Editing Graphics and performance settings guide
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{| width=100% | {| width=100% | ||
|__TOC__ | |__TOC__ | ||
|[[File:Control panel.png|right|550px]] | |[[File:Control panel.png|right|550px]] | ||
|} | |} | ||
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=== Computer maintenance === | === Computer maintenance === | ||
People tend to | People tend to forgot that their computer need to rest and get refreshed! When you leave your computer on for extended periods of time or for long periods without rebooting it may not perform as well as it should. Reboot your computer if you start to notice graphic or performance problems. Many times our computers need a fresh start at calculating system memory usage. | ||
=== New equipment === | === New equipment === | ||
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An important step is to check and change your LaunchPad settings. | An important step is to check and change your LaunchPad settings. | ||
{| | {| | ||
|[[File:Launchpad gear.png| | |[[File:Launchpad gear.png|450px|left]] | ||
|See the gear | |See the gear with the red circle around it? That is the button to open the "Advanced tools". | ||
|} | |} | ||
{| | {| | ||
|[[File:Launchpad gameconfiguration.png| | |[[File:Launchpad gameconfiguration.png|450px|left]] | ||
|Click the "Game Configuration" | |Click the "Game Configuration" to open the settings window. | ||
|} | |} | ||
[[File:Launchpad videocard.png|left]] | {| | ||
If | |[[File:Launchpad videocard.png|450px|left]] | ||
|Even though I only have one video card, this always shows two. If one of them is your video card, or if you don't know, click Next. If you know it has the wrong video card or none is listed, you need to get some help from SOE technical support. | |||
|} | |||
{| | |||
|[[File:Launchpad modelselection.png|450px|left]] | |||
|This is the part where you choose if you want to use the old player models or the new (Luclin) ones. The ones checked will use the new models. Unchecking the boxes will use the older models for that sex / race and will give you better performance. However, for the sex / race that matches your character(s) you need to use the new models if you wish to use a [[Mounts|mount]]. Also, it has not been confirmed if you need to use the new models to wear / view [[Hero's Forge]] armor. | |||
If you want to speed up your game the most when around many players, unchecking as many of these as you can is the best way to improve your framerate. | |||
|} | |||
If you want to speed up your game | |||
[[File:Launchpad enginesettings.png|450px|left]] | [[File:Launchpad enginesettings.png|450px|left]] | ||
'''Sound:''' Having a 16 piece orchestra constantly playing in the background can be a bit of a drain if you don't have a dedicated sound card, so if your computer is a bit older and you know full well you lack a sound card (almost every computer built in the last five years, except for very high end models, does not have a dedicated sound card), you may wish to turn this off. This should not affect Audio Triggers, although that needs to be confirmed. | |||
'''Sound:''' Having a 16 piece orchestra constantly playing in the background can be a bit of a drain if you don't have a dedicated sound card, so if your computer is a bit older and you know full well you lack a sound card (almost every computer built in the last five years, except for very high end models, does not have a dedicated sound card), you may wish to turn this off. This | |||
'''Social Animations:''' /Wave, did you see me wave? I know right, how totally cool! The graphics engine in EQ is archaic, and the social animations are not helping. These little movements can cause drastic lag spikes on low end PCs. | '''Social Animations:''' /Wave, did you see me wave? I know right, how totally cool! The graphics engine in EQ is archaic, and the social animations are not helping. These little movements can cause drastic lag spikes on low end PCs. | ||
'''Mip Mapping: | '''Mip Mapping:''' Mip mapping is an interesting technique, essentially the game will take a texture, and then make another texture at 1/2 the resolution (1/4 the image size), then again, and again, and again until you're down to a 1x1 pixel image. Each of these additional textures are loaded into memory. When the game needs a texture, at certain distances away from you, rather than drawing the higher res texture, the game will instead draw the appropriate lower resolution texture, resulting in less work for your video card. However, this takes a good chunk more memory from your card. If you've got an old setup, you'll want to turn it off, lest you overload your graphics card...conversely, if your card is a beast that eats 10 EQ instances for breakfast, turn it on and you'll get a decent performance boost. Unless your system is very old or uses on-board graphics rather than a video card, I would recommend having this on. EQ doesn't stress most video cards, most of the graphics work is done by the CPU. | ||
''' | '''Dynamic Lighting:''' This is the effect produced by your Epic/Helm and any other item that gives off light when equipped. It's not the worst thing in the world to have on, but if you're at the point where you need to cut out every bit of useless filler that you can, it's not going to hurt your gameplay at all to turn this off. | ||
