optimising the game for online play
 

Hi guys, I'm fairly new to the sim but I have got myself online and can land take off and fly around fairly well.

Can anybody advise what the optimal setup for online play is? I'm thinking of the game configuration here. Does it play better with most of the graphic bells and whistles turned off? What sort of setup do the rest of you use?

Thanks.

Graphics settings will not affect your network performance. Use the same settings you use for single player.

I know some people lower their settings online.Depends on your computer maybe.

Thanks for the replies, my machine is about four years old. It was good in its day,XP pro sp3, FX55 processor, 2Gb of ram and twin 6800gt graphic cards. I have all settings on max detail and it seems to perform ok in single player mode.

You should have no problems with that at all!

I used to play WW2OL and used to notice lag in the air over a town with lots of other aircraft present. I put this down to my internet connection and the fact that their servers are in the states. I have standard dsl broadband and get good speeds usually on hyperlobby I presume because the server I use is here in the UK?

Hi

Post your OGL settings here from your conf.ini file in the IL2 1946 directory please.

You could also post a Dxdiag that would be helpful.

If you play with a modded version, graphics load online can be a little too heavy for older systems. I used to activate a special MOD to decrease the graphics quality when online, so that i didn't get stutter or FPS loss , at the cost of a little graphic detail.

Now, if you play with the stock version, then you should have no problems at all online.

Not sure if this is what you want, so I copied the whole conf.ini file.


[il2]
title=Il2-Sturmovik Forgotten Battles
hotkeys=HotKey game

[window]
width=1280
height=960
ColourBits=32
DepthBits=24
StencilBits=8
ChangeScreenRes=1
FullScreen=1
DrawIfNotFocused=0
EnableResize=0
EnableClose=1
SaveAspect=0
Use3Renders=0

[GLPROVIDER]
GL=Opengl32.dll

[GLPROVIDERS]
Open GL=Opengl32.dll
DirectX=dx8wrap.dll

[NET]
speed=25000
routeChannels=0
serverChannels=1
localPort=21000
remotePort=21000
SkinDownload=1
serverName=No Name
serverDescription=
remoteHost=
localHost=
socksHost=
checkServerTimeSpeed=1
checkClientTimeSpeed=0
remoteHost_000=:21000
remoteHost_001=

[MaxLag]
farMaxLagTime=10.0
nearMaxLagTime=2.0
cheaterWarningDelay=5.0
cheaterWarningNum=-1

[chat]
region=(dx=0.6925,dy=0.071666665,x=0.0,y=0.0)
adr0=ALL

[game]
Arcade=0
HighGore=1
mapPadX=0.66875
mapPadY=-0.046875
viewSet=34
Intro=0
NoSubTitles=0
NoChatter=0
NoHudLog=0
NoLensFlare=0
iconTypes=3
eventlog=eventlog.lst
eventlogkeep=0
3dgunners=1
SubTitlesLines=4
ClearCache=1
TypeClouds=1


[HotKey game]
PrintScreen=ScreenShot
P=pause
Pause=pause

[HotKey gui]
Escape=activate

[HookViewFly Config]
timeFirstStep=2.0
deltaZ=10.0

[HookView]
MouseLeft=Len

[HookView Config]
AzimutSpeed=0.1
TangageSpeed=0.1
LenSpeed=1.0
MinLen=1.0
DefaultLen=20.0
MaxLen=3000.0
Speed=6

[HotKey builder]
MouseLeft=objectMove
MouseRight=popupmenu
Enter=freeView
Shift MouseLeft=worldZoom
Alt MouseLeft=select+
Alt MouseRight=select-
Alt Ctrl=unselect
PageDown=change+
PageUp=change-
End=change++
Home=change--
Ctrl MouseLeft=insert+
Insert=insert+
NumPad-0=insert+
F=fill
Ctrl MouseRight=delete+
NumPad.=delete+
Delete=delete+
Backspace=cursor
Tab=cursor
F10=land
F11=onLand
NumPad-=normalLand
NumPad+=toLand
NumPad-5=resetAngles
NumPad-8=resetTangage90
NumPad-7=stepAzimut-5
NumPad-4=stepAzimut-15
NumPad-1=stepAzimut-30
NumPad-9=stepAzimut5
NumPad-6=stepAzimut15
NumPad-3=stepAzimut30

[MouseXYZ]
F1=SpeedSlow
F2=SpeedNormal
F3=SpeedFast
MouseRight=XYmove
F4 MouseRight=Zmove
MouseMiddle=Amove
F5 MouseRight=Amove
F6 MouseRight=Tmove
F7 MouseRight=Kmove

