Optimizing Nvidia for HaloCE

Tutorials for Halo CE.
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Patrickssj6




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Optimizing Nvidia for HaloCE

Post by Patrickssj6 »

I just felt like doing this </reason>

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(Fake Bloom Not Included)

Please read carefully and don't skip any parts unless you know what you are doing.


You can do this tutorial if...

-you have a Nvidia card that is capable at running Halo at highest settings and at a high framerate (>50fps) usually -7,-8 series.
-tearing issues (Halo runs faster (sometimes you don't even notice this); massive lag)
-Nvidia camouflage problem


What do I need?


Latest Nvidia Driver/Control Center
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

DXTweaker (my settings included)
http://files.filefront.com/DXTweakerrar ... einfo.html

MapManager (with DXtweaker support)
http://hce.halomaps.org/index.cfm?fid=2758

A brain/2 eyes/at least 1 hand/opt. ePenor/ePuss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal


Installing DXTweaker

Extract the archive (I recommend into the HaloCE directory). Open up DXTweaker and make sure the existing configurations for HaloCE (which I included) are correct (paths etc.) and that's basically it.

Configuring Nvidia

Open up the Nvidia Control Panel.
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Now for the settings...I'll try to explain as much as possible (I actually just quote Wikipedia)

Every time you change a settings from it's original state it will be bold.

Anisotropic Filtering
"...is a method of enhancing the image quality of textures on surfaces that are at oblique viewing angles..." - Wikipedia
I set this to 16x...even though I'm not sure if this has a direct effect in HaloCE since I don't know how Nvidia affects these settings or how it cooperates with HaloCE in the first place.

Texture Filtering - Quality
"In computer graphics, texture filtering is the method used to determine the texture color for a texture mapped pixel, using the colors of nearby texels (pixels of the texture)." - Wikipedia
I set this to very high, I'm pretty sure this doesn't have a direct effect in HaloCE though.

Threaded Optimization
If you have multiple CPU's, use this.

Now for the vital parts:

Triple Buffering
"In computer graphics, triple buffering is a variant on double buffering, a technique for drawing graphics that shows no (or less) flicker, shearing, and tearing artifacts." - Wikipedia
As you can see, this can help us with the tearing. Set this to "On".

Vertical Sync
"Vertical synchronization (v-sync, vbl-sync) refers generally to the synchronization of frame changes with the vertical blanking interval." - Wikipedia
This will defiantly help us with our tearing. Set this to "Force On".

MapManager
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If you configured everything correctly, this should work perfectly. No more camo errors, no more tearing in VSync / No VSync.

Credits:

DXTweaker - nonatainment
Camo Fix Tutorial - IcebirdCE
MapManager - Skyline & Patrickssj6

This Tutorial - Patrickssj6

:D
...left for good
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Cryticfarm





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Post by Cryticfarm »

Oh yayz, and me and you have the same graphics card so umm... High five lol.
EDIT: Yayz, it works, thanks man.
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TomClancey





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Post by TomClancey »

I remember having to search on GBX to find the tutorial solely for DXTweaker, but it did the Camo fix.

Though, nice tutorial, would help a lot.
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Post by Daemon »

Your graphiocs look higher quality than mine in your screenshot and i gots a 8800GTS... so i better try this out, get back to you when i do.

Edit: i never had the camo problem but it stopped the tearing and stuff... thanks
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DrJaul





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Post by DrJaul »

i did this tutorial and it fixed the tearing problem but now i get like teh awful frame rates. i have 2 sli-ed geforce 8400 gs cards and i get less than 30 fps, on halflife 2 i get like 40-50 fps. how does that work?
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Cryticfarm





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Post by Cryticfarm »

DrJaul wrote:i did this tutorial and it fixed the tearing problem but now i get like teh awful frame rates. i have 2 sli-ed geforce 8400 gs cards and i get less than 30 fps, on halflife 2 i get like 40-50 fps. how does that work?
Go into the settings and check if the framerate says 30 fps. If it does, change it to vsync or novsync (novsync for highest fps).
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Post by DrJaul »

long story short it wasnt the vsync. i went on a journey through the bowels of the nvidia drivers and and wound up just setting my computer back to the original way it was back when i had the low framerate and suddenly, magically, it worked. 50 frames relatively consistently. thanks for the help with the tearing.
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Cryticfarm





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Post by Cryticfarm »

DrJaul wrote:long story short it wasnt the vsync. i went on a journey through the bowels of the nvidia drivers and and wound up just setting my computer back to the original way it was back when i had the low framerate and suddenly, magically, it worked. 50 frames relatively consistently. thanks for the help with the tearing.
Thats odd, I have only one 8600 GT and I can get over 300. 2 8400 should be around the same.
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