Soldier of Fortune tweak guide Updated on October 05, 2001 by Thomas McGuire You
are John Mullins, a 'consultant' hired by the Soldier of Fortune, one
of the best games of last year has been given a new lease of life with
both the Gold & Platinum update/versions being
released, including many improvement over the original release & the
addition of Deathmatch bots plus other Multiplayer modes. You can check
out our review of the original version Game here.
This guide will take you through the vast array of Settings available
for the Game, along with configuration file settings & other
numerous tips. Troubleshooting/Updates (Those with the Platinum
Game Edition can skip this paragraph) First off install the latest
Soldier of Fortune patch available – Version 1.07. You can download it
at 3D Files
or 3D
Downloads, although those with the original (Non-Gold)
release will need to have the 1.06 Gold patch installed first. Linux
users can find the latest patch at LokiGames.
You can download an updated (albeit unofficial) version of the Hidebot
(The Bot included with Soldier of Fortune Gold) from Telefragged.
Next up those with the Gold & Original release of the Game
can download the Platinum Edition Map Pack from 3D
Downloads, which contains the extra 5 Multiplayer Maps in the
Platinum release. Creative
Labs have updated EAL
(Environmental Audio Library) files available that
add effects such as dynamically changing reverbs, obstruction &
occlusion filtering to the Game. You can download them from here
(Available as Deathmatch, Capture the Flag & Mission Level
Enhancement packs). Install DirectX 8.0A, or later, on your system if not already installed. This may fix any Input/Audio device problems you have experienced. Drivers. It is essential to get the latest drivers for you Graphics card, Sound card & other relevant hardware. You can find links to many hardware manufacturers on our Drivers page. This can solve Display/Audio/Input problems or performance issues you may have encountered in the game. If you experience static noise or irregular audio playback, try the following (Assuming installing the latest Soundcard Driver doesn’t fix the problems): 1. Click on Start, Settings, then Control Panel. If you have Windows 2000 or Millennium Edition installed note the icon names as shown in brackets below. 2. Open the Multimedia (Sounds & Multimedia) icon. 3. Select the Audio tab & then hit the Advanced Properties (Advanced) button. 4. Select the Performance tab. 5. Move the Hardware acceleration slider to the 2nd notch from the left (Basic Acceleration). Move the Sample rate conversion quality slider to the middle notch (Improved sample rate converter). If you are having other problems running the game (Performance or otherwise) on Windows 2000 then try checking our Windows 2000 Compatibility & Performance guide. If any hardware in your system is overclocked & you are getting lockups/crashes try restoring the component to its default speed, or add more cooling.
Config files The
tweaks here can be either changed in your config.cfg (Located in
the user subdirectory where Soldier of Fortune is installed) or
you may make your own custom Config file for the game. If you want to
make you own config file then simply create a New Text Document,
enter in the settings & save the file as All files & name
it autoexec.cfg (In Folder Options ensure you have Unticked
Hide file extensions for known file types while doing this). Save
it in the Base directory of where Soldier of Fortune is
installed. To
load your customconfig.cfg in Soldier of Fortune (If you
didn’t name it autoexec.cfg), bring down the console & type
exec customconfig.cfg &
hit the Enter key (Substitute in the appropriate config filename
as needed). NOTE
– If you choose to make the settings in your own custom config file
then you can omit the set (space) from each setting. In the config.cfg
there will need to be a set followed by a space. E.g. In your config.cfg
a setting would appear as follows, set gl_texturemode
"LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR",
while in your own autoexec.cfg
it would appear simply as gl_texturemode
"LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR”. If you have any Mods for
Soldier Of Fortune installed these will be located in a sub-directory of
wherever you installed the Game itself to. These will also have their
own config files available to change settings for.
General
To
begin with you should enable access to the Console in the Game. Right
click on your Soldier Of Fortune shortcut & select Properties.
In
the Target field is where the extra Command line will be added. +
set console 1.
This will enable you to issue commands during the Game by pressing to
Tilde key to bring down the console. Select Apply to save your
changes. Now, open your Config
file using Notepad & Add/Edit the following
lines as appropriate. con_buffersize
"x". x sets the console
buffer size & how much memory is available to it. The value is in
bytes, e.g. 1MB = 1024. Should you experience crashes while attempting
to execute console commands try increasing this value. sv_jumpcinematic
"x". Setting x to 1
will disable the in-game cinematics from being played. I'd recommend
leaving it set to 0 as a result. These
next 2 settings can be used to enable CPU specific optimizations,
although these are only needed in the event that Soldier of
Fortune fails to detect the presence of such features or you just wish
to bypass the auto-detection. Enabling these can improve performance on
supported CPU’s. use_mmx
"x".
