Tip for better graphics on older comps

[Demokritos]

Hi folks,
I did something similar for the ETW community earlier, and now when I stumbled upon it for Shogun 2, too, I thought I should make it more available (as I have missed it here). It was posted by one rss0900 in an other forum. Credit to this guy! This will allow for far better graphics for a lot of people. For me, it changed the quality from more like the original Shogun to almost like the best shots which I've seen of Shogun 2. And I'm sitting with an old GeForce 9600 GT card...

Locate your preferences file for Shogun 2 and edit the lines there to the following settings given inside the spoiler (not all are necessary to change for the effect to take place, but you can start with those and then work out which ones you really need). Make sure the first line is set to false or it will be overwritten all the time. In the properties for that script file, set it to "read only", too. Then you can start enjoying this game.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

write_preferences_at_exit false; # write_preferences_at_exit , Write preferences at exit #
app_multirun false; # app_multirun , Allow multiple instances of the application #
x_res 1920; # x_res , Fixed window width #
y_res 1200; # y_res , Fixed window height #
x_pos 0; # x_pos , Window position #
y_pos 0; # y_pos , Window position #
vfs_log_level 0; # vfs_log_level , 0 - off, 1 - mod-user, 2 - dev #
unit_test false; # unit_test , unit test (for daily build) #
campaign_unit_multiplier 0.75; # campaign_unit_multiplier , Set default unit multiplier for campaign #
naval_fleet_multiplier 0.75; # naval_fleet_multiplier , Set default fleet size for battles #
gfx_first_run false; # gfx_first_run , First time application run #
gfx_video_memory 1024000000; # gfx_video_memory , Override available video memory (bytes) #
gfx_fullscreen true; # gfx_fullscreen , Run the application in fullscreen or not #
gfx_vsync true; # gfx_vsync , vertical synchronization #
gfx_hdr true; # gfx_hdr , Use high dynamic range rendering pipeline #
gfx_shadermodel 3; # gfx_shadermodel , Set shader model, 0-SM3LQ, 1-SM3, 2-SM4, 3=SM4.1, 4=SM5 #
gfx_aa 8; # gfx_aa , Set antialiasing, 0-no, 3-8x #
gfx_texture_filtering 5; # gfx_texture_filtering , Set texture filtering, 0-bilinear, 5- anisotropic 16x #
gfx_texture_quality 3; # gfx_texture_quality , Set the quality of textures. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_ssao true; # gfx_ssao , Enable Screen Space Ambient Occlusion buffer #
gfx_dx11 true; # gfx_dx11 , Enable DirectX 11 rendering #
gfx_distortion true; # gfx_distortion , Enable Distortion Effect buffer #
gfx_depth_of_field false; # gfx_depth_of_field , Enable Depth of Field effects #
gfx_deferred_shading true; # gfx_deferred_shading , Enable deferred shading #
gfx_hardware_shadows false; # gfx_hardware_shadows , Enable hardware shadows #
gfx_sky_quality 3; # gfx_sky_quality , Set the quality of sky. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_unit_quality 3; # gfx_unit_quality , Set the quality of units. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_ship_quality 3; # gfx_ship_quality , Set the quality of ships. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_building_quality 3; # gfx_building_quality , Set the quality of buildings. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_water_quality 3; # gfx_water_quality , Set the quality of water. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_unit_scale 2; # gfx_unit_scale , Set unit scale. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_shadow_quality 4; # gfx_shadow_quality , Set unit scale. 0 - off, 4 - ultra #
gfx_tree_quality 4; # gfx_tree_quality , Set unit scale. 0 - off, 4 - ultra #
gfx_grass_quality 4; # gfx_grass_quality , Set unit scale. 0 - off, 4 - ultra #
gfx_terrain_quality 1; # gfx_terrain_quality , Set unit scale. 0 - low, 1 - high #
gfx_gamma_setting 2; # gfx_gamma_setting , Set gamma correction #
gfx_brightness_setting 1.2; # gfx_brightness_setting , Set brightness #
gfx_disable_terrain_ao_gpu false; # gfx_disable_terrain_ao_gpu , Disable terrain ambient occlusion term. Supported only on ShaderModel 3.0 #
gfx_screenshot_folder ./screenshots; # gfx_screenshot_folder , Folder to where save screenshots relative to Empire directory #
gfx_fixed_env_map ; # gfx_fixed_env_map , cubemap for fixed env.map #
gfx_effects_quality 3; # gfx_effects_quality , Set effects quality. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #
gfx_vignette true; # gfx_vignette , Enable vignette #
gfx_picture_in_picture True; # gfx_picture_in_picture , Enable picture_in_picture #
camera_move_speed 50; # camera_move_speed , Set camera movement speed #
camera_turn_speed 1; # camera_turn_speed , Set camera turn speed #
default_camera_type 2; # default_battle_camera , default battle camera: 0-totalwar 1-rts 2-debug #
enable_sound true; # enable_sound , enables all audio content (default = true). If disabled none of the database or sound pack files are loaded. #
fix_res true; # fix_res , Forbid window resizing #
