UT 2003 Engine Demo Guide












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****This Unreal Tournament 2003 demo guide is based using the unpatched version of the demo with DX 8.1a. If u'r experiencing problems with UT 2k3 ... it is recommended that u install the patch (visit UT 2k3's website) and the latest DX 8.1 version (8.1b).
 
***This guide will only focus on the settings that can be adjusted inside UT2003.ini file ... located inside ur UT2003Demo/System folder ... open it to follow my guide below. I recommend that u apply ur own personal preference settings inside the in-game menu settings before proceeding with this guide.
 
**Since UT 2k3 is still a work in progress ... some settings may act differently depending on w/c system u applied the tweak onto. I experienced some problems tweaking this game myself but the results I got from my experimentation was well worth it.
 
*This section will automatically be converted into Unreal Tournament 2003's (official version) tweaking guide once the game has been officially released ... granted that I already bought the game for myself (of course).
















 
=UT2003.ini=
















[Engine.Engine]

**Although UT 2k3 allows you to play the game under OpenGL mode ... I am not going to advice you to do so. I tried playing this game under OGL mode and the mouse/keyboard lag sux big time! The performance drop is quite noticeable as well. But like I said ... b'coz this game is still in Demo form ... u might have better luck than I do. So if u want to switch to OGL mode ... look for this line:
 
RenderDevice=D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=Engine.NullRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice
 
and change it to look like this:
 
RenderDevice=OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=Engine.NullRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice

 
 
[WinDrv.WindowsClient]

**Be reminded that some of the settings here (same goes with the succeeding sections) can also be found inside the in-game menu settings. I recommend that u double check on ur in-game settings after tweaking the ff sections.
 
* "True" enables a setting. While "False" disables the setting. (both should be written w/o the quotation marks).
 
 
 
 
=ScreenFlashes=
Enables/Disables the screen flashing effect that u experience when ur player takes damage. This setting only affects the game performance when ur taking damage and the amount of performance drop is neglible IMO. So I suggest that u enable or disable the said setting to fit ur own preference.
 
=NoLighting=
I highly recommend that u leave this setting disabled (false) unless u have a very old/slow card and is desperate for a performance increase. The decrease in graphics quality is quite drastic.
 
=MinDesiredFrameRate=
This setting allows u to set a minimum desired frame rate. A setting of 35 is probably good enough but if ur still having problems with low fps I recommend that u set this at either 40 or 45. Be reminded that setting this too high isn't a good idea since the game will display fewer/lower details on most parts of the game just to keep up with ur specified minimum fps rate setting.
 
=Decals=
Disabling this will slightly increase the game's performance because the game will no longer draw scorch marks from firefights. If ur having low fps when in heavy firefights. I recommend that u either set the decal stay setting inside the game to "Low" or completely disable it here by giving it a value of "False"
 
=Coronas=
This setting enables/disables light sources from inside the game. GeForce 2 (or higher/faster) card owners should only have little to no problem enabling this setting. While slower/older card owners might consider disabling this setting for a slight boost in fps ... specially with those maps that have lots of light sources.
 
=NoDynamicLights=
This setting enables/disables dynamic lighting from explosions, weapon fire etc. GeForce 2 card owners are free to enable this setting. While slower/older card owners might be forced to disable this setting 'coz this setting will give them a very noticeable boost in performance specially when in engaged in heavy firefights.
 
=NoFractalAnim=
Enables/Disables water, flame (etc.) animations. This will boost performance but will make the game props look like 2d and/or static. Only disable if ur desperate for a performance increase.

 
[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]

=DetailTextures=
This setting will make the textures much more detailed but the performance hit is quite big. I recommend that u disable this option if ur having low fps probs. The increase in graphics detail isn't worth the decrease in fps IMO. Or maybe I'm just too busy fragging instead of staring on those minute increase on texture details! ahehe!
 
=HighDetailActors=
Set to "true" for better looking transparency effect for players with power-ups. Disable for better performance but ugly looking players with power-ups.
 
=UsePreCaching=
64mb or higher videocard owners should enable this setting for smoother performance. While 32mb or lower card owners are better off disabling this to conserve video memory at the expense of slower performance on the first few minutes of play while the game loads textures into ur vidcard's memory.
 
=UseTrilinear=
GeForce 3 or faster/newer card owners should have no probs enabling this option. While GeForce2 owners might want to consider disabling this 'coz ur card might not be fast enough to support this setting. Enabling this setting will enhance texture detail.
 
=UseTripleBuffering=
Enabling this will force the game to use a third frame buffer and as a result will increase performance but only if ur videocard has enough memory to support it. Set to "True" if ur card has 64mb or more memory. Set to "False" if ur card only have 32mb or lower memory.
 
=DesiredRefreshRate=
Set this to the highest refresh rate ur monitor can handle at ur current in-game resolution. 85 or 100hz is the recommended setting. Only set it to 75 or 60 if ur monitor can't handle such high settings.
 
=UseCompressedLightmaps=
This setting will enable the game to compress the lightmap textures while the game loads. This will decrease the amount of video memory used but will increase the game's loading time when enabled. Set to "True" if ur card only have 64mb or lower memory. Disable if ur card have 128mb memory.
 
=UseStencil=
Stencil is designed to make the shadow effects more detailed/lifelike. But I'm currently having troubles running the game with the shadow effects enabled so I can't try 'em out for myself. If ur not having any problems with the game while shadow is enabled ... try enabling this setting and check out the shadow effect if it looked better.
 
=UseVsync=
As with any other game, Vsync should be left disabled for better performance. Only enable if ur experiencing graphic tearing while playing the game.

 
 
Last Updated: 092002
=closed to future updates=
 
**I was planning to update this section to become an Unreal 2k3 Tweaking section. But when I saw how slow Unreal 2k3's engine was .. I was immediately turned-off so I decided not to buy the game.

 
IMPORTANT:

***Always remember that I will not be held responsible in any way if this tweaking guide will cause your game any problems. TWEAK AT YOUR OWN RISK!

**What do you think about my Unreal Tournament Demo tweak guide? Please sign my guestbook before leaving, it's the least you can do to thank me, and the only way for me to know that someone did visit my site!

**Any comments, suggestion, corrections, and/or ADDITIONS will be accepted and greatly appreciated (don't worry, you will get all the credit for any additional tweaks that you're going to give me).

*Email me if u have any other comments, questions, and/or suggestions. Tnx!