"
bot_nochat"
- Basicaly, this command lets you turn off those automated taunts that the bots
say constantly. I presume there will be a minor framerate increase but I am not
sure. Once you tire of the taunts set this to 1.
"cg_centertime"
- This command lets you limit how long the "you fragged
<playername>" message appears when you frag someone. The default
setting is 3, but the recommended setting is 1. Setting this command to 0 means
no message is displayed. This command works only is server side only.
"cg_drawAttacker"
- Displays the opponent's name when you face them. Useful for TDM or CTF, but a
hinderence to your visibity. Optimal setting is disabled.
"cg_drawRewards"
- Displays rewards earned in the current battle (excellent, impressive etc...).
Optimal setting is disabled.
"cg_draw3dIcons"
- When turned on, all icons in the HUD will be displayed in 3D. Optimal setting
is disabled.
"cg_drawGun"
- This command let's you toggle between displaying, or not displaying the gun.
Many people like to have a gun on screen at all times as it helps distinguish
which weapon you currently have selected. Disabling gives the advantage of not
having a gun blocking your view. Especialy helpful when using the railgun.
Framerate is also noticably higher with this disabled.
"cg_gibs"
- When activated, characters will "gib" (blow into pieces) with a
particulaly viscious shot. "com_blood" must be activated for this to
take effect. This looks pretty, and can be satisfying but can slow down gameplay
in large scale deathmatches. When turned off, FPS gain is around 1 - 5 FPS
depending on the amount of action going on.
"cg_marks"
- With this enabled, every time a player shoots at the scenary, a mark is left
behind. These marks will stay for approximataly 20 seconds. Because of this,
noticable framerate loss occurs in large scale deathmatches. Optimal setting is
disabled.
"cg_brassTime"
- With this enabled, when a gun is fired, the shells ejected are thrown and
discarded in the air for added realism. Optimal setting is disabled.
"cg_bobup /
cg_bobroll
/ cg_bobpitch"
- These 3 settings are used to create a more realistic walk or run for your
character. For example, when you are slowly walking in a crouch position, you
will shuffle side to side to give your character more realistic movement. The
default for all settings is 0.0025 but I prefer to turn these settings to 0 as
its gives a more fluid movement and prevents possible motion sickness ;-)
"cg_fov"
- This setting lets you widen or shrink your viewing area or field of vision.
The default is 90 but feel free to increase this slightly for a sly advantage (I
wouldn't put it over 110 though as the image looks trippy). Unfortunately,
because of the larger viewing area, the CPU is under more stress so bear in mind
you may get a slightly lower framerate.
"cg_shadows"
- There are 3 shadow modes - 1, 2, and 3. 1 creates round, unrealistic shadows
under the feet of all characters. 2 creates incredibly lifelike shadows, but at
a huge performance hit. 3 creates suitably lifelike shadows but again at the
cost of some performance. For setting 2, you must ensure your graphics card
supports hardware stencil buffing, and r_stencilbits must be set to 8 at the
console. The optimal setting is 0 (no shadows)
"cg_simpleItems"
- With this on, all items and pickups will be displayed in 2D rather than 3D.
This is especially helpful for people with slower machines as it can give
noticable framerate increase.
"com_blood"
- Displays blood when a character is shot with this turned on. Additionaly,
characters create a small gib when hit hard at the cost of no performance. Keep
this setting on and turn "cg_gibs" off.
"com_blindlyLoadDLLs"
- If you use the Speed Dll's, you may get the warning message telling you that
it is unsafe to use them. This message is quite anoying, as it pops up when you
load and finish a level. Set this to 1 to disable the warning.
"com_hunkmegs"
- Only of use if you have more than 64 MB RAM. This setting alocates more system
memory to Quake 3 for player models. If you have 128 MB RAM, set this to 96; if
you have 96 MB RAM, set this to 64; if you have 192 MB RAM set this to 128; and
finaly if you have 256 MB RAM, then set this to 170. You could try higher
numbers but your system could become unstable.
"r_picmip"
- This accounts for overall texture and image quality, with 0 being the best,
and higher numbers being progressively worse. This setting is a major player in
having a high and consistant framerate. A setting of 1 is suitable for most
computers as it ensures excellent image quality with a solid, consistant
framerate. Interestingly, many people prefer to use a setting of 5 as it
improves visibity between players and background textures, as well as makes
weapons such as the LG easier to use.
"r_drawsun"
- This setting I believe creates shadows in relation to where thet are towards
the sunlight. Of course, you will need shadows enabled. I do not think there is
a drop in FPS so if you like shadows on, then set this to enabled.