fix_window_pos true; # fix_window_pos , Forbid window repositioning #
mouse_wheel_sensitivity 50; # mouse_wheel_sensitivity , mouse wheel sensitivity: default value = 50 #
invert_cam_x_axis false; # invert_camera_x_axis , invert camera tilting up/down #
invert_cam_y_axis false; # invert_camera_y_axis , invert camera panning left/right #
minimised_ui false; # minimised_ui , show minimised ui #
ui_order_button_mode 0; # ui_order_button_mode , Only applicable with minimised ui. 0 = always, 1 = slide on, 2 = never #
show_selection_markers false; # show_selection_markers , Show the selection markers under the units #
show_path_markers false; # show_path_markers , Show paths in naval battles #
show_target_zones False; # show_target_zones , Show firing arcs etc #
ui_order_button_mode 0; # ui_order_button_mode , Only applicable with minimised ui. 0 = always, 1 = slide on, 2 = never #
ui_card_mode 0; # ui_card_mode , Only applicable with minimised ui. 0 = always, 1 = slide on, 2 = never #
ui_radar_mode 2; # ui_radar_mode , Only applicable with minimised ui. 0 = always, 1 = slide on, 2 = never #
ui_land_unit_ids 2; # ui_land_unit_ids , 0 = always, 1 = on mouse over, 2 = never #
ui_naval_unit_ids 2; # ui_naval_unit_ids , 0 = always, 1 = on mouse over, 2 = never #
ui_mouse_scroll true; # ui_mouse_scroll , Allow/disallow scrolling of the map by putting the cursor at the edge of the screen #
battle_time_limit -1; # battle_time_limit , Sets the time (in minutes) for each battle. -1 for unlimited #
battle_difficulty 0; # battle_difficulty , Sets the handicap for battles. Positive gives advantage. -2 is vhard, -1 is hard, 0 normal, 1 easy #
autoresolve_difficulty 0; # autoresolve_difficulty , Sets the handicap for battles that are autoresolved. Positive gives advantage. -2 is vhard, -1 is hard, 0 normal, 1 easy #
campaign_difficulty 0; # campaign_difficulty , Sets the handicap for campaigns. Positive gives advantage. -2 is vhard, -1 is hard, 0 normal, 1 easy #
battle_advice_level 2; # battle_advice_level , Sets advice level in the battle game #
campaign_advice_level 2; # campaign_advice_level , Sets advice level in the campaign game #
info_panel_mode 1; # info_panel_mode , Sets info panel options. 0 - only in campaign, 1 - campaign and battle cards, 2 - campaign and battle cards and battle units #
campaign_time_limit -1; # campaign_time_limit , Sets the time (in minutes) for each round of the campaign. -1 for unlimited #
show_cpu_moves true; # show_cpu_moves , Show/hide the movement of the ai pieces on the campaign map #
automanage_regions false; # automanage_regions , Let the AI manage taxes etc in players regions #
limitless_ammo true; # show_cpu_moves , Enable/disable Infinite ammo on battlefields #
occupiable_building_markers true; # show_occupiable_building_markers , Enable/disable occupiable building markers on battlefields #
allow_drop_in_battles true; # allow_drop_in_battles , Allow invititations to other peoples campaign battles when playing a single player campaign #
friend_only_drop_in_battles true; # friend_only_drop_in_battles , invite only friends to your campaign drop in battles when playing a single player campaign #
multithreaded_model_enabled true; # multithreaded_model_enabled , Run the battle model on a separate thread #
battle_camera_shake_enabled False; # battle_camera_shake_enabled , Enable battle camera shake effects #
subtitles false; # subtitles , Display subtitles during movies #
sound_master_volume 100; # sound_master_volume , master sound volume 0-100 #
sound_music_volume 100; # sound_music_volume , music sound volume 0-100 #
sound_speech_volume 100; # sound_speech_volume , speech sound volume 0-100 #
sound_sfx_volume 100; # sound_sfx_volume , sfx sound volume 0-100 #
sound_master_enabled true; # sound_master_enabled , master sound enabled #
sound_music_enabled true; # sound_music_enabled , music sound enabled #
sound_speech_enabled true; # sound_speech_enabled , speech sound enabled #
sound_sfx_enabled true; # sound_sfx_enabled , sfx sound volume enabled #
sound_provider 0; # sound_provider , sound provider index (0-?) #
sound_channels 256; # sound_channels , Number of sound channels. Fewer channels means fewer sounds but faster performance. #
voice_chat_enable true; # voice_chat_enable , Enables VOIP functionality in Steam. (default = true) #
voice_chat_microphone_gain 100; # voice_chat_microphone_gain , voice_chat_microphone_gain (0-100). #
voice_chat_microphone_gain_boost true; # voice_chat_microphone_gain_boost , Boost microphone gain. #
voice_chat_volume 100; # voice_chat_volume , Voice chat volume (0-100). #
voice_chat_quality 2; # voice_chat_quality , Voice chat quality (0-2, 0 = low, 1 = medium, 2 = high). #
voice_chat_transmit_only_when_key_pressed true; # voice_chat_transmit_only_when_key_pressed , voice_chat_transmit_only_when_key_pressed (otherwise always trasnmitting). #
bink_use_thread true; # bink_use_thread , tells bink to use asynchronous update, increased performance on some systems, decreased on others. (default = true) #
number_of_threads 0; # number_of_threads , Set the number of threads 0 = explicit number #

