "0": A big boost if you find your fps dropping during fire fights. Basically it turns off the gun model on screen, so you wont see it. Not good if your a fan of custom models but does stop some of the big fps drops in combat. "0" is off , "1" is on with "0" being fastest.
gl_keeptjunctions "0" Deals with the filling in of cracks between textures or surfaces.Set to "1" and high quality will fill them in , set to "0" and fastest it wont , resulting in dots appearing between the junctions but more fps.
gl_playermip "2":Sets the rendering quality of player models. Can be set at "0" which is best quality but slowest, "1" which is medium , and "2" which is worst quality but fastest. I use "2".
gl_smoothmodels "0": Controls smoothing of player models. Set to "0" to disable and get best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".
cl_highmodels "0":Toggles higher quality player models on and off. Set to "0" to disable and give best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".
max_smokepuffs "0":Sets the number of smoke puffs , as seen when bullets hit objects. Again useful to keep your fps up in firefights , set it to "0" for greatest fps boost and to totally disable smokepuffs. Can be set to any other number you want. I use "0".The lower the number the better the fps.
max_shells "0": Sets the number of shells on screen shown at a time (ie those ejected from your gun). Set to "0" to disable and give greatest fps boost. Can be set to any other number.The lower the number the better the fps.
cl_corpestay "0" Sets the time before bodys on ground start to sink into ground. 600 is default and bodys will stay throughout the round , 0 and bodys will start to sink within seconds.
cl_minmodels "1" Sets half life to use the minimum model set possible , 1337 a ct skin and vip . Use 1 for best fps or 0 to see all models
cl_dynamiccrosshair "0" Switches off the dynamic crosshair (expands and contracts depending on accuracy). Switching it off is useful if your fps is very poor as it takes a long time to return to normal.
gl_cull "1": Sets half life to only draw visible objects. "1" is on(ie only draws objects in view) , 0 is off. "1" for more fps.
violence_ablood "0" , violence_agibs "0" , violence_hblood "0" , violence_hgibs "0":
This set of commands controls displaying of blood.Set to "0" and no blood , improving fps.Set to "1" and blood will show. I use "0"
gl_round_down "100": Another one that controls texture quality.The lower the number the better quality graphics, higher the number the fastest. I use "10" for best fps boost , but can be set to any number.
gl_wateramp "0": Sets the height of waves in water. Only common cs map which will be affected by this will be aztec but it can give a nice boost especially if like me water+large open space kills your fps. Can either be "1" or "0" with 0 being the fastest. I personally use "0".
mp_decals "0": Sets the number of decals to be shown. Decals are used to draw bullet holes in walls as well as custom tags/sprays.Set to "0" to disable completely , "300" is default.I use "0". The lower the number the better the fps.
r_dynamic "0":Sets dynamic lighting(ie reflections ect) , "0" being off and fastest , "1" being on and slowest.I use "0".
r_mirroralpha "0":Similar to dynamic lighting , controls reflections on objects."0" is fastest and off , "1" is slowest and on.I use "0" for best fps.
gl_clear "1":Controls the blending of textures together. "0" is off and looks best but is slowest."1" is on and is fastest, however cracks between textures may show. I use "1".
r_shadows "0":Turns off player shadows. "0" being shadows off and "1" being shadows on. I use "0".
gl_dither "0":Turns dithering on and off. "0" is off , "1" is on. Use "0" for best fps , "1" for best quality. I use "0".
fps_max "50" , fps_modem "50" , fps_lan "50" :
These commands control the maximum fps you will get. Its best to set them all to the same to make sure works (modem is for 56k connections , lan is for better quality connections). You might think its better to put it to a 100 and get the best fps you can constantly , however fps drops during fire fights can make mouse control difficult. Its best to set this to something your relatively sure of being able to maintain the majority of the time.
Those are all the tricks i know to improve fps , if you know any more feel free to post them(not including the "buy a new computer" one <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo--> ) Thanks to tekkobra off the Dod forums for whom i ripped off a lot of the links at the top and all the other cs sites which ive mainly forgotten.
haha coil, I love spite.
Well thanks <i><b>VERY MUCH</b></i> everyone, especially CrouchingHamster,HiddenElvis (your nick is too darn long). I'll give all this stuff a shot when I get the chance, unfortunately I've gotta meet up with the family for thanksgiving this weekend. See you on Monday/Tuesday. Oh and if someone finds the time, could they release that little mod thing for me to come back to?
Cheers! <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
Good Luck etc
show off <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->