"r_gamma"
- Brightens/Darkens the screen. This setting varys according to the brightness
on your monitor. Default is 1 but this can be set lower to darken image (eg:
0.79010) or it can be increased to brighten the image (eg: 1.10000). Experiment
to find the optimal amount.
"r_mapOverBrightBits"
- This is a setting which controls how bright the scenary, textures and objects
are. Lately, I have found this is the best way to achieve optimal image quality.
This setting defaults at 2 but I would recommend setting this to 3. Secondly,
lower the r_gamma setting to 0.82000 and start a new game. You should either
find it too bright or too dark - adjust the gamma accordingly. I have found that
setting this setting to 3 results in far more clarity and detail in the
textures.
"r_intensity"
- As the name suggests this setting intensifies the whole image. Default is 1
and this is recommended for most users. If you play in picmip 5 mode, set this
to around 1.4 to make the characters stand out more against the background.
"r_finish"
- This is the "Sync every frame" command in the game options. It
Improves response between the keyboard/mouse and the onscreen action. You set
this to 1 to stop occasional input frustration. However, you may experience
slight framerate loss.
"r_railWidth /
r_railCoreWidth /
r_railSegmentLength"
- These settings adjust the way the railgun blast looks. There are so many
possible configurations but here is my personal favourite:
seta r_railWidth "3"
seta r_railCoreWidth "3"
seta r_railSegmentLength "1024"
Thanks to VyP3rR.
"r_roundImagesDown"
- Smoothes and rounds textures when they need to be resized producing slightly
inferior visuals. Default is recommended. (Please note: q3dm16 will crash to the
desktop if this setting is less than 1)
"r_swapInterval"
- Enabling this setting eliminates the slight screen ripping that appears when
your framerate exceeds your monitors refresh rate. Bear in mind that although
the FPS loss is not large, I found there to be a slight lag between
mouse/keyboard to the on screen action. Bear in mind that if you have disabled
vsync externaly (perhaps through your graphics drivers tools facilty) then this
setting is bypassed.
"r_detailTextures"
- This is enabled by default and produces more detailed textures if available by
that particular texture. With this disabled, you get slight framerate increase.
"r_colorbits"
- Choose between rendering colours in 16 BIT or 32 BIT. 32 BIT colour renders
16.7 million individual colours compared to 16 BIT's 65,000 but can be a large
burdon on computer resources. Optimal setting is 16 BIT for framerate and 32 BIT
for visuals. Be aware that your video hardware must support 32 BIT colour for
you to use it.
"r_texturebits"
- Similar to colourbits. However, if you run at high resolutions (1024x768 or
above) this can cause texture corruption in 32 BIT colour mode. You must also
have a card that supports 32 BIT colour. Optimal setting is 16 BIT for framerate
and 32 BIT for visuals. Be aware that your video hardware must support 32 BIT
colour for you to use it.
"r_dynamicLight"
- With this enabled, the flare from a weapon projectile will illuminate
the surrounding area creating added realism. Be aware that enabling this results
in noticable framerate loss.
"r_vertexLight"
- When enabled, textures use no additional lightmaps for lighting effects. On a
slow machine, this will speed things up considerably but the result is inferior
visuals. Other benefits of enabling vertex lighting include better visibilty
between players and textures, especialy when using r_picmip 5.
"r_lodBias"
- Produces more rounded images in the character model, objects, and pickups the
lower this setting is. Through benchmarking, I have found that the default (0)
is the best balance between framerate and image quality. I could see no
noticable visual improvement when setting this into the low minuses (the valid
range is -2 to 2) but the framerate was lower. Recommended setting is 0
(default)
"r_smp"
- If you have two CPU's, Windows NT or 2000, and have a graphics card AND
driver which supports SMP, then you can benefit from a more sustained Framerate,
which may also be noticeably higher. The default of course is 0, but if your
system fulfils the above requirements then ensure you set this to 1.
"r_subDivisions"
- This is a texture setting which when set low, produces a better image with
more curves and less graphical inacuracies. The maximum setting I would
recommend is around 100 depending on the map. I like this set at 4 but
feel free to experiment for the best comprimise between image quality and
framerate.
"r_lodCurveError"
- This setting determines how close you have to be towards a texture
before it clips and loses its curves. I recommend a setting between 400 - 800
depending on the power of your machine.
"r_stencilBits"
- This is a hardware dependent graphical setting which creates more realistic
textures. Be sure to set this to 8 if your graphics card has a hardware stencil
buffer. Be aware that the screen may darken with this enabled. Be sure to alter
the gamma accordingly.
