usefull objects viewed from far away

[catacc]

hi and please excuse me because i am tired and maybe not coherent (before posting this i used the search but nothing discovered)


can anyone tell me how to make objects that are useful or in other words that can be manipulated in game, appear in sight from far??

i have a geforce4 mx 440 and those objects i told you about are appearing too late, meaning that i am about 3 or 4 meter when i actually see them (barrels, boxes...)

is there a console command to do that? a fade or a minimum distance command where i can set a certain amount? (distance)

please redirect me if this subject was discussed in a previous post

note: 1. i am playing on 1024x768 with medium details
2. any other objects and background are displayed properly

thanks in advance

 

[Barney_Calhoun]

I have the same card. I play it on 1024x768 with everything low, and get the same problem (I envy you with your medium setttings >.<). As far as I know, there is no way to fix this, I've had this problem since day 1. Someone told me that changing the -dxlevel would help but it didn't. Anyone got any ideas on fixing it? Apart from the obvious "buy a better card" ¬_¬

 

[catacc]

i told you i am tired

just 5 minutes after the post i've found this
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=92723&highlight=objects+view

reference Day of Defeat

I'll give it a try, because of the same engine, (i am thinking)

I look out most of the commands except -

cl_ejectbrass 0
cl_smooth 0
commentary 0
dsp_enhance_stereo 0
mat_fastspecular 1
mat_hdr_enabled 0
mat_mipmaptextures 0
r_lightinterp 0
r_propsmaxdist 100
rope_smooth 0
cl_cmdrate 101
cl_updaterate 101
rate 25000
cl_interp "0.01"
cl_interpolate 1
fog_enable 0
fog_enable_water_fog 0
gl_clear 0

Runs so much better now, but the whole game is really fuzzy. Not pixelated, It's at 1600x1200, but erm...fuzzy Still much better than how it was before.


I'm using some of those but the rest of them would probably make your game look quite bad or fuzzy like you said. If you wanna get rid of the lag but still maintain an acceptable amount of eye candy then I'd recommend you try these first before trying any of the other tweaks (put it into your autoexec.cfg file):


cl_forcepreload "1"
//forces all information to preload, reducing loading pauses and stuttering by not loading information on the fly.

sv_forcepreload "1"
//forces server-side preloading, once again reducing loading pauses.


fps_max "85"
//Limits the maximum possible framerate to the FPS specified. Has no impact on framerate performance (other than capping it). This is best set to your monitor's refresh rate for smoother FPS, due to less volatile fluctuations (e.g. fps_max 85). Setting it higher does not increase overall FPS.

cl_smooth "1"
//This should be set to 1 not 0 as stated above. It was mentioned in this Source engine update: http://www.steampowered.com/index.ph...ive=yes&id=430

r_propsmaxdist "380"
//objects fading distance. Reducing this setting can improve performance.

cl_detaildist "380"
//Determines the range at which detail props are shown (e.g. grass). The higher the value, the lower your performance as more add-on details are shown. Reducing this setting can increase performance.

cl_detailfade "380"
//Determines the range at which detail props fade into view.

lod_Enable "1"
//If set to 1, allows the level of detail (lod) of objects to be gradually reduced the further they are from the player. This should be set to 1 for optimal performance, or 0 for maximum image quality.

r_lod "0"
//The number is anywhere from -5 to 5. Determines the rate at which level of detail (lod) is stripped from objects as they recede away from the player. The higher the value, the less detail remains visible on objects as they progress into the distance, increasing performance but decreasing image quality.

r_decal_cullsize "4"
//Decals (bullet holes etc.) higher than this specified size in pixels will be removed straight away.

r_decals "50"
//Specifies the maximum number of decals possible at any one time. The higher this number, the greater the potential for getting slowdowns during large firefights as large numbers of decals are generated. Reducing this setting can improve performance in such situations.

cl_ejectbrass "0"
//Disables shells flying out of guns

And leave HDR on in your advanced settings. I tried with and without HDR after applying the tweaks and I didn't notice much of a difference in terms of lag so you might as well turn it on. HDR is so beautiful! Trust me once you play it with HDR on then after that you turn it off, you will feel that something is missing, like as if the realism is less. I mean sure it may not be perfect like the way you see it in real life but imo I think it's a step in the right direction.


