Would You Sacrifice Eye Candy For An Edge?

I am not talking cheating or graphic settings so low the game looks like wireframe stick figures running around a wide open field, even in the middle of Karkand.

I'm talking Eye Candy. The stuff that makes the game look cooler, but lowers your framerate and may even make it harder to spot an opponent. Dynamic Lighting, Dynamic Shadows, Anti-Aliasing, etc.

I was looking for some information on optimal settings and ran across a post that shows a great example of this:

http://www.bigbruin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10102

He wasn't cheating, but look at the difference of the shadows between the competition setting and non-competition setting. Thinking back to the character models on Karkand, the lack of shadows could make a huge difference in my ability to spot on enemy on the ground.

I'm even considering trying out the settings to see if it really does make a difference.

Terrain = med
Effects = low
Geometry = high
Texture = high
Lighting = low
Dyn Shadows = med
Dyn Light = med
AA = off
Text Filter = high

Most of my settings are at what is listed out of necessity, not to gain an edge. Must be nice to have your "old" card be an X800 🙄

Terrain = med
Effects = low
Geometry = high
Texture = med
Lighting = low
Dyn Shadows = off
Dyn Light = off
AA = off
Text Filter = low

I changed Textures and Texture Filter to High and will see what happens....

I think I also need to check out the omega drivers again and get rid of the overhead that comes with the standard drivers and the .net based Catylist Control Center.

Nope... I didnt build this Beast to run my games on low.. Every setting is cranked to the top and I'm gonna enjoy that.. and still kill those idiots

Well hell, it works for Everclear. . . I guess I can crank up those settings again. I have them set pretty low: just a bit higher than I did with my 9600xt (I have an x800-someletterdesignationicantremember)

I thought I was experiencing a bit of lag when I got the new card and jacked up the settings. I should've given it more time - it might have just been a bad server or 2

I've heard BF2 really likes memory and 2GB is optimal. In fact, I've heard it will impact your video performance regardless of what card you have if it's lower than 2GB.

An OKGG guy tested this theory and it made a huge difference jumping to 2GB.

I have an X800(something). I also have 2GB of ram, however, with my settings on high it lagged a bit in game too (the graphics were absolutely beautiful though). BUT my lag could have been because of my ram. I bought the sticks at diff times and the settings are like .5 diff on the newer stick. They are both DDR 400 (same brand and everything), but when my comp boots they only show to be running DDR 200. So, this could be why mine was laggy. I can say though that my game starts much, much, faster with the 2GB than it did with just one, even if they aren't running right.

There is a far better review of video settings here with descriptions and examples of what does what.

http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2_5.html


I bounce around with my settings, mostly all on High/custom because I change from 800x600 to the 1024 setting at 75hz with it all on high.

But occasionally go to medium/custom just to see if there is a difference, and I honestly don't see much difference, so like a dumb ass set it all back on high.

The thing that made a huge difference for me was shutting off VOIP. I no longer get the lag/slow/drag/game hesitation like I use to. I know you all use it, but for the most part it's just for kids telling each other how stupendous they are, and I play to play not to listen to junior bitch about claymores.

To answer your question, yes LIGHTING makes a HUGE difference when it's off or low.

I like dynamic shadows though, several times it has helped me "see" people on roofs above me by casting their shadows on the ground. As and example in Sharki on the alleyway flag I know by the mini map I'm the only one in the flag area but see shadows on the ground around me I know someone is on the roof and needs a 'nade.
Same at city enterance, if some one is on the roof spawn and your coming from east to west toward the city flag, look down at the ground, if there up there even if their prone, they cast a shadow on the ground.

So I allways keep my Dyn Shadow to at leas MED.

People keep talking about the dynamic shadows and I see the benefits. I'll have to test them out to see if I take much of a performance hit.

I played PoE last night for a little bit with the settings that I listed above with no issues with 40+ players.


RE: the VOIP - I can only remember having issues with people in VOIP once or twice since we started playing this game. I really rely on it playing with pubbers in the squad, or even if GRB folks in TeamSpeak are on the opposing side. In fact if I connect to a server that doesn't have it enabled, I will usually disconnect because I get frustrated trying to type crap to squadmates that I should just be able to say, like "WATCH OUT BEHIND YOU" kind of stuff.

i too built my rig for the eye candy. so currently i run everything high. however my last pc wasnt such a trooper. back then i always either had or choose to sacrifice candy for fps.

I also run 1600X1200 with everything totally maxed out. As a matter of fact I edit my video.con file and set everything on 4 instead of 3. I heard that is ultra high but is not selectable from within the game. That could be all BS but it does not seem to effect me negatively so 😉

I vote no, I always crank everything up and then back stuff down till it's playable with any game. They are, after all made for eye candy - If I wanted realism I'd enlist 😒


Not to say you 'edge' guys are wrong - more power to ya, Im sure you do just a little better in the game, but I like to enjoy all the hard work the developers put into a game as much as I can.