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What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Configuration Guide for Low-End Desktop and Notebook PCs
auzrael34
Member Posts: 9 Arc User
THIS IS THE OLD VERSION OF THE TUTORIAL AND WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED HERE, INSTEAD PLEASE GO TO THIS THREAD
http://techsupport.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=25591
THANKS
****I WOULD PERSONALY LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE AWSOME REPLIES, I WAS VERY HAPPY TO KNOW I HELPED YOU ENJOY THIS GREAT GAME EVEN MORE****
-Auzrael34
Neverwinter Configuration for Optimal Performance on Low-End Systems
*Update 1
Ver. 1.1
-Added Advanced Video Settings Configuration
-Organized the screen shots to match the text better
*Update 2
Ver. 1.2
-Reviewed the render scale ratio vs performance and how it effects the overall quality of the game while maintaining a steady fps measurement. Unfortunatly the amount of units the gpu produces vs the frequency of other factors, such as video ram and dedicated memory, shared etc. as well as the tempatures of the machine and the oc/uc processors/gpus, it just isn't a large enough difference to warrant altering the render scale at all.
For me adjusting to full render scale provides a nice set of smoothe textures and objects to enjoy as well as providing a window for draw distance.
You can always use the rule of thumb of course and adjust your render scale to whatever you like as I am just providing a good base structure for you to customize and improve on specific to your personal system.
*Update 3
Ver.1.3
-Cleaned up some of the sections so they don't run together and become confusing
-Removed excess html codes
-Corrected syntax errors and cleaned up grammar related issues
***I will be posting a slideshow soon to support a 1-10 step based presentation and correct some of the html errors involving some pics not displaying correctly.***
===============================================================
I have been playing & following Neverwinter for quite some time and it works flawlessly with great graphics configurations via the default set up on most Desktop PCs. However, I rarely use my Desktop for anything but 3D Editing and Animation Rendering 90% of the time I am on my laptop and prefer it over my Desktop.
I didn't prepare myself however for the lag I would suffer due to hardware configurations between the two machines. So I decided that I would tweak and test different set-ups to find the best possible balance between Performance and Quality.
I was able to achieve a configuration I am quite proud of and I am now able to run the game fullspeed without sacraficing quality. I decided I would write a short tutorial on a very versatile and highly user friendly configuration to help those with low end machines be it Desktop or Notebook PCs.
Things you Will Need:
Neverwinter Client Obviously
Desktop PC/Notebook PC with at least 1 GPU Graphics Card w/ at least 256MB Dedicated Video Memory and supports at least between 640 x 480 - 1280 x 768 Resolutions.
Please keep in mind that Integrated Graphics can rarely if ever be overclocked. If you have Integrated On-Board Graphics please skip the overclock section of the tutorial.
A minimum of 2GB Ram, 4 GB at the bare minimum is recomended
CPU with at least 1.5 - 2.0 GHZ
Nvidia nTUNE for NVIDIA/EVGA Cards
nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.05.54.00
ATI Catalyst Control Center & AMD Fusion Combo for AMD Based Cards
amd.com/unleash
Select the one that matches your graphics card, You can also grab AMD Overdrive to tweak the your CPU if you have an AMD CPU that supports the software but Laptops are usually in most cases locked from being able to overclock the processor thus it will not be included in this guide.
Very Basic Level of computer skills using Microsoft Windows 7/8
Let's Get Started:
I will be using an AMD GPU which includes the mini tutorials for AMD Fusion and ATI CCC but other video card brands have some kind of software to tweak your card so just do some research on your search engine for your card or use whatever overclocking software you want to use as this tutorial can be applied to all with a little common sense. For this guide I used Windows 7 but other OS will work fine as well.
First thing we want to do is open up Amd Fusion and you will be greeted with the following screen or something similar.
Under the AMD Tab click on the profile "Gaming" and click "Activate on the bottom right of the screen.
Now click on "Graphics" Tab and Enable Overclocking, 500 is a safe level for system stability but you can play with other frequencies as well.
You may also want to change the Power Profile to "Max Performance" if it is not enabled already.
Also note that there are many other options you can play with such as the CPU Frequency as well but I don't recommend altering anything on the processor unless you are a experienced overclocker as it can destroy your rig if you do not do it correctly.
