Help For Low Fps Rates

originally posted by CrouchingHamster,HiddenElvis

This was probably the best guide to tweaking Half-Life for really old computers that I have ever come across and deserves to be posted again. I pulled it from the Google cache.

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*warning huge post*
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Hi, few things you can try.. first check yer HD is defragged regular, then go to ...

<a href='http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk' target='_blank'>http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk</a>

check the startup guides and make sure you aren't running lots of unnecessary windows rubbish in the b/g

Get rid of everything that you don't need..

run/msconfig.exe etc..
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this is (resident BY tweak-ninja) Goody's CS framerate guide, cs specific, but it should apply to most HL engine games, you dont have to apply it all, just play around till you get an acceptable balance between looks and performance.

Good luck and all that.



Fps guide

Ok not all of us have amazing pcs so i thought id write a good about how to squeeze the greatest fps possible for those of us too cheap to buy a new computer.
Firstly theres the simple things you can do to make sure your computers running at its best. Always keep your hard disk defragmented , and if you can try and install half life right after a defragment.
Always ensure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card . They can be found here-
Vodoo based cards : <a href='http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a>
<a href='http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.wicked3d.com/technology/wickedgl.htm</a>
Geforce based cards: <a href='http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers' target='_blank'>http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers</a>
ATI based cards: <a href='http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html' target='_blank'>http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html</a>

To ensure you dont get slowdown if youve had your computer on for a while download this handy utility-
<a href='http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/s...stem/maxmem.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/s...stem/maxmem.htm</a>
which will wipe all programs from your system memory , making sure your computers always runs as fast as when you just start up.
This utility-
<a href='http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/cb.htm</a>
will also help ensure your hard disk is running as fast as possible for games(recommended using power settings which come with this proggy).
Lastly some of the newer graphics cards dont run well in under 800x600 mode. experiment with which resolution gives you best fps , you may be surprised.
Theres also a couple of settings you can change on your graphics card to get better fps. Right click on your desktop , choose the settings tab , then advanced.There should be a tab with your graphics card displayed on it. Click on it then click on "additional properties" if its a geforce(may vary for other graphics card but it should be easy to figure out).Then click on "Open Gl settings" and ensure both "v synch" and "Anistropic filtering" are turned off.
There are player models which help your fps. Download the high fps player models here-
<a href='http://www.zeroping.com/main....&game=9' target='_blank'>http://www.zeroping.com/main....&game=9</a>
which basically replace your player models with models with far fewer polygons and can significantly help your fps.
If your using xp you may need to download a xp refresh rate fix to get more than 60 fps.Availible here-Geforce based cards: <a href='http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_X...P_2832_comp.zip' target='_blank'>http://file2.mydrivers.com/display/Win2k_X...P_2832_comp.zip</a>
<a href='http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip' target='_blank'>http://mitglied.lycos.de/ric_l/Win2k_XP_2832_comp.zip</a>
<a href="" target="_blank">ftp://files.realgn.com/pub....omp.zip</a>
Voodoo based cards: <a href='http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-fr...nz-selektor.zip' target='_blank'>http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/voodoo-fr...nz-selektor.zip</a>
ATI based cards: <a href='http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refre...-rate-fixer.zip' target='_blank'>http://www.3dcht4u.de/3dc/11gwe7/ati-refre...-rate-fixer.zip</a>

If you have a via motherboard downloading the latest 4 in 1's may also help performance , they can be found here :
<a href='http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2' target='_blank'>http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2</a>

Then we move onto config changes. Your config.cfg can be found in your cs directory . Some of the settings will already be in your config , in which case alter the value given for them ,others youll need to add in yourself.Once added its a good idea to right click on the config , go to properties and change it to read only. Half life has a habit of overwriting a lot of settings. The following is a list of all the settings that should improve your fps, what they do(if i dont know i reserve the right to make it up) , and the different values you can give them.

gl_picmip "0":Perhaps the biggest setting you can change ,it sets the rendering quality.Basically the effect will be to blur everything slightly , make textures simpler , the hud will be affected so at values above 2 it will be unreadable and your zoomed in crosshairs will suffer. "0" is default for this command and values above "2" will be very unstable in half life and cause a lot of crashes. Personally i use "2".Dont use this if you want cs too look half decent , it really does deteriorate graphics quality quite badly.

Hint:Your zoomed in crosshair for aug/sig may become invisible if you use this.To avoid this add this bind into your config.
bind "x" "sprite"
alias sprite "spriteon"
alias spriteon "gl_spriteblend 1; alias sprite spriteoff"
alias spriteoff "gl_spriteblend 0; alias sprite spriteon"
Where x is the button you want to press. This will change blending of sprites on and off , off for using the sig/aug , on for using the scout/awp/auto snipers.

gl_max_size "128": Sets the maximum size of all textures in the game including walls, player models , gun models ect. Default is "512". I use "64". Dont got below "64" and always use multiples of 64 , ie 64,128,256,512. Also gives a large boost to fps , although values below 128 will give extremly blocky textures. "256" is probably best if you want to improve fps without making cs look too bad. I use "64" for maximum fps boost.


gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST":Another good command for boosting fps , controls rendering quality.The following settings are listed in order of speed , first being fastest but poorest quality , last being best quality but slowest.

GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR"
GL_TEXTUREMODE "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR"

I personally use gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST".

fastsprites "0":Controls the quality of smoke from smoke grenades. "0" is default with transparent smoke and slowest. "1" is white smoke partially see through. "2" is extremely blocky non transparent black smoke. Useful for if smoke grenades slow you down , "1" provides a good compromise of being able to still partially see through smoke but not dropping your fps too much , however if you still find yourself having bad fps drops use "2". I use "2".

hisound "0" Sets the sound quality , 0 being low and best for performance , 1 being high and best quality sound. On older computers setting this to 0 can make a large difference , but the drop in quality is extremely high

r_drawviewmodel "0": A big boost if you find your fps dropping during fire fights. Basically it turns off the gun model on screen, so you wont see it. Not good if your a fan of custom models but does stop some of the big fps drops in combat. "0" is off , "1" is on with "0" being fastest.

gl_keeptjunctions "0" Deals with the filling in of cracks between textures or surfaces.Set to "1" and high quality will fill them in , set to "0" and fastest it wont , resulting in dots appearing between the junctions but more fps.

gl_playermip "2":Sets the rendering quality of player models. Can be set at "0" which is best quality but slowest, "1" which is medium , and "2" which is worst quality but fastest. I use "2".

gl_smoothmodels "0": Controls smoothing of player models. Set to "0" to disable and get best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".

cl_highmodels "0":Toggles higher quality player models on and off. Set to "0" to disable and give best fps , "1" to enable and look best. I use "0".

max_smokepuffs "0":Sets the number of smoke puffs , as seen when bullets hit objects. Again useful to keep your fps up in firefights , set it to "0" for greatest fps boost and to totally disable smokepuffs. Can be set to any other number you want. I use "0".The lower the number the better the fps.

max_shells "0": Sets the number of shells on screen shown at a time (ie those ejected from your gun). Set to "0" to disable and give greatest fps boost. Can be set to any other number.The lower the number the better the fps.

cl_corpestay "0" Sets the time before bodys on ground start to sink into ground. 600 is default and bodys will stay throughout the round , 0 and bodys will start to sink within seconds.

cl_minmodels "1" Sets half life to use the minimum model set possible , "elite" a ct skin and vip . Use 1 for best fps or 0 to see all models

cl_dynamiccrosshair "0" Switches off the dynamic crosshair (expands and contracts depending on accuracy). Switching it off is useful if your fps is very poor as it takes a long time to return to normal.

gl_cull "1": Sets half life to only draw visible objects. "1" is on(ie only draws objects in view) , 0 is off. "1" for more fps.

violence_ablood "0" , violence_agibs "0" , violence_hblood "0" , violence_hgibs "0":
This set of commands controls displaying of blood.Set to "0" and no blood , improving fps.Set to "1" and blood will show. I use "0"

gl_round_down "100": Another one that controls texture quality.The lower the number the better quality graphics, higher the number the fastest. I use "10" for best fps boost , but can be set to any number.

gl_wateramp "0": Sets the height of waves in water. Only common cs map which will be affected by this will be aztec but it can give a nice boost especially if like me water+large open space kills your fps. Can either be "1" or "0" with 0 being the fastest. I personally use "0".

mp_decals "0": Sets the number of decals to be shown. Decals are used to draw bullet holes in walls as well as custom tags/sprays.Set to "0" to disable completely , "300" is default.I use "0". The lower the number the better the fps.

r_dynamic "0":Sets dynamic lighting(ie reflections ect) , "0" being off and fastest , "1" being on and slowest.I use "0".

r_mirroralpha "0":Similar to dynamic lighting , controls reflections on objects."0" is fastest and off , "1" is slowest and on.I use "0" for best fps.

gl_clear "1":Controls the blending of textures together. "0" is off and looks best but is slowest."1" is on and is fastest, however cracks between textures may show. I use "1".

r_shadows "0":Turns off player shadows. "0" being shadows off and "1" being shadows on. I use "0".

gl_dither "0":Turns dithering on and off. "0" is off , "1" is on. Use "0" for best fps , "1" for best quality. I use "0".

fps_max "50" , fps_modem "50" , fps_lan "50" :
These commands control the maximum fps you will get. Its best to set them all to the same to make sure works (modem is for 56k connections , lan is for better quality connections). You might think its better to put it to a 100 and get the best fps you can constantly , however fps drops during fire fights can make mouse control difficult. Its best to set this to something your relatively sure of being able to maintain the majority of the time.


Those are all the tricks i know to improve fps , if you know any more feel free to post them(not including the "buy a new computer" one wink.gif ) Thanks to tekkobra off the Dod forums for whom i ripped off a lot of the links at the top and all the other cs sites which ive mainly forgotten.



EDIT: this was designed for old CS..R_dynamic for instance no longer works, as valve decided to hard code it into CS from, 1.3 or thereabouts..if someone works out how to kill it in NS please let me know..there are known issues with onboard intel gfx cards and dynamic lighting...ie intel make crappy gfx cards...sorting your windows startups ( msconfig.exe..) and defrags will make more difference than all these tweaks put together..seriously, if you dont need it , ditch it. Desktop toys, real download, screen savers...if you don't need it , scrap it..