Edit: see post #13 about the location of this preferences file on your comp, and post #18 about the changes which you actually need for the claimed effect.

Edit 2: see post #24 for visual examples of the effect (provided certain 3D settings in the control panel for the graphics card are used as well).

[Feldspar]

For me, it changed the quality from more like the original Shogun to almost like the best shots which I've seen of Shogun 2

There is a point in which hyperbole stops making your point seem good, and starts making you look like a moron.

at no point on any settings does Shogun 2, look anything even remotely close to the orginal shogun.

also... Ultra unit settings and ultra shadows on a 9600?

>_> yeah okay.

not buying it sorry

[Dynamo11]

There is a point in which hyperbole stops making your point seem good, and starts making you look like a moron.

at no point on any settings does Shogun 2, look anything even remotely close to the orginal shogun.

Couldn't agree more

[Demokritos]

There is a point in which hyperbole stops making your point seem good, and starts making you look like a moron.

at no point on any settings does Shogun 2, look anything even remotely close to the orginal shogun.

also... Ultra unit settings and ultra shadows on a 9600?

>_> yeah okay.

not buying it sorry

Calm down, kid. What's the point of your post? Does it help anybody? Just blowing off some steam? For the good of the community? My point was that people with old graphics cards could get considerably better graphical quality when applying those changes, so the point of my thread was to help some people. If you're not helped, move on. Only people with old graphics cards can see much of a difference. For me, before applying those changes, the graphical quality for Shogun 2 was worse than what I got from ETW, and it reminded me more of the original Shogun (with little detail on the figures) than the promotional images for Shogun 2. That's all I'm saying. A personal experience. Read that again, please. I'm not saying that Shogun 2 on low end computers is no different graphically from the original Shogun. See my point now? If you don't, don't bother to post anything in this thread, since this is not a discussion about the actual difference between Shogun 1 and 2. It doesn't care about that.

As for the actual quality becoming ultra standard or not, that's of little matter. Don't get hung up on that. What's important is that those settings change the visual quality for the better drastically - potentially like to a game-saving degree, if you're sitting on old graphics card. It did it for me. So, to all people with low end computers, I encourage you to try this tip out. If you don't, you may miss out on some good stuff.

The tip is of the same type which ronchas gave a link to for NTW gamers above, and which I pointed out for ETW gamers once here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=233252.


Edit:

But the AA (8x 4x) dont work rigth?

Don't know in what ways things are actually changed, only that they change for the better to a satisfactory degree as far as I'm concerned.

[randir14]

This might help people who are locked out of ultra settings, but for me nothing changed other than giving worse performance.