CPU overclocking isn't needed for this guide so it is not included in the tutorial.
However just as a off the record tip, Set your CPU Clock to 1400MHZ and increase in 10MGHz implements until you reach the desired level range that maintains a stable configuration. It can sometimes boost performance further but the differences are usually trivial.
You may also consult Guru3D.com for excellent tutorials on overclocking and benchmarking your system CPU.
You may close AMD Fusion now by clicking the "X" Button and it will continue running in your system tray.
Next let's open ATI Catalyst Control Engine and you will be greeted with something like this.
Next click on "Desktop Management", then click on the "Desktop Properties" Tab.
If your GPU will allow it select the 640 x 480 option (Don't worry we are going to configure the game client to look just as good as it performs.)
If it does not allow the 640 x 480 option on your particular model, the 800 x 600 - 1280 x 768 range will often run smoothely as well depending on your graphics card and your system.
Next change the Color Depth to 16 Bit. You will receive an error but just ignore it as the game will run anyway with little to no noticable differences.
A screen will popup that gives you the option to change back to 32 Bit but just click the option to run the game anyway on the warning screen.
When the error "32bitorDie" pops up just click ok to dismiss it and continue loading the game client.
Now that we have that out of the way lets focus on Neverwinter's configuration itself. Go ahead and load up the game client, login & click "Options" at the bottom. Click on the "Video" Tab and you will see a screen like this.
The first thing we want to change is the resolution. I set mine at 1280 - 768 and have had little to no hiccups or lag and a solid consitant framerate.
Next set the Aspect Ratio to 4:3. This will smoothe it all out and compensate for edge clipping and reduce lag during high population and combat areas.
Next lets enlarge our HUD so we can prevent collision with the HUD Interface.
Click on "Interface" click the "General" Tab and set the "UI Scale" to different measurments until you reach a clear view of the HUD paramiters and UI Scale, it really doesn't matter what you change it to as it has no impact on performance. It is simply there to increase the size of the GUI and HUD Displays so it is clearly readable.
As a side note, once you are in the game world, press the ESC Key or hit the Alt key and click on the options tab at the top of the HUD. Click on Interface Tab. Click on the "Chat" Tab and adjust the "Font Scale" of the Chat GUI.
Again this has no impact on performance, it is just there in case you are having a hard time reading the text of other players, game hints, quest log and so on.
Ok now that we adjusted our GUI lets move on with the Video Configuration.
Click the Video Tab again and set your brightness and such to a smoothe lighting configuration that you are happy with. This is again not a factor in performance, it is simply there to adjust the lighting and calibrate the monitor to display the desired level of lighting and enviornment settings.
Next, look at the "Vsync" setting. If it is enabled then turn it off via the button options beside it. Disabling Vsync will improve Frame Rate considerably reguardless of your PC Specs.
Now lets take a look at the "Render Scale and Graphics" Options sliders.
Go ahead and set the Render Scale Slider all the way up to maximum. With this configuration you may use max render settings and get an even better looking world from the character models to the smallest enviornmental object, with no impact on gameplay performance.
Now you have two options you can go with for "Graphics" and I will include both methods via screen shot.
Basic Configuration
Method #1: Slide the Graphics slider to each section in implents of 3 notches until you reach the far end of the low setting and just under the medium setting. This method is trial and error but I do not recommend spending to much time on it and just using the setting I mentioned.
Method #2: Tick the box that reads Advanced Video Settings.
This option allows you to tweak the configuration further if you are not yet satisfied with your current settings. You can use Method #1 as a base configuration to improve on in the advanced settings.
The following portion of this guide outlines a more detailed approach to adjusting the settings for this configuration. If you are happy with the base configuration we discussed earlier in the tutorial, this section is not required. It is for more advanced gamers who want to push their system to the very limits in order to achieve Performance with their Low-End System without losing High-End Quality.
I am not able to provide screen shots for the Advanced Settings portion but I can provide them by request. The forum system only allows me to have 4.
Feel free to send me any alternative configurations you come up with and I will add it to the guide with your name in the contribution credits.
Advanced Configuration
Load the game client and login, click on the Options Tab then click the Video Tab. Scroll down to the bottom where the automatic configuration controls are displayed and tick the box below it entitled Advanced Video Settings.
