Video Options

Video options is where you can set things like resolution, and also either improve how the game looks, or reduce graphics options in order to get better performance from it. At the end of this page is a great guide by Assassin to optimize Alien Arena on low spec systems/if you are suffering from low performance in the game - click here for the guide. To get here select Tools/Launch Alien Arena from Galaxy, or press escape in game. Then select Video Options from the next screen. You'll end up with this screen showing : On the top bit you can cycle through different resolutions - generally lower resolutions perform better though look worse. You can set a custom resolution by setting "Video Mode" to custom and then typing values in the Custom Height and Custom Width boxes. Down at the bottom you'll see 5 options for default graphics settings combinations - Low, Medium, Normal, High, Highest, Ultra. Clicking one of these will change to those settings. The higher the setting, the better PC you will need to run it. If you are suffering from problems ingame with very low performance then try the lowest setting here to see if it helps. To improve performance or looks, you can also play with the other options here - Use GLSL shaders and Vertical Sync are two that you definitely want to look at turning off if Alien Arena is not running well for you. It's also worth making sure that Vertical Sync is disabled in your graphics cards control panel as sometimes this may over-ride in game settings. Click apply changes to apply any settings you've changed, or just press escape to cancel them. Optimize Alien Arena for Higher Performance on Low Spec Systems - by Assassin This is a quick guide to help your game run better if you experience low frame rates, and or a game that just won't run. I have a Radeon Xpress 200 (integrated graphics card) and this seems to help my game out alot. In game options :: -Shaders -Shadows -Dynamic Lights -Real time lighting -Set your sound quality to 22 khz In Video options : -Turn OFF multitextural combine -Turn OFF bumpmapping -Turn OFF Hires Textures -Lower texture quality -Turn off reflective water -Make sure bloom is DISABLED -Make sure vertical sync is OFF -Try to run at a low resolution preferably 800X600 mine is lower than that 640x480 (remember the lower it is the better the game will run). Although on most cards that are relatively new, running the game at your desktop resolution (the one that your computer uses) is the best way to go. -Run the game in windowed mode. This can help framerates drastically (not advised with 640x480, as the window will be a bit too tiny, use 800x600 and up). To check your fps (frames per second) drop your console in game with the ~ button located near the 1 key, and type in cl_drawfps 1. That will draw your fps at the bottom right of your screen. It should be noted, however, that if you don't need to see your framerate (aka if they aren't bouncy, and you don't need to do the thing below), then set it to off. Ok this is the last thing if your frames are "bouncy" then you want to have a solid framerate. So drop the console again (~ button) and type in cl_maxfps XX where XX is the desired frame rate. For example: cl_maxfps 40. And remember, when it's not bouncy, set cl_drawfps to 0, unless you want to watch it. You may want to try and experiment with different numbers untill you get one that sticks. (REMEMBER that a little bouncy is NOT bad but when your jumping between 80 - 20 fps bad then the game won't run as well) People with a strong computer should set cl_maxfps to 140, as it's the optimal quake engine fps. If all else is failing, and AA still runs slow for you, there is one last alternative. Bad.cfg is a game config file that takes the graphics and makes them worse than in game options could ever do. You can find bad.cfg here. It should be noted that bad.cfg is absolutely the LAST RESORT. Your game will be very pixelated, as if you're running it in software mode. People who like their graphics and won't accept anything bad should stay away from this. But, on the other hand, it's proven to increase framerates, and the game does retain its overall look. Just know that -Grated floors are now invisible -It's extremely pixelated -The game menu settings won't tell you the full story about what it does Now, if your framerates still suck after this, ask in IRC. Enjoy!