"s_musicVolume"
- Self explanatary. Bear in mind that turning off the music doesn't result in
such a noticably higher framerate as in Quake 2, though the optimal setting is
still disabled
"s_loadas8bit"
- With this set to 1, all the sounds in the game will be forced to be played
with half the available sound memory. This increases framerate somewhat.
"sv_pure"
- Controls whether the game should be played in pure (as the developer intended)
or unpure (which means that certain mods can be used).
"vm_cgame /
vm_game /
vm_ui"
- These settings MUST be set to 0 for the speed dll's to function correctly. If
any of these are set to 1 in your config, then you are losing performance, so
change them immediately.
1.25+ new console commands:
"cg_scorePlums" -
This controls whether the "scoreplum" floats above your victim when
they are fragged. Not really a necessity so set this to 0.
"cg_smoothClients" -
When g_smoothClients is enabled on the server and you enable cg_smoothClients
then players in your view will be predicted and will appear more smooth even if
they are on a bad network connection (LPB's should love this feature when
playing laggy HPB's). However small prediction errors might appear.
"pmove_fixed" -
Think of this as ID's answer to the 125Hz mod. Basicaly, with this enabled, all
players will move at the same frequency (which can be changed using the
pmove_msec variable) regardless of the clients framerate. The advantages include
even jump physics and movement for all players. The downside is some people have
found slight stuttering with this enabled (although through my experience, it is
negible). If you are playing online, the server must have first enabled this
option before you can use it.
"pmove_msec" -
Sets the time in milliseconds between two advances of the player physics.
Default is 8.
"r_inGameVideo" -
This feature lets you view small pre-recorded videos that the map maker created
to be viewed in game. This has only been implemented in Team Arena maps as I
write this, but no doubt standard Q3A levels will be including such features
imminently. Be aware that enabling this can have a large impact on framerate, so
te optimal setting is to disable.
"s_doppler" -
A neat sound feature, which produces a "dopplar" effect when a
projectile from a rocket sweaps past you. Disabling gives a minor framerate
increase, but I like the effect and thus keep it enabled.
"headmodel" -
changes only the head of the model to another model. Example: If you are playing
as the Grunt model, /headmodel "sarge" will stick Sarge's head on
Grunt's body. Selecting a new model will load both the model and its matching
head.
"team_model" -
changes to a model that will only be used during team game play.
"team_headmodel" -
changes head model to a head that will only be used during team game play.
Internet connection commands:
"cg_lagometer"
- This is a very useful utility which lets you monitor your connection on-line.
With this enabled while you are playing on-line you will see 2 bouncing lines.
The first line displays the conjunction between your graphics card updating the
frames in sync with the gameworld updates recieved from the server. Idealy, this
should be a straight blue line. If it has bouncing yellow spikes then your
display will stutter and be more difficult to view. To combat this, first ensure
you have followed my tweaking techniques and then change your snaps setting.
Usually, this means lowering it by until your screen is stable and you have a
nice flowing blue line in your lagometer.
The second line shows if packets are being recieved from the server. This should
be green. If it is yellow or red, try increasing your rate or try lowering your
snaps. If this does not help, you may be on a bad server so try another. The
height of the line is dependent on your current ping.
"cl_timenudge"
- This interesting setting is identical to the pushlatency setting in Half-Life.
This is very user determined and impossible to judge for every machine and every
connection. I find this setting works well if you set the cl_timenudge setting
to around -30 the ping you currently have with the server. If you don't like the
way it affects your timing, then leave it at default (0). Use this command in
conjunction with the lagometer for best results.
"rate"
- This setting controls packets to ensure a good connection. If you have an ISDN
modem (128K) then this can be set to around 8000. If you have a 56K modem then
this should be around 3000-4500 depending on your connection speed. If you are
on a LAN or have ADSL modem, then this can be around 24000 or perhaps even
higher. Experimentation is required to find the optimal setting.
"snaps"
- This is possibly the most important setting for getting a good connection. As
everyone knows, in Quake 2, your gameworld updates depended on your current FPS
so slower computers were at a disadvantage. Now, in Quake 3, your snaps setting
determines how many updates you recieve from the server. 56K modems should have
a setting of around 20. ISDN modems (128K) should be around 40 as should any
other fast connection devices (LAN, T1 etc....). Remember to read my
cg_lagometer section for tips on "snaps".
"cl_packetdups"
- As the name suggests, this setting is used to send multiple packets to
compensate for lost packet drops. This setting should be set at 1 unless you
have a VERY good connection in which case set this to 0. Use the lagometer to
decide on which setting to use.
