Tweaks (FOV workaround, increase settings, run on older systems!)

[Sacre85]

NOTE: This thread may be useless now thanks to the new official patch! Thanks devs! Find info here - http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2280136 - I'll update the post if there are any settings still worth changing, or if you find something worth changing post it.


















After playing for a bit, I got tired of the low FOV and decided to dig around a little. I found the renderer_settings.xml in C:\Users\Myname\AppData\Local\PAYDAY\renderer_sett ings.xml.

Steps to ONLY change the FOV/Aspect Ratio:

1. Make sure you ran the game once first for the settings to establish themselves.
2. Close the game.
3. Open up your renderer_settings.xml using notepad or something (it will be in your AppData\Local\PAYDAY folder - Google if you're not sure how to find it!)
4. Scroll down till you find "aspect_ratio = " and look at the number. I run 1920x1200, so my aspect ratio by default is 1.6. If you run at 1920x1080, it will probably be 1.77 (or thereabouts).
5. Change that number to something a bit higher, and restart the game to see if you like it.

I went from 1.6 to 2.0 and it feels a bit squished - I'll be trying 1.8 or 1.9 next. It's imperfect, but you can tweak it a bit and find what's comfortable for you.


Now, for the other settings!
I used to play GRAW, and we used to edit our renderer_settings.xml files. I noticed that this game has the same name, and some of the same options inside... so I pasted my old GRAW settings in there, set them all to low, and oh lawdy the game looked AWFUL. So I set everything to high, and the game looks fine. My FPS was also slightly lower (from ~110FPS to 95FPS) so I assume *SOMETHING* has improved? I don't have the best eye for this stuff, so I'll let you decide.


Before (@ 1.6 ratio):
https://picasaweb.google.com/1177821...3/PaydayBEFORE

After (@ 2.0 ratio + GRAW high settings - after looking this over I'll probably drop to 1.8 or 1.9):
https://picasaweb.google.com/1177821...33/PaydayAFTER

If you want to use the GRAW settings, change the portion between the renderer_config tags. Make sure you leave your adapter/adapter_index/resolution as your own! Don't change it to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, especially if you don't have one!

<renderer_config>
	<d3d_device
		adapter = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460"
		adapter_index = "0"
		resolution = "1920 1200"
		windowed = "false"
		refresh_rate = "59"
		v_sync = "1"
	/>
    <render_settings>
            <variable name="adapter_num" value="0"/>
            <variable name="anti_aliasing" value="disabled"/>
            <variable name="aspect_ratio" value="2.0"/>
            <variable name="brightness" value="1"/>
            <variable name="dynamic_lights" value="true"/>
            <variable name="effect_quality" value="high"/>
            <variable name="environment_detail" value="1"/>
            <variable name="max_anisotropy" value="1"/>
            <variable name="post_effect_quality" value="high"/>
            <variable name="shadow_map_size" value="0"/>
            <variable name="shadow_quality" value="enabled"/>
            <variable name="show_all_res" value="true"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_backdrop" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_buildings" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_buildings_bump" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_buildings_low" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_characters" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_default" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_effects" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_ground" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_ground_bump" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_gui" value=""/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_lightmaps" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_no_lod" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_plants" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_player_vehicles" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_props" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_props_bump" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_props_high" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_silhouettes" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_sky" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_vehicles" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_weapons" value="high"/>
            <variable name="texture_quality_weapons_third" value="high"/>
    </render_settings>
</renderer_config>

Edit: IF YOU'RE USING THE NVIDIA ANTIALIASING FIX!
I noticed after I applied the nVidia anti-aliasing fix (found here - http://solidlystated.com/software/pa...phics-options/ ) that there's a strong black 'glow' on the bottom half of the screen.

All you need to do is set shadow_quality to disabled:

<variable name="shadow_quality" value="disabled"/>

And the glow is gone. Worth it for AA IMO.





For running on lower end systems, just use the profile below posted by axlevest, and nudge some things up until it doesn't look awful. PLEASE note - from overkill_bo - that the dynamic_lights must be set to true. It messes up the graphics bad.

[axlevest]

so this lets you change the video settings, sweet jesus u are a god and this needs to be stickied

[axlevest]

her is the code for Lowest Quality

<renderer_config>
<d3d_device
adapter = "NVIDIA GeForce 9400M"
adapter_index = "0"
resolution = "800 600"
windowed = "false"
refresh_rate = "59"
v_sync = "0"
/>
<render_settings>
<variable name="adapter_num" value="0"/>
<variable name="anti_aliasing" value="disabled"/>
<variable name="aspect_ratio" value="2.0"/>
<variable name="brightness" value="1"/>
<variable name="dynamic_lights" value="false"/>
<variable name="effect_quality" value="low"/>
<variable name="environment_detail" value="0"/>
<variable name="max_anisotropy" value="1"/>
<variable name="post_effect_quality" value="low"/>
<variable name="shadow_map_size" value="0"/>
<variable name="shadow_quality" value="enabled"/>
<variable name="show_all_res" value="true"/>
<variable name="texture_quality" value="high"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_backdrop" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_low" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_characters" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_default" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_effects" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_ground" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_ground_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_gui" value=""/>
<variable name="texture_quality_lightmaps" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_no_lod" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_plants" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_player_vehicles" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props_high" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_silhouettes" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_sky" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_vehicles" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_weapons" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_weapons_third" value="low"/>
</render_settings>
</renderer_config>

[Sacre85]

Originally Posted by axlevest

her is the code for Lowest Quality

<renderer_config>
<d3d_device
adapter = "NVIDIA GeForce 9400M"
adapter_index = "0"
resolution = "800 600"
windowed = "false"
refresh_rate = "59"
v_sync = "0"
/>
<render_settings>
<variable name="adapter_num" value="0"/>
<variable name="anti_aliasing" value="disabled"/>
<variable name="aspect_ratio" value="2.0"/>
<variable name="brightness" value="1"/>
<variable name="dynamic_lights" value="false"/>
<variable name="effect_quality" value="low"/>
<variable name="environment_detail" value="0"/>
<variable name="max_anisotropy" value="1"/>
<variable name="post_effect_quality" value="low"/>
<variable name="shadow_map_size" value="0"/>
<variable name="shadow_quality" value="enabled"/>
<variable name="show_all_res" value="true"/>
<variable name="texture_quality" value="high"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_backdrop" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_low" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_characters" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_default" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_effects" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_ground" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_ground_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_gui" value=""/>
<variable name="texture_quality_lightmaps" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_no_lod" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_plants" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_player_vehicles" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props_bump" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_props_high" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_silhouettes" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_sky" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_vehicles" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_