ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues

[ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues]

(i mean the i7 2600 is one of the highest cpu's at this time and the gtx 580 is the 2nd best nvidia card at this time, so there is nothing to upgrade now)

(on what machine did the developers played/tested this?)

I mentioned this in my earlier post (which BTW seems to have gone unnoticed).

It's not your PC or your hardware. It's the game. Go into Advanced video options and cut your VISIBILITY down to 500 (the bottom).

This isn't about how good your vid card is, I'm sure it cranks really good. Unfortunately, the game is stuffing too much data into it than our poor human made copper-based IO can handle.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that as soon as some A-hole figures out how to build a glass-fiber IO board, we will have to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous programming.

If the visibility fix doesn't help, then I would suggest killing all the advanced video options in the game (and let the vid card take control).

Even at the lowest game options, your vid card will still rock.

I know, we ALL can't have 4000 meter view like "some" people :)

Anyhoo, In a perfect world we are crosshatched with imperfect products.

Welcome to capitalism.

[ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues]

I have read a lot of the posts here and see that there is definitely a common thread in all the issues - mainly FPS.

I do not believe this is related to the CPU's but a video issue.

Personally, I am running Arma2: RFT version 1.59.79385 so I think I have all the expansions inside.

My PC is nowhere near as powerful as some of yours but I do know the difference between fluid movement and FPS lag.

I am running a dual core AMD 2x 3.5, ATI Catalyst HD 4200, with 4 gig RAM on Windows 7 Home (yes it all sucks but it's what I got to work with :).

That should be at or over spec for this game.

So here's what I tried and what I got:

Arma works in a massive sandbox folks. This isn't Doom or some other first person shooter with narrow pathing and 2D walls.

So the beatings begin BECAUSE of the sandbox. I can't believe no one from Bohemia hasn't come in here and discussed this yet.

This is just a baseline starting point you can improve on.

First CUT your Visibility down to less than 600 meters. I bottomed out mine at 500. Yes we all like to see everything but that's adding processing points the further out you go. If you think you can make a 2 kilometer shot, then go for it my friends.

Once that's done, try starting at advanced options such as:

Quality Preference - Normal

Interface Resolution - 800 x 600

3D Resolution - 960 x 720

Textures - Normal

Video memory - Default

Anisotropic filtering - Disabled

Antialiasing - Disabled

Terrain Detail - Normal

Object Detail - Normal

Shadow Detail - Disabled

HDR - Normal

Postprocessing - Disabled

Interface Size - Large

Aspect Ratio - 16:9 Wide

Vsync - Disabled.

Like I said this is BASELINE.

The lower RES settings are for the GAME. Your newer video cards will still honk really nice visuals out, you just have to slow the amount of data GOING TO THEM (unless of course you own some alien other universe pc system no human can operate).

With these settings, the game loads fair, moves quick and I can drive through Zargabad like a drunken sailor on a 3-day shore leave.

Now for the trees. Yes, they look nice - no, they do NOTHING for processing speed. You will most likely experience MAX FPS in the desert or isolated areas without them, so git yer ass to the dunes my friends.

Basically, if you can't turn and fire as fast as the computer AI can, yer a dead man/woman/mutant.

So try these and work your way up GRADUALLY in the Advanced video options to see what works best for you.

Hope this helps someone, will "monkey" with other settings and see whattup.

Thanks all.....and cheers