Make CS/HL run on Super-Low + Lower Ping

This guide is useful if you, like me, can't run CS, and want to make it run on the lowest graphics to enjoy it in full speed. It was also made because guides with CFGs that PROMISE +2000 FPS don't explain commands at all, and can bork your game.

Disclaimer and Observations

The intention of this guide is to help you run CS on even the lowest of the PCs that it can run. Some changes were necessary, it is bringing the game to run at 60 stable FPS.

If you just take the CFG without reading its content, It WON'T help you if you face problems.

If SOMEHOW a CFG gives you problems, it isn't my fault, it's on your end, and you clearly didn't read the CFG.

ALSO, PLEASE DO "exec userconfig.cfg" ON CONSOLE TO MAKE SURE THE CONFIGS ARE RUNNING, AND WHENEVER YOU APPLY SETTINGS ON OPTIONS.

This works on ANY game that uses Goldsrc engine.

The Easy Way

If you're way too lazy to read this guide, just download the CFG underneath, which is the same as the next section of this guide.

Pack with two config files.[www.dropbox.com] (I threw it in a package so you can pick your poison.)

Drag and Drop to C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life\yourgamehere, or wherever the game is at. Then rename the userconfig to just userconfig.cfg please. Done.

Enjoy your low spec blockiness and 60 FPS!

The 'Hard' Way (Counter-Strike)

This isn't really hard, but I am just dropping all the code here so you can copy-paste into an userconfig.cfg and make it read-only.

The configuration below can also be found here[pastebin.com].

//Since a certain HL Update, certain commands are forced on in multiplayer, like r_dynamic, set to 1. I am awaiting for Valve to release a patch to unlock it.

cl_himodels "0"
cl_nosmooth "1"
cl_shadows "0"
cl_vsmoothing "0"
fastsprites "2"
gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST" //Wanted to feel how Old Half-Life looked like? There. But still a good performance increaser. For the normal one you can use GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST

gl_ansio "0" //Anisotropic filtering. Doesn't impact much, but every bit makes a difference.

ati_npatch "0" //Disables ATI's TRUform technology, resulting in a performance increase, but models without high quality(ONLY FOR ATI, THAT'S WHY IT'S DISABLED). Like it is your objective here.

gl_clear "0" //Don't enable unless you like fiestas if you fall into the void.

gl_cull "1" //Disabling this makes you render everything on your vision, and beneath walls.

gl_dither "0" //TRIES to make 16-bit look like 32-bit. So I disabled it.

gl_fog "0"

gl_lightholes "0" //...?

gl_picmip "3" //Sets the rendering quality. Set this 0 for Half-Life/Lower crashing possibility.

gl_spriteblend "0" //Sprite rendering quality.

gl_flipmatrix "0" //Don't activate this, unless you are using 3dfx drivers.

gl_round_down "5" //This is the textures accuracy or the textures rounding. When textures need to be resized they are rounded up or down depending of this. Setting it to a low value SHOULD make the textures rendered more accurately and setting it to a high value SHOULD make the textures accuracy worse. Max is 5

gl_monolights "1"
gl_overbright "1" //Extremely dark areas fix.

gl_ztrick "1" //Z-buffer half range, but no clears (saves fill rate). Enabling this might cause distant objects to flicker. If you want more fps, enable this.

//Your call? I prefer it off.
gl_vsync "0"

gl_wateramp "0" //Basically water quality.

max_shells "0"
max_smokepuffs "0"
r_decals "0"
r_detailtextures "0"
gunsmoke "0"
cl_corpsestay "0"
cl_weather "0" //I love self-explanatory commands.

d_mipcap "3" //Minimum texture details.

d_spriteskip "1" //It enables fast sprites rendering. It will skip rendering every N scanlines.

d_mipscale "3" //Quality for distant textures. It's at the safest low possible.

//The evil command. It's soo evil it doesn't work in Multiplayer. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Valve. EDIT: Check my guide's section. That is if you took it from my guide, you'll know where to find it, or this CFG WAS STOLEN.
r_dynamic "0"

//Another magical command. Your ticket to having alot of FPS. There is a rare possibility of you crashing, and it increases if the server has too many custom content like skins and models. AKA Zombie servers and the like. 512 is default.
gl_max_size "256"

//Delete the following if you like blood(And frame drops)
violence_ablood "0"
violence_agibs "0"
violence_hblood "0"
violence_hgibs "0"

//Other custom commands, these may or not affect your performance in a bad|good way. PLEASE READ.

