Possible Rage Texture Fix?

holy crap it's like we have to reprogram the entire game ourselves to get it to perform at a high level
 
At least some of the settings you use to do profiling are still in the game console, so you can use them to hand tweak to your system.

I'm going to warn you now, this cvar is going to tell the engine to drasticly change the textures that are drawn on the screen, to better illustrate certain things, you can quicly fix it back by setting the cvar back to 0, and doing a vt_restart.

vt_showpagemips 1
vt_restart

The engine to now color all of the virtual textures by how much they are scaled down, so strong red is source art (and you arn't going to get any better unless id releases higher quality source art), while green is heavily mip-maped/scaled down junk, and thus blury to the eyes. Obviously, you want use this to help tweak settings so you have as much strong red color on the screen as possible, and minimize the amount of green, at all times.


Another good profiling command is:

vt_benchmark 128

Your screen will freeze and the game will appear to have locked up, but don't panic. This command runs a test to see how fast the engine can work thru a fixed amount of source art textures and generate virtual texture pages that the vid card will then use to draw the screen, using various amounts of process threads to do the job. Obviously lower numbers are better. And I believe the information provided on how many threads produce the lowest value can better help you set the "vt_maxPPF" cvar mentioned in other guides. Typing the command in again, removes the graph overlay.
 
So, I've been playing a bit more, and it still looks really good. It appears (and someone else may have said this already,) that the textures look best at medium range. If you look out over the landscape it looks beautiful. Up close it could be a bit better in some instance. Nothing that makes me hate it, or call it unplayable though. When you're actually playing, and not walking up to things to see how detailed the textures are, there is really no issue. If they release a high res texture pack, or toss some kind of detail-texture overlay on them when up close, it would go a long way. Still though, the game is standard id fare so far, which is to say that it's simple, but fun, and looks good. Aside from the people still suffering the technical issues, people should stop whining and allow themselves to enjoy it.
 
I'm thoroughly enjoying it now. Issues resolved, and it's been getting more fun the further I go. Officially have my id-fix rolling now, and looking forward to Doom 4.
 
Lys said:
Id was bought by Zenimax, so they're the same company as Bethesda now. And does it show!
Click to expand...

No they're not the same company. They're owned by the same company. Rage was mostly done by the time Zenimax picked up the publishing rights from EA.
 
After doing the fix posted above, and getting the newest Rage performance drivers from AMD the game is now playable. It looks pretty decent, though some objects still look like garbage up close, it's not that distracting.
 
polonyc2 said:
holy crap it's like we have to reprogram the entire game ourselves to get it to perform at a high level
Click to expand...
Well, being a PC gamer I believe requires a little bit of acceptance that you will have to tweak something here or there to get things working perfectly. It's the nature of the best. But releasing a game when it is not compatible with any drivers in existence is a little bit careless IMO. They should of done a better job working with ATI and Nvidia months ago to make sure this didn't happen, especially if you are now to blame them for your problems. id and Bethesda seem more worried about assigning blame than fixing this problem.
 
bigdogchris said:
Well, being a PC gamer I believe requires a little bit of acceptance that you will have to tweak something here or there to get things working perfectly. It's the nature of the best. But releasing a game when it is not compatible with any drivers in existence is a little bit careless IMO. They should of done a better job working with ATI and Nvidia months ago to make sure this didn't happen, especially if you are now to blame them for your problems. id and Bethesda seem more worried about assigning blame than fixing this problem.
Click to expand...

Those aren't tweaks, that's a complete overhaul of the shipped settings. Bottom line is that id didn't properly QA this game or all of this would have been caught already before it shipped.
 
People shouldn't have to go to quite this extent, just to play the game. That said, tweaking the config files for id games has been part of the experience since Quake. And can actually be kind of fun, (in the same sort of way that benchmarking is for PC enthusiasts.) Once again, it really shouldn't have been broken on release (or AMD should have had their drivers out,) but adjusting CFG settings really isn't anything new.

The one thing that could have mitigated it a bit, was more of these options available in the menu.

Still though, it was worth the effort. I'm having a blast with it now.
 
If nothing else, this makes me wonder when devs actually consider a PC game to be "finished" now.
I'd assume id probably just celebrated when the console ones were done and figured that the PC version would be fixed eventually.

All of that said, I don't think the game is as horrible as some people do, but it's certainly nothing special. As a game, Crysis 2 kicks its ass.
 
Domingo said:
If nothing else, this makes me wonder when devs actually consider a PC game to be "finished" now.
I'd assume id probably just celebrated when the console ones were done and figured that the PC version would be fixed eventually.

