[Fireskull]

Final Phase Tweaking - The confi.ini.exe File As the shoemaker makes final cuts such as the tongue and applies finishes to the shoe, so you will tweak IL-2 to complete the enhancement of IL-2.

Here is where you are focused mainly on IL-2 appearance while reducing the stutters.


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IMPORTANT: READ-ONLY... The conf.ini file can be locked to prevent your system from making unwanted changes. READ-ONLY applied to the file will lock all settings in place. Simply undo the READ-ONLY to make changes to your conf.ini file.

NOTE: Any changes to your graphics settings in the Setup, Graphics Control Panel, or conf.ini should be made AFTER you undo the conf.ini READ-ONLY. When you are done with graphics settings, then set the conf.ini file to READ-ONLY.

Right click on the conf.ini file icon. Click on Properties at the bottom of the window which appears. Another window will come on the screen with the READ-ONLY check box by it. Put a check in the box and click APPLY. Undo it by clicking on the check in the box and then click APPLY.

Any time that you make a graphics setting change, you should do this procedure. This is true for graphics Setup, Control Panel, and conf.ini file settings.

Make copies of everything that works great.
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Perfect Water settings are included here. Only OpenGL makes this possible and how to do it is revealed in the last part of this section.


The command lines for graphics are actually in IL-2 conf.ini file of the main file and folder registry in the IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 folder. Your graphics interface-NVIDIA, and nHancer in my case-place the values that you indicate with the graphics interface. In other words, your graphics control panel is a kind of editor which makes changes in the confi.ini file and potentially elsewhere. The new values appear in the conf.ini file automatically, however, you can open the conf.ini and change things manually.

Make a copy of conf.ini and put the copy someplace where you will be sure to find it again, easily. Make only changes that have been proven to be harmless. If you muck things, then you can reinsert a copy of the original and start to modify again. This way you can safely experiment with a copy of the conf.ini file. I have a disabled copy of conf.ini under the active one. The disabled conf.ini has a minus (-) symbol at the beginning of the name that I placed there. This is the most convenient way to preserve a file or folder in IL-2, if you want to be sure to keep it in association with that particular IL-2 version. See how the PC techniques are so important? They are easy, too, with a little practice.

Note: You can make changes, but anything that you set in your graphics card interface afterward could over ride your attempt to change those settings in the conf.ini file. The settings in your Hardware Setup found through the IL-2 main interface can also over ride your conf.ini attempts. Through some trial and error, I discovered which ones I can increase, even some independently of the graphics interface. A few made improvements of graphics visual features. I suppose this is because 1C: Maddox Games allowed features which would possibly become available in the future with improvements in the capabilities of graphic cards and their drivers. However, you can change the settings that are not overwritten by the IL-2 Setup and graphics Control Panel. As written above this, practice is needed, and research helps you to realize things.

CAUTION:If you have a powerful rig, then you can safely use my settings within the chip core temperature limit.

Make a copy of your original conf.ini and put it in an easy to find location for preserving your information. You could make a copy of it and drag the copy to your Desktop. Next, you rename it with only adding a minus (-) sign in front of the name. Drag the deactivated stock conf.ini file next to the modified one.

TIP:You can use the deactivation method with minus sign added to the name on any command line of the conf.ini file. Carefully type the new copy or paste it above the stock deactivated one.

DirectX Performance Preference settings will be given first.

OpenGL Best Image Quality Preference settings will be given second.


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TIPS:
Performance increases
In your conf.ini file...

1) Reduce 3dgunners=
2) Reduce Effects=
3) Reduce Forest=
4) Reduce Water=

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The following are image examples of online DirectX settings for Performance Preference. Japanese Mitsubishi Zero fighter controls at my hands, I circle Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands region, Pacific Theatre of Operations. I am looking for targets to attack. Notice the smoke of the American anti-aircraft battery which is tracking me.



After shooting down 1 enemy fighter, I took shots from another and anti-aircraft fire. As my dying aeroplane descends, I look for an important ground target for suicidal collision. ( Aren't we glad that it's only a simulation! :lol: )



These images are provided for your benefit in order to compare to what you have. Keep in mind that my images appear in this topic as a bit blurry because of 2nd or 3rd generation image transfer. You can still get a good sense of what to expect with your settings by comparison.


IMPORTANT: The computer monitor color settings which I have render all the images in this topic to a very realistic quality. By looking at these, you should be able to adjust your color settings and IL-2 related graphics settings while making the comparison with what you have.

My conf.ini settings

Look down the list of command lines in the conf.ini file. I changed mine to ProcessAffinityMask=3 - Notice: no ";" (semicolon). [Original was ;ProcessAffinityMask=1] What you need for ProcessAffinityMask should have been determined by you no later than the Benchmarking Phase 1, before Optimization Phase 2.

Windows Task Manager Resource Monitor confirms that both my cores and 18-28 threads are being used to process IL-2. This is improved from IL-2 sharing the first core with the OS and only 1-3 threads. Huge! I recommend carefully researching and experimenting with Multi Core to assess your requirements before you leave the Benchmarking Phase 1, then progress through the following Optimization Phase 2 and end with conf.ini, all the while comparing the results in FPS and stuttering in The Black Death track.