'''Texture | '''Texture Caching:''' Sit down kids, and I'll tell you the story of the graphics option that hasn't been relevant since 2004. Texture Caching, while a valuable tool...only effects zones up to the GoD expansions, meaning, you're pretty much never going to get any use out of it. so just keep it off and reduce the zone time for the only instance you ever find yourself back in Ak'Anon. - Off! | ||
'''Texture | '''Texture Compression:''' Wow, finally something that you actually want turned on /gasp. This setting will turn EQ into a bit of a drunken blur, trading in those nice sharp lines for a far more preferable state akin to that of the Play-Doh castle you build every weekend. Perhaps I'm painting the picture too grim, it really doesn't deteriorate the graphics that much, but it does still save you a fair amount of memory, so go ahead and bite the bullet on this one. - On! | ||
== Options window settings == | == Options window settings == | ||
=== Display tab === | === Display tab === | ||
[[File:Options window (display tab | [[File:Options window (display tab).png|right]] | ||
When logged into EverQuest, you have the option of adjusting some graphics settings via the Display tab under Options Window (Ctrl-O). Some of these settings may require you to zone before they take effect. The default settings are the optimal settings for your graphics cards. You may adjust settings to improve graphics quality or to improve performance. | When logged into EverQuest, you have the option of adjusting some graphics settings via the Display tab under Options Window (Ctrl-O). Some of these settings may require you to zone before they take effect. The default settings are the optimal settings for your graphics cards. You may adjust settings to improve graphics quality or to improve performance. | ||
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'''New Armor''' (None, Me, My Group, My Raid, All PCs, Me + NPCs, Group + NPCs, Raid + NPCs, All) - Toggles on and off displaying [[Hero's Forge]] armor. | '''New Armor''' (None, Me, My Group, My Raid, All PCs, Me + NPCs, Group + NPCs, Raid + NPCs, All) - Toggles on and off displaying [[Hero's Forge]] armor. | ||
''' | '''Gamma''' - Adjusts screen brightness during gameplay. This has no effect upon performance, just set it to whatever is most pleasing to you. | ||
'''Far Clip Plane''' - The Clipping plane determines how far you can see. Reducing the clip plane can improve performance at the cost of not being able to see things until you are close to them. | '''Far Clip Plane''' - The Clipping plane determines how far you can see. Reducing the clip plane can improve performance at the cost of not being able to see things until you are close to them. | ||
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'''Particles''' - This section allows you to adjust the number of particles displayed during spell effects. In some cases a lower setting may improve performance. You can make adjustments for Spells, the Environment (Env), and Player particles. You should set these for Me + NPC, and just pick a low density if you are using a slow computer. A lot of AE spells have particle effects that flood the area they affect, and sometimes seeing these particles is the difference between life and death. I wouldn't use anything other than Me + NPC unless you like to see a LOT of flashy particle effects. | '''Particles''' - This section allows you to adjust the number of particles displayed during spell effects. In some cases a lower setting may improve performance. You can make adjustments for Spells, the Environment (Env), and Player particles. You should set these for Me + NPC, and just pick a low density if you are using a slow computer. A lot of AE spells have particle effects that flood the area they affect, and sometimes seeing these particles is the difference between life and death. I wouldn't use anything other than Me + NPC unless you like to see a LOT of flashy particle effects. | ||
These settings can be important because some quests, missions, and raids require you to be able to see some particles. | These settings can be important because some quests, missions, and raids require you to be able to see some particles. More details need to be added here. | ||
* Near Clip (Near, Medium, Far, Farthest): Determines whether or not to include particles based on how far from you they are. | * Near Clip (Near, Medium, Far, Farthest): Determines whether or not to include particles based on how far from you they are. | ||
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** Player tab (Me, Group, Raid, All PCs, Me + NPC, Group + NPC, Raid + NPC, Everyone): Determines what particle effects on players (weapon, nimbus, etc.) are displayed on your screen. Limiting what is displayed may improve performance. | ** Player tab (Me, Group, Raid, All PCs, Me + NPC, Group + NPC, Raid + NPC, Everyone): Determines what particle effects on players (weapon, nimbus, etc.) are displayed on your screen. Limiting what is displayed may improve performance. | ||
* Opacity: Determines the transparency of the particles. 100% means totally solid. | * Opacity: Determines the transparency of the particles. 100% means totally solid. | ||
==== Advanced Options ==== | ==== Advanced Options ==== | ||
[[File:Display tab Advanced Options | [[File:Display tab Advanced Options window.png|right]] | ||