Set x to 1 to enable support for MMX optimisations on all
semi-modern Intel CPU’s. Set it to 0 if your CPU doesn’t
support MMX. use_amd3d
"x".
Set x to 1 to enable support for 3DNow optimisations on
all semi-modern AMD CPUs. Set it to 0 if your CPU doesn’t
support 3DNow.
Display
Load Soldier of Fortune.
Select Options then Display Settings.
Ghoul Light Method.
This setting controls the lighting method used for models. 4 options are
available for this setting; Flat.
A single light source is used for the entire model. This will yield
greatest performance but worst visual quality & is only recommended
for those on below Minimum spec. machines. Balanced.
This uses 4 lights sources interpolated over the entire model &
enables the use of specular lighting on Models also. This will provide
good quality lighting, & should be used with systems that have
average CPUs (400 - 600Mhz) or slow Graphics Cards. High.
This uses 4 lights sources interpolated over the entire model, enables
the use of specular lighting & dynamic lights on Models. This will
provide great quality lighting, & should be used with systems that
have above average CPUs (600 - 800Mhz). Hardware.
This options uses the OpenGL T&L routine, which will yield highest
quality lighting effects & possibly performance as well (On Hardware
T&L supporting Graphics cards anyway, e.g. Geforce 2). This option
may also be used on non-Hardware T&L Graphics cards as long as you
have a sufficiently fast CPU. Certainly select this option if you have a
Hardware T&L supporting Graphics Card. Specular Lighting.
Setting this to On will enable shiny models – this will yield
improved visuals, although performance may be lowered. Set it to Off
for improved performance. Detail Texturing.
3 options are available for this setting - On, Ranged
& Off. A detail texture is a very small, fine pattern that is faded in as you
approach a surface, for example wood grain, or imperfections in stone.
Set this to On (Applied to the entire game world) or Ranged (Only applied at a certain distance from your viewpoint) for
improved visual quality. Setting it to Off disables Detail
Textures altogether, this is only recommended for very old Graphics
Cards as visual quality will suffer. Detail Texturing Range.
You can ignore this setting if you set Detail Texturing to On.
Use this setting to set the range at which detail textures are applied
to the game world. Moving the slider to the Right has the effect
of applying detail textures further away for improved visual quality,
& vice versa. This distance will directly affect performance. Slide
it to the Left for improved performance. Texture
Mode. This
option controls the texture filtering method used in Soldier Of Fortune.
Options available are None, Bilinear, Mipped Bilinear
& Trilinear. Those with 3dfx Cards are recommended to set
this to Bilinear only as they cannot perform Multi-texturing
& Trilinear texture filtering simultaneously. Most other Graphics
Cards should be able to use Trilinear without issue. The
screenshots below illustrate each of the Filtering modes in operation
(In particular pay attention to the ground & wall texture).
As you can see, each
filtering mode offers progressively better texture quality. Anisotropic Filtering.
For even greater texture quality you should set this to On to
enable Anisotropic Texture filtering. Anisotropic
filtering will yield significantly reduced texture aliasing &
maintain texture sharpness/detail over greater distances. Beneath is a
screenshot of this filtering mode in operation.
As
you can see, compared to just Trilinear texture filtering, this
offers far greater texture sharpness, in particular pay attention to the
wall in the far distance, & to the wall near the Center left of the
image. That said, with many Graphics Cards the performance hit from this
may be too severe, so set it to No if this is the case. NOTE –
Anisotropic Filtering can be set independently of the Texture filtering
mode, e.g. You can have Bilinear & Anisotropic enabled, or Trilinear
& Anisotropic. Although the latter combination will yield best image
quality. Video Driver.
This option
controls the renderer used for Soldier Of Fortune. Those with older 3dfx
Graphics Cards (Voodoo 2 or earlier) should select Voodoo, while
all others should set this to Default OpenGL. Resolution.
Selecting a
lower resolution can improve performance & maintain a stabler,
higher frame rate. Higher resolutions look better (sharper & smaller
jagged edges), they also tend to run slower. This all depends on how
slow/fast your system (Particularly Graphics card) is of course. 1024
x 768 would be ideal in Soldier Of Fortune for most. Full Screen.
Set this to Yes to enable full screen rendering of Soldier Of
Fortune. This is recommended for all Graphics Cards, lest you wish to
run in a Software rendering mode. Bitdepth.