All of that said, I don't think the game is as horrible as some people do, but it's certainly nothing special. As a game, Crysis 2 kicks its ass.
Click to expand...

More and more, I'm starting to think that you have to be an id person to REALLY enjoy their games. Not blind raving fanboys, but there's just a type (myself included) that truly enjoys all of their games. The style, settings, imagery, etc. just click with me. I'm not even a big horror fan, and things like Doom just pull me in for some reason. It's not all based off of nostalgia either. I'm a nostalgic player, in that I play TONs of old games. However, I don't get the same feeling with id games unless I'm actually playing an older one.

It's definitely a more than the sum of its parts situation. The games are simplistic, but they feel good. They're definitely not to everyone's taste. If you want deep strategy, go elsewhere. If you want complex and deep stories, go elsewhere. However, despite other games filling in these areas better, I still really enjoy these games. RAGE included now. A bit off topic, but an observation that I'm seeing more an more of. I see people echoing similar thoughts in other thread. They're not id fanboys either. They admit to the same things that some consider shortcomings, but still enjoy playing the games. I usually see similar names attached to positive comments about Doom 3, Quake 4 (yes I know Raven made this, so stop right there...) etc.

Anyway...
 
In general, I've been moderately happy with id's games from the past. Wolfenstein, Doom 1 and 2, Quake 1-3, etc. have all been great games for me.
However I didn't much care for Doom 3 and I find that Rage is okay, but nothing to write home about.
I think some of the issues people are having with Rage relate to the amount of time it took. While it's no DNF, it has been a looong time coming and it's a bit dated now that it's here. The much talked about driving elements are pretty weak and as a shooter there's really nothing new going on. It isn't bad, but there's little to no innovation going on. After all these years we got a game that somewhat resembles Far Cry 2.
 
So would you say that tweaking a pc games settings (cvar and other files) within a directory is common for some, most, or all pc games, or just historically so with titles put out by iD?

I have to agree that tweaking is nice, but its not for everyone (whether you simply don't wish to, too lazy, or whatever) and thus, I can understand those who are upset that they are forced to change settings on a brand new game to fix issues.. For me, I would look down on a company more if a large portion of their customers complained about issues, and DIDN'T fix them; the old irony of any program release is ringing true: If a company waits and waits to put their product out, there are those who will complain that they are taking too long; if they put it out with severe issues, we complain that it was rushed and unfinished. Personally, security audit of the code is more important and therefore should be taken more seriously, and not looked at as an after-thought. But gaming is a bit different; there is not much emphasis of security that is needed as much as other programs. Still, performance, QA, etc, are equally as important. Even though you probably won't please everybody, there is something to be said about putting trust in your employees skills at developing - maybe a restructuring is in order? ;)
 
fairlane said:
So would you say that tweaking a pc games settings (cvar and other files) within a directory is common for some, most, or all pc games, or just historically so with titles put out by iD?

I have to agree that tweaking is nice, but its not for everyone (whether you simply don't wish to, too lazy, or whatever) and thus, I can understand those who are upset that they are forced to change settings on a brand new game to fix issues.. For me, I would look down on a company more if a large portion of their customers complained about issues, and DIDN'T fix them; the old irony of any program release is ringing true: If a company waits and waits to put their product out, there are those who will complain that they are taking too long; if they put it out with severe issues, we complain that it was rushed and unfinished. Personally, security audit of the code is more important and therefore should be taken more seriously, and not looked at as an after-thought. But gaming is a bit different; there is not much emphasis of security that is needed as much as other programs. Still, performance, QA, etc, are equally as important. Even though you probably won't please everybody, there is something to be said about putting trust in your employees skills at developing - maybe a restructuring is in order? ;)
Click to expand...

I would say that I have tweaked an INI/CFG file in 90% of modern PC games that I play. I don't think that's typical for the whole industry/community, but I would say a common occurrence overall. However, it's usually a lot more optional. With RAGE, it's more or less needed to get the game running the way we like.

Before I got into IT, I was working QA, and on a lot of games for a while. I handled a lot in the way of compatibility testing for video, audio hardware as well as CPUs, chipsets, etc. In my experience, devs didn't like to hear this kind of thing. If it wasn't an absolute show-stopper, these compatibility issues got punted to the next release/patch/etc. It really pissed me off, and I occasionally got a little heated in my responses to my bug reports. This isn't to say that all devs are like this, but at least several of them are, (and these were some big companies,) and some of them even took offense. "That's not our game, that's Microsoft. That's not our game, that's the drivers." Sometimes this is true, but not always.

