Multiplayer Tweaks

Load SOF II Multiplayer & select Network Settings.

Rate. The option selected will set a few predetermined settings based on the connection you select. For better fine tuning of your game connection see the cvars covered further on down.

Max FPS. The value here sets the maximum frame rate that SOF II Multiplayer can run at. This also affects how much data gets sent to the game server, on lower bandwidth connections you should lower this value to 35 – 45 for a more stable connection, though those with digital connections should be able to allow higher frame rates without compromising your connection performance.

Show Lagometer. Set this to Yes to enable the display of the lagometer in Multiplayer games, an extremely useful connection diagnostic utility. You shouldn’t set this to No unless you have no connection performance issues at all. Further beneath I’ll describe how to use this to adjust connection variables for smoothest gameplay.

Impact Prediction. This option specifies whether the client or game server decides if an object has been collected. Setting this to On can lead you to believe you’ve collected/hit an object incorrectly & so is best left set to Off, particularly if you have a digital internet connection, e.g. DSL, though those on slow dial-up connections might find this to resolve some potential visual weirdness due to high latency.

SOCKS5. Adjust the settings available here if you need to.

Now select the Misc. Setup tab.

For the most part you can set the options here to your own preference.

Defer Players. When set to No new player models are loaded immediately upon that player joining the Game, when set to Yes this is postponed until your death in the game, which is recommended as the game can pause/stutter while the new model is being loaded otherwise – not a good thing when you’re still actually fighting.

Brightness. Use this slider to set the glare level in the game. Sliding the bar to the Right will increase the glare level, though can also make textures appear more washed out if slid too far & vice versa.

Now open the appropriate Config file & add/edit the following entries.

cg_lagometer “x”. Set x to 1 to enable the rendering of the lagometer in Multiplayer games, a useful diagnostic utility. Setting this to 0 will disable it however (Which is mainly recommended for those playing the game on a LAN as latency shouldn’t be an issue).

This is essentially split into 2 sections – top & bottom. As regards the Top half – this displays information regarding world updates. Blue bars indicate world updates are being received & no frames dropped, whereas Yellow bars indicate such updates aren’t being received (Or are corrupt) & frames being dropped as a result. Ideally you’ll have Blues top section the vast majority of the time & if you get yellow a good deal you should consider changing Server. Information here should be used to adjust the snaps “x” option, described later.

As regards the Bottom half – this displays information as regards data packets received (Well, hopefully anyway). Green bars indicate data packets being received. Red bars indicate lost data packets, while Yellow indicates corrupt data packets being received (The net effect of red & yellow is the same however). Similar to the Top section, if you are receiving a good deal of red & yellow it would be a good idea to change Server. Information here should be used to adjust the rate “x” option, described later.

snaps “x”. x sets the maximum amount of packets that are sent from the game server to you, the client, per second. The default amount is 20 (For 56k connections), though if you have a better, or worse, download bandwidth you should change this value accordingly. Those of you with Cable/DSL or other similarly bandwidth excessive connection should try setting this to 35 or greater to receive a greater number of world updates. As per the previous information, use the Top half of the lagometer to determine a more suitable value for this, should you get a good deal of Yellow bars try lowering the value though.

rate “x”. x determines the maximum number of bytes that the game server can send to the client per second. The default value for 56k connections is 4000. Similar to the snaps “x” option, the greater your download bandwidth the more you should be able to increase this value. Cable/DSL users should be able to set this to 10000 or perhaps more without issue, though should you find latency increasing or a good deal of Red & Yellow bars in the Bottom half of the lagometer then lowering this value by several hundred should help resolve it. Don’t set this too high however – other players need bandwidth too you know.

cl_maxpackets "x". x specifies the maximum number of packets that get sent to the game server, by you. The default is 30 for 56K connections, though much like the rate & snaps settings if you have greater upload bandwidth then try increasing this value, or vice versa. Upload bandwidth is generally a bit more consistent than download bandwidth, so this shouldn’t require too much changing.

cl_packetdup "x". When x is set to 1 this enables the re-transmission of lost data packets, which is recommended for Internet multiplayer games, though on LAN multiplayer games this shouldn’t be an issue – no data should be getting lost.

cg_predictItems "x". This option specifies whether the client or game server decides if an object has been collected. Setting x to 1 can sometimes lead you to believe you’ve collected an object incorrectly & so is generally best left set to 0, except perhaps for those with slow dial-up connections so as to minimize visual weirdness that can be caused by high latency.

cg_smoothClients “x”. When x is set to 1 this enables more predictive code to be used for interpreting player movement, which is most useful when playing with those with less than perfect Internet connections & will result in less model warping from position to position, though as you may be aware prediction isn’t faultless & at times the location may be incorrect. You should only really consider setting this to 0 if you’re playing the game on a LAN only (No external connections to the game server).