Select 16
Bit for best performance, but reduced visual quality (More apparent
banding). Select 32 Bit for best visual quality (Less apparent
banding), although performance will be reduced – especially on older
graphics cards. Using a 32-bit colour depth will also reduce rendering
errors as it uses a higher Z-Buffer precision for performing depth
calculations. Alternate Simple
Textures. Setting this to On will
replace some environmental textures, e.g. Graffiti, with regular wall
textures instead. This can reduce Texture memory requirements for
levels, which will improve performance on low Video Memory Graphics
Cards (16MB or lower), those with 32MB or more Video Memory should set
this to Off to enable the display of these extra environment
textures. Texture Quality.
Options available are Very Low, Low, Medium & High.
The Higher this setting the sharper textures in the game will
appear, although performance can be lowered (Especially on low memory
Graphics Cards). The Lower the setting the more blurred textures
will appear in the game. Selecting a lower setting can improve
performance on Graphics Cards with low video memory. Skin Texture Quality.
Options available are Very Low, Low, Medium & High.
The Higher this setting the sharper textures on player models
will appear, although performance can be lowered (Especially on low
memory Graphics Cards). The Lower the setting the more blurred
textures on player models will appear. Selecting a lower setting can
improve performance on Graphics Cards with low video memory. This
setting only affects player models.
Texture Format.
Use this to select the format for textures in Soldier of Fortune.
Options available are - Low, Medium, High, S3TC
Compressed & DXT Compressed. Performance can be improved
on low Video memory Graphics Cards by setting this to Medium or Low.
High will produce best texture quality, although isn’t
recommended unless you have a Graphics Card with 32MB+ of Video memory
&/or AGP Texturing enabled. Should your Graphics Card support S3TC
or DXTC then you should select S3TC/DXT Compressed for optimal
performance, albeit with some minor texture quality degradation. This is
the recommended option for all Graphics Cards with 32 MB of Video
memory. Translucent Texture
Format. Use this to select the format for
Alpha textures in Soldier of Fortune. Options available are - Low,
Medium, High, S3TC Compressed & DXT
Compressed. Performance can be improved on low Video memory Graphics
Cards by setting this to Medium or Low. High will
produce best texture quality, although isn’t recommended unless you
have a Graphics Card with 32MB+ of Video memory &/or AGP Texturing
enabled. Should your Graphics Card support S3TC or DXTC then you should
select S3TC/DXT Compressed for optimal performance, albeit with
some texture quality degradation. This is the recommended option for all
Graphics Cards with 32 MB of Video memory. NOTE – The texture quality
degradation can be more apparent with these textures given their
transparent nature. These next 4 settings can
have a significant impact on visual quality so it would be wise to play
around with there settings until you find ones which you feel gives you
the best quality. Intensity.
Move the slider to the Right to make the game brighter. The brighter the
visuals the more washed out the textures will look. Adjust this to suit
your own needs, performance isn’t affected either way. Contrast.
Use this slider to adjust the contrast level in the game. Move the
slider to the Right to make the game brighter & vice versa.
The brighter the visuals the more washed out the game can appear. Adjust
this to suit your own needs, performance isn’t affected either way. Brightness.
Use this
slider to set the game brightness (glare) level. Sliding the bar to the
Right will increase brightness & vice versa. The further this is to
the Right the more washed out textures may appear (Less detailed). Gamma.
Use this
slider to adjust the level of RGB colour intensity. Moving the slider to
the Right will increase the colour intensity, which may reduce texture
detail by brightening textures too much if slid too far to the Right
& vice versa.
Scalability settings Select Options,
then Scalability Settings. Much of the Graphical Scalability
settings have been already set so (As shown in the previous section)
scroll down to the Number Of Decals setting.
Number Of Decals. This slider controls the maximum amount of bullet holes/explosion scars in a level, where sliding this to the right position will increase the maximum number available & vice versa. Once this limit is reached the oldest decal will be removed, & so on. Moving to the left can improve game performance, although this is semi-determined by how bad your aim is (& that of the enemies). Given the little need to backtrack in most levels I’d personally recommend setting this to the middle position only. Effect Overdraw.
Use the slider to adjust the amount of pixels rendered before culling
out. The further you slide it to the Right the more detailed effects can
be, e.g. Explosions, however performance can be lower as detail
increases, particularly on low fill rate Graphics cards. If you have a
card with a low fill rate (Voodoo 3 or earlier) then lower this setting. Corpse Duration.
Use this to set the number of, & how long enemy/NPC corpses remain
visible. Options available are Low, High, Very High.
Performance can be effected with Higher setting as, if there's a
lot of activity going on in an area with corpses visible (Corpses
require as much polygons & textures rendered as living models do). Model
Expressions.