Anyway, I definitely think that much of these settings should have ended up in a menu, while some of the more advanced, and possibly game-breaking ones, left to console/CFG files only.

However, it's always cool to watch the community work together to solve problems like this. It shouldn't be necessary, but it's cool to see anyway.
 
Finally got the game from UPS today. Installed it, too

I used the config from http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2156747 (with some stronger settings) & only see the texture pop-in every once in a while.

I'm guessing there's no way to get around the horrible low res textures I keep seeing through out the beginning of the game? :(

Config
Code: 
seta com_videoRam "1536" //sets the Video Card memory Set this to the amount you have in MB
seta com_maxfps "60" //limits the frames to 60 can be changed to what you desire
seta image_anisotropy "16" //Using the highest setting here but you can set as 2, 4 or 8
seta image_usecompression 0 
seta image_filter "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR" //filtering for light maps
seta image_preload "1" //Use preload images when ever possible
seta image_lodbias "-1" //LoD settings
seta image_ignoreHighQuality "0" //Sets up for using HQ gfx
seta image_ignoreLowQuality "1" //ignores the low textures
seta image_useCache "1" //Enabled Cache to allow the textures to load properly without popping
seta image_cacheMegs "125" //Cache size in Megabytes
seta image_cacheMinK "50" //Cache minimum size in kilobytes
seta r_aspectRatio "2"  // 0=4:3, 1=16:9, 2=16:10, 3=5:4 TFT, -1 custom
seta r_fullscreen "1"
//seta r_customAspectRatioV "10"
//seta r_customAspectRatioH "16"
seta r_swapInterval 1 //VSYNC 1 enabled, 0 diabled
seta r_useHighQualityPostProcess "1" //Fore High Quality post proccessing
seta r_shadowsHighQuality "1" //Fore High Quality shadows 
seta r_displayRefresh "0" //keep it so the engine doesn't double render a frame
seta r_renderer "best" //highest rendering options
seta r_multiSamples "32" //Set this to 16 or 8 if you're having low-fps as 32 is the Max Multi-sampling
seta r_useHBAO "1" //Ambient occlusion
seta r_useRenderThread "1" // 0 Disable or 1 Enable threaded rendering  useful for newer cards to increase performance.
seta r_visDistMult "1"
seta r_useMotionBlur "1" //use blur
seta r_skipBump "0" 
seta r_skipSpecular "0"
seta r_skipNewAmbient "0"
seta r_shadows "1"
seta r_cgFragmentProfile "best"
seta r_cgVertexProfile "best"
seta vt_lodBias "-1" //LoD settings
seta g_fov 5
seta com_allowconsole 1
//below is cache settings
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly2 "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeunique "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizevmtr "8192"
seta vt_restart
seta vt_maxaniso 16
 
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CrimsonKnight13 said:
Finally got the game from UPS today. Installed it, too

I used the config from http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2156747 & only see the texture pop-in every once in a while.

I'm guessing there's no way to get around the horrible low res textures I keep seeing through out the beginning of the game? :(
Click to expand...

Nope, thats the engine and megatexturing. Made with consoles in mind, the only thing that would make the textures sharper is if carmack releases the super texture pack.
 
ShuttleLuv said:
Nope, thats the engine and megatexturing. Made with consoles in mind, the only thing that would make the textures sharper is if carmack releases the super texture pack.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping that happens... my system is cutting through it like butter & that's disappointing with such craptastic textures.
 
ShuttleLuv said:
Nope, thats the engine and megatexturing. Made with consoles in mind, the only thing that would make the textures sharper is if carmack releases the super texture pack.
Click to expand...

If it could happen for Crysis 2 it can happen for this.
 
I installed today. Mine looks better with the in game settings, AA off. When I apply the texture fix .cfg file (@ 8192) it looks "sharper" but has pop in like crazy. I got rid of the .cfg file and am playing it currently. 1920x1200. Looks good and I try to not focus too much on the little things.

Phenom 2 x4 955 @ 4ghz, Geforce GTX 460 768mb OC'd like crazy. 8gb ddr3 1600

I don't like, I guess the term is FOV. It seems that the aiming reticle is way too close in for a mouse/keyboard game. I want to move back but my arms only go so far. If I can't figure out a way to live with that I might try a 360 controller (I had to with Crysis 2 on pc). It's hard to describe but it gives me a blinding headache pretty quickly. I guess I have gotten used to sitting on the couch playing on the big screen. If this is the case BF3 is going to be a problem.
 
I am running a pair of GTX 480's what amount of memory do I put for this command: seta com_videoRam "???" ?

Would I put 1536 MB or 4098 MB since according to Nvidia control panel, that is the total memory available.
 
