Making your game ready for Multiplayer

[Zyromkiru 10]

Just want to share some info with players so they may get a better experience.

Do keep in mind that some servers just aren't good, ping will lag you, multiplayer in general isn't very optimized or utilizes cpu/gpu (Talk about it Here -This is for the game in general though.)

I recommend checking what your Computer handles better..

Click the highest graphics setting and work your way down to see what gives you drops or not.

Now you all should know what certain settings really hurt you and what I've done on my personal computer to increase my FPS tenfold while being able to have good graphics.

Overall: 2000-5000 Depends on servers anyways , thanks Bobby Budnick for this info

Object: 1000-2000 1000 is a good performance/view combo

Shadow: 75-200

Object Distance is the main killer and Overall is changed through player menu or not changed at all on most servers.

I have listed both the good settings and the bad.

Red means big FPS drops (avoid these options)

All Other options in Gray are recommended as far as getting performance/visuals at the same time.

Vysnc: OFF/ON

Antialiasing: x2/x4/x8

PPAA: FXAA Ultra

ATOC: All Trees + Grass

Post Processing: Low/Normal/High/Very High

HDR Quality: Standard

Anisotropic Filtering: Very High/Ultra

PIP: OFF

Dynamic Lights: High/Very High/Ultra

Texture Quality: Very High/Ultra

Object Quality: Very High/Ultra

Terrain Quality: High/Very High/Ultra

Cloud Quality: Very High/Ultra

Shadow Quality: Low/Standard/High

Particles Quality: Any For most cases Very High is just fine

Server Info:

-Wasteland Servers need a re-work before playing on so avoid them unless you want less performance than other servers.

-Ping: Try and Stay below 100, lower the better

-Opt into the Dev Build for multiplayer (Click for thread), thanks Tvrdi

for mentioning that [improved FPS to the equivalent of singleplayer!]

Edited March 13, 2013 by Zyromkiru

[jblackrupert 14]

Those settings must be for pretty old system.

500 Draw distance?

Deathmatch on a postage stamp size map maybe.

[boneboys 0]

I don't think this is a useful guide unless you are running an old and outdated machine.

Any modern gaming computer can run the Alpha well enough, everybody that I play with is pleased with the performance at this time.

Tweaking the different settings is the key to getting a happy medium, imho.

I guess it might help some people, I'm just not sure who, laptoppers maybe !

[Zyromkiru 10]

Most people with weaker cards expect more out of this game and as far as single player this game is beyond amazing FPS wise. Multiplayer isn't at all nor does it even use the cpu or gpu very much.

In singleplayer distance doesn't mean much at all and I can crank that up all I want but MULTIPLAYER isn't stable enough. Which is exactly why I am in the multiplayer section and even for singleplayer tweaking unneeded settings does give a nice boost to make sure you keep that 60 FPS.

Edit: I stand corrected with the fact I have found servers that actually don't suck. But all the other info is pretty darn accurate as those extra settings aren't needed

Edited March 11, 2013 by Zyromkiru

[jblackrupert 14]

Most people with weaker cards expect more out of this game and as far as single player this game is beyond amazing FPS wise. Multiplayer isn't at all nor does it even use the cpu or gpu very much.

In singleplayer distance doesn't mean much at all and I can crank that up all I want but MULTIPLAYER isn't stable enough. Which is exactly why I am in the multiplayer section and even for singleplayer tweaking unneeded settings does give a nice boost to make sure you keep that 60 FPS.

Edit: I stand corrected with the fact I have found servers that actually don't suck. But all the other info is pretty darn accurate as those extra settings aren't needed

Unneeded?

Those settings above make Arma look like poo.

Like Boneboy said, maybe for non-gaming laptop users and desktops with some seriously outdated hardware.

[Zyromkiru 10]

Unneeded?

Those settings above make Arma look like poo.

Like Boneboy said, maybe for non-gaming laptop users and desktops with some seriously outdated hardware.

For example... having Terrain Quality on Ultra lowers your FPS a lot more than it should and does absolutely nothing for you quality wise so even in singleplayer that should be Very High and nothing more.

Have you even toyed with the settings? some of them look identical but with better performance. I don't care about everyone trolling because they have a High End PC and no one is listening or reading really. Go ahead and turn everything on Ultra if you want but it's pointless as it gives no benefit visually in some of the settings. I have a higher end pc and I use some settings higher than this but I do lower certain ones. This is a lot better info then the video that was posted on Arma 3's facebook page

. He does bring up the point that Very High in most settings aren't really any different which is smart but in other areas such as shadows he isn't even testing the right areas nor does he mention how low shadows can be less performance than high or standard.