[ronchas]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=336461

[artinjulio]

But the AA (8x 4x) dont work rigth?

[Baleurion]

Stop calling everyone online a "kid" just becuase you disagree!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so sick of reading it everywhere online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *head explodes*

On another note, this is interesting.. (did not exist in my own prefs file)
gfx_deferred_shading true; # gfx_deferred_shading , Enable deferred shading #

If you disable that, perhaps AA will work without glitches in dx9??

Also noticed that this is on High even if i put it on Ultra ingame? odd..
gfx_unit_scale 2; # gfx_unit_scale <int>, Set unit scale. 0 - lowest, 3 - ultra #

[Feldspar]

whatever bro. try not to throw a tantrum next time.

[MortenJessen]

Yeehaa......Smoke all over this thread...
@OP; Nice...

Just because the OP has a point you do not like, stop trolling. The EN9600 GT can run the game on ultra, if one messes a bit with the scripts, and the stats of the card it self trough Nvidia control panel, that is true. I made my ETW and NTW (almost, there was some lag) run on max like that....
@Baleurion: We are online, no one cares about anyones opinion (Head explodes). If you truly believe you got something, use the report buttom.
@Feldspar: On low end cards like the EN 9600 GT, the game looks quite like the original Shogun when it comes to graphics. So quit trolling. You only make your self look stupid when you are not even right.
M. Jessen

[gotrek]

Locate your preferences file for Shogun 2 and edit the lines there to the following settings given inside the spoiler (not all are necessary to change for the effect to take place, but you can start with those and then work out which ones you really need). Make sure the first line is set to false or it will be overwritten all the time

Is that :

c:/.../default/ preferences ?


Thanks for helping us old card users out!

[KozCDVI]

Okay, is this genuine or is it going to destroy one's game/graphics card or whatnot?

I can play Napoleon on the highest graphics no problem, I expected a bit better of Shogun 2, and I'm not sure how much it will improve when they release the graphic-enhancing patch.

Can anybody post pictures of before and after?

[Demokritos]

@Feldspar - if you try not to take for granted that someone is making a "tip" thread for hyperbole purposes and not calling people for morons without good reason, it's a deal. "Bro" sounds a lot better.

I would rather have posted that tip in a thread where all kinds of graphical advice were collected, just like I did in the ETW case, as it seemed a bit small a matter for a thread of its own, but since I couldn't find a better place for it from the standpoint of making that tip known and easily found over time, a dedicated thread it had to be. If a moderator would find it suitable later on to move the suggestions into a general graphics advice thread, fine by me.


@MortenJessen - thanks for the support.


@gotrek - the file you're looking for is called "preferences.script". On both Windows XP and Vista, I think, you need to set the computer to show hidden folders and files in order to find that script. On XP, you do this by opening up a window for any folder in your computer, select "Tools" in the menu for it, select "Folder Options" on the list there, then click the "Show" tab, and finally find and mark the option to show hidden files and folders. Then you should normally find the preferences file along the following directory...

for XP - C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\The Creative Assembly\Shogun2\scripts

for Vista (I believe) - C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Shogun2\scripts

Don't know about Windows 7, I'm afraid.


Edit: @KozCDVI - I was planning to post some "before" and "after" shots, but haven't had the time to do that yet. Won't be able to until after this weekend some time. Maybe someone else could do it sooner. The result is in any case individual, based on the particular hardware setup one happens to have. So showing the change for me does not really mean anything for certain for another gamer.
If I had any info about it endangering anyone's comp in some way, I would state it clearly as a warning. But as of yet I don't have any such info. Haven't tested it for long on my own comp. But I've played ETW for hours and hours with similar changes and never got any trouble from it. Logically, that doesn't prove anything in this case, though. Use your own judgement.

[gotrek]

Got it! thanks a lot trying it now. and on XP your directory is exact.

[Demokritos]

Would very much like to hear your report about the result (including perhaps the specs of your comp) later, gotrek.

I'll be back to check on this thread tomorrow. It's high time to hit the sac.

[JohnLukeG]

Is this just a guide for how to enable settings that are locked out, or is there some trick here for actually increasing performance? I'm not quite following what's going on here.