//Please, set fps_max to 15 if you can't get stable 30/60 fps. Change to 30 if you can get 30 stable, and 60 if you can get a stable 60. Or else your game will be just slowed down. And destroy you.

//As for rates, there are MANY CFGs in the internet to make this game playable on Low-End PCs, but the most stupid part is the rates. If you did read the Rates Guide on Steam(Removing it's a bit outdated), you know that now your rate can be 100000 now. Just putting this here. Also, if fps_max 30 then cl_cmdrate 35. If fps_max 60, cl_cmdrate 65. cl_updaterate 100 always, and use ex_interp 0 so game decides that value for you. Make sure to run that while in-game.

fps_max "60"
fps_override "1"
cl_cmdrate "65"
cl_rate "100000"
rate "100000" //This is the max since a GoldSrc engine update.
cl_updaterate "100"
ex_interp "0"

gl_smoothmodels "0"
snd_noextraupdate "1"
cl_smoothtime "0"
gl_affinemodels "0"

//You can delete this if you want. But I heard not filtering and disabling acceleration can increase performance a bit. Also proved in Killing Floor.
m_customaccel "0"
m_customaccel_exponent "0"
m_customaccel_max "0"
m_customaccel_scale "0"
m_rawinput "1"
m_filter "0"

//Launch Commands you SHOULD use: -nofbo -nojoy -noaafonts -nosync -r_dynamic 0

//Now the master piece.
echo "Amigo, your game has been optimized."

//Some commands won't work on cracked versions, BOO, go buy the game, it's cheap and great. Pirate scum.

Copy-Paste this into a userconfig.cfg and move the .cfg to your game's folder.(Not Half-Life, the sub-folder of the game)

The 'Hard' Way (Half-Life)

This is a blatant excuse if you just want to copy-paste instead of downloading a safe .cfg file.

Use this if you keep crashing or just...CS one doesn't work.

Make a userconfig.cfg and copy and paste this onto it:

cl_himodels "0"
cl_nosmooth "1"
cl_shadows "0"
cl_vsmoothing "0"
fastsprites "2"
gl_texturemode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST" //Wanted to feel how Old Half-Life looked like? There. But still a good performance increaser. For the normal one you can use GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST

gl_ansio "0" //Anisotropic filtering. Doesn't impact much, but every bit makes a difference.

ati_npatch "0" //Disables ATI's TRUform technology, resulting in a performance increase, but models without high quality(ONLY FOR ATI, THAT'S WHY IT'S DISABLED). Like it is your objective here.

gl_clear "0" //Don't enable unless you like fiestas if you fall into the void.

gl_cull "1" //Disabling this makes you render everything on your vision, and beneath walls.

gl_dither "0" //TRIES to make 16-bit look like 32-bit. So I disabled it.

gl_fog "0"

gl_lightholes "0" //...?

gl_picmip "0" //Sets the rendering quality. Some maps hate this command...Aztec_cz... Some maps LOVE it, and by that, I mean, HUGE FPS gains. This lowers also the quality of your HUD, so get ready for some horrific nightmares from the orange pixels.

gl_spriteblend "0" //Sprite rendering quality.

gl_round_down "5" //This is the textures accuracy or the textures rounding. When textures need to be resized they are rounded up or down depending of this. Setting it to a low value SHOULD make the textures rendered more accurately and setting it to a high value SHOULD make the textures accuracy worse. Max is 5

gl_monolights "1"
gl_overbright "1"
r_fullbright "1" //Extremely dark areas fix.

//Your call? I prefer it off.
gl_vsync "0"

gl_wateramp "0" //Basically water quality.

max_shells "0"
max_smokepuffs "0"
r_decals "0"
r_detailtextures "0"
gunsmoke "0"
cl_corpsestay "0" //I love self-explanatory commands.

d_mipcap "3" //Minimum texture details.

d_spriteskip "1" //It enables fast sprites rendering. It will skip rendering every N scanlines.

d_mipscale "3" //Quality for distant textures. It's at the safest low possible.

