Tips'n'tricks to get more FPS - research for a sticky!

[ZikChil]

This seems to help , set the Gravidar to a set range as opposaed to "auto". Does anyone know if it is possible to de-activate parts of the HUD as opposed to the entire thing?

[Dr.Sid]

I found unpacking the game files using x2tool.exe and running the game with the -r command line switch seemed to reduce the load times for everything drastically.

Can you please post link to the utility you used, together with some guide ? What does -r flag do ?

[cactus]

Can you please post link to the utility you used, together with some guide ? What does -r flag do ?

The x2tool is part of the X2 Modders Kit available here.

There is a unpacking tutorial here

Although both of the above links are useful, I too are unsure what needs to be unpacked, I've tried to unpack 01/02/03/04/05.cat but get errors stating that certain bod files cannot be created. In additon, I'm also wondering what the "-r" flag does.

Regards.

[Dr.Sid]

Hm .. I managed to uncompress the DAT files in main folder, but game did not show main menu .. I'll try again. It is said that DAT files with higher number are patches of the DAT files with lower numbers, so it is OK to uncompress DAT files from 1 to 5, overwritting older files.

[Skullguise]

I just upgraded last night. Kind of a compulsive one though. Wish I had gone with AMD 64 X2. They blow the Intels away. Gotta hate compulsory shopping.

But now I have a:
Pentium 4 dual core 3.0 GHz
2 Gig dual channel DDR2 PC 5300 RAM
Nvidia 7800 GT OC (only one not SLI)
Intel D945PVS MB


And all I can say is OMFG!!! This game is a DREAM now. Although the avg frames are 25ish(with max res and all graphics settings enabled. Nvidia controls set to application controlled) they rarely drop lower except when in SETA it is 8 FPS but that is to be expected.

If only I coulda gone for SLI Nvidia 7800 GT ultra's (1GB total vid RAM) even though it wouldn't help here as X3 is mainly a CPU hog it seems.

[Droflek]

Can you please post link to the utility you used, together with some guide ? What does -r flag do ?

The x2tool is part of the X2 Modders Kit available here.

There is a unpacking tutorial here

Although both of the above links are useful, I too are unsure what needs to be unpacked, I've tried to unpack 01/02/03/04/05.cat but get errors stating that certain bod files cannot be created. In additon, I'm also wondering what the "-r" flag does.

Regards.

The -r flag is short for -raw. It forces the game to run on the uncompressed files rather than the compressed DAT's.
It's something that is generally used when scripting or modding the game.
I unzipped all the .dat's and unpacked all the .pck files in the types folder, using the x2tool.exe as shown in the guide above. I did get those errors but decided to see if the game would still run, and apparently it is functioning without any issues. The save games using the -r switch work with the game when using the compressed .dats. I checked that befoe making my original post.

Generally I would expect this to make a difference on slower systems as it reduced the processor overhead (I think) when entering a new system, and for me everything seems to load a lot smoother (IE docking and menus loading, minor stutters when undocking reduced).

[Firebird]

Killing off the explorer process works really well, 100% improvement X3 is now quite nice to play.

Still not convinced its a better X-Universe that the three previous versions asthetically speaking. I suppose we will have to wait and see?

[cactus]

Generally I would expect this to make a difference on slower systems as it reduced the processor overhead (I think) when entering a new system, and for me everything seems to load a lot smoother (IE docking and menus loading, minor stutters when undocking reduced).

Maybe I was hoping for too much, but I've unpacked the the cats/pcks and don't see any noticeable decrease in loadtimes. I was hoping that the loading of busy sectors (Argon/Paranid Prime etc.) would have improved

It could be the incessant spawning of disco's and other M5's in these and other major sectors is adding to the loadtime as such negating the benefits unpacking of the cats. Hopefully this bug will be fixed in the next patch and maybe then I will see the benefits of unpacking.

Ego et al, should unpacking the cats and using the -r switch improve load time?

[CBJ]

Ego et al, should unpacking the cats and using the -r switch improve load time?

It will depend on all kinds of factors, including the speed of your HDD, how much memory you have and how fast it is, your processor speed and so on. The chances are that in most cases all the factors will pretty much balance out, but if someone has a system which is particularly fast in one area but particularly slow in another then it might help them.

[kayfess]

lastly if you are using an AGP card try looking in your bios under your "onboard devices tab" and make sure the AGP apature is set to 128 or more, a lot are set to 32 or 64, setting it to 128 can give gains in speed by simply allowing the agp more bandwith

That is NOT what the AGP aperture does.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/ove ... vidcard/43

I have a GeForce 7800 GT with 256Mb at PCI-X 16x and an AMD XP 64 3700 with 2Gb of DDR400 dual-channel running at 1T, and I'm still getting stutters - which most likely means the stutters I am seeing are an excess of DirectX draw calls - probably from badly batched triangle pushes. Sometimes it actually pays *not* to use LODs because it means you only have one instance of each mesh and the textures that go with it. Which means you use less memory for model data.