"cl_maxPackets"
- This setting puts a limit on the maximum amount of packets that can be sent to
the server via the client. This setting is useful for people with slower modems.
The default setting is 30 (comparable to a 56K modem), but lower this if you
have a 33.6K modem or less, and higher this setting if you have an ISDN or
higher modem.
"com_maxFPS"
- This command limits your maximum FPS. Why you would want to do this? 2
reasons. Firstly, because it will help stop the server from having lag confusion
when your frame rate has a sudden rise or fall. Run a timedemo, collect your
average FPS and use that as the limit for when you play on-line.
Another important aspect of this setting is that your framerate determines how
high you can jump. This is why getting the max_FPS setting right is so
important. Have a play around until you find a figure that allows you to make
the DM13 MH jump. Once you have one (try to get it as high as it can go) stick
with it.
Unfortunately, playing online could make achieving maximum height tricky once
again. Personaly, I found that setting com_maxFPS to 83 offline and 63 online
the best solution for making those long, tricky jumps. Of course, this may be
totaly different for your machine so play around.
"cg_deferPlayers"
- A nice simple setting. With this set to 1, new player skins will only be
loaded when you are either fragged or when you look at the scoreboard. With this
set to 0, new player models are loaded as soon as a new player joins the server.
I like this set to 1 as the screen could stutter at a potentialy crucial time
meaning frustration.
"cg_predictItems"
- This setting determines whether the server or the client decides on whether a
weapon has being collected. A setting of 1 means the client decides, and a
setting of 0 means the server decides. Setting it to 1 (default) makes
gameplay flow quicker for HPB's, but can cause confusion as to whether the item
was picked up or not. Setting it to 0 means the server will always decide,
reducing the chance of errors, but this can cause slight ldelay after the item
has been picked up. I keep this set at 0 to prevent any unneccessary confusion.
"cg_forceModel"
- If you want to use only the same model or skin throughout, then set this to 1.
Every character (human, or bot) will have the same character model as yourself.
However, if you are using a custom model with a large polycount, this can hinder
performance slightly. Default is 0.
This config emphesizes FPS and
there is a loss of visual quality as a result. This config is ideal for people
with slower machines, and gets rid of all the fancy special effects and texture
detail to provide the fastest and smoothest gameplay possible.
In this config, there is no HUD which means that your current health, armour and
ammo will not be on screen for you to view. This gives you the widest viewing
area and speeds up gameplay immensely. The texture detail is set at one notch
below maximum.
There is also a low clipping area, simple 2D icons, No gun visable, capped sound
quality, and rougher and more angular curves. I get 80 FPS with this config.
Download the tweek HERE
This section deals with
FPS or beter known as Frames Per Second
Please note that the configs are placed in the
order of maximal framerate (with the worst visuals) to framerate biased (with a
high framerate without too much image loss)
To retain formating, please copy these commands into Notepad, and then transfer
them from there into your q3config file located in your baseq3 directory.
Maximum
Framerate:
seta cg_forceModel "0"
seta cg_teamChatTime "3600"
seta cg_railTrailTime "100"
seta cg_lagometer "0"
seta cg_simpleItems "1"
seta cg_drawRewards "0"
seta cg_drawAttacker "0"
seta cg_drawAmmoWarning "1"
seta cg_drawIcons "0"
seta cg_draw3dIcons "0"
seta cg_drawSnapshot "0"
seta cg_drawTimer "0"
seta cg_drawStatus "1"
seta cg_draw2D "0"
seta cg_gibs "0"
seta cg_drawGun "0"
seta cg_marks "0"
seta cg_drawCrosshairNames "0"