Follow this Configuration Outline as a base for your Advanced Configuration:
Performance:
Antialiasing: None
Dynamic Lighting: Off
Lighting Quality: Low
Shadows: Off
Max Lights Per Object: 2
Max Shadowed Lights: 1
Texture Anisotropic Filtering: Off
Max Shader Quality: Low
Detail:
World Texture Quality: 75%
Character Texture Quality: 88%
World Detail Distance: 38%
Terrain Detail Distance: 80%
Character Detail Distance: 63%
Show High Detail Objects: On
Max Physics Debris Objects: 42
Raise Settings in Character Creator: On
Effects:
Postprocessing: Off
Visual FX Quality: Medium
Soft Particles: Off
Bloom Quality: On
Bloom Intensity: 30%
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion: Off
Cinematic Focus (Depth of Field): Off
Underwater View: On
Reflection Quality: High
Lens Flare Quality: Off
That's it, you now have a fully configured Graphics Profile to play Neverwinter on your Low-End Desktop PC or Standard GPU based Notebook PC.
I hope everyone enjoyed this tutorial and I was able to help someone play Neverwinter the way it was meant to be played. In my humble opinion you shouldn't have to spend $1000+ on a expensive high end gaming rig to enjoy the latest games when you are on a low budget.
I will be adding updates soon as I continue working on this graphics profile so come back often.
This set up will also improve performance of other games as well. Just remember to compensate for the differences.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions feel free to post them here or just comment on the tutorial.
Post screenshots of your end result if you would like.
Happy Gaming and See Ya in Neverwinter!
http://techsupport.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=25591
THANKS
****I WOULD PERSONALY LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE AWSOME REPLIES, I WAS VERY HAPPY TO KNOW I HELPED YOU ENJOY THIS GREAT GAME EVEN MORE****
-Auzrael34
Neverwinter Configuration for Optimal Performance on Low-End Systems
*Update 1
Ver. 1.1
-Added Advanced Video Settings Configuration
-Organized the screen shots to match the text better
*Update 2
Ver. 1.2
-Reviewed the render scale ratio vs performance and how it effects the overall quality of the game while maintaining a steady fps measurement. Unfortunatly the amount of units the gpu produces vs the frequency of other factors, such as video ram and dedicated memory, shared etc. as well as the tempatures of the machine and the oc/uc processors/gpus, it just isn't a large enough difference to warrant altering the render scale at all.
For me adjusting to full render scale provides a nice set of smoothe textures and objects to enjoy as well as providing a window for draw distance.
You can always use the rule of thumb of course and adjust your render scale to whatever you like as I am just providing a good base structure for you to customize and improve on specific to your personal system.
*Update 3
Ver.1.3
-Cleaned up some of the sections so they don't run together and become confusing
-Removed excess html codes
-Corrected syntax errors and cleaned up grammar related issues
***I will be posting a slideshow soon to support a 1-10 step based presentation and correct some of the html errors involving some pics not displaying correctly.***
===============================================================
I have been playing & following Neverwinter for quite some time and it works flawlessly with great graphics configurations via the default set up on most Desktop PCs. However, I rarely use my Desktop for anything but 3D Editing and Animation Rendering 90% of the time I am on my laptop and prefer it over my Desktop.
I didn't prepare myself however for the lag I would suffer due to hardware configurations between the two machines. So I decided that I would tweak and test different set-ups to find the best possible balance between Performance and Quality.
I was able to achieve a configuration I am quite proud of and I am now able to run the game fullspeed without sacraficing quality. I decided I would write a short tutorial on a very versatile and highly user friendly configuration to help those with low end machines be it Desktop or Notebook PCs.
Things you Will Need:
Neverwinter Client Obviously
Desktop PC/Notebook PC with at least 1 GPU Graphics Card w/ at least 256MB Dedicated Video Memory and supports at least between 640 x 480 - 1280 x 768 Resolutions.
Please keep in mind that Integrated Graphics can rarely if ever be overclocked. If you have Integrated On-Board Graphics please skip the overclock section of the tutorial.
