Hello,

So really quickly here are some of my computer stats:

Operating System: Windows XP
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8700@2.53Ghz (2CPUs)
Memory: 3066MB RAM
Chip Type: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M
Approx. Total Memory: 1024.0 MB
Software: Directx 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Btw I don't know that much about computers, someone put together my laptop for me.

Ok so here is the situation I am facing. I'm trying to crank up my graphics because I believe that my card can take it. In my launch options I put -dxlevel 95 and when I start up my game I go under video options. For DirectX here is what I see:

Hardware DirectX level: DirectX v9.0+
Software DirectX level: DirectX v9.0

The hardware level has a drop down menu like the other options except it is locked for whatever reason. So I'm trying to max all the other options I have for models, etc. to see how far I can go, but it won't give me a "very high" option. It stops at high for most everything except texture detail. How come? I think it might be because my software directx level is only 9.0 not 9.0+ but I have 9.0c installed...?????

Also, should I turn on multicore rendering? What is antialiasing and filtering and what is the recommended level I should put it at?

Thanks,

Slin

This is a lot of preference also, as far as multiplayer TF2, having a consistent smooth framerate is more important then all the visual candy in my mind, but here it goes..

For the most part, I would first remove the -dxlevel option from your command line, not worth forcing if your forcing what is typically the detected level. (Hardware DXlevel cannot be modified in options BTW, since it's based on what it reads from the hardware)

After that, in video options, anything with an asterick is what TF2 is detecting as best fit, make sure all those are set as a base.

Multi-core rendering is good and increases FPS for many, however it is beta and not guarenteed to work, if you enable it and it works, go team, otherwise disable it.

Anti-aliasing and filtering is extra passes the engine will do to increase the overall look of the game. (removing jaggy edges and so forth). They ahve varying levels, mine beging to screw up after 4x AA as an example but some can push it out to 16x.

Again, this is basically a trial and error, the astericks is the best starting place in my opinion and generally gives to the best overall performance. And adjust from there.

Hm ok yeah. I know that FPS > Quality in most cases, but I'd just like to see how much eye candy I can get before my gameplay suffers. Also the reason I'm forcing (or attempting to force) is so I can get higher quality. Right now like I said I'm running everything at max which is mostly what TF2 is detecting as optimal with a few exceptions, and everything is running just fine.

I think you may have misunderstood my question. For things like shader detail, shadow detail, etc. the in game advanced video options will not let me make my settings go any higher although I have seen some people have much better quality graphics. What exactly do I have to enable or type (such as a launch command like -dxlevel 95 or whatever) in order to access those options so that I can try them out, even if my FPS goes to crap?