IL2 graphics settings

[DD_Arthur]

Got UP2.0 up and running last night on a fresh install. I think I should go to town on the graphics settings as this will probably be our standard install for the immediate future.

My system; Core2duo E6600 2.4ghz., Nvidia 9800gt card and 2gigs fast memory on Windows XP.

Any recommendations on settings in the game's video options and in the config. file? I also have Nvidia control panel to really bu**er things up if required!

I haven't altered anything yet. Just running perfect mode in 1280 * 1024 at my screens refresh rate at a nice smooth, solid 60fps. Any advice? I'm willing to trade 20fps as long as it keeps the smoothness for a little more graphical 'sparkle'.

[Sid]

What settings have you got currently Arthur? Looking for the [OpenGL] settinggs at the bottom of the conf. file, the 'il2 setup' and the nvidia control settings panel.

[DD_Arthur]

At the moment Sid, in the config file its running Hardware shaders=1

sky=2

forest=2

water=1

effects=1

forceshaders=0

In the game video set up texture mipmap is trilinear, texture compression is none and all the other boxes are ticked except clip hint and use pallet.

The Nvidia control panel is still set to application controlled as in my experience thats the one where I usually manage to ruin my frame rates!! 

[Sid]

M'kay...these are my settings on a Core2Duo E6850, 1 x Nvidia 8800GTX (have 2 in sli but using 1), 1680 x 1050 res (22" monitor) and 2 gig of RAM. No issues with fps/stuttering:

Conf.ini

HardwareShaders=1

Shadows=2

Specular=2

SpecularLight=2

DiffuseLight=2

DynamicalLights=1

MeshDetail=2

VisibilityDistance=3

Sky=2

Forest=2

LandShading=3

LandDetails=2

LandGeom=2

TexLarge=1

TexLandQual=3

TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=17

Water=2

Effects=1

ForceShaders1x=0

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15

PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

il2 Setup

Custom

Anisotropic

S3TC

Use Vertex Arrays

All extensions ticked apart from 'Clip Hint' and 'Use Palette'

Graphics Card settings

Anisotropic filtering 8x

Gamma correction On

Antialiasing 'Override.....'

Antialiasing 16x

AA transparency Multisampling

Pre rendered frames 3

Single display performance

AA sample optimisation Off

Negative LOD bias Clamp (using Aniso Filter)

Texture filtering High Qual

Trilinear Opt Off

Threaded Opt Off

Triple buffering On

Vertical Sync Forced On

[Sid]

These screenies aren't for showcase, just to show smoothness of wings/fuselage and distance/detail clarity

[DD_Arthur]

Mmmmmmm.........nice screenies. I'll give those settings a whirl and report back. Thanks Sid.

[DD_Arthur]

WOW, I mean, just WOW.

[Sid]

You're welcome.

[JensenPark]

very

[Sid]

and still got 60fps to boot with everything crisp and clear.

Something to bear in mind is that if you have 'vertical sync' on the fps are limited to the refresh rate of the monitor. Probably in your setup, as in mine, it is set to 60 hz. If it whizzes along and is smooth aswell as looking good then there is no need to benchmark the fps to see how high it goes on the 'Black Death' ntrak - usually for the curious only

[DD_Arthur]

One more thing - have you installed the monitor drivers? If not, in the graphics card interface, the monitor will be called something like a 'PnP Generic Monitor' instead of it's make and model eg. LG L226W(Digital). Using the monitor drivers can improve visual quality and responsiveness.

[delta7]

here is mine

http://mission4today.com/index.php?name=Knowledge_Base&op=show&kid=555

note the low AA and AF settings are for online play, you can increase these for offline if you wish

One thing I would recommend is calibrating your monitor after installing any drivers, I find it makes a big difference.

[rumba]

More on the subject

http://il2ultrapack.net46.net/index.php/topic,13.0.html

http://il2ultrapack.net46.net/index.php/topic,2.0.html

[Sid]

I'm firmly in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp but I'll give it a go now.

I am someone who tries really hard to stay in that camp but sometimes the urge to 'just see' becomes too strong, particularly with 'il2'. Unless there is a compulsive reason for doing changes however, I now stay away from stuff like nHancer etc. as there is very little gain with a good graphics card, a good processor and plenty, ie 2 gig, of RAM. I have tried many settings with different cards over the years but still tend to come back to the same ones because instinct and my eyes tell me it looks good and runs fine.

The monitor drivers are a good move though as, with them, the equipment is using the software it is meant to have as opposed to the generic Windows stuff.