Use this to set the amount of facial expressions that can be used by
enemy models.
Options available are Very Few, Few, Normal, Plenty.
Each setting will require increasingly greater texture memory. If you
have a video card with a high amount of texture memory (16MB or more)
you should be able to set this to Plenty without any performance
loss. Skin
Variety. Use this to
set the variety of skins available for enemy models. Options available
are Very Few, Few, Normal, Plenty. If
you have a video card with a high amount of texture memory (32MB+) you
should be able to select Plenty without any performance loss,
this will allow for a wide variety of enemy appearances, setting it
lower will result in more clone like enemies. Graphics
Configuration settings Open your Config
file. Search for/ Add the following lines & edit the x value
as appropriate; gl_bitdepth
"x". This setting sets the
colour depth for Soldier of Fortune. Set
x to 16 for best performance, but reduced visual quality
(More apparent banding). Set x to 32 for best visual
quality (Less apparent banding), although performance will be reduced
– especially on older graphics cards. Using a 32-bit colour depth will
also reduce rendering errors as it uses a higher Z-Buffer precision for
performing depth calculations. gl_clear
"x". A value of 0
for x enables the filling of
cracks between textures, 1
makes these visible. 0 is
slower performing than 1
although more pleasing visually. gl_cull
"x". Setting x
to 1 enables the rendering of visible objects only. 0
renders all regardless which will reduce performance. I'd recommend
setting this to 1. gl_displayrefresh
"x".
x sets the refresh rate to be used in the game. It is recommended
that you set this to the highest refresh rate that your monitor
can handle at a given resolution. With vsync enabled this value also
limits the highest frame rate you can achieve. You shouldn’t set it
any higher than the highest refresh rate your monitor can sustain at a
given resolution.
gl_ext_multitexture
"x". Set x to 1 to enable
Multi-texturing support, this will improve performance on all modern
Graphics Cards. You shouldn’t need to set this to 0 for any
reason. gl_fogmode
“x”.
Not a tweak as such, although you should leave x set to 0
at all times. Any other value may cause image artefacts wherever fog is
to be rendered. gl_lightmap
"x". A value of 1
for x will enable real-time
lighting of levels. Setting this to 0
will enable vertex lighting, which is static lighting, this looks uglier
although will improve performance a lot – Useful perhaps if you are
attempting to play on a very old system. gl_ztrick
"x". Setting x
to 1 may improve performance, although it may cause flickering
with distant objects. 0 will
eliminate the flickering although is slightly slower. gl_ext_swapinterval
"x". Set x to 1 to
allow the setting below – gl_swapinterval - to be
enabled/disabled. 0 disables changing the setting below. gl_swapinterval
"x". This is the Soldier of
Fortune equivalent to vsync. Set x to 1 to enable vsync
(Recommended – Although frame rate will be limited to refresh rate). Only
set it to 0 when you are benchmarking game performance. This
(enabling it) will remove the tearing & controller lag that can
occur when it is disabled, resulting in a better gaming experience. r_fullbright “x”.
Leave x set to 0.
Other values, 1 - 4 (Of which 3
& 4 affect software renderer only - when gl_allow_software
"1”), will affect visuals adversely & you don’t want
that. r_norefresh
"x". not a tweak as such
although setting x to 1
will freeze the screen. Leave it set to 0
at all times. This is included here more as a warning than anything
else. r_novis
"x". The default value for x
is 0. When set to 1
underwater items are rendered. Seeing as underwater items generally
cannot be seen until you are underwater this is quite futile to enable
& will affect performance adversely when near areas with
non-transparent water. ghl_mip “x”.
A setting of 0 for x gives best image quality. Setting it
higher (up to 4) may improve performance but reduce image
quality. I’d recommend leaving this at either 0 or 1. ghl_precache_texture
"x".
Set x to 1 to enable the precaching of textures. This can
improve performance, although will increase loading time. Setting x
to 0 will reduce loading time of levels although performance may
be reduced if textures are to be loaded during a level. ghl_specular
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables specular lighting, 1 enables it. Enabling it will allow
for shiny models – this will yield improved visuals, although
performance may be lowered slightly. ghl_shadows
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables shadows. 1 enables simple circular shadows. 2
will enable volumetric shadows. Enabling shadows will reduce
performance, particularly setting it to 2, leave it on 0.
Depending on your CPU you may be able to enable shadows without too much
of a performance drop. ghl_player_shadow
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables shadows for your Character model. 1 enables your shadow.