seta cg_brassTime "0"
seta s_khz "11"
seta s_musicvolume "0"
seta s_loadas8bit "1"
seta cg_shadows "0"
seta r_gamma "0.810000"
seta r_swapInterval "0"
seta r_textureMode "GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
seta r_finish "0"
seta r_dynamiclight "0"
seta r_drawSun "0"
seta r_fastsky "1"
seta r_flares "0"
seta r_lodbias "2"
seta r_lodCurveError "200"
seta r_ignoreFastPath "1"
seta r_subdivisions "130"
seta r_vertexLight "1"
seta r_fullscreen "1"
seta r_ignorehwgamma "0"
seta r_overBrightBits "1"
seta r_mapOverBrightBits "3"
seta r_colorbits "32"
seta r_texturebits "16"
seta r_detailtextures "0"
seta r_roundImagesDown "2"
seta r_ext_texture_env_add "1"
seta r_ext_compiled_vertex_array "1"
seta r_ext_multitexture "1"
seta r_ext_gamma_control "1"
seta r_ext_compress_textures "1"
seta r_allowExtensions "1"
seta r_glDriver "opengl32"
seta r_picmip "1"
seta cg_viewsize "100"
seta cg_predictItems "0"
seta cl_freelook "1"
seta cl_mouseAccel "0"
seta com_blood "0"
seta com_maxfps "0"
seta bot_nochat "1"
High Framerate:
seta cg_forceModel "0"
seta cg_teamChatTime "3600"
seta cg_railTrailTime "400"
seta cg_lagometer "0"
seta cg_simpleItems "0"
seta cg_drawRewards "0"
seta cg_drawAttacker "0"
seta cg_drawAmmoWarning "1"
seta cg_drawIcons "0"
seta cg_draw3dIcons "0"
seta cg_drawSnapshot "0"
seta cg_drawTimer "0"
seta cg_drawStatus "1"
seta cg_draw2D "1"
seta cg_gibs "0"
seta cg_drawGun "0"
seta cg_marks "0"
seta cg_drawCrosshairNames "0"
seta cg_brassTime "0"
seta s_khz "11"
seta s_musicvolume "0"
seta s_loadas8bit "0"
seta cg_shadows "0"
seta r_gamma "0.810000"
seta r_swapInterval "0"
seta r_textureMode "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
seta r_finish "0"
seta r_dynamiclight "0"
seta r_drawSun "0"
seta r_fastsky "1"
seta r_flares "0"
seta r_lodbias "2"
seta r_lodCurveError "200"
seta r_ignoreFastPath "1"
seta r_subdivisions "100"
seta r_vertexLight "0"
seta r_fullscreen "1"
seta r_ignorehwgamma "0"
seta r_overBrightBits "1"
seta r_mapOverBrightBits "3"
seta r_colorbits "32"
seta r_texturebits "16"
seta r_detailtextures "1"
seta r_roundImagesDown "1"
seta r_ext_texture_env_add "1"
seta r_ext_compiled_vertex_array "1"
seta r_ext_multitexture "1"
seta r_ext_gamma_control "1"
seta r_ext_compress_textures "1"
seta r_allowExtensions "1"
seta r_glDriver "opengl32"
seta r_picmip "1"
seta cg_viewsize "100"
seta cg_predictItems "0"
seta cl_freelook "1"
seta cl_mouseAccel "0"
seta com_blood "0"
seta com_maxfps "0"
seta bot_nochat "1"
Framerate Biased:
seta cg_forceModel "0"
seta cg_teamChatTime "3600"
seta cg_railTrailTime "800"
seta cg_lagometer "0"
seta cg_simpleItems "0"
seta cg_drawRewards "0"
seta cg_drawAttacker "0"
seta cg_drawAmmoWarning "1"
seta cg_drawIcons "0"
seta cg_draw3dIcons "0"
seta cg_drawSnapshot "0"
seta cg_drawTimer "0"
seta cg_drawStatus "1"
seta cg_draw2D "1"
seta cg_gibs "0"
seta cg_drawGun "0"
seta cg_marks "0"
seta cg_drawCrosshairNames "0"
seta cg_brassTime "0"
seta s_khz "22"
seta s_musicvolume "0"
seta cg_shadows "0"
seta r_mode "4"
seta r_gamma "0.810000"
seta r_swapInterval "0"
seta r_textureMode "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"
seta r_finish "1"
seta r_dynamiclight "0"
seta r_drawSun "0"
seta r_fastsky "0"
seta r_flares "1"
seta r_lodbias "0"
seta r_lodCurveError "400"
seta r_ignoreFastPath "1"
seta r_subdivisions "60"
seta r_vertexLight "0"
seta r_fullscreen "1"
seta r_ignorehwgamma "0"
seta r_overBrightBits "1"
seta r_mapOverBrightBits "3"
seta r_colorbits "32"
seta r_texturebits "16"
seta r_detailtextures "1"
seta r_roundImagesDown "1"
seta r_picmip "1"
seta r_ext_texture_env_add "1"
seta r_ext_compiled_vertex_array "1"
seta r_ext_multitexture "1"
seta r_ext_gamma_control "1"
seta r_ext_compress_textures "1"
seta r_allowExtensions "1"
seta r_glDriver "opengl32"
seta cg_viewsize "100"
seta cg_predictItems "0"
seta cl_freelook "1"
seta cl_mouseAccel "0"
seta com_blood "1"
seta com_maxfps "0"
seta bot_nochat "1"