Crysis ini tweaks. Run very high settings w/XP

[FastRedPonyCar]

Seems that just about all the DX10 goodies can be enabled in winXP via an ini tweak. It worked with the beta. So essentially all or just about all of the "very high" settings that can only be turned on when using vista and DX10 can be manually enabled when using XP/DX9.

Go to your documents and then to "my games" then to the crysis folder, open the game.cfg file with note pad delete what's there and paste in the following. Backup the file to the desktop before you change it though. after that, right click, hit properties and check "read only".

-- [Game-Configuration]
-- Attention: This file is re-generated by the system! Editing is not

recommended!

cl_bob = 1
cl_invertController = 0
cl_invertMouse = 0
cl_sensitivity = 45
cl_voice_volume = 1
dt_enable = 0
g_blood = 1
g_buddyMessagesIngame = 1
g_displayIgnoreList = 1
g_enableAlternateIronSight = 0
g_PSTutorial_Enabled = 1
g_quickGame_map = ""
g_quickGame_min_players = 1
g_quickGame_mode = "InstantAction"
g_quickGame_prefer_favorites = 1
g_quickGame_prefer_lan = 1
g_quickGame_prefer_mycountry = 1
g_startFirstTime = 0
hud_crosshair = 6
hud_showAllObjectives = 0
hud_subtitles = 0
i_forcefeedback = 1
i_mouse_smooth = 0
net_enable_voice_chat = 1
r_Brightness = 0.5
r_Contrast = 0.5
r_Fullscreen = 1
r_Gamma = 1
r_Height = 1050
r_Width = 1680
s_DialogVolume = 1
s_MusicVolume = 0.6
s_SFXVolume = 1
sys_spec_GameEffects = 3
sys_spec_ObjectDetail = 3
sys_spec_Particles = 3
sys_spec_Physics = 3
sys_spec_PostProcessing = 3
sys_spec_Shading = 3
sys_spec_Shadows = 3
sys_spec_Sound = 3
sys_spec_Texture = 3
sys_spec_VolumetricEffects = 3
sys_spec_Water = 3


r_DepthOfField=2
r_MotionBlur=3
r_sunshafts=1
r_UseEdgeAA=1
r_Flares=1
r_Coronas=1
r_colorgrading=1
r_GlowScreenMultiplier = 0.2

sys_spec_Quality=4
e_sky_type=1
e_sky_update_rate=1
r_DetailTextures=1
r_DetailNumLayers=2
r_DetailDistance=8
r_HDRRendering=2
r_SSAO=1
r_SSAO_quality=2
r_SSAO_radius=2
r_refraction=1
e_ram_maps=1
sys_flash_edgeaa=1
e_vegetation_use_terrain_color=1
e_terrain_ao=1
e_terrain_normal_map=0
e_max_entity_lights=16
r_UsePom=1
r_EnvTexUpdateInterval=0.05
r_TexturesFilteringQuality=0
r_HairSortingQuality = 1
r_FillLights = 14
e_particles_lights = 1


i_lighteffects = 1
g_ragdollMinTime = 15.0
g_ragdollUnseenTime = 2
g_ragdollDistance = 40.0
g_battleDust_enable = 1


e_obj_quality=4
e_proc_vegetation=1
ca_useDecals=1
e_decals_allow_game_decals=1
e_decals_life_time_scale=2
e_lod_ratio=6
e_lod_min=0
e_lods=1
e_view_dist_ratio_detail=30
e_view_dist_ratio_vegetation=45
e_vegetation_min_size=0
i_rejecteffects=1
e_vegetation_bending=2
sys_flash_curve_tess_error=2
e_view_dist_ratio=60
e_max_view_dst_spec_lerp=1
e_vegetation_sprites_distance_custom_ratio_min=1
e_vegetation_sprites_distance_ratio=1.5
e_detail_materials_view_dist_xy=2048
e_detail_materials_view_dist_z=128
es_DebrisLifetimeScale=1
e_cbuffer_resolution=256
e_dissolve=1
ca_DrawFaceAttachments=1
ca_AttachmentCullingRation=200
e_terrain_occlusion_culling_max_dist=200

