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Posted on
March 21, 2002 by Thomas
McGuire
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Effects
Detail.
This option sets the LOD used for various effects that are
rendered in the Game. Those of you with older Graphics cards
&/or CPU should use a lower setting for this
option though those with newer Graphics cards should be able
to use a higher value with little adverse effect to
the frame rate, though in large battles it might be wise to
lower setting to a less detailed one to keep the frame rate
smooth.
Curve
Detail.
This option determines how rounded the curves of certain
objects/models are (Or aren’t), e.g. Some tables &
curvature of a road. This is a fairly cosmetic option so if
your frame rate isn’t too good you won’t lose much
visual quality by setting this to Lowest or Low,
those with newer Graphics cards &/or fast CPUs should be
able to set this to High without any adverse affects.
The screenshots further beneath illustrate the effect of
this setting at the Lowest & High options.
Subtitles.
Adjust this to your own gameplay preference.
Console.
Tick this setting to enable the use of the
console in the Game, which can be used to enter & use
console commands during the Game, some which may not
otherwise be available. Unticking this will disable
the use of the console.
Static
Decals.
Tick this option to enable the rendering of
pre-determined decals in the Game, i.e. those put there
during the creation of the Map. This can enhance the realism
of the Game a good amount, though on older Graphics cards
the frame rate may well be adversely affected by these. Unticking
this option will disable the rendering of these (This
doesn’t affect the Wall decals option) & is
recommended for those with older Graphics cards or low frame
rates.
Real
Dynamic Lighting.
When Unticked the Game will use a fast-mode approach
to dynamic lighting, & is recommended for those with
slower CPUs. Those on faster systems (800Mhz +) should Tick
this option to enable the use of a more complex
dynamic lighting mode which will result in a more realistic
application of lighting in a level.
Full
Entity Lighting.
This option controls the lighting method used on models.
When Unticked a single light source is used for
lighting the entire model, which will provide best
performance in the game, particularly in scenes where many
models are visible. When Ticked lighting is applied
to a model in a more realistic way, which will improve
visual realism, though can reduce the frame rate a good deal
on slower systems. Those with fairly fast CPUs (800Mhz +)
should be able to Tick this setting with little
adverse effect except possibly in larger battles.
Volumetric
Smoke.
I’m not too sure about what the option does as everytime I
restart the Game I find it Unticked. That said, this
didn’t seem to have any noticeable effect on smoke effects
when playing the Game, e.g. smoke after blasts from
grenades. Answers on a postcard
if you have any idea where/how this is used.
Weapons
Bar.
Adjust this to your own gameplay preference.
Crosshair.
Adjust this to your own gameplay preference.
The
images beneath illustrate the difference between Terrain
Detail, Model Detail & Curve Detail or their respective lowest
setting versus their respective highest setting.
Worth paying attention to the facial detail of other
soldiers & the curvature of the road, though the Terrain
Detail setting in this particular scene has little effect as
nothing affected by this is visible (Except perhaps a slight
bit of the stoned ground up to the closest soldier).
Low
Detail
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High
Detail
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Be sure
to take a look at the GeForce,
Voodoo3,
Voodoo4/5
or Kyro
1/2 Tweak guide for information on how to optimize the
performance/visual quality of those cards. These can help
you improve image quality/performance even further than
in-game tweaks can.
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