PSU-PC: Graphics settings...

[RoninJoku]

I'm trying to tweak around with my graphics to get PSU to play nice and smooth for me, while taking a minimum hit from graphics... But some of the settings I don't really know what they do, nor can I tell from tweaking with them. So I have a couple questions...

1)What is the LOD section of the custom graphics all about? I'm assuming if I lower the high/low LOD models and Model display buffer it will make the game easier to run, but I really would like an explanation of what it does.

2)Is motion calculation better set to CPU or hardware? By that I mean, which will make the game run faster... And what is the difference in gameplay?

3)What exactly are "post effects"? I think it's a safe assumption that turning them off would ease up on my cpu, but I want to know what I'll be missing if I do so...

In case you are wondering, currently my settings are frameskip 2, 800x600 res (I'd like to raise the resolution if I can lose some other stuff), with "window mode" and "wait for Vsync" set to off, and all of the clipping and detail sliders are set to the middle(I'd prefer to raise these too).

Sorry I'm a big computer nub... All I know is that I can play WoW at the highest graphics settings with almost no problems, and I guess I expected PSU to be about the same... Needless to say it's very frustrating. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

[uhawww]

1) The Model options dictate both how many high detail characters to load on screen, and how many to save in your memory buffer. Only crank this up if you've got memory to spare.

2) Use Hardware. Software Rendering is an absolutely insane toll on your CPU and unless you have a monstrous processor and terrible GPU, it'll not be pretty.

3) Post effects are the glow effect for photons in the game. Turning them off do increase performance, but make weapons and such look crappy...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: uhawww on 2006-10-26 10:59 ]</font>

[Agrias]

I'd like a bit of explanation of these also. Especially v-sync. I have it turned off based on the fact that everytime i've used it i notice no difference.

Also, about the motion calculation I had it on cpu and hardware and still noticed no difference. So I kept it on cpu, i guess ill put it back on hardware



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Agrias on 2006-10-26 11:02 ]</font>

[uhawww]

It really depends on how strong of hardware you have. Only take Calculation off Hardware if you notice any potential compatability problems.

As far as v-sync:
Turning v-sync on forces the card to output the rendered frames at your monitor's refresh rate, ensuring a more seemless graphical experience. This can potentially slow performance down. If you turn off V-sync, it will push the frame to the monitor, whether that entire frame has been completed or not. It's only noticible in Fullscreen mode, but if you have V-sync off, you will notice a little translucent horizontal line in your picture that will warp around. That denotes where the last frame finished rendering before the monitor refreshed. This line is the graphical trade-off. Some people ignore it, others, it will annoy to no end.

[RoninJoku]

Ok thanks for the help... another thing I forgot to mention earlier... No matter what I do, weapons photon color is almost always pure white. Every once and a while at certain angles or something I can see the actual color of the photon, but the majority of the time they just stay white, and it's kind of aggravating. Anything I'm overlooking that can fix this? Or is it just some sort of graphics card incompatibility? :/

[uhawww]

What's the Manufacture, Chipset, and Memory size of your graphics card?

[RoninJoku]

Errr... This is what I came up with... But I don't know if this includes everything you asked =X

Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family... It came with the computer :/

[uhawww]

Ahh.
Integrated Intel 910/915 Chipset...

Unfortunately, there's really not much that can be done with it...

From the official site:
"Be advised: Embedded graphics cards, such as GeForce MX or Intel915 may not function as intended. "

[RoninJoku]

Hmm... I was just about to say I also have a hand-me-down GeForce MX4000 lying around from a friend that I got for WoW before discovering I didn't need it... But I guess that one would have the problem too?

[uhawww]

It'd be better. Not much better, but better nonetheless.

[RoninJoku]

Maybe I will try it out then... Thanks for all your help.

[Cloudkiller]

You seem to know alot. I'm using a Radeon 9200 128 MB Graphics card.

I'm running the game at 2 frameskips and I dont like it really but when I go to 1 or 0 its super slow (espicially on 0)

My other specs are 2.8GHZ and 2GB RAM

Is it my graphics card?

[uhawww]

Yes, you really need to try to up it to at least a Radeon 95XX or 96XX before you start seeing some continuity in game flow with FrameSkip 1.