//The evil command. It's soo evil it doesn't work in Multiplayer. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Valve. EDIT: Check my guide's section. That is if you took it from my guide, you'll know where to find it, or this CFG WAS STOLEN.
r_dynamic "0"

//Another magical command. Your ticket to having alot of FPS. There is a rare possibility of you crashing, and it increases if the server has too many custom content like skins and models. AKA Zombie servers and the like.
gl_max_size "512"

//Delete the following if you like blood(And frame drops)
violence_ablood "0"
violence_agibs "0"
violence_hblood "0"
violence_hgibs "0"

//Other custom commands, these may or not affect your performance in a bad|good way. PLEASE READ.

//Please, set fps_max to 15 if you can't get stable 30/60 fps. Change to 30 if you can get 30 stable, and 60 if you can get a stable 60. Or else your game will be just slowed down. And destroy you.

//As for rates, there are MANY CFGs in the internet to make this game playable on Low-End PCs, but the most stupid part is the rates. If you did read the Rates Guide on Steam(Removing it's a bit outdated), you know that now your rate can be 100000 now. Just putting this here. Also, if fps_max 30 then cl_cmdrate 35. If fps_max 60, cl_cmdrate 65. cl_updaterate 100 always, and use ex_interp 0 so game decides that value for you. Make sure to run that while in-game.

fps_max "60"
fps_override "1"
cl_cmdrate "65"
rate "100000" //This is the max since a GoldSrc engine update.
cl_updaterate "100"
ex_interp "0"

gl_smoothmodels "0"
snd_noextraupdate "1"
cl_smoothtime "0"
gl_affinemodels "0"

//You can delete this if you want. But I heard not filtering and disabling acceleration can increase performance a bit. Also proved in Killing Floor.
m_customaccel "0"
m_customaccel_exponent "0"
m_customaccel_max "0"
m_customaccel_scale "0"
m_rawinput "1"
m_filter "0"

//Launch Commands you SHOULD use: -nofbo -nojoy -noaafonts -nosync -r_dynamic 0

//Now the master piece.
echo "Amigo, your game has been optimized."

//Some commands won't work on cracked versions, BOO, go buy the game, it's cheap and great. Pirate scum.

Getting rid of our No.1 enemy: r_dynamic 1(Works only in GO)

This is the simplest part of this guide, but there's a thing:

It may work or not for each one, so if it doesn't work, it's not my fault, there's nothing i can do, I'm still trying to find a solution to get rid of this command by contacting ValVe.

Now that we got rid of it, simply follow these images, and you're set to go.

Lowering Ping/Stop Blinking

Please check this guide out, it may be a bit outdated, but there's no better guide than this to teach about rates.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=126383209

But for my part of this section of the guide.

1 - Valve has updated the max rate to 100000. So, don't worry about cranking it up to this level. IT WORKS.

2 - Check this guide if you want to play this game at a FPS higher than 60, and don't want accidental lag. cl_cmdrate and fps_max are best buddies, but they need a certain distance. If y'know what I mean. What I mean to tell, if your fps_max is 30, make cl_cmdrate 30 too, but add + 5 to it, soo: cl_cmdrate 35.
But, I haven't tested, I didn't confirm this so DO IT AT YOUR RISK: You can try adding +10 to cl_cmdrate.

Launch Commands

-nofbo -nojoy -noaafonts -nosync


-nofbo (Disables new method of rendering. Improves performance drastically.)

-nojoy (Small Performance increase. Disables Joypads.)

-noaafonts (Nuff said.)

-nosync (Disables VSync.)

Results

60 FPS is easily reachable on my SUPER LOW END. Believe it or not. Some maps still lag of course.

Intel(r) Celeron(r) 430 1.8 GHz
Intel(r) 82945G Express Chipset Family
1,5 GB RAM

Common Problems and Fixes

"My game doesn't stop crashing when I load a map!"

Please lower your gl_picmip from 2 to 0. Maps like de_aztec don't like gl_picmip 3.

"My HUD looks extremely pixelated and bad! How can I fix it?"

gl_picmip "1" or "0"

"Your rate commands suck! Fix it!"

Read the "Lowering Ping/Stop Blinking" section before you say anything. Those are just the optimal commands for 60 FPS.

