World Detail.
This setting determines the complexity of terrain & certain
other effects in the game, with options available being
Normal, High & Highest. Setting this to a
higher option will use increasingly more
detailed landscape & effects. The images beneath illustrate
the effect this has.
Normal
|
|
 |
Highest
|
|
 |
Higher setting require
increasingly higher amount of polygons to be rendered as
you can see. Using a Lower option will require
less meshes to be rendered, which will give less
detailed landscape/effects, though this can improve
performance – especially if your Graphics card can't handle
rendering a high amount of polygons, perhaps most noticeable
during larger fights or where you have a greater viewing
distance.
Physics Detail.
This option controls the LOD to be used by the Karma physics
engine. Being CPU driven this should be determined by the
CPU which you have. A decent rule of thumb would probably be
under 1Ghz use Low, 1-1.5Ghz use
Normal &
1.5Ghz + try High.
Character Shadows.
Possibly a bug, though this option seems to have no effect
in the current demo – see the Projectors setting.
Dynamic Lighting.
Tick this option to enable the casting of
light from non-static (i.e. dynamic) sources, e.g. laser
fire from weapons, explosions, etc. This adds a great deal
to lighting in levels & can also make targeting enemies
easier, particularly in darker levels or where they are
concealed/far away. If you are on a slow CPU (1Ghz or less)
you should consider disabling (Unticking) this
to for improved frame rate though.
Detail Textures.
A detail texture is a very small, fine pattern which is
faded in as you approach a surface, for example wood grain,
or imperfections in stone. Ticking this option
will improve visual quality by enabling the use of
detail textures, although it will cause a performance hit,
particularly on older Graphics cards. Untick this
setting to disable the use of detail textures for
improved performance, although with reduced visual quality
as a result.
Projectors.
Seemingly this option is actually controls Character
Shadows. When Ticked shadows are cast from player
models onto the surface beneath them. This can add to the
immersiveness of the game though if you’re currently having
frame rate issues leave this Unticked for optimal
frame rate. Beneath is an example of this setting enabled.
Decals.
Tick this option to enable the rendering of
decals in the game, e.g. scorch marks from explosions &
such. This can add some extra detail to fights, though for
those with slower CPUs you’d gain more by disabling
these (Unticked) or should you have a very old
Graphics card.
Coronas.
This options sets whether or not light coronas from light
sources, such as lamps, are displayed. On Graphics cards
with low fill rates it would be recommended to Untick
this option to disable them as they are transparent
which costs fill rate. Those with GeForce 2 or newer
Graphics card should be able to Tick this with little
effect on frame rate.
Decal Stay.
This option determines how long decals remain visible before
fading out. Should you already have decals enabled
there should be little reason to set this to anything other
than High, though it may aid performance slightly in
large scale battles where a lot of decals may need to be
rendered if you use a lower setting.
The images beneath illustrate the effects
of using high & low quality options, whereas High =
All options set to On/Maximum available setting. Low
= High settings except Texture Detail of
Lower, Character Detail of Lower,
Character Shadows off & Projectors off.
High
|
Low
|
|
 |
 |
Screen Flashes.
When Ticked this allows your screen to momentarily
flash in a different colour when hit by weapon fire. This is
fairly useful should you not hear the others weapon firing,
though if you want to ensure optimal frame rate Untick
this option.
Weapon Bob.
Set this to your own preference.
Reduce Gore.
Ticking this option will lower the amount of damage
that is displayed upon hitting characters, while this might
be of some use to parents it would also be worth enabling
should you have a very slow system or old Graphics card so
as to maintain a decent frame rate in fights. Those not
bothered by gore or who have good frame rates should leave
this Unticked.
Dodging.
Set this to your own preference.
Auto Aim.
Set this to your own preference.
Hide HUD.
Tick this option should you wish to disable
the display of the HUD (Heads Up Display).
Obviously this will severely limit the amount of information
displayed on the screen, though can improve visibility a
small bit & certainly can aid frame rate somewhat. Untick
this to enable the HUD to be rendered as normal.
Crosshair.
Set this to your own preference.