r_WaterRefractions=1
r_WaterReflections=1
r_WaterUpdateFactor=0.01
e_water_tesselation_amount=10
e_water_tesselation_swath_width=10
r_WaterUpdateDistance=0.2
r_WaterCaustics=1
r_WaterReflectionsQuality=4
e_water_ocean_fft=1
q_ShaderWater=2
r_WaterReflectionsMinVisiblePixelsUpdate = 0.05

r_Beams=1
r_BeamsDistFactor=0.01
r_BeamsMaxSlices=250
e_Clouds=1
r_CloudsUpdateAlways=1


e_shadows = 1
r_ShadowBlur=3
e_shadows_max_texture_size=2048
r_ShadowJittering=2.5
e_gsm_lods_num=5
e_gsm_range=3
e_shadows_cast_view_dist_ratio=0.8
r_ShadowsMaskResolution=0
e_shadows_on_alpha_blended=1
e_shadows_from_terrain_in_all_lods=1
e_gsm_cache = 0

e_cull_veg_activation=50
g_joint_breaking=1
g_tree_cut_reuse_dist=0
p_max_MC_iters=6000
e_phys_foliage=2
es_MaxPhysDist=200
es_MaxPhysDistInvisible=25
e_phys_ocean_cell=0.5
e_foliage_wind_activation_dist=25
g_breakage_particles_limit=250
p_max_object_splashes=3
p_splash_dist0=7
p_splash_dist1=30
p_splash_force0=10
p_splash_force1=100
p_splash_vel0=4.5
p_splash_vel1=10
v_vehicle_quality=4
p_max_substeps_large_group=5
p_num_bodies_large_group=100

e_particles_quality=4
e_particles_lod=1
e_particles_max_emitter_draw_screen=32
r_UseSoftParticles=1
e_water_ocean_soft_particles= 1
e_particles_object_collisions=1

e_terrain_lod_ratio = 0.2

Fire it up and enjoy but you'd better have a hoss of a video card. It dropped my avg fps by 6~10 fps in the GPU benchmark but I'm still getting

afg fps 33.62
Min fps 20.47 @ frame 137
Max fps 53.98@ frame 987

With the GPU benchmark .bat file (located in the game's "bin" directory)

Main difference you'll see with the cfg tweak is sun shafts and a bit more realistic sunlight haze and moon lit fog at night, sun shafts underwater and better parallaxed textures (from what I've been told).

Here's a post on nvnews showing pics

[PhysX]

cheers will check this out but i dont think textures can become parallaxed... better... they POM'd, then you other settings are applied to them FSAA etx... but you cant really make them any better.

[PhysX]

just tried it out... looks pretty muc hthe same, but one thing i noticed for some reason it seems like the physics are A LOT faster, before i would shoot a tree, it would break, then slowly tip over and then hit the ground now, i shoot it and this thing goes over like some one is hanging on it. anyway i took a before screen shot on high settings at 1280x720 "everything maxxed out 6xAA too" dosent look like its working though... and then another screen with the tweaked ini, looks exactly the same "but slightly off" time is a few secs different from high settings.

VERY HIGH


TWEAKED INI


not like it was playable anyways haha, getting my new card soon.

[neonlazer]

Yes, note the poster has a 8800ULTRA LOL...many wont be able to do this at all haha..high is breathtaking enough..but might tweak to see if i can get it smoother

[PhysX]

yeah i seen that much i wasn't looking for more FPS i was looking for improved graphics "better looking".

it did nothing though, personally i dont see the point of having a $500+ card and not be able to use true DX10, come on... vista is just over a hundred bucks.

[rainless]

yeah i seen that much i wasn't looking for more FPS i was looking for improved graphics "better looking".

it did nothing though, personally i dont see the point of having a $500+ card and not be able to use true DX10, come on... vista is just over a hundred bucks.

Hell... They've been giving it away for free all over the place. I don't even know anybody who's actually paid for the thing. Even my mother got it for free. Microsoft just wants people to use it.

THAT's the challenging part...