'''Card Features''' - This section displays information about your video card | '''Card Features''' - This section displays information about your video card. | ||
'''Use new water in old zones''' - This toggles whether or not you see updated water graphics in older zones. Changing this option does not take effect until you zone. | '''Use new water in old zones''' - This toggles whether or not you see updated water graphics in older zones. Changing this option does not take effect until you zone. | ||
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'''Memory Mode''' (Least, Balanced, Most) - This setting determines how much memory (RAM) EQ will use. If you have a lot of memory and a 64 bit Operating System, you can try Most. If you have limited memory, try Least. Note that Least Memory Mode often means that after you zone it will take several seconds for the game to properly draw characters. | '''Memory Mode''' (Least, Balanced, Most) - This setting determines how much memory (RAM) EQ will use. If you have a lot of memory and a 64 bit Operating System, you can try Most. If you have limited memory, try Least. Note that Least Memory Mode often means that after you zone it will take several seconds for the game to properly draw characters. | ||
'''Vertex Shaders:''' These options determine how much details are displayed on characters and objects per pixel. These options are limited by your graphics cards. If the Card Features list your card as having these shaders (or shaders of a higher number), turn these on. If EQ even runs it probably supports these. This is work that will be off-loaded from your CPU (which EQ taxes enough as it is) and onto the GPU (which is vastly underused in EQ). | |||
'''Allow 2.0 Pixel Shaders''' - Enable it if your "Card Features" | * '''Allow hw Vertex Shaders''' - The hw stands for hardware - Vertex Shaders are used to render the actual display. If disabled the video card hardware is no longer used for rendering, it is all moved to software and CPU usage. | ||
* '''Allow 1.1 Pixel Shaders''' - Same as hw Vertex Shaders, additionally there are some parts of the game that may break without these enabled. | |||
* '''Allow 1.4 Pixel Sharders''' - Same as 1.1 Pixel Shaders. | |||
* '''Allow 2.0 Pixel Shaders''' - Enable it if your "Card Features" shows Pixel Shader 2.0 or higher. You will see a slight performance hit in less detailed scenes, but more detailed scenes will see an increase in frame rate and quality. | |||
'''Use Advanced Lighting''' - Toggles whether a dynamic lighting algorithm is used or a less advanced one. It determines whether or not EverQuest is using per pixel or per vertex lighting. Per Pixel Lighting does its own unique lighting calculation for each location on the screen. Per Vertex Lighting simply calculates lighting on each vertex and blends between them. | '''Use Advanced Lighting''' - Toggles whether a dynamic lighting algorithm is used or a less advanced one. It determines whether or not EverQuest is using per pixel or per vertex lighting. Per Pixel Lighting does its own unique lighting calculation for each location on the screen. Per Vertex Lighting simply calculates lighting on each vertex and blends between them. Advanced lighting may over brighten some areas with multiple light sources, and has a high impact on performance in crowded areas, even without many light sources. | ||
'''Shadows''' - Toggles whether or not shadows are displayed. These have a high impact on performance, so it is suggested to keep them disabled on lesser machines. | |||
''' | '''Radial Flora''' - Toggles whether plants and other flora graphics are displayed. | ||
''' | '''Stream Item Textures''' - This toggles whether or not item textures are loaded all at once or streamed only when needed. | ||
'''Disable Tattoo''' - This toggles whether you see Tattoo art on characters. Changes made to this will not take effect until you zone. | '''Disable Tattoo''' - This toggles whether you see Tattoo art on characters. Changes made to this will not take effect until you zone. | ||
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'''Max. Frames Per Second''' - This is the maximum frames per second the game will attempt to render. | '''Max. Frames Per Second''' - This is the maximum frames per second the game will attempt to render. | ||
'''Max Background FPS''' - This is the maximum frames per second the game will attempt to render if the game is in the background. If you minimize or tab out of the game, this is the speed it will use. People who are multi-boxing or otherwise want to do other things on their computer may wish to | '''Max Background FPS''' - This is the maximum frames per second the game will attempt to render if the game is in the background. If you minimize or tab out of the game, this is the speed it will use. People who are multi-boxing or otherwise want to do other things on their computer may wish to limit this. | ||
'''LOD (Level of Detail) Bias''' - Not sure on this one. | |||
== Chat window == | == Chat window == | ||
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* '''/Log On/Off:''' This isn't a joke, this command will determine whether your log is actively parsing everything that's filtered into your chat windows. This option will be off by default for everyone, so there's little need to worry about it if you don't use a parser. | * '''/Log On/Off:''' This isn't a joke, this command will determine whether your log is actively parsing everything that's filtered into your chat windows. This option will be off by default for everyone, so there's little need to worry about it if you don't use a parser. | ||
