Game Guides Archive
Thread: Graphics Options Guide
WolfwoodCross
Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:07 pm
#14
Forgive me if I come across as brash, for that is not my intent. I do however have to say that I did not find the guide terribly helpful. It simply does not have the information I need to make an educated decision about my graphic options.
For example - the World Detail Bias section simply states "World Detail Bias(slider): Static Object Details(buildings, POIs, etc)." It tells me which button moves the slider, and how to move it to the left and the right. However, it does not tell me why I need to do this.
Another good example is the simple graphics options of brightness, contrast, and gamma. The guide tells me that the sliders increase/decrease these values, and how to do so, but it does not tell me what these values control. The lamen's description of howand why everything works is what is needed for this to be a complete guide.
Assume your reader has no knowledge of computer graphics whatsoever, as I would believe that is the audience your guide is targetting in the first place.
Karquile
Mon Nov 15, 2004 8:34 pm
#15
Thanks Tiggs! I always wondered what the Brightness slider did!
ComCypher
Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:06 pm
#16
Now I will be able to overcome my obsessive compulsive habit of re-checking the "show detail world objects" box everytime I log on, since I now know it is obsolete.
Score 1 for sanity! 
Com Cypher
TheNarcis
Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:30 pm
#17
ComCypher wrote:
Now I will be able to overcome my obsessive compulsive habit of re-checking the "show detail world objects" box everytime I log on, since I now know it is obsolete.
Score 1 for sanity!
Com Cypher
LMAO, I know exactly what you mean!
Now as for Bloom, I have DX9c, GF 6800GT, 66.93 drivers, and the BLOOM effect to me makes the light maps look more dull rather than "enhance" them like it says. Makes them look rather softer. I like it better unchecked visually.
It looks more "console-ish" or more like Battlefront type visuals. Looks much "sharper" without it enabled. /shrug
Message Edited by TheNarcis on 11-15-2004 11:31 PM
Erebor
Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:43 pm
#18
I am about 99.9% sure that I will receive no response for this and even if they do respond it will be a classic SOE line...
Iset all graphics to max including 1280x1034 resolution with 75 refresh rate,I have broadband connection and game lags
I set all graphics to lowest possible including 1024x768 resolution with 65 refresh rate, set paging file high as possible still same lag maybe just a tiny bit (I am not sure) faster...
I have 2.0ghz CPU with 64mb geforce and 1gb ram, broadband connection, highest pagin file possible, I love the game but lag kills it for me (not to mention few bugs here and there)
Having said all these, could you tell me (I hope so, but I believe you wont) if server - client difference is over 3 secs or not?
TheNarcis
Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:00 pm
#19
Erebor wrote:
I am about 99.9% sure that I will receive no response for this and even if they do respond it will be a classic SOE line...
Iset all graphics to max including 1280x1034 resolution with 75 refresh rate,I have broadband connection and game lags
I set all graphics to lowest possible including 1024x768 resolution with 65 refresh rate, set paging file high as possible still same lag maybe just a tiny bit (I am not sure) faster...
I have 2.0ghz CPU with 64mb geforce and 1gb ram, broadband connection, highest pagin file possible, I love the game but lag kills it for me (not to mention few bugs here and there)
Having said all these, could you tell me (I hope so, but I believe you wont) if server - client difference is over 3 secs or not?
Depends on your server and connection. Just because you have broadband doesnt mean your guaranteed a great connection. Your tracert of pings can be way too high. And the server you use may not be a good one for you. My girlfriend games on my older machine which is 1.8Ghz, 512MB RAM, 128MB GF4Ti4800 and lags some (lack of system RAM and CPU). On mine 3.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 256MB GF6800GT, I lag very little only in Coronet on heavy times, but it is never game breaking. But this is only choppy graphical lag, not delayed lag from commands, etc.
Now if your experiencing Choppy Lag from graphics that is one thing, butDelayedLagcan be your connection to the server, or whatever resources you are running in the background along with the game. Test your connection in the command prompt by pinging certain sites like yahoo.com and such. If they are anything over 200+, then call your local ISP and have them alleviate the issue.
Int he Command prompt type: ping www.yahoo.com -n 20 then let it ping it 20 times and get the average. If it is low (below 100 or 50ms) then I would check elsewhere in your system.
Message Edited by TheNarcis on 11-16-2004 12:01 AM
Karquile
Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:42 pm
#20
In my experience, one of the biggest factors involved in lag is disk delay due to virtual memory writes and/or SWG datafile traversal.
At any given time, SwgClient_r will attempt to keep as much of the world in memory as it can, based on the limits you set in the Launchpad and in-game Options, up to a maximum of 75% of your system memory as determined at launch time. But as you move across a planet or through a crowded city, new data is constantly being downloaded, mapped to model definitions in the many .TRE files, and rendered on-screen. These files are often very fragmented after many updates, and disk access of any kind is often surprising slow on today's mid-range PC's. The client spends precious milliseconds seeking around six different giant TRE files, and the disk driver pre-empts stuff like screen rendering and server/client synchronization. The result is that you lurch and laaaaag.
What can you do?
* Reduce all those game options. This will save about 200M of memory.
* Defragment your game disk. A contiguous TRE file is a faster TRE file.
* Don't run heavy duty apps like Internet Explorer alongside SWG. Let it be the big dog.
Erebor
Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:54 pm
#21
TheNarcis, my connection is a great one, over 756kbits, my server is starsider which is in eastcoast and so am I, sorry my post lacked information but I assure you my connection is fast enough, lag is not due clientside problems, its the server and each patch seems to raise it, although loading times are reduced lag is still there...
TheNarcis
Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:51 pm
#22
Erebor wrote:
TheNarcis, my connection is a great one, over 756kbits, my server is starsider which is in eastcoast and so am I, sorry my post lacked information but I assure you my connection is fast enough, lag is not due clientside problems, its the server and each patch seems to raise it, although loading times are reduced lag is still there...
My point is you can have the fastest connection in the world, and still have "delayed" type lag due to high pings. I have a 4 Mbit connection all the time, but there are times where my ISP has a router or 2 go down and it causes my pings to be erratic for a few hours and causes laggy delay in online games.
DeQuosaek
Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:12 am
#23
I think Erebor's lag is probably more of whatKarquile mentioned.
One way you can check this is to glance at your PC when you are getting "lag". If you see a red light flashing on your PC that is your hard drive being accessed and if that almost directly coincides with your "lag" then it is not your internet connection causing it but rather the game accessing information from your hard drive.
Another way to check which it is is to go into options (CTRL-O) andinto the Misc tab and check the second box "Show Network Status Window" and then check your ping.
Erebor
Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:55 am
#24
I am trying to tell you guys, SWG is not the only online game I play... also in SWG my ping is almost always lower than 20.... it is not about my connection nor my computer or SWGs settings, I only run SWG, heck when I play I even reduce windows' resolution to 640x480 with 8bit colors (I know its crazy), but still nada... I have even tried third party memory clearing and Harddrive programs, nada... alt+tab, ctrl+alt+del and check my memory and cpu enough memory and Cpu resources... I major in CSI and I become so good at tweaking to get better performance I can write an A+ paper on but still there is that lag haunting me...
Erebor
Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:59 am
#25
DeQuosaek
Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:15 am
#26
Hmmm... I have no idea. It won't let you move the sliders? Have you tried maybe clicking the tiny arrows on the end of the slider? Strange.
xUnkarNokataki wrote:
Good Guide, but still I don't know why I can't move the Brightness/Contrast/Gamma slider... I have a GF FX 5200 64Mb with 512 DDR, any idea? :/