[MouseXYZ Config]
RealTime=1

[HotKey Console]
Shift Tab=Activate
[Console]
HISTORY=1024
HISTORYCMD=1024
LOAD=console.cmd
SAVE=console.cmd
LOG=0
LOGTIME=0
LOGFILE=log.lst
LOGKEEP=0

[sound]
SoundUse=1
SoundEngine=1
Speakers=4
Placement=0
SoundFlags.reversestereo=0
RadioFlags.Enabled=1
RadioEngine=2
MusicVolume=8
ObjectVolume=14
MusState.takeoff=1
MusState.inflight=1
MusState.crash=1
MusFlags.play=0
MasterVolume=14
Attenuation=7
SoundMode=3
SamplingRate=2
NumChannels=3
SoundExt.occlusions=0
SoundFlags.hardware=1
SoundFlags.streams=1
SoundFlags.duplex=1
SoundExt.acoustics=0
SoundExt.volumefx=0
SoundFlags.voicemgr=0
SoundFlags.static=1
VoiceVolume=12
Channels=2
SoundExt.extrender=0
SoundFlags.bugscorrect=0
SoundSetupId=8
ActivationLevel=0.02
Preemphasis=0.85
RadioLatency=0.5
AGC=1
PTTMode=1
SoundFlags.UseRadioChatter=0
SoundFlags.AutoActivation=1
RadioFlags.PTTMode=0
RadioFlags.PlayClicks=0
ActLevel=0
MicLevel=0
SoundFlags.forceEAX1=0

[rts]
;ProcessAffinityMask=1
mouseUse=2
joyUse=1
trackIRUse=1
DisableIME=0
locale=
JoyProfile=0

[rts_mouse]
SensitivityX=1.0
SensitivityY=1.0
Invert=0
SensitivityZ=1.0

[rts_joystick]
X=0 1 4 9 16 25 36 49 64 81 100 0
Y=0 1 4 9 16 25 36 49 64 81 100 0
Z=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
RZ=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0
FF=0
U=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0
V=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0
1X=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0
1Y=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0
1Z=0 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 0
1RZ=0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0

[Render_DirectX]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=2
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=0
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=0
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=0
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=0
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=0
TexFlags.TexCompressARBExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombine4NV=0
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineDot3=0
TexFlags.DepthClampNV=0
TexFlags.SeparateSpecular=0
TexFlags.TextureShaderNV=0

HardwareShaders=0

Shadows=2
Specular=2
SpecularLight=2
DiffuseLight=2
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=2
VisibilityDistance=3

Sky=2
Forest=2
LandShading=3
LandDetails=2

LandGeom=2
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=4
ForceShaders1x=0
PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.0625
PolygonOffsetUnits=-1.0
Water=1
Effects=1

[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=2
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=0
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=0
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=0
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=0
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=1
TexFlags.TexCompressARBExt=1

TexFlags.TexEnvCombine4NV=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineDot3=1
TexFlags.DepthClampNV=1
TexFlags.SeparateSpecular=1
TexFlags.TextureShaderNV=1

HardwareShaders=1

Shadows=2
Specular=2
SpecularLight=2
DiffuseLight=2
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=2
VisibilityDistance=3

Sky=2
Forest=3
LandShading=3
LandDetails=2

LandGeom=2
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=3
Water=2
Effects=2
ForceShaders1x=0

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

I cant attach the dxdiag report because it exceeds the forum filesize limits.

I am playing with the standard version just patched to 4.10

For 6800GT

TexCompress=2 1/2 video ram used

Sky=1
Forest=3................maybe 1
LandShading=3
LandDetails=2

LandGeom=2
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=17 YES 17 !!!
Water=2
Effects=0 ..EFFECTS = 2 KILL THE COMPUTER....use 0 or 1


ForceShaders1x=1 Run better in 6800 GT....maybe

I have always used

Water=0

That saves some performance,and I don't see much difference in quality!

Does anybody have what they consider to be the ideal conf.ini setup which offers a good compromise between game speed and graphic detail?

There isn't a definative version because it depends very much on your PCs performance.

I have posted my conf.ini file earlier in the thread, would you cast your eye over it and make any recommendations you feel appropriate?

Thanks!

If you stick with 'vanilla' IL2, you won't have too much of a problem.

The mods tend to go overboard, which is OK if you have a high-end system, but most people probably 'have your system', and can take strain. Anything above 25 FPS (Frames per second) should be playable.
:)