Enabling shadows will reduce performance. I'd recommend setting this to 0
as you never will really be looking at/for your own shadow. When shadows are enabled
the following 3 settings are used. The default settings are fine so you
shouldn't need to experiment with the values at all (These are included
in case you accidentally change them & require the original values). ghl_shadow_darkness
".75” ghl_shadow_tilt
".25" ghl_shadow_dist
"25" ghl_light_method
”x”.
x sets the lighting method to be used in Soldier of Fortune.
Where; 0.
A single light source is used for the entire model. This will yield
greatest performance but worst visual quality & is only recommended
for those on below Minimum spec. machines. 1.
This uses 4 lights sources interpolated over the entire model &
enables the use of specular lighting on Models also. This will provide
good quality lighting, & should be used with systems that have
average CPUs (400 - 600Mhz) or slow Graphics Cards. 2.
This uses 4 lights sources interpolated over the entire model, enables
the use of specular lighting & dynamic lights on Models. This will
provide great quality lighting, & should be used with systems that
have above average CPUs (600 - 800Mhz). 3.
This options uses the OpenGL T&L routine, which will yield highest
quality lighting effects & possibly performance as well (On Hardware
T&L supporting Graphics cards anyway, e.g. Geforce 2). This option
may also be used on non-Hardware T&L Graphics cards as long as you
have a sufficiently fast CPU. Certainly select this option if you have a
Hardware T&L supporting Graphics Card.
ghl_gllight_max_lights"x".
This sets the Maximum amount of Hardware
light sources used during rendering (ghl_light_method
“3”). Those with first generation
onboard Hardware T&L Graphics Cards are recommended to set this to 6
at most, while others may try 8. This setting is ignored this
setting if you selected ghl_light_method
“0/1/2”
previously, i.e. Software lighting. The next 3
settings are all used for Hardware lighting, leave these at their
default values. They are included here so you won't mess with them
accidentally. ghl_gllight_attenuation
"1" ghl_gllight_directional
"0" ghl_gllight_local_viewer
"1" ghl_max_lights
"x". x sets the maximum
amount of Software light sources used in Soldier of Fortune. The default
is 3. Higher values will result in improved lighting effects on
Models, although performance will be reduced, particularly on slower
CPUs. 6 is the maximum recommended value. This setting is ignored
this setting if ghl_light_method
“3”
has been set, i.e. Hardware lighting. ghl_fast_lights
"x". Setting x to 1
may improve performance slightly. 0 will use full lighting
effects/calculations for best image quality. Those of you with a
Hardware T&L supporting Graphics Card or fast CPU should leave this
set to 0 for best lighting quality in levels. shownames
"x". Set x to 1 to
enable the name of a targeted person to appear. 0 will disable
this. I’d recommend enabling this as it can warn you of a player
around corners, i.e. If facing the right way an opponents name may
appear when they are not visible. cl_gun
“x”.
Set x to 1 to enable
your current weapon to be drawn on the screen. A setting of 0 will improve frame rate & visibility a little, but you won’t
see which weapon are using of course. I’d recommend leaving this set
to 1. cl_showfps
"x". A value
of 1 for x enables the display of a counter showing your
current frame rate in the top-left corner. 0 disables this. This
is useful for testing the effects of changing Graphics settings &
finding a good trade-off between performance & visual quality. Make
sure to take a look at the TNT\GeForce,
Voodoo 3,
Voodoo
4/5 or Kyro
1/2 Tweak guide for information on how to optimize the performance
of those cards. That may help you improve image quality/performance even
further than the config tweaks.
Audio Load Soldier of Fortune.
Select Options then Audio Settings.
Effects Volume.
Use this to
set the effects volume level in Soldier Of Fortune. Adjust the slider
bar for volume as required, slide the bar Right to increase the
effects volume & vice versa. Music Volume.
Use this to
set the Music volume level in Soldier Of Fortune. Adjust the slider bar
for volume as required, slide the bar Right to increase the
effects volume & vice versa. Sound Driver.
This options selects the Audio API used in Soldier Of Fortune. Those
(still) with Vortex 2 Chipset based Soundcards should select A3D
for best 3D Positional audio effects. Owners of most other semi-modern
Soundcards should be able to select EAX for improved 3D
positional audio & environmental effects, such as Reverb. For
optimal performance & compatibility set this to Default. Sound Frequency.
Setting this to 22Khz will give best
audio quality for audio in the Game,
while 11Khz
will provide better performance on those with very slow systems
or very old Soundcards, e.g. SoundBlaster 16 (Anything ISA based
basically). Don’t set this to 11Khz unless you really have to. Sample Rate.