DirectX Performance Settings of confi.ini This is what I usually use for Performance online flying, DirectX, and no nHancer.



Remember that any Control Panel changes can overide your attempts to make changes to command lines in the confi.ini file. With a little practice, this will become clearer to you.

Be careful about experimenting with settings which are not recommended by me in the conf.ini file. Making a copy of the original conf.ini is very advisable. You can then experiment while keeping your original configuration and using it for comparison.

The safest, most reliable way to make experimental settings is one command line at a time. Change one line and restart IL-2 to view the results. The other alternative is to simply copy my whole safe configuration and see the results of it.


[Render_DirectX]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=2 ( Change to =2 for Trilinear, =3 is Anisotropic which the most powerful graphics cards can easily handle )
TexCompress=2 ( 0=no compression, best quality/ 1=16 bit conversion, balanced/ 2=S3TC best performance, least quality )
TexFlags.UseDither=1 (This section is TexFlags, or Texture Flag commands)
UseAlpha=0
UseIndex=0
Polygonstipple=1
UseClampedSprites=0
DrawLandByTriangles=1
UseVertexArrays=1 ( Some drivers have problems with this. Set to =0 if anything major happens. Test it to see. )
DisableAPIExtensions=0
ARBMultitextureExt=2 DirectX Performance Settings in this list
SecondaryColorExt=1
VertexArrayExt=1
ClipHintExt=1
UsePaletteExt=1 (Using Palette increases performance slightly but decreases color quality a bit)
TexAnisotropicExt=1
TexCompressARBExt=1 ( Activate with 1 if above S3TC is used )
TexEnvCombine4NV=1
TexEnvCombineDot3=1
DepthClampNV=1
SeparateSpecular=1
TextureShaderNV=1

HardwareShaders=0 ( Must be 1 to activate Perfect Mode in OpenGL list, use =0 for DirectX Performance Preference, but you can use HardwareShaders=1 for DirectX, too. )

The following section to including Effects, you should increase the number upto 2, and 3 with more powerful graphics or DirectX 11 for the ones indicated with 3.

Shadows=1 (This =1 seems most realistic to me. Try 0, 1, and 2 with a little experimenting if you want a change in shadows.)
Specular=2
SpecularLight=2
DiffuseLight=2
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=2
VisibilityDistance=3 DirectX Performance Settings in this list

Sky=2 (Sky=3 for best clouds and sky but decrease in performance. Sky=3 eliminates cloud defects and allows border between terrain and clouds to be realistic.)
Forest=2 ( =3 for 3D Forest Trees with leaves! =3 Does decrease performance, especially FPS)
LandShading=2
LandDetails=2 ( Got a powerful GPU? Try 3 )

LandGeom=2
TexLarge=1 ( might allow =2 but I think this is only available in OpenGL Perfect Mode)
TexLandQual=2 ( =3 is best land quality )
TexLandLarge=1 ( might allow =2 but I think this is only available in OpenGL Perfect Mode)
water=2

(NVIDIA water=2 or water=3 for performance, however =4 is for Perfect Water but only OpenGL)
(ATI owners should always use water=2)

NOTE: Perfect water is currently only available in OpenGL... See the last two conf.ini sections for details on Best Image Quality and Perfect Water Settings.

There is talk about DirectX 11 in 2010 allowing perfect water setting in IL-2. We'll see about that. 8)


Effects=1

( Effects=0 is minimal effects and will turn the mods effects to OFF, increasing performance, especially raising FPS. )(Effects=1 is considered good but can cause a significant decrease in FPS in some computer with mods used. Effects=2 is the best in many situations. A few claim that Effect=3 works with some mod packs.)

ForceShaders1x=0

( Try 1: =1 will typically work for the nVidia 5000 series video cards, but many websites claim that =1 is not needed for newer cards )

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VideoSetupId=15 ( try =17)

0 - Safe Settings
1 - Default Settings
2 - Maximum Settings
3 - NVidia GeForce 6800/6600/FX/4/3
4 - NVidia GeForce 5200..5900 - 1.x Shaders
5 - NVidia GeForce 4MX
6 - NVidia GeForce 2 GTS/MX/256
7 - NVidia Riva TNT2
8 - ATI Radeon X800/9800/9700/9600/9500
9 - ATI Radeon 8500/9000
10 - ATI Radeon
11 - Intel 915/925 (GMA900)
12 - Kyro II
13 - Matrox G400
14 - 3dfx Voodoo 3
15 - 3dfx Voodoo 5
16 - S3 Savage 4
17 – Custom (Most people will use this. Set =17 if you have custom settings in your IL-2 Setup/il2set.exe)





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TIP: A quick technique is that if you reduce the land lighting and other settings in your IL-2 Hardware Setup in the Main Interface, the demand against performance is significantly improved. You may even see better FPS. I sometimes do this when I need a quick improvement to return fast to online flying. ( My Squadron mates sometimes wonder what the @#*^%! I am doing as they wait a few moments for me. :wink: :lol: )

Perfect Water requires that you keep the Landscape Details Perfect in the IL-2 Hardware Setup, but reducing other settings may help increase your IL-2 performance.



How do you like the information? If you have examined and done everything that you could in this section, then you have done well.

MISSION COMPLETE