** But a reminder for those who do have log on, when that file gets to around 100 MB, it's going to start affecting your performance. Word to the Wise, it's always a good idea to delete or rename that log file every month or so. | ** But a reminder for those who do have log on, when that file gets to around 100 MB, it's going to start affecting your performance. Word to the Wise, it's always a good idea to delete or rename that log file every month or so. | ||
== Other settings == | == Other settings == | ||
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What does it do? It records every single word and emote that NPCs say. This slows you down by a huge amount. It used to be checked by default until SOE realized what a massive resource hog this is. Be sure to look and make sure your journal is not enabled. | What does it do? It records every single word and emote that NPCs say. This slows you down by a huge amount. It used to be checked by default until SOE realized what a massive resource hog this is. Be sure to look and make sure your journal is not enabled. | ||
=== CPUAffinity | === CPUAffinity === | ||
If your CPU (processor) has more than one core (if your computer is from 2007 to the present, it likely has more than one) you can tell EQ to set its affinity to use all cores. While EQ only uses one core, this should enable it to use whichever core is free. Regardless, everyone should set this, as it is unlikely to hurt and can help. | |||
To do so, edit your ''eqclient.ini'' file, located in your EverQuest folder on your computer (note by default Windows hides the extension ''.ini'' in Explorer). Open ''eqclient.ini'' (or just ''eqclient'' if extension hidden) by double clicking on it. Look in the file for "CPUAffinity0=x" (without the quotes, and a number instead of x), usually in the [Defaults] section. | |||
If it does not say: "CPUAffinity0=-1" (that's a negative one), then change it to that (without the quotes). If you can't find it, add it to the [Defaults] section. | |||
If you multibox on the computer, add "CPUAffinity1=-1" for two boxing and "CPUAffinity2=-1" for three boxing, and so on (again, without the quotes). | |||
:CPUAffinity0=-1 | |||
:CPUAffinity1=-1 | |||
:CPUAffinity2=-1 | |||
:CPUAffinity3=-1 | |||
=== Windows power settings === | === Windows power settings === | ||
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=== Texture.txt === | === Texture.txt === | ||
In your main EverQuest folder is a file "texture.txt". Despite not being in the Log folder, this is actually a log file. When it gets large (over 10MB), it is suggested you move or delete it. | In your main EverQuest folder is a file "texture.txt". Despite not being in the Log folder, this is actually a log file. When it gets large (over 10MB), it is suggested you move or delete it. | ||
== Crashing == | == Crashing == | ||
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A [https://forums. | A [https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/index.php?threads/test-update-01-14-2015.217151/page-4#post-3163584 post by Jenn Chan], EQ Technical Director, offered the following advice: | ||
<blockquote>Setting your options to use the "least memory usage" as well as turning on "Stream Item Textures" are the first steps to take to reduce crashing due to out of memory issues (which typically happen when you zone as well as when you've zoned multiple times since you've restarted your client). Additionally, setting "Terrain Texture Quality" to "Minimum" will reduce the crashes as well.</blockquote> | <blockquote>Setting your options to use the "least memory usage" as well as turning on "Stream Item Textures" are the first steps to take to reduce crashing due to out of memory issues (which typically happen when you zone as well as when you've zoned multiple times since you've restarted your client). Additionally, setting "Terrain Texture Quality" to "Minimum" will reduce the crashes as well.</blockquote> | ||
To report crashing issues to Daybreak, before restarting the game go to the Logs folder in your EverQuest folder and copy the debug.dmp and dbg.txt files to somewhere. Then send those files to [email protected] with as much information about the crash as you can think of. | To report crashing issues to Daybreak, before restarting the game go to the Logs folder in your EverQuest folder and copy the debug.dmp and dbg.txt files to somewhere. Then send those files to [email protected] with as much information about the crash as you can think of. | ||
== Acknowledgments == | == Acknowledgments == | ||
This information was gathered from several sources. Some of the best ones listed below. | This information was gathered from several sources. Some of the best ones listed below. | ||
* [http://www.daguild.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8823 Darkstar Alliance forum - Lag Reduction Guide (Public)] | * [http://www.daguild.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8823 Darkstar Alliance forum - Lag Reduction Guide (Public)] | ||
* [ | * [http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/index.php?threads/performance-settings-everquest.4304/#post-55421 SOE forum: Performance settings everquest] | ||