Settings Questions - Seeking FPS Boost

[Hendi]

Hello everybody, i'm tweaking the rgl_config file to boost my fps and have some questions, if you understand more about this, please help me.

But first, my notebook specs:

Processor: Intel Core I7-2670QM 2.2Ghz Quad Core
RAM: 8gb DDR3
Storage: SSD 120gb
Video: Geforce GT 630M 1gb
OS: Linux Deepin 15.10
PS: If I missed some important info please tell me.


Now, i'm running on Medium and getting 30 to 40 fps, it's running pretty smooth, but im trying to make it run on 60 fps, i have some questions about these lines of rlg_config:


render_buffer_size -> The default is 15, is recommended to increase ? if yes, how much ?

use_pixel_shaders, use_vertex_shaders, fake_reflections -> Which each of these I put on or off ?

use_ondemand_textures_ and use_ondemand_textures_mt -> Searching on google, people say better to set off, so textures will be loaded on game loading, i tested and its true, when I've started a new game the scenery loaded almost instant, so, keep it off ?

force_single_threading -> For my processor, is best single or multi threading ?

display_bits -> default is 32, if i change to 64 will make positive effect ?

use_instancing -> on or off for performance boost ?



Those are my questions, also, there is some other line you suggest changing for performance boost ? which ?

I'm sorry for any english errors, not my native language.


Thank You.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by FlashyBR:

Hello everybody, i'm tweaking the rgl_config file to boost my fps and have some questions, if you understand more about this, please help me.

But first, my notebook specs:

Processor: Intel Core I7-2670QM 2.2Ghz Quad Core
RAM: 8gb DDR3
Storage: SSD 120gb
Video: Geforce GT 630M 1gb
OS: Linux Deepin 15.10
PS: If I missed some important info please tell me.

I ran Warband on a similar laptop with no issues. But, I was running Windows 7Pro and you're running Linux. There may be some LinuxOS stuff you need to tweak.

i have some questions about these lines of rlg_config:

If you can use the launcher and in-game options first, that might be helpful. You can go back and edit the rgl_config later for deeper tweaking. (I don't know if Warband's autodetect will work in Linux properly. No idea... But, you can try it to see what Warband "thinks" about your system. Anything it gets wrong points to something you may need to tweak.

render_buffer_size -> The default is 15, is recommended to increase ? if yes, how much ?

That's outside of my paygrade, not even near it... However, for now, I'd suggest keeping it at default or whatever Warband suggests. Bigger is not necessarily better, there. No need to go choking your card out in a passion-fueled frenzy before you've even bought it dinner yet...

use_pixel_shaders, use_vertex_shaders, fake_reflections -> Which each of these I put on or off ?

That's going to likely be something you'll tweak for appearance vs performance vs "why does this mod look so ugly" kind of thing. Start with vertex, move to pixel and see. Some may be card and/or mod dependent or some Linux stuff. (Someone else could probably answer this better.) I would leave it on default if it were me. If you start to see some issues with transparenncies and weird "glowy" stuff or either no evidence of normal maps/bump or extremely shiny stuff, change it and see how things look vs performance.

use_ondemand_textures_ and use_ondemand_textures_mt -> Searching on google, people say better to set off, so textures will be loaded on game loading, i tested and its true, when I've started a new game the scenery loaded almost instant, so, keep it off ?

Keep "Load Textures on Demand" off. We can take it these days. Otherwise, you might get a chugfest/glitch loading new scenes and the like. Later, after your tweaks, if you find things very sluggish you can play with toggling this. The game is much more stable with Load Textures on Demand "off" though.

force_single_threading -> For my processor, is best single or multi threading ?

Basically, always Force Single Threading regardless of whether or not your CPU could launch the Space Shuttle or figure out a Tax Return by itself. Warband wants a nice clean bit of real-estate in which to perform its magic and that helps a ton. You can try changing that later once your tweaks are done if you want to check that setting specifically. (Force Single Threading as being "On" is going to give the best results on the widest variety of systems. BUT, you can change this later to see if you notice a definite improvement on newer, more robust, processors and in leaner system environments.)

display_bits -> default is 32, if i change to 64 will make positive effect ?

Default first, tweak later once you get the performance you want. Higher settings will negatively impact performance, but it might look better. The default setting should be mirroring what Warband thinks your system settings already are.

use_instancing -> on or off for performance boost ?

In general, it should. IIRC, it's a compatibility thing that was included, but now cards are easily capable of geometry instancing.

Those are my questions, also, there is some other line you suggest changing for performance boost ? which ?

Try to first get the best results using the Launcher options and then the In-Game options before going to a manual edit of the rgl_config. It's just neater that way.

Your vidcard is the big limiter, here. It's a mobile card with 1 gig. That's low. Is it using any shared system Ram? If not, that could be a bottleneck. It's not insurmountable, but it is certainly suboptimal.

It's a mobile card, so there's likely an Intel switchable mobile chipset somewhere in your system, too. Make sure your Geforce is the card being called by Warband when it runs by setting up a custom config for it to force it to run. (Use your driver settings to set up a default custom config situation for Warband's exe file so it runs whenever Warband runs. Later, in desperation, you can also use that custom config to try to increase your performance.)

(That card is going to get a workout in long play-sessions. Make sure you have a secondary laptop fan system. Mobile cards have better heat tolerances, but they have to because they're in such a confined space. A laptop fan accessory is cheap and can be a life-saver. ie: A small laptop-width case with a few fans in it you set your laptop on top of that runs off the power provided by a USB connection. Now that USB 3 is out, and provides more power, check to see what USB you have and what the accessory requires. Usually it's just USB 2, since it's only a kind of normal case-fan motor setup.)

A decent general discussion of performance settings here:

http://forum.melee.org/beginner%27s-help-and-guides/guide-to-maximizing-fps-and-performance-without-hideous-graphics!/

What all the options/settings mean, here:

https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade/Configuration

Reduce the number of ragdolls, blood draw distance, "grass" and "tree" options (pixel vs vertex shader options could have some effect here, too. Instancing might impact this heavily... or not if it's just reserved for "figure" geometry. Shouldn't be, but... ) reduce shadow effects where possible. Sometimes, you'll absolutely need dynamic shadows inddors in taverns, for instance. (Not sure if that display bug is still around or not, so just use the lower resolution for them if you encounter issues.) Player shadows should be very low/off, since you never really ever see them.

Note: If you want to go for the most severe case to try to get the best FPS, you can reduce the overall resolution of the game to a lower setting... That's a "big step" though and isn't ideal. You won't likely want to do that since you're already getting up to 40 FPS. It's allowed so you can play Warband on a Gameboy or for some such reason... :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKqnf4JR0qs

:)

I find the biggest boosts to performance in battle scenes has everything to do with the plants... grass and tree options. After that, the next is ragdoll and blood settings. Lastly, battle size can make a huge difference, especially if you're using something like Battle Sizer to increase the limits even more.

I'm sorry for any english errors, not my native language.

You're doing much better than I could in any other language, with the exception of stuff I babble in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping that nobody else can understand... :)