Here is a copy of my rageConfig.cfg that I am using to fix the texture issues with my HD5870.

seta com_videoRam "1024" //sets the Video Card memory
seta image_anisotropy "16" //Using the highest setting here but you can set as 2, 4 or 8
seta image_usecompression 0
seta image_filter "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR" //filtering for light maps
seta image_preload "1" //Use preload images when ever possible
seta image_lodbias "0" //LoD settings
seta image_ignoreHighQuality "0" //Sets up for using HQ gfx
seta image_useCache "1" //Enabled Cache to allow the textures to load properly without popping
seta image_cacheMegs "100" //Cache size in Megabytes
seta image_cacheMinK "200" //Cache minimum size in kilobytes
seta r_useHighQualityPostProcess "1" //Fore High Quality post proccessing
seta r_shadowsHighQuality "1" //Fore High Quality shadows
seta r_displayRefresh "0" //keep it so the engine doesn't double render a frame
seta r_renderer "best" //highest rendering options
seta r_multiSamples "32" //Max Multi-sampling
seta r_useHBAO "1"
seta r_useRenderThread "0" //Disable/enable threaded rendering
seta r_visDistMult "1"
seta r_useMotionBlur "1" //use blur
seta r_skipBump "0"
seta r_skipSpecular "0"
seta r_skipNewAmbient "0"
seta r_shadows "1"
seta r_cgFragmentProfile "best"
seta r_cgVertexProfile "best"
seta vt_lodBias "-1" //LoD settings
//below is cache settings
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly2 "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeunique "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizevmtr "8192"
Click to expand...

These are the command line parameters for my rage shortcut launcher

+cvaradd g_fov 12 +com_allowconsole 1 +com_skipIntroVideo 1 +image_anisotropy 16 +image_usecompression 0 +g_showplayershadow 1 +m_smooth 0
Click to expand...


Everything was working just fine before I made it to wellsprings where I was still getting artifacting on several NPC's.
 
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J3RK said:
I would say that I have tweaked an INI/CFG file in 90% of modern PC games that I play. I don't think that's typical for the whole industry/community, but I would say a common occurrence overall. However, it's usually a lot more optional. With RAGE, it's more or less needed to get the game running the way we like.

Before I got into IT, I was working QA, and on a lot of games for a while. I handled a lot in the way of compatibility testing for video, audio hardware as well as CPUs, chipsets, etc. In my experience, devs didn't like to hear this kind of thing. If it wasn't an absolute show-stopper, these compatibility issues got punted to the next release/patch/etc. It really pissed me off, and I occasionally got a little heated in my responses to my bug reports. This isn't to say that all devs are like this, but at least several of them are, (and these were some big companies,) and some of them even took offense. "That's not our game, that's Microsoft. That's not our game, that's the drivers." Sometimes this is true, but not always.

Anyway, I definitely think that much of these settings should have ended up in a menu, while some of the more advanced, and possibly game-breaking ones, left to console/CFG files only.

However, it's always cool to watch the community work together to solve problems like this. It shouldn't be necessary, but it's cool to see anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that response J3RK. There have been a lot of discussions on TechRepublic.com regarding the management models of certain software companies, and how they handle their products. Sounds like there is certainly a pattern, as I described, happening in the industry. Most of the time the discussions revolve around what ways could this be improved, but the employees at your level, and even higher, have to answer to the executives who only care about the bottom line, and deadlines. There should be more attention to the mantra of "I shall release no software before its time". Of course, as you point out, there is a complicated issue of who is responsible? Its the code, no its the drivers, no, its Microsoft.. It would be nice if there was an easier way to help determine exactly WHO is responsible, then work can proceed to fix it.. In addition, there is machine programs that monitor errors in programming so the programmer won't make any mistakes, hence, it IS possible to write error free code; its just a matter of better auditing, as some have suggested.. Why should we have to put up with shoddy written, security hole laden software?

There are few companies that put out code 'that just works', there is always some level of debugging. Still, if more attention was paid to "proofreading" the code, there wouldn't be such a high level of 'patching' after the fact.. that takes even more time. History seems to predict that the smaller the company, the better the outcome of a products robustness, (one reason being the lesser stress being put on by a large management team). Of course, in this case, iD is considered a small outfit, isn't it? That's what a friend of mine tells me at least.

;)
 
Hey all I been seeing that some have the seta in front and some tweaks do not. Example:
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly2 "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeuniquediffuseonly "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizeunique "8192"
seta vt_pageimagesizevmtr "8192"

On the nvidia site and some others they have it without the seta in front and no quotes. Does it matter?

Thanks
 
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