A minimum of 2GB Ram, 4 GB at the bare minimum is recomended
CPU with at least 1.5 - 2.0 GHZ
Nvidia nTUNE for NVIDIA/EVGA Cards
nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.05.54.00
ATI Catalyst Control Center & AMD Fusion Combo for AMD Based Cards
amd.com/unleash
Select the one that matches your graphics card, You can also grab AMD Overdrive to tweak the your CPU if you have an AMD CPU that supports the software but Laptops are usually in most cases locked from being able to overclock the processor thus it will not be included in this guide.
Very Basic Level of computer skills using Microsoft Windows 7/8
Let's Get Started:
I will be using an AMD GPU which includes the mini tutorials for AMD Fusion and ATI CCC but other video card brands have some kind of software to tweak your card so just do some research on your search engine for your card or use whatever overclocking software you want to use as this tutorial can be applied to all with a little common sense. For this guide I used Windows 7 but other OS will work fine as well.
First thing we want to do is open up Amd Fusion and you will be greeted with the following screen or something similar.
Under the AMD Tab click on the profile "Gaming" and click "Activate on the bottom right of the screen.
Now click on "Graphics" Tab and Enable Overclocking, 500 is a safe level for system stability but you can play with other frequencies as well.
You may also want to change the Power Profile to "Max Performance" if it is not enabled already.
Also note that there are many other options you can play with such as the CPU Frequency as well but I don't recommend altering anything on the processor unless you are a experienced overclocker as it can destroy your rig if you do not do it correctly.
CPU overclocking isn't needed for this guide so it is not included in the tutorial.
However just as a off the record tip, Set your CPU Clock to 1400MHZ and increase in 10MGHz implements until you reach the desired level range that maintains a stable configuration. It can sometimes boost performance further but the differences are usually trivial.
You may also consult Guru3D.com for excellent tutorials on overclocking and benchmarking your system CPU.
You may close AMD Fusion now by clicking the "X" Button and it will continue running in your system tray.
Next let's open ATI Catalyst Control Engine and you will be greeted with something like this.
Next click on "Desktop Management", then click on the "Desktop Properties" Tab.
If your GPU will allow it select the 640 x 480 option (Don't worry we are going to configure the game client to look just as good as it performs.)
If it does not allow the 640 x 480 option on your particular model, the 800 x 600 - 1280 x 768 range will often run smoothely as well depending on your graphics card and your system.
Next change the Color Depth to 16 Bit. You will receive an error but just ignore it as the game will run anyway with little to no noticable differences.
A screen will popup that gives you the option to change back to 32 Bit but just click the option to run the game anyway on the warning screen.
When the error "32bitorDie" pops up just click ok to dismiss it and continue loading the game client.
Now that we have that out of the way lets focus on Neverwinter's configuration itself. Go ahead and load up the game client, login & click "Options" at the bottom. Click on the "Video" Tab and you will see a screen like this.
The first thing we want to change is the resolution. I set mine at 1280 - 768 and have had little to no hiccups or lag and a solid consitant framerate.
Next set the Aspect Ratio to 4:3. This will smoothe it all out and compensate for edge clipping and reduce lag during high population and combat areas.
Next lets enlarge our HUD so we can prevent collision with the HUD Interface.
Click on "Interface" click the "General" Tab and set the "UI Scale" to different measurments until you reach a clear view of the HUD paramiters and UI Scale, it really doesn't matter what you change it to as it has no impact on performance. It is simply there to increase the size of the GUI and HUD Displays so it is clearly readable.
As a side note, once you are in the game world, press the ESC Key or hit the Alt key and click on the options tab at the top of the HUD. Click on Interface Tab. Click on the "Chat" Tab and adjust the "Font Scale" of the Chat GUI.
Again this has no impact on performance, it is just there in case you are having a hard time reading the text of other players, game hints, quest log and so on.
Ok now that we adjusted our GUI lets move on with the Video Configuration.
Click the Video Tab again and set your brightness and such to a smoothe lighting configuration that you are happy with. This is again not a factor in performance, it is simply there to adjust the lighting and calibrate the monitor to display the desired level of lighting and enviornment settings.
Next, look at the "Vsync" setting. If it is enabled then turn it off via the button options beside it. Disabling Vsync will improve Frame Rate considerably reguardless of your PC Specs.
Now lets take a look at the "Render Scale and Graphics" Options sliders.
