System Settings

This guide describes how to fine tune graphics settings and presets via .ini configuration files.

How to manually change system settings via .ini configuration files:

If you would like to adjust individual settings as opposed to using the presets included with the game, this guide will explain how you can do that.

If you would like to change the current video settings without altering the presets, all you need to do is find the file called DefaultSystemSettings.ini located in "steamapps\common\Axion\UDKgame\Config". Open this file and 12 lines down, you will see the following:

; Scalability setting defaults
StaticDecals=True
DynamicDecals=False
UnbatchedDecals=True
DecalCullDistanceScale=0.5
DynamicShadows=True
LightEnvironmentShadows=False
MotionBlur=False
DepthOfField=True
AmbientOcclusion=False
Bloom=False
bAllowLightShafts=True
Distortion=False
DropParticleDistortion=True
LensFlares=True
AllowRadialBlur=False
bAllowSeparateTranslucency=False
bAllowPostprocessMLAA=False
bAllowHighQualityMaterials=False
SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
DetailMode=0
MaxDrawDistanceScale=1.0
MaxAnisotropy=2
MaxShadowResolution=512
MaxWholeSceneDominantShadowResolution=512
ScreenPercentage=100.000000
ShadowTexelsPerPixel=0.9
bAllowWholeSceneDominantShadows=True
bUseConservativeShadowBounds=True
bAllowFracturedDamage=False
FractureCullDistanceScale=0.5
ResX=1360
ResY=768
MobileGlobalGammaCorrection=False
MobileAllowGammaCorrectionWorldOverride=False

Do not change the SkeletalMeshLODBias as it will cause visual problems with some of the human skeletal meshes.

Recommended items to change are as follows:

• DynamicShadows (Disabling dynamic shadows greatly increases frame rate on low end machines but also degrades the visual quality of the game.)
  
  
• All of the following further increase frame rate when disabled and greatly improve the atmosphere when enabled:
  
  MotionBlur
  DepthOfField
  AmbientOcclusion
  Bloom
  bAllowLightShafts
  LensFlares
  
  
• Reducing the draw distance scale will improve frame rates on a low end PC.
  
  "MaxDrawDistanceScale=1.0"
  
  
• Adjusting the shadow resolution changes the sharpness and accuracy of shadows when dynamic shadows are enabled. Increasing the resolution will make the shadows look better. Decreasing the resolution will increase frame rates and possibly allow you to use dynamic shadows when you could not otherwise.
  
  MaxShadowResolution=512
  MaxWholeSceneDominantShadowResolution=512
  
  
• Reducing the screen percentage will scale down the screen resolution below the set value. This degrades the visual quality of the game but can increase frame rates dramatically.
  
  "ScreenPercentage=100.000000"

When finished editing the "DefaultSystemSettings.ini" file, find "UDKSystemSettings.ini" in the same directory and delete it. The engine will replace it with settings based on your defaults.

If you would like to adjust the presets ("lowest","low","medium","high","highest"), the .ini files for these settings can be found in "steamapps\common\Axion\Graphics_INI". Follow the steps above to customize these presets.