Set this to 16 Bit to enable 16-bit sound which gives improved
audio quality. A setting of 8 Bit may improve performance a
little but will reduce audio quality. Again, you should only really try
setting this to 8 Bit if you have an old soundcard (ISA based
generally). Exclusive DS Buffer.
Set this to On to enable the exclusive DS buffer, which should
improve performance. Leave this to On unless you experience Audio
problems, in which case try setting it to Off (Assuming the tips
earlier on didn’t help). Dynamic
Music. Set this to Disabled to
disable the in-game music being played, which will yield best Game
performance. Set this to Enabled to enable the in-game music to
be played back. Open
your Config file. Search for/ Add the following lines & edit
the x value as appropriate. NOTE – Some of these settings are
API specific, e.g. Some may only be relevant when using A3D. s_a3d_weapons"x”.
Set x to 1 to enable A3D play weapon sounds. If your
soundcard which supports either EAX or A3D reverb, you'll get the
geometric reverb effect rendered on your weapons. Set this to 0
if your soundcard doesn’t support this effect. s_initsound
"x". When x is set to 1
all audio is enabled. When set to 0 no audio is played. This is
completely different to muting the volume levels. Performance will be
vastly higher when set to 0 although its only really useful if
you want to purely benchmark video card performance in Soldier of
Fortune. s_mixahead
"x".
x sets the
sound mixahead value, changing this value can fix sound stuttering with
some Soundcards. I'd recommend setting it to 0.2
unless you encounter problems, lower it if you do. s_occlude
"x". Set x to 1 to
enable occlusions. This will improve audio quality (more realistic),
although performance will be lower. 0 disables occlusions &
performance will be improved. s_reflect
"x". Set x to 1 to
enable audio reflections. This will improve audio quality (more
realistic), although performance will be lower. 0 disables
reflections & performance will be improved. You
can find out how to further improve your audio experience in Serious Sam
by checking out our Soundcard/Speaker
Tweak guide to set-up your Soundcard/Speakers properly. This will
take you through positioning Speakers & configuring Soundcard
settings for multiple devices.
Netplay Load Soldier of Fortune.
Select Multiplayer then Multiplayer Options. Here I’ll
cover the more important settings.
CTF / CONTROL Team
Select. This setting allows your to choose
which Team you’d prefer to join in CTF & Control Multi-Player
modes. Select whichever colour you like best
guess J Spectator Mode.
When set to Yes you will join any Multi-player Games as an
invisible spectator, meaning you can move around unrestricted, but play
no part in the Game. Set this to Off if you actually wish to play
the Game. Show Player Names.
Set this to On to enable the name of a targeted person to appear.
Off will disable this. I’d recommend enabling this as it can
warn you of a player around corners, i.e. If facing the right way an
opponents name may appear while they are not visible. Weapon Switching.
This setting controls what Weapons are to be switched to, if collected,
options available being - Safe, Unsafe & None.
I’d recommend setting this to None lest you wish to potentially
switch from a powerful weapon to a pistol by accidentally walking over
it. Obituary Filter.
This setting controls what Death messages are to be displayed, options
available being - None, All, Non-self. For minimum
self-humiliation set this to Non-self. Connection Speed.
This setting allows you to select a general rate setting based on
the connection type you have, e.g. 56k Modem. See the rate
“xxxx” section further below for more information. Master Download
Control. Set this to Yes to enable
downloading of Maps/Models/Audio files from a Server while connecting to
a Game. No will disable this, which may result in quicker
connection & Game loading times, although may well make it
impossible to connect to some Servers. Download Maps.
Set this to Yes to enable downloading of Maps while connecting to
a Server. No disables this & may make it impossible to join
some Servers. Download Sounds.
Set this to Yes to enable downloading of Audio files while
connecting to a Server. No disables this & may make it
impossible to join some Servers. Download String
Packages. Download Maps. Set this
to Yes to enable downloading of String packages while connecting
to a Server. No disables this & may make it impossible to
join some Servers. Open your Config
file. Search for/ Add the following lines & edit the x value
as appropriate; netgraph "x".
Give x a value of 1. This will enable the Netgraph, which
will aid you in diagnosing & improving your online gameplay (Can
also be loaded by typing in netgraph 1 into the console). netgraph
0 will make the Netgraph disappear.
Notice the red bar in the
centre of the screen under the health bar, this is the Netgraph. Open
your Config file & Add/Edit the line rate
“xxxx”. The default value for this may not be correct for you.
