This thread is for all of you who want to know how to modify your FPS in Natural Selection to be above 100.


Why do I want to raise my FPS above 100 Locane?

Because your LMG will fire slower if you have your FPS set at one of the bad intervals, and I find that the game is MUCH easier to track and keep up with when my FPS is over 100. Refer to this chart made by (I believe) A_Cvillian:





The main advantage here is the effect it has on your combat abilities - when you get close to a skulk, or as a skulk a marine, the speed at which the computer is slapping frames on your screen is going to dictate what you see and when you see it. With V-Sync enabled, there is a tiny delay between EACH frame that flips onto your screen, and you may end up seeing things after the server has processed them, and not during.

I need to note at this point that this does not fix the "shot around a corner" syndrome - there is always a small delay in everything you do in Natural Selection because it's an online game. Reconcile yourself with that fact, and adjust your play accordingly, and you will do better.



There are 3 main things you need to do to accomplish over 100 FPS. The instructions I've provided here are for NVidia graphics cards, I don't have instructions for ATI. Sorry.

The first thing you'll need to do is forcibly disable V-Sync. This WILL affect your other games, but it can be toggled on and off at will. It will not harm anything physically or software wise.


To disable V-Sync:

Right Click Desktop -> Select "Nvidia Display" -> Select the pop up

If you are looking at pretty icons (A space shuttle, a couple of monitors, and another monitor with a test pattern on it):

Click "3D Settings"
-> Click "Manage 3D Settings"
-> Scroll down to the bottom of the window
-> Select "Vertical Sync"
-> Click the pulldown menu to the right
-> Select "Force off"
-> Click "Apply" in the bottom right corner




If you have the old Nvidia panel up or don't see the icons mentioned above:

On the left wing side, Expand "GeForce X"
-> Select "Performance & Quality Settings"
-> In the small window to the right, scroll the bar all the way down
-> Select "Vertical Sync"
-> Un-Check "Application-controlled"
-> Move the slider all the way to the left, over "Off"
-> Click "Apply"
-> Click "OK"






Now that we've disabled V-Sync, we can set up a file to set variables we need in preferences.

Find your NS folder. It should be located in Steam -> Steamapps -> (User name) -> Half-life -> ns. If you do not have a file named "autoexec.cfg", make one with notepad or any text editor.

In it, add the text:



Also, if you want to monitor your FPS in game, add:



Save, and close. Note that you do not need the <> characters around your desired fps :p


This will set those two variables every time you start half-life.

You may see spam in your console with Developer 1 enabled. While annoying, it is harmless and won't hurt anything. You can always set Developer to 0 to turn it off.


--Locane

How is it that I can get 120>180 fps on Counterstrike: Source, but 100 on NS. I don't get it.

different games, different requirements.

note: the time multiplier is seperate from gun fire rates. lmg peaks at 111 and 125 (and like 76 or something). time multiplier will make you move faster etc.

note that as high a framerate as possible will:
-make your initial jumps slightly more powerful (jump= 268 - sv_gravity/framerate, so at 50 fps it is 252, at 100 fps it is 260)
-make your jetpack's horizontal thrust much stronger (2 u/s per frame i think)
-increase the number of times per second the engine processes your commands, giving you better air control and the potential for faster scripting.

125 is the most optimized rate, or you could script it to be 100 when moving, 500 when jumping, 125 when firing, etc, but ive found that to be more hassle than its worth.

500 would be good to have on a toggle for aircontrol/jetpack
alias +air "fps_max 500"
alias -air "fps_max 125"
bind alt +air

should work on bs 1, im gonna test that out.

also, someone should test the time multiplier up to like 5 or 600 fps so we can find the troughs up that high and switch to the highest optimized framerate, otherwise it could end up worse than staying at 100/125.

Shouldn't it be the other way around, getting higher fps on NS and lower fps on Source? Eh. Oh well.

Quite odd that your actual movement would be in any way related to your FPS.. By the way if you turn of v-sync you *may* get horizontal sheering on your monitor when you play, thats where the top of the screen is kind of sheered off compared to the rest of the display.

If you want me to test out higher fps i can try, just not sure how.

Also, when you set your fps max in the userconfig, make sure to do it desired fps + 1. If you want 100 fps set it to 101, etc.

Zorlac speaks the truth. I can't stand it when my vsync is off. I just see textures tearing all over the place. Drives me up the wall and I can't concentrate. As a result, any HL based game I play has the vsync on always, I don't care if I get a 1.05878729374987234 bullets fired faster gain.

I have felt the difference when having bad fps. Emptying a clip feels much longer (maybe it's just a few bullets that don't fire off, but it gets you killed). I also tried getting 125 fps. I was able to get my net_graph displaying 125, but it felt much less consistent (choppy). I think developer 1 requires too much from my system and I get much smoother gameplay without it. So I just stuck with 100 fps.




This is one of the more retarded things about playing NS.

Lab did mention something about the engine itself having limitations, though i'm not exactly sure where they are at. I threw my fps up, but either it was the net connection (doubtfully, 200 ping) or the high fps that made it LAG like crazy. I'd go move forward and it would take forever for me to end up there, teleporting like.

^^^^^^

indeed goobag

Magnolia, you need to set "developer 1" in console.

--Locane

I play with vertical sync on.

If I don't my giant LCD monitor gets tears in it because it doesn't refresh fast enough.

: (

EDIT
Also, what is the point of playing with 100+ fps when your screen can only display so many of those frames each second anyway?

Even with the very best CRT, your monitor is only displaying 85 ( if yours does 85hz ) of those frames per second AND instead of your video card choosing which frames to discard for the smoothest picture, your monitor is discarding random frames.

its not about visuals, thats the point.

i cannot play at 60 fps, because i move slower and have less control over my actions.

eg: i can consistently bhop above 500 u/s (no celerity) at 100 fps, at 60 fps i can't get over 440. you can hear/see the difference in lmg fire, and its pretty severe (like 1.2 multiplier). i cant tell you how many times as a skulk i end up with 12 or less hp, so those extra 2 bullets are clutch. with air control, you recalculate every frame, so the more frames per second that it says to give you x acceleration the more aggregate acceleration you're gonna receive.

and yeah, frame tearing is a bitch. i'm pretty close to hooking back up the shitty 15" crt instead of my 22" lcd so i can at least force a decent refresh rate on it, although i'd have to go back down to 100 fps.

mag, i read cs, not css

60hz sucks big time. Reason i play without v-sync on is because when i do i get mouse lag, no idea why. So i run with about 75hz refresh on the res i run and cap the ingame fps to 100, runs fine for me.

Wow, you guys have sure spent a lot of time on this...

I never used to spend time thinking like this... I'd spend my time thinking strategy.. ('course, I'm sure you guys do that too)