Things like post process look good on low (better on higher settings but not needed) so it's just about tweaking. For example I get amazing FPS in this game but in certain areas you will see a lot more demanding things around you and if you just Ultra everything it can drop you. This thread isn't really for People with an i7 processor and a 680 or a 7970. People need to start with their settings on high and work their way down and find the sweet spots since some settings on lower can be worse and I've seen this in other games as well on many different rigs.

Also other people provided info of them having a so called "outdated" computer and they still get good FPS so that has absolutely no relevance to anything

[bobby budnick 0]

Your object view distance recommendation should be changed back to the max of 5000. In this game, realistic weapons can actually travel that far and do harm to you. No one should have to suffer being a bad player because they have a bad computer. With your settings, people can be hit by a normal infantryman from the "fog" and not be able to shoot back. If a system has trouble with that setting, they should start reducing all other settings including the object quality and render resolution. When the object view distance is turned that high, object quality can make a big difference.

[Tvrdi 11]

I noticed most servers arent updated to latest alpha build..I hope all of you picked development bulid (under beta tab after u right click on the ARMA3 in steam)..as this will update the game to latest alpha...

[Zyromkiru 10]

I noticed most servers arent updated to latest alpha build..I hope all of you picked development bulid (under beta tab after u right click on the ARMA3 in steam)..as this will update the game to latest alpha...

due to the last update you cant join normal servers (which is good for stability) but only few servers have the update

[galzohar 31]

What is actually controlled by the server?

I tested view distance, and it seems the setViewDistance command only sets the maximum view distance, and you can actually lower it in the graphic settings, but increasing it above the server setting does nothing. Can anyone confirm?

Also, how do shadow view distance and object view distance behave? And what about grass? As in, how do the scripting commands fit in with the player settings?

In Arma 2 it was very simple (albeit a bit stupid): View distance and terrain detail (grass+layout) were determined by the server and changeable by scripting commands, and user settings were completely ignored. For PvP missions it's very important to understand how it works in Arma 3, and I'm still having some trouble figuring it out.

By the way, as for PIP, I was surprised "OFF" was the only practical choice, but testing it seems that I get ~20 FPS with anything from "LOW" to "Ultra", while I get 27-30 FPS with it "OFF" (and 27-30 FPS outside of vehicles too, looking at the same scene).

---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------

Additionally, default terrain detail in MP seems to be between "high" and "very high" (setTerrainGrid 10), and your own settings are ignored.

For view distance, though, the mission's view distance only sets the maximum allowed value, and your setting is still taken into consideration in case it is lower. Haven't tested object view distance, though, but it is obviously limited by the view distance, so no real point limiting it separately server-side even if it's possible.

Edited March 13, 2013 by galzohar

[Zyromkiru 10]

What is actually controlled by the server?

I tested view distance, and it seems the setViewDistance command only sets the maximum view distance, and you can actually lower it in the graphic settings, but increasing it above the server setting does nothing. Can anyone confirm?

I have found servers that show a large view distance and so this I'm not sure of as of tweaking around with but it seems it does take into affect keeping it at a higher setting.

Also, how do shadow view distance and object view distance behave? And what about grass? As in, how do the scripting commands fit in with the player settings?

I know that in certain places like towns the shadow distance renders shadows on building further away and trees and will lower your fps and it's not totally necessary but it shouldn't drop you a whole lot but i've noticed having it turned on high has it's ups and downs visually. As for the other 2 im not sure.

In Arma 2 it was very simple (albeit a bit stupid): View distance and terrain detail (grass+layout) were determined by the server and changeable by scripting commands, and user settings were completely ignored. For PvP missions it's very important to understand how it works in Arma 3, and I'm still having some trouble figuring it out.

By the way, as for PIP, I was surprised "OFF" was the only practical choice, but testing it seems that I get ~20 FPS with anything from "LOW" to "Ultra", while I get 27-30 FPS with it "OFF" (and 27-30 FPS outside of vehicles too, looking at the same scene).

---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------

Additionally, default terrain detail in MP seems to be between "high" and "very high" (setTerrainGrid 10), and your own settings are ignored.

I haven't noticed this but I'm thinking you may be correct

For view distance, though, the mission's view distance only sets the maximum allowed value, and your setting is still taken into consideration in case it is lower. Haven't tested object view distance, though, but it is obviously limited by the view distance, so no real point limiting it separately server-side even if it's possible.

Like said above I have noticed a difference in some servers, why I do not know. Object distance is good to tweak as humans count as objects and in some areas you may need to quickly pull the slider to the left to gain FPS in very demanding areas when looking certain ways and then slide it up later when moving around in mountains and such so you can sniper people, etc.

We do really need to crack down on some info :O