Depending on your connection, try changing the value depending on your
connection. You can also change this variable during gameplay to suit
your needs. If your ping is high, indicated by a large (vertical) red
bar, you'll want to lower your rate setting & vice versa. Obviously,
the lower the red bar is the better your connection is & thus the
lower your ping is. To aid you in doing this quickly try adding/editing
the following lines in your Config file. bind
KP_INS "set rate xxxx" bind KP_PGUP "set
rate xxxx" You can substitute in
your own keys & rate values, I
use 2600 & 3000. Set one low in case your ping starts
to rise, this is a sign you may have it (your rate) set to high for the
current server, try increasing it for better results when possible.
You
may notice the dark red bars in the above graph. This indicates packet
loss. Packet loss is very bad
& again indicates that either your rate setting is too high or the
server is bad (data is not be received by you). To try eliminate packet
loss try lower your rate setting first, if that fails change server. The following 2 settings
can be used to display further information on the Netgraph. showpackets
"x".
Setting x to 1 will enable the display of network packets
in the Netgraph. 0 disables this. showdrop
"x".
Setting x to 1 will enable the display of dropped packets
in the Netgraph. 0 disables this. Remember
having a low ping is just as important as having no/little packet loss.
The settings below should further help you improve your online
experience. These following settings can further help improve your
netplay. cl_footsteps
"x".
Setting x to 1 will
enable the playing of footsteps during a multiplayer game. This can be
useful in locating (hearing) the enemy before you see them. 0
disables this & may improve netplay performance slightly. I'd
recommend enabling this. cl_minfps
"x". You can use x to set
your minimum desired frame rate. Set this according to whatever you
believe is the minimum acceptable frame rate for you. 25 or 30
would be a good setting for most users. A good frame rate is needed for
online play. cl_maxfps
"x". You can use x to set
your maximum desired frame rate. In Quake 2 this was used to stabilize
online connection. Those on Analog connections (56K/V90/V92 or lower)
should find of value of 30 – 40 to best. Those on digital connections
(ISDN or faster) may be able to use higher values. cl_predict
"x".
Set x to 1 to enable client-side prediction, 0
will disable this. It is generally recommended that you enable
prediction if you are on dial-up connection & disable it if you are
on a high bandwidth low ping connection, e.g. Cable/DSL, although it
would be worth toggling this on/off to see which is better for you.
cl_predict_weapon
"x".
Set x to 1 to enable client-side prediction of weapons,
0 will disable this. It is generally recommended that you enable
prediction if you are on dial-up connection & disable it if you are
on a high bandwidth low ping connection, e.g. Cable/DSL, although it
would be worth toggling this on/off to see which is better for you. noipx "x".
Set x to 0 to enable the use of the IPX/SPX protocol. You
must have IPX/SPX installed to use this so set it to 1 if you
don’t. Most Internet servers use UDP (part of the TCP/IP protocol).
I’d recommend setting it to 1. This is more useful for LAN play
where you may just use IPX/SPX. ipxfix “x”.
Should you be running Windows NT4/2000 (Possibly XP also) & are
attempting to play Soldier Of Fortune via the IPX/SP protocol & are
encountering difficulties then set x to 1, otherwise leave
this set to 0. noudp "x".
Set x to 0 to enable the use of the UDP . You must have
TCP/IP installed to use this so set it to 1 if you don’t. Most
Internet servers use UDP (part of the TCP/IP protocol). I’d recommend
setting it to 0. allow_download
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables auto-downloading of maps/models. Set this to 1 to enable
it. You can further customize autodownloading however with the following
5 settings. allow_download_maps
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables the downloading of maps, 1 enables it. allow_download_models
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables the downloading of models, 1 enables it. allow_download_players
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables the downloading of players, 1 enables it. allow_download_sounds
"x". A setting of 0 for x
disables the downloading of sounds, 1 enables it. allow_download_stringpackage
"x". A setting of 0
disables the downloading of string packages, 1 enables it. You should also take a
look at the Modem tweaking guides for Windows9x,
Windows
Millennium Edition or Windows2000
& ISDN Tweak guides for Windows
9x/Me or Windows
2000 for tips on optimizing your Internet connection & reducing
ping times in online games. If you play on a LAN then check out the
(Old) LAN
tweaking guide as well. If you wish to setup a
Dedicated Server to host Soldier Of Fortune Multiplayer Games then be
sure to check out Raven Software’s own Dedicated
Server Guide for the Game. Miscellaneous Load Soldier of Fortune.
Select Options then Miscellaneous.
Crosshair.
This setting lets you choose the Crosshair you wish to have displayed in
the Game. Select this to your own preference. Always Run.
Similar to the above setting, set this to your own gaming style
preferences. Look Spring.
When set to
On your view will immediately center upon letting go of the mouse
look key. When set to Off the view will stay in the same
position. Look Strafe.
Set this to On if you play the Game using a keyboard only, all
others should leave this set to Off. Subtitles.
Set this to On to enable subtitles in cinematic scenes, useful if
you have problems hearing what is being said in them. Off will
disable them altogether. Disable Task Switching.
Set this to Yes to disable the use of the ALT-TAB key combination
in Solder Of Fortune. This is useful should you wish to remove any
chance of accidentally minimizing the Game, or if your Graphics Card has
problems with minimizing/maximizing the Game. Disable Fullscreen
toggle. Set this to Yes to disable
the use of the ALT-ENTER key combination in Solder Of Fortune. This is
useful should you wish to remove any chance of accidentally setting the
Game into Windowed Mode. Mouse
X Sensitivity.
Moving this slider to the Right can
improve mouse responsiveness along the X-axis (Horizontal) although may
make more accurate movement awkward due to the extra responsiveness.
I’d recommend leaving this set to the default position unless you find
your mouse to be very slow to react to horizontal changes. Invert
Horizontal.
Set this to Yes to reverse the left/right axis. This means
pulling left on the mouse will result in turning right & vice versa.
I’d recommend setting this to No. Mouse
Y Sensitivity.
Moving this slider to the Right can
improve mouse responsiveness along the Y-axis (Vertical) although may
make more accurate movement awkward due to the extra responsiveness.
I’d recommend leaving this set to the default position unless you find
your mouse to be very slow to react to vertical changes. Invert
vertical.
Set this to Yes to reverse the up/down axis. This means pulling
down on the mouse will result in turning up & vice versa. I’d
recommend setting this to No. Mousewheel
Sensitivity.
Moving this slider to the Right can
improve mousewheel responsiveness although may make any actions bound to
the wheel more awkward with the increased sensitivity, & vice versa.
I’d recommend leaving this set to the default position unless you find
your mousewheel to be very slow to react to scrolling. Mouse
Doubleclick Speed.
This slider sets how quickly you must double-click your mouse to
activate any duty binded to double-clicking the mouse. Mouse
Look. Set
this to Yes to always use the mouse for aiming/changing view.
I’d highly recommend this for best control of your view. Although set
it to No should you intend to use a joystick/keyboard instead. Mouse
Filtering.
Set this to Yes to enable the averaging
of mouse movements, which should result in smoother scrolling. Set this
to No to disable this filtering, this may make more spontaneous
movements easier. Mouse
Emulation Top Speed.
This slider sets how quickly you turn while using the keyboard for
aiming. Adjust this as you feel necessary, moving to the Right will
increase the sensitivity, & vice versa. Mouse
Emulation Acceleration.
This slider sets the level of acceleration used when using the keyboard
for aiming. Adjust this as you feel necessary, moving to the Right will
increase the level of acceleration, & vice versa. Language
Select.
Select the Language you wish to use in Soldier Of Fortune here as
appropriate. Open your Config
file. Search for/ Add the following lines & edit the x value
as appropriate; in_mouse "x".
Set x to 1 to enable the mouse, leave it set to 1
unless you are solely using a joystick or keyboard. 0 disables
the use of a mouse in the game. m_filter “x”.
Set x to 1 to enable mouse filtering. This will average
out mouse movements resulting in much smoother scrolling. A setting of 0
disables the filter. I’d high recommend enabling this. in_joystick
"x". Set x to 0 to
disable the use of a joystick in Soldier of Fortune (May improve
performance slightly). If you are wishing to use a joystick, set it to 1.
Mouse & keyboard is by far the better way to play though. gl_finish “x”.
Setting x to 1 can eliminate lag from input devices (such
as keyboard/mouse) at the cost of a few FPS. The default is 0 so only
change it to 1 if you experience any controller lag. This will
ensure proper timing of such devices. cl_subtitles
"x". Setting x to 1
enables subtitles in cinematics. 0 disables them altogether.
Useful if you have problems hearing what is being said in them.
Performance won't be affected if enabled. tip_duration
"x". x
sets the amount of time in milliseconds that on-screen tips will remain
visible, the default is 2500 milliseconds (2.5 seconds).
Increase/Decrease this value as you feel appropriate. Conclusion Your Soldier of Fortune gaming experience should now be greatly improved with better Visuals, Audio & minimal performance loss. Netplay should also be a improved. Hopefully you may have fixed any problems occurring with the game also. This guide will be updated should any new patches become available. If you have any Questions/Comments/Suggestions be sure to check out our Gaming Forum, or Email me. |