[FastRedPonyCar]

I almost forgot, the cfg file resets itself every time the game is run.

I've copied the modified cgf file to the desktop and every time I run, I just copy it into the crysis folder and replace the new old one.

Those screen shots you posted don't look like the 2nd one has the tweaks being applied. There isn't any haze or sunrays.

And vista DX10 performance is **** poor with next to no visual differences from the tweaked cfg file. So it seems the general consensus on the forums I've been on is that running crysis with XP or vista in DX9 mode and editiing the cfg file offers the best visuals and an extra 10~15 fps that dx10 sucks away. I blame the drivers myself. I'm sure nvidia will have some slick new drivers for us very soon.

[xilix]

Thanks for the tip. I tried changing some other files but with no results. Hope this works.

[FastRedPonyCar]

It seems like after you modify the cfg file, changing it to read only will make the changes stay. I just installed the new beta drivers from nvidia so I'm about to reboot and try running the gpu benchmark bat file and see if the changes stick and if I get better fps. stand by.

[xilix]

I almost forgot, the cfg file resets itself every time the game is run.

I've copied the modified cgf file to the desktop and every time I run, I just copy it into the crysis folder and replace the new old one.

Those screen shots you posted don't look like the 2nd one has the tweaks being applied. There isn't any haze or sunrays.

And vista DX10 performance is **** poor with next to no visual differences from the tweaked cfg file. So it seems the general consensus on the forums I've been on is that running crysis with XP or vista in DX9 mode and editiing the cfg file offers the best visuals and an extra 10~15 fps that dx10 sucks away. I blame the drivers myself. I'm sure nvidia will have some slick new drivers for us very soon.

DX10 does offer better lighting and other options that make the game look much better. The water and lighting differences are significant.

[xilix]

Holy crap, it really does give quite a kick in the gut there doesn't it? I was averaging 30-40FPS before, now I'm only getting 15-22fps. Looks AMAZING, though. It is quite playable at those framerates, which is peculiar, because a lot of other games I have aren't playable at those frames. However, I'm going to have to switch back untweaked with everything on high. I like to be above 30fps.

Or maybe I'll just try a lower resolution. I'm at 1680x1050. Maybe I'm getting a little too aggressive with that.

Edit: MUCH better at a slightly lower resolution.

[PhysX]

1280x800 works well wit hhigh settings

[Goateh]

wow, and I thought it looked good on medium @ 1024x768.

High isn't really playable on my pc so I wouldn't dare up the quality more :E

[UnrealAlex]

Hell... They've been giving it away for free all over the place. I don't even know anybody who's actually paid for the thing. Even my mother got it for free. Microsoft just wants people to use it.

THAT's the challenging part...

can you point me in the right direction i want vista

[ShadowPho]

Can I play it on max on 640x480?

[PhysX]

probably not.

[SteveLord]

Just putting this out there, but you will NOT have to have Windows Vista to utilize Dx10 in some games.

This has already been confirmed by Halflife 2 developers. As long as you have the DX10 card, you will see some of the effects.

I'll find my PCGamer/MaximumPC and quote it.

[Neural Net]

Just putting this out there, but you will NOT have to have Windows Vista to utilize Dx10 in some games.

This has already been confirmed by Halflife 2 developers. As long as you have the DX10 card, you will see some of the effects.

I'll find my PCGamer/MaximumPC and quote it.

Interesting, I wonder what kind of effects are possible with the card under XP, my guess it's either the particle effects or shader model 4.0 stuff.

[Tweak486Dx2]

Very High with Vista is a REAL difference. The water is the biggest along with the Post Proc effects and Game effects. Its like a different game on Vista.

I play on my 22' at 1280x960 with everything at high except for Game Effects, Post Processing, Physics and shaders all at Very High and it LOOKS GREAT!!

One thing is that I have to turn to medium is Texture detail. 320Mb Gts cant really take high textures. But I keep object detail at high.


But ive went from Very high to Just high and its a BIg difference.

[thideras]

OP: You know that you could create a batch file to copy the modified file over the other one and run the game, right?