Go ahead and set the Render Scale Slider all the way up to maximum. With this configuration you may use max render settings and get an even better looking world from the character models to the smallest enviornmental object, with no impact on gameplay performance.
Now you have two options you can go with for "Graphics" and I will include both methods via screen shot.
Basic Configuration
Method #1: Slide the Graphics slider to each section in implents of 3 notches until you reach the far end of the low setting and just under the medium setting. This method is trial and error but I do not recommend spending to much time on it and just using the setting I mentioned.
Method #2: Tick the box that reads Advanced Video Settings.
This option allows you to tweak the configuration further if you are not yet satisfied with your current settings. You can use Method #1 as a base configuration to improve on in the advanced settings.
The following portion of this guide outlines a more detailed approach to adjusting the settings for this configuration. If you are happy with the base configuration we discussed earlier in the tutorial, this section is not required. It is for more advanced gamers who want to push their system to the very limits in order to achieve Performance with their Low-End System without losing High-End Quality.
I am not able to provide screen shots for the Advanced Settings portion but I can provide them by request. The forum system only allows me to have 4.
Feel free to send me any alternative configurations you come up with and I will add it to the guide with your name in the contribution credits.
Advanced Configuration
Load the game client and login, click on the Options Tab then click the Video Tab. Scroll down to the bottom where the automatic configuration controls are displayed and tick the box below it entitled Advanced Video Settings.
Follow this Configuration Outline as a base for your Advanced Configuration:
Performance:
Antialiasing: None
Dynamic Lighting: Off
Lighting Quality: Low
Shadows: Off
Max Lights Per Object: 2
Max Shadowed Lights: 1
Texture Anisotropic Filtering: Off
Max Shader Quality: Low
Detail:
World Texture Quality: 75%
Character Texture Quality: 88%
World Detail Distance: 38%
Terrain Detail Distance: 80%
Character Detail Distance: 63%
Show High Detail Objects: On
Max Physics Debris Objects: 42
Raise Settings in Character Creator: On
Effects:
Postprocessing: Off
Visual FX Quality: Medium
Soft Particles: Off
Bloom Quality: On
Bloom Intensity: 30%
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion: Off
Cinematic Focus (Depth of Field): Off
Underwater View: On
Reflection Quality: High
Lens Flare Quality: Off
That's it, you now have a fully configured Graphics Profile to play Neverwinter on your Low-End Desktop PC or Standard GPU based Notebook PC.
I hope everyone enjoyed this tutorial and I was able to help someone play Neverwinter the way it was meant to be played. In my humble opinion you shouldn't have to spend $1000+ on a expensive high end gaming rig to enjoy the latest games when you are on a low budget.
I will be adding updates soon as I continue working on this graphics profile so come back often.
This set up will also improve performance of other games as well. Just remember to compensate for the differences.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions feel free to post them here or just comment on the tutorial.
Post screenshots of your end result if you would like.
Happy Gaming and See Ya in Neverwinter!
Post edited by auzrael34 on
0
Comments
+1 insightful
+1 techie
You sir get 3 internets!
Also, if anyone knows how to get Neverwinter to recognise the AMD card in my laptop instead of the onboard I'd really appreciate it. I've tried doing it via AMD Switchable Graphics and the in-game troubleshooting options but no joy.
Acer Aspire v3-571g
i3 2350m /2,3ghz 3mb l3 cache
nvidia geforce gt 630m with 1gb dedicated vram
4gb ddr3
hope sb can help me out.
2.) Adjust each option according to framerate preference
3.) Profit
Thank you very much for your time and effort, really appreciated.
There is a very small difference in the amount of detail to set the rendering scale, I will look more into this and if the amount of performance increase is significant at all, I will include it in the tutorial. Where I stand right now though, as a gamer, the performance increase between low and high render scale is so small it is barely noticable. Are you sure you aren't thinking of the measure of units to render in the object details. Increasing/decreasing the amount of objects your gpu is receiving/sending has a significant measure of performance vs quality.
Like I said though, I will look more into it and give you proper credit if it gets added. Not trying to discredit you here just making sure we are talking about the same thing.
Update soon.
I will no longer be updating here so direct all replies to the thread in tech support, link is below.
http://techsupport.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=25591
thanks.