A Tip for Graphical Enahncement-Setting Your Unit Details to Highest in medieval2.preference cfg file

[aqua]

I Always thought that unit details in .cfg file can be set only upto higher bcoz in my ingame video settings i had unit details set to highest....i thought higher in .cfg file was corresponding to highest in video settings....
But today while browsing thru some threads i found that we can edit it to highest n it has very great graphical enhancement ingame.
This way all your units will have full 3D no matter how far you zoom out. I only recommend this for a high end computer.

[video]

grass_distance = 9000
ground_buffers_per_node = 4
ground_cover_buffers_per_node = 4
infiltration_movies = 1
model_buffers_per_node = 4
no_background_fmv = 0
reflection = 1
sabotage_movies = 0
shader = 2
show_banners = 0
show_package_litter = 1
skip_mip_levels = 0
splashes = 1
sprite_buffers_per_node = 4
stencil_shadows = 1
subtitles = 1
terrain_quality = custom
texture_filtering = 2
unit_detail = higher (change this to highest n see the difference)
vegetation = 1
vegetation_quality = high
vsync = 0
water_buffers_per_node = 4
widescreen = 0

I thought i should share this knowledge with my fellow players

I have a question though....wat is the optimal grass distance...i need help in setting this value

[ginger_hammer]

Yep this is a good tip, I changed the unit_detail to highest and those long distance sprites have gone
Not sure about the grass difference, or whether it makes much difference but would be interested to know too.

[Anaatti]

Thanks, i hate when i zoomout and thoes troops go 2D and i know my comp could handle 3D models.

[Hambone]

sorry for the ridiculous question but where is the folder?

[aqua]

sorry for the ridiculous question but where is the folder?

go to \Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War n find medieval2.preference file ...open it by notepad n edit it

[stevietheconquer]

you schould look in the sub mods look for extreme insanity v001 its very easy too use and it does the same

[Caesar Clivus]

A better way of stopping the game from swapping to sprites is to go through the modeldb file and increasing the distance at which the game swaps from 3D models to sprites. This way the game still uses the lower detailed models (Each unit has multiple models. The less detailed ones are used when you zoom out so you can see more units on screen without getting a performance hit. Because you are zoomed out, you cant see the drop in detail) so you dont such a hit to FPS as you do with just changing the config file.

How do you do this? It's quite easy. Go into SS\data\unit_models. Open battle_models.modeldb in notepad (you'll probably have to tell windows to open it in notepad). Each model entry has 3 or 4 lines that look like this:

54 unit_models/_Units/LN_Peasant_Padded/billmen_lod0.mesh 121 
54 unit_models/_Units/LN_Peasant_Padded/billmen_lod1.mesh 900 
54 unit_models/_Units/LN_Peasant_Padded/billmen_lod2.mesh 2500 
54 unit_models/_Units/LN_Peasant_Padded/billmen_lod3.mesh 6400

These are the lines that tell the game which model to use for which unit. They are listed from the highest detailed model first (the lod0 mesh (LOD=level of detail )) to the lowest detailed (lod3). The numbers at the end of each line is the distance at which the game will swap to the next lower detailed model. The last number after the lod3 model is the distance at which the game swaps to sprites. Just increase this number to delay when sprites are used. Not sure how high you can set it but I haven't heard of any limits. The good news is that 99% of all model entries use 6400 as the highest distance. So you can just do a Replace All in notepad and change them all in one hit. Save and exit and you're done.

If memory serves, someone already did this and released it as a submod for 6.1. But if you are running any other submods that change the modeldb file, you'll have to do it yourself.

Oh and please, please please take a backup of the modeldb before you make any changes

[Hambone]

I went ahead and tried what Caesar Clivus said but I am worried that when I said "replace all" I might have replaced something important that was not related to the sprite distance thing. Any chance of that?

[Caesar Clivus]

I went ahead and tried what Caesar Clivus said but I am worried that when I said "replace all" I might have replaced something important that was not related to the sprite distance thing. Any chance of that?

That's one reason why backups are so important . I can't check as I have Notepad2 (a free download and much better than the one that comes with windows) but if the normal notepad has a "match whole word" option on the Replace window, then use that. If you're really unsure you could do it manually. It might take a while but you'd be certain of the results.

[Fakir]

Cool stuff.