I would suggest that you check what the default settings are first (for the tweaks below), so that you can increase/decrease the value to get a good compromise between performance/graphics for your system:

r_propsmaxdist "380"
cl_detaildist "380"
cl_detailfade "380"

not knowing how to enable HDR ( I want the image, not performance)

and by the way, Barney_Calhoun, leave the settings as game detect the configuration (best working, or you might put them on medium)

for me 30fps in the best populated area and a lot of action is enough, and still having the power to go for 40 or 60 for the other areas. (30-40fps ARE making a realistic view of movement, 60-100 are ok for human eye, and those above 100 are just hurting - yes, I know, anyone is showing off with the their powerfull machine, but...)

because I am using a second monitor connected to Riva TNT 2 PCI card I have this fps drop down from the usually 100fps (90% of playing time) to 40 or 60 as mentioned above.

yes, sometimes I have 10 or under 20fps and i can not play , just watching a slideshow, but for half or even 1 second I can accept that

 

[CommandoSR]

Riva TNT2? I think you could get a used GeForce PCI card for very cheap and still get a consinderable performance boost.

 

[hi_ted]

Here's what I did to get the most out of my 9600xt:

I started HL2 with a heapsize of half my physical ram (1.5Gb ram, so I added -heapsize 640000 to the launch options). While in-game, I made r_lod -2 and lod_TransitionDist 1200.

This is a good site for info like this.
http://www.tweakguides.com/HL2_8.html

 

[catacc]

Riva TNT2? I think you could get a used GeForce PCI card for very cheap and still get a consinderable performance boost.

i am using a geforce4 mx 440 on AGP with 1024*768 and details at medium to high (i can not activate hdr because i don't know what to tweak, is saying mat_hdr_enabled in not recognized, and i've put dxlevel 90) , Riva is just for the second monitor where i am displaying TV channels when i am reading, tweaking, programming something and my girl want her favorite tv show)

i just played few levels last night and the current fps is 60, going to 30-40 in areas where i am fighting something and 20fps with flying ships, bugs all over the place (i am still amazed by the image details and action) combines shooting at me... and this is fair enough for me, i don't want more fps.

i put cl_forcepreload to 0 and is fine by me, i can bare 20 second for the loading instead of 1 or 2 minutes

still , the same problem with objects disappearing to fast from sight

setting:

r_propsmaxdist "380"
cl_detaildist "380"
cl_detailfade "380"
r_lod "0"
lod_transitiondist "380"

even that i am increasing/decreasing their values respectively, nothing is changing. as i've told you before, i want a better image (not for screenshots or game feeling, is ok with the actual settings, but for gameplay, to see all objects without zooming)

 

[hi_ted]

Make your r_lod to be either -1 or -2. The lower the number the better detail it is.
Make your lod_TransitionDist 1000 at minimum to stop models popping from low definition to high definition.

 

[catacc]

Well... I tried r_lod -2 and transdist 380 and 1000, but is not the same, the game is freezing for about 2 or 300 msecs, and also combined with mat_dxlevel 90

much better the image, but with this I am losing an useful thing: the flashlight
yes, is appearing activate in HUD, but the light is not actually shown, so in dark areas is just consuming HEV power and I can not see anything

I don't know about you guys, but I am impressed about the image details of the game, and taking into consideration the minimum requirements to be played... is just a gift for everyone

also, all those problems related to powerful systems and sometimes none for some lowend machines are making me thinking that is not about game issues, is just about the configuration of the systems, how the inside parts are dealing one to another