8 replies to this topic

[Col.Krust]

For Zakalwe

I just wanted to post some info on connection settings which I think most causal players, and even experienced players often overlook. It took me over a year of hardcore counterstrike and dod playing before I ever learned about these things and it makes a considerable difference it how well the game plays. The first bit is that the default settings are what worked on dialup back when half-life was first released....and if you play with a better connection than that its time for an upgrade. In part it may explain why you have a tough time getting consistent hits with rifles for example. One caveat...it gives a more consistent game overall if everyone has the highest settings their connection would allow. You might be able to land more consistent shots, but it also means that other folks can more consistently hit you. On the whole though less wtf moments.

so what are good settings in the year 2012?

first you need to go to where your config folders are stored in dods.
this is probably something like:
program files/steam/steamapps/name/day of defeat source/dod/cfg

look in that folder

do you have an autoexec.cfg? if not you can make one my making a text file with wordpad or notepad and saving it as autoexec.cfg in that folder
this file will be automatically run whenever you fire up your game. all kinds of settings could be specified in here if you wanted to. (this corresponds to the userconfig.cfg in dod)
when you make that file here are the connection settings you can add to it to improve your game experience:

cl_cmdrate 101
cl_updaterate 101
rate 25000
cl_interp_ratio 2
cl_interp 0.02

see what you think. I post this primarily for a player I had a good time playing (Zakalwe) with this evening whose settings we helped tweak, but he didn't know about the autoexec.cfg. so here is what one needs to optimize settings for the modern era. I think though that many other players could benefit from optimizing their rates too.

these settings will allow you to get the most out of a 100 tick server if you join that kind of server. but they will also dial down to the lower settings of a 66 tick server if need be. so its better to set your defaults on the high side and let them get corrected down than to have them too low.

any questions? post away!!!

[Lin]

I've added this to my autoexec.cfg, let's see if I can kill you now.

Thank you for the help!

[Redshirt]

I'll try it on the mac side of it and report it. Thanks for the info!

[HARRY TRIGGER]

I thought altering files was a no-no.

[Lin]

This is a client-side configuration, perfectly and totally legal. DoD is highly customizable, we can change how player weapons look, parts of the player's "skin", how objects in the game look, weapon sounds...much is very legally customizable in DoD.

I have personally chosen not to customize a lot; I have a sten for my Axis weapon, a green dot sight for my Axis K98, and a custom "HUD". I added Krusty's settings suggestions and have had some fantastic games! I've gone from .25-.5 KDR to actually being able to kill people and come close to a 1.0+ KDR. It has made a huge difference in my game!

I had already added an autoexec.cfg when one of the Steam updates gave the overall look of the game a thick black line on players, and added "shine" to the game. I put a line in to remove all of that and take the game back to "normal" for me.

Krusty, my understanding is that a Steam update a few months back did away with 100 tick servers. We used to run at 100 tick (and still have the server set that way should Steam ever fix it) but I believe they have regulated all servers to 66 now.

[Kerfuffle]

I thought altering files was a no-no.

Only for Gophers...

[Col.Krust]

those settings will allow you to get the most out of whatever server you are on. if its a 66 tick server then your cmd and update fall to whatever the server max is.

there are some server side settings that can force min update rates and min rates:
sv_minrate "0" // Min bandwidth rate allowed on server, 0 = unlimited. Default: 0
sv_minupdaterate "0" // Minimum updates per second that the server will allow. Default: 10

there is no command to force a min command rate. The command rate effects the player's experience and perception where as the update rate impacts others experience of that players position. if you set something reasonable as a minimum rate and update rate then players will more often "be" where they seem to be. If many players on the server are using default rates you might find a little more load on the server as it will be updating player positions more often.

[HARRY TRIGGER]

I have read this and reread this and even re-reread it one more time.
I have no idea what this is about.

[salad]

those settings will allow you to get the most out of whatever server you are on. if its a 66 tick server then your cmd and update fall to whatever the server max is.

there are some server side settings that can force min update rates and min rates:
sv_minrate "0" // Min bandwidth rate allowed on server, 0 = unlimited. Default: 0
sv_minupdaterate "0" // Minimum updates per second that the server will allow. Default: 10

there is no command to force a min command rate. The command rate effects the player's experience and perception where as the update rate impacts others experience of that players position. if you set something reasonable as a minimum rate and update rate then players will more often "be" where they seem to be. If many players on the server are using default rates you might find a little more load on the server as it will be updating player positions more often.

There are actually minimum and maximums for each; with these set correctly, it wouldn't matter what someone is using in their autoexec.cfg; the server.cfg will always overrule the client. The only scenario that can get around that is when a player's fps drops below the server tic-rate; cl_cmdrate is limited to a client's frame rate regardless of how it is set on the server or client autoexec.cfg.

sv_minrate
sv_maxrate
sv_minupdaterate
sv_maxupdaterate
sv_mincmdrate
sv_maxcmdrate