Texture / Character Detail

[Butcher]

I don't want to force players who have crappy hardware to use the highest settings, though I would definitely consider locking Character Detail to Texture Detail at the very least.

UT2004 is heavily CPU-limited. When I used a HD4870, I noticed no difference in FPS between any combination of graphics settings.

You going to implement this? I wanted to try the low/high settings to see the difference...

[iRobot]

I don't want to force players who have crappy hardware to use the highest settings, though I would definitely consider locking Character Detail to Texture Detail at the very least.

UT2004 is heavily CPU-limited. When I used a HD4870, I noticed no difference in FPS between any combination of graphics settings.

You going to implement this? I wanted to try the low/high settings to see the difference...

Yes, me too!

Imagine when people suddenly jump up skill levels because of this!

[Calypto]

I don't want to force players who have crappy hardware to use the highest settings, though I would definitely consider locking Character Detail to Texture Detail at the very least.

UT2004 is heavily CPU-limited. When I used a HD4870, I noticed no difference in FPS between any combination of graphics settings.

Buying the latest AMD processor will allow you to gain framerates, not the latest AMD graphics processor. I personally recommend any AMD processor as they are all of the highest quality and ensure that your experience will be the fastest possible due to the number of cores.

[Butcher]

didn't notice the difference....

[iZumo]

UT2004 doesn't have the FPS cap to save performace. Srsly you even cannot notice any difference when fps is bigger than your monitor refresh rate.

AMD is crap and leaving desktop CPU market ...

EDIT: It's not a good idea to keep that public with the country tag in my nick

[iRobot]

UT2004 doesn't have the FPS cap to save performace. Srsly you even cannot notice any difference when fps is bigger than your monitor refresh rate.

AMD is crap and leaving desktop CPU market.

Why lie, the application form at intel has a checkbox with 'Do you buy AMD products?'

[Butcher]

didn't notice the difference....

Seriously, I tried it in low textures and high and very high the characters and there was no difference for me. At the end set them again to high... It seemed to be a bit slower in very high, I don't wanna risks in loosing my PC performance for some detail I don't notice. What I actually did was to turn off the coronas ... less distractions

I followed some of the settings found in a Tip in http://cluex.org/viewforum.php?f=54:
4) Ingame Setup
Most settings will not matter, however a few are quite important towards consistent play.
a) Force Model. While many people dislike using forcemodel because it reduces variety, it is crucial in order to get a consistent reaction towards a player appearing.
b) Coronas. Turn these off. Some would argue that this can allow another area to illicit a reaction to position, however in my experience... position is enough and caronas cause nothing more but confusion.
c) Texture Detail. This DOESN'T matter. It is a myth that lower texture detail makes playing easier with the exception of better FPS... play where you feel comfortable. If it makes you happier playing with higher texture detial as it does me, keep it that way.
d) World Detail. Turn this to low -- this is necessary because certain maps will have objects which are fake that show at high world detail. You don't want to have your view blocked by fake objects.
e) Dynamic Lighting. Turn this on. It will make seeing certain projectiles easier, and causes little fps loss in my experience.
f) Foliage. Turn it off. Much like high world detail, it is a fake object.
g) Player Hightlighting. Turn it on. Why play without it when the server has it on?
h) Automatic Weapon Switch on Pickup. Turn this off... this is absolutely the most crucial setting to disable. It may be more convenient, but with time you will get used to individual weapon bids, and this setting will be nothing but a hindrance.
i) Weapon bob. Turn it off. This is a fake effect, the aim does not actually bob. So, much like world detail, it is nothing but a hindrance.
j) Landing viewshake. Keep it on. Why? Beacuse, unlike bobbing, this effect is REAL, whether or not you have it turned off client side. If you turn it off, the server will think you are aiming further down than you are upon landing.
k) Crosshair. Select a crosshair that has a clear center mark. Dot and Cross are most suited for this with default crosshairs. The size should be minimal, and as uncluttered as possible(see some of the square and circle crosshairs for examples of exactly what *NOT* to use). Think of the crosshair as merely an aid, not what you aim with. You won't want to see it all the time, just when you need it. Color is not important, and opacity 200-255 is recommended since your crosshair will already be small and will have some built in opacity due to the downsizing of the texture.
l) Model selection. If you choose NOT to forcemodel, or are on an older patch where forcemodel doesn't force you to use the character you forcemodel to.... Select any model which is not Gorge or Gorge-Like. The reason for this is that most people will either have no forcemodel, or forcemodel to Gorge. Therefore, the only way you will be able to have a model which does not fit a forcemodel is not simply use non-gorge. The reason this matters is that headshots are based off the skeletal model of your specific character. Therefore, it is better to have any model except for gorge as to make headshots harder for your opponent(assuming they are aiming for the head). My own testing has shown the robot race to be most unlike the gorge skeletal model, however the difference was so minimal it may very well be my imagination
m) Weapon View. Set this to Hidden or Centered. Many people will find left/right to be more comfortable, however there is a disadvantage to using this type of view. This disadvantage is that shots will actually come out slightly off-center when using left/right orientation. For example, if you line up directly against a wall and place your crosshair immediately to one side of the wall, you will be able to fire a shock ball down a hallway on hidden/centered, while you will be unable to on left/right. This affects all weapons.

[Skaldy]

Aza is right (once again). I've been so used to just restoring the UT .ini files from backup every time I reinstall, that I haven't actually tested the impact of different UT graphics settings for a couple of years. And I'm on new hardware now - what an idiot.

It turns out that I can have all the nice-looking stuff on!



Firing shock/link weapons from the stone circle to the castle on Highlander seems a good place to check minimum frame rate offline, but I'll see what happens in a few online firefights.

[iRobot]

UT looks great on low with Char detail on high. People stand out like a white guy in a rap video.