[gotrek]

My video card : Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 512 Mb
Intel duo core 3.16 GHz 2Go ram


Before applying the tip: game worked fine but battles looked nothing like the photos or the trailer. It was akin to MWII really from a distance and low details and shiny on close up, but running smoothly.there fore I didn't bother sclosing up for fights to enjoy seeing the killings sicne they just looked like plastic toy soldiers.


After applying: The zonal marking when you select a unit disappeared ( you knw the yellow thing around the models) might have to fixx that... It slowed the game down a little but marginally.
But the graphics are 10 times better I can see the clothes details, I cna tale armour details from a distance and the weapons have a slight sun reflexion around them. It definetly resembles more what the official website was showing.


I only tried a custom campaign after changing the settings I'll try the campaign later see if it hinders my playability.

[Demokritos]

Is this just a guide for how to enable settings that are locked out, or is there some trick here for actually increasing performance? I'm not quite following what's going on here.

This is not a performance tip as in making the comp faster in some way, but to enhance the image quality of the objects on the screen, like in increasing the level of detail of them. I should say this ought to mean the comp is given more data to work with, and therefore applying those changes might slow it down a little. However, it may be worth the price in more candy for the eye. It saved the game for me.

My video card : Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 512 Mb
Intel duo core 3.16 GHz 2Go ram


Before applying the tip: game worked fine but battles looked nothing like the photos or the trailer. It was akin to MWII really from a distance and low details and shiny on close up, but running smoothly.there fore I didn't bother sclosing up for fights to enjoy seeing the killings sicne they just looked like plastic toy soldiers.


After applying: The zonal marking when you select a unit disappeared ( you knw the yellow thing around the models) might have to fixx that... It slowed the game down a little but marginally.
But the graphics are 10 times better I can see the clothes details, I cna tale armour details from a distance and the weapons have a slight sun reflexion around them. It definetly resembles more what the official website was showing.


I only tried a custom campaign after changing the settings I'll try the campaign later see if it hinders my playability.

Thanks for the feedback, gotrek!

You and I seem to have about the very same comp specs, so the result at your end is not surprising to me. Glad to hear it. The game is far more enjoyable now, wouldn't you say?

Yes, there's a number of changes in those settings that have nothing to do with image quality. As I mentioned in the OP, the credit for this particular suggestion is not mine, but rss0900's, so it comes with his preferences in each possible area. Being familiar with the same type of graphical tweak for ETW, I did an experiment in the same manner for Shogun 2, but did not go that high up in the value for gfx_video_memory - which is the critical setting in this case (allowing for those "ultra" values) - as rss0900 did here, so I didn't get the same result. But if I had kept working on it, I'm convinced I'd achieve the same bonus eventually. Then I would have posted that result as the suggestion instead, leaving as much other settings as possible up to the gamer who wanted to try the principal idea. But when I found rss0900's ready solution, I thought people might want to see that as soon as possible.

Only those settings with a name that starts with an "gfx_" (minus "gfx_first_run", "gfx_fullscreen", "gfx_unit_scale", "gfx_screenshot_folder" and "gfx_picture_in_picture", I think) affect the graphical quality of the game. All the rest could be changed to one's heart's content without (directly) reducing image quality. So go ahead and change the value for "show_selection_markers" back to "true", gotrek, and you'll see the "Zonal marking" return. But you need to untick the box for "read only" in the properties of that file first or the changes won't take effect. Also, as those things are extra work for the comp, it will slow it down a little, probably not discernable for the eye, but in actual speed nonetheless. The slowdown which you percieved from applying all these changes comes from the comp producing all that extra eye-candy, as more details mean more data to handle and harder work. That's the unavoidable price for better graphics. If you need better performance (comp speed) on a given machine, you often need to sacrifice some graphical or audio quality first.

But there are unnecessary programs running in the background that steal resources from the game. Close those programs, and you may experience a small speed boost. There's a dedicated program called "Game Booster" which do that automatically for you. Google for it to find out how. You should also keep the comp as defragmentized as possible to maximize its speed performance. PC's are shipped with such defragmentizer programs, usually found under "System Tools" or something like that.

[gotrek]

I tried the campaign and even the campaign map looks a lot better.

As for game speed iI lowered certain settings that weren't important to me such as grass quality for example and now I have 0 slowing down but the armies look just as fine.
So far I haven't noticed any CTDs caused by applying your fix.

[Demokritos]

Sounds good, gotrek.

Well then, if at least one fellow gamer have been helped by this thread, mission accomplished.