[UncaPathy]

Running a GeForce FX5600 Ultra with 128 MB RAM and 81.89 drivers. Used RivaTuner to force 1.4 shaders and frame rate seems to be improved, at least in sectors outside of Argon Prime

I think my next bottle neck is CPU but I can't afford to upgrade that (AMD 2800+).


Hmmmm...re-enabling EAX does not seem to hurt frame rate, even in Argon Prime. Frames are slower there but not TOO bad....*shrug*

Sound card is an Audigy, drivers are the latest MS signed ones (Sept 05...can't remember the version).

[gorm96]

something i have come across is that overclocking cpu and/or graphics
cards can actually decrease fps, due to stressing either or both particulary
if your cooling of system is poor.

with 1.2.01 patch installed i have only had 2 " x3 has encounted problem"
messages and game runs very smoothly even in argon prime and in combat
system specs-
windows xp
3.2meg cpu
6800 ultra
1 gig ram
all latest drivers
dont use on board sound as causes problems
i have texture quality and shader quality set to medium and resolutio 1024
*768

[Shawy38]

You can try to disable your desktop picture on windows as this not only eats memory but also effects you graphics card.
Have a look at your pagefile if you have got over 1gb of ram you only need about 1 - 1.5gb of pagefile as it will read it from the ram before paging. Also check where your pagefile is mine is on a seperate drive from windows and It's in It's own partion make sure min and max settings for your pagefile are set the same.
If you have a half decent motherboard have a look at what your AGP aperture size is (if using agp) mine is set to 512mb.
When defragging if you are using windows built in defragger of nortons then I would advise you to stop as these are crap, I use O&O Defrag V8 Pro a hell of a lot quicker and more effective. If you want a copy email me

PC Spec:
AMD 64 3000+ (S754) (OC 2.1Ghz)
450 watt standard PSU
Gigabyte K8NS Nforce3 250gb (Bios Up-2-Date)
1.5gb PC3200 Ram 3x512mb Sticks (OC DDR 404) (CL2.5)
PNY 256mb 6600 unlocked to GT Version (OC Core-450 Mem-560) done by using Rivatuner Nvidia Drivers (81.85)
Onboard sound,looking at getting a dedicated card in near future
2xSATA (1):120gb (2):160gb
Windows XP Home SP2
5x 80mm Case fans (1x Side, 2x Front and 2x Rear)
1x Gigabyte 120mm Cpu Fan (Adjustable)

Running X3 on 1024*768
Texture Quality : High
Shader Quality : High

[BlackSir]

Seems like X3 is VERY hungry on video memory. It uses more than 200Mb (according to RivaTuner) at my GF6600GT/256Mb, while Doom3/Quake4 at 1024x768x"High" uses about 80-90Mb. Such memory appetite can be bottleneck (unless that 200Mb includes ALL the textures in game).

[Dingo69]

A lot of reading here trying to work out what is relevant.

I have a pretty good system, graphic card could be better and I am saving for a new 7800Gt but that will be a while.

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ BOX, Socket 939, San Diego
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe,
Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2, 4x512MB DDR400 DIMM, CL2
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD, 10000rpm, 74GB, Serial-ATA
Asus 6600GT 128Mb

What frame Rate should I be aiming for and what is the command to see the FPS on your screen.

thanks

[Ithoqua]

Like most of you, I have a machine that should handles all other games with great performance and was shocked at the low framerates in X3. Not having the time or the creativity to come up with some of the solutions you guys have I went straight for the registry and changed the game to run at 800x600... frame rate is a LOT higher... Behold the power of regedit... people on lower end systems or who are still getting very low frame rate regardless of other tweaks might want to look into this. I'm experimenting with other settings but so far only resolution seems to help much.

[hoofmaster]

Like most of you, I have a machine that should handles all other games with great performance and was shocked at the low framerates in X3. Not having the time or the creativity to come up with some of the solutions you guys have I went straight for the registry and changed the game to run at 800x600... frame rate is a LOT higher... Behold the power of regedit... people on lower end systems or who are still getting very low frame rate regardless of other tweaks might want to look into this. I'm experimenting with other settings but so far only resolution seems to help much.

What key etc. did you change to run it in 800x600? Also does all the gui work correctly in this mode?

Cheers,
hoofmaster

[mattstint]

Not sure if anybody has suggested this, but try turning off "Write Combining" (requires restart) in ur display properties. I get very smooth gameplay from disabling this.

[mattstint]

Cmon Ppl! Someone try this out and post back! Disabling write combining was like a miracle cure for me! I got major chug when it was on

[cactus]

Probably not the place for this, but it is related to performance.

Mod to remove Civilian Ships and Taxis