"I want the game in 100 FPS!"

These configs are made for PCs with FPS drops, lag, or if you just have a low FPS, so you'll possibly have a more optimal and pleasant experience playing in 60 FPS.

But if you insist. Change these values.

cl_updaterate "100"
cl_cmdrate "105"
fps_max "100"

"Will I get a VAC?"

I have no idea why it would get you a VAC ban. Any statements it does are fake. This is just a config file, changing what the engine lets you change.

"Can I use HialgoBOOST?"

No. The game only has OpenGL and Software Mode. Those aren't supported by the software.

Alternate Solution

Put the Video mode in Software.

Huge. Huge FPS boost. 5 to 20 frames gained.
Flashlight will work normally. Yeah boy, lit in the dark.
r_dynamic 1 won't bother you, so it'll boost your FPS a lot.
Everything is so bright at max brightness settings you don't even need to care about flashlights.
HUD is not blocky.

Cons:

The smoke[cdn.discordapp.com] is STUPIDLY annoying if there's a fix tell me.

The game will be brighter than normal.
Forced Left-Hand.
You'll have to restart the game every time you apply the settings.
Steam Overlay won't work. Maybe.

Some games/mods hate Software Mode, and the camera will spin like crazy.

It's highly recommended that cfg files aren't read-only.

Observations:

If you want to change something in the Options menu, I recommend you do it in OpenGL mode, then leave the game, so it saves, then open it again at least once. Do that every time you want to change something through the Options menu. The console things will stay as long as they aren't modified by the userconfig.cfg

If you want BLOCKIER and better results still, grab my cfgs. They'll all work, since there's no more gl_picmip, or any gl commands at all. Your game won't crash no matter what preset of the configs you use. Probably.


You'll have to use launch commands to decide full/windowed mode, and the resolution, or you'll have problems. Though I think they're not working properly because of software mode.

-w and -h, width and height. so, -w 640 and -h 480.

-soft or -sw = Sets the game in this glorious Software Mode.

[Maquina de Churros]

GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST

[One Magic Fox]

Friend, tell me how to turn off texture filtering so that the graphics are like in 1998 - pixelated. I know the command gl_texturemode GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR , but it removes filtering everywhere except hands, weapons and NPCs. Which command can disable the filtering of hands, weapons and NPCs?

[xazetti]

yo, i have an i5 and an rx580, all overclocked, and i really wanna run this cfg, but with no fps cap. wat do?

[DefQon]

russian guide

[D R i c k r a f t [ᚨ] [ᚦ]]

I'm using my old 2005 PC at the moment and CS 1.6 was lagging at 10-20 fps... Thank you, u fixed it

[AkiraJkr]

developer 1 - Will just make you FPS worse. Because the DEVELOPER console is running, why do you think this happens on HL2 too?

fps_max will just set the max FPS your game should have, and the bigger, the more the game will struggle to keep it stable, which is why setting something like 30 or 60 is necessary. Do not even put it at something your system can't reach.

gl_ansio doesn't need to be disabled, it literally takes NO resources at all.

I don't recommend disabling chat, unless you're desperate for FPS, and a ban if you're not hearing a server's admin.

r_decals 0 removes bullets, blood and any other things that would be covered in the floor/walls. Your statement is false.

Rate 100000. This is the max, and there is literally no reason to not set it that high. It doesn't matter if the server is using 20k. It will have no difference at all, but you will benefit from servers that use 100k.

Read the guide about the rates I linked in the Ping section.

[top 1 crashout]

r_decals 0 it wil destroy ur fps . do cl_updaterate 102. cl_cmdrate 105. rate 20000 .. (allserver have rate maximum and its 20k rate so it will help u alot)

[top 1 crashout]

its my idea only . btw max_Shell 0 is work thanks for telling . i heard that useless commands make u low fps so it doesnt matter if i off my chat cause i dont chat to some ppl sorry bad english. that's only :d u can do gl_spriteblends 0 it will increase ur fps and ur aim :DDDDD

[top 1 crashout]

u will have more hundred fps
but ucant reach 140+ fps

[top 1 crashout]

its simple Fps_max 999 . fps_override 1.developer 1.gl_ansio 0,make sure that ur vsync is off and off ur chat hud_saytext 0