ExpendableCrew
10-05-2003, 12:29 AM
Raven Shield Retail 1.0 Version Advanced Tweak Guide
The following tweaks involve editing the User.ini in x:\Program
Files\Red Storm Entertainment\RavenShield\Save\Profiles directory, RavenShield.ini in x:\Program Files\Red Storm Entertainment\RavenShield\system directory. Before we make any changes, make sure you've gone through the in-game settings first and made all the necessary changes there. Then make a backup of the above files and rename to something like User.Real.ini and RavenShield.Real.ini. Note that settings that are provided in-game are not provided below. These are ".ini file only" tweaks. Use Notepad to edit these files.
User.ini
[Engine.R6GameOptions]
ShowRefreshRates=False
By default, Unreal Engine selects the lowest refresh rate (60 Hz). That's where the 60fps limit comes from. Edit to True to enable the refresh rate selection. Next time you'll enter the Graphics Options, you'll see the different refresh rates supported by your video card beside the resolution.
RavenShield.ini
This is the heart of the game engine and changes here can improve performance and/or visual quality beyond the options available on the in-game settings screens. At the same time, a wrong entry or typo here can give you a lot of grief, so make sure you backup the file first. Look for the [section] and the entries below (default settings provided) and make the appropriate changes based on your system capabilities:
[Engine.GameEngine]
CacheSizeMegs=32
Increasing the cache size can improve overall performance, especially if you have high texture detail settings and 64MB of Video RAM or more. Try higher values such as 128 if you have a higher spec system.
[WinDrv.WindowsClient]
TextureMaxLOD=12
Lower the value for better performance as the cost of texture quality. Try set to 9 for lower ends card. Ati RADEONT 9700 user can set to 16 where as 9700 support up to 16 blending textures stages.
MinDesiredFrameRate=10.000000
This setting tells RVS how to adjust graphics quality while you play to maintain a desired frame rate. The default is a reasonable 35 frames per second (fps), however, if you want the graphics quality to improve, lower this setting (to 20 for example) so that only when your system is seriously struggling will RVS cull objects and reduce image quality to assist. That way you can experience RVS in its full graphical glory. Alternatively, you can turn this setting up (to 40 for example) to help slower systems play at a reasonable framerate.
[Engine.Player]
ConfiguredInternetSpeed=10000
This is a vital setting. It determines your network rate in bytes per second. Tweaking this setting can improve lag problems. For 56K modems, depending on your connection speed, try values between 3000 (3kb per second) and 5000. As a rule of thumb, try and match your average download speed (in kb/s). For faster connections try higher values but remember that depending on the ping of the server you join, where it's located, who else is playing and how many others, you may still experience some lag regardless, particularly at the start of each round. Also remember that servers have
a cap on this rate, so even if you set it very high it may still be
limited by the maximum bandwidth the server is set to allocate to each player. For 56K modemers, a setting around 2800 is best. For Cable/ADSL, 10000 is best, and for T1/LAN play, the default 20000 will be just fine.
[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]
UsePrecaching=True
This preloads graphics textures into memory before you actually see them to reduce in-game jerkiness when textures load "on the fly". If you have a newer video card with more video memory (64MB or more) then set this to True for smoother gameplay. Otherwise set to False for older video cards.
ReduceMouseLag=False
If you have issues with your mouse "lagging" on screen, then setting this option to True will help resolve them. Unfortunately it will also reduce your fps to some extent, so if you have no mouse lag problems set it to False for a slight increase in performance.
UseVSync=True
VSync is the synchronization of your graphics card and monitors' abilities to redraw the screen a number of times each second. When set to False, your fps will improve slightly, however, you may see some image "tearing", in which case switch to True if you don't like the results. (setting this one to false really helped me)
I dont know if this is all of the tweaks or not. Try them and check. I looked for the thread that TC had posted early this year on tweaks but couldnt find it.
The following tweaks involve editing the User.ini in x:\Program
Files\Red Storm Entertainment\RavenShield\Save\Profiles directory, RavenShield.ini in x:\Program Files\Red Storm Entertainment\RavenShield\system directory. Before we make any changes, make sure you've gone through the in-game settings first and made all the necessary changes there. Then make a backup of the above files and rename to something like User.Real.ini and RavenShield.Real.ini. Note that settings that are provided in-game are not provided below. These are ".ini file only" tweaks. Use Notepad to edit these files.
User.ini
[Engine.R6GameOptions]
ShowRefreshRates=False
By default, Unreal Engine selects the lowest refresh rate (60 Hz). That's where the 60fps limit comes from. Edit to True to enable the refresh rate selection. Next time you'll enter the Graphics Options, you'll see the different refresh rates supported by your video card beside the resolution.
RavenShield.ini
This is the heart of the game engine and changes here can improve performance and/or visual quality beyond the options available on the in-game settings screens. At the same time, a wrong entry or typo here can give you a lot of grief, so make sure you backup the file first. Look for the [section] and the entries below (default settings provided) and make the appropriate changes based on your system capabilities:
[Engine.GameEngine]
CacheSizeMegs=32
Increasing the cache size can improve overall performance, especially if you have high texture detail settings and 64MB of Video RAM or more. Try higher values such as 128 if you have a higher spec system.
[WinDrv.WindowsClient]
TextureMaxLOD=12
Lower the value for better performance as the cost of texture quality. Try set to 9 for lower ends card. Ati RADEONT 9700 user can set to 16 where as 9700 support up to 16 blending textures stages.
MinDesiredFrameRate=10.000000
This setting tells RVS how to adjust graphics quality while you play to maintain a desired frame rate. The default is a reasonable 35 frames per second (fps), however, if you want the graphics quality to improve, lower this setting (to 20 for example) so that only when your system is seriously struggling will RVS cull objects and reduce image quality to assist. That way you can experience RVS in its full graphical glory. Alternatively, you can turn this setting up (to 40 for example) to help slower systems play at a reasonable framerate.
[Engine.Player]
ConfiguredInternetSpeed=10000
This is a vital setting. It determines your network rate in bytes per second. Tweaking this setting can improve lag problems. For 56K modems, depending on your connection speed, try values between 3000 (3kb per second) and 5000. As a rule of thumb, try and match your average download speed (in kb/s). For faster connections try higher values but remember that depending on the ping of the server you join, where it's located, who else is playing and how many others, you may still experience some lag regardless, particularly at the start of each round. Also remember that servers have
a cap on this rate, so even if you set it very high it may still be
limited by the maximum bandwidth the server is set to allocate to each player. For 56K modemers, a setting around 2800 is best. For Cable/ADSL, 10000 is best, and for T1/LAN play, the default 20000 will be just fine.
[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]
UsePrecaching=True
This preloads graphics textures into memory before you actually see them to reduce in-game jerkiness when textures load "on the fly". If you have a newer video card with more video memory (64MB or more) then set this to True for smoother gameplay. Otherwise set to False for older video cards.
ReduceMouseLag=False
If you have issues with your mouse "lagging" on screen, then setting this option to True will help resolve them. Unfortunately it will also reduce your fps to some extent, so if you have no mouse lag problems set it to False for a slight increase in performance.
UseVSync=True
VSync is the synchronization of your graphics card and monitors' abilities to redraw the screen a number of times each second. When set to False, your fps will improve slightly, however, you may see some image "tearing", in which case switch to True if you don't like the results. (setting this one to false really helped me)
I dont know if this is all of the tweaks or not. Try them and check. I looked for the thread that TC had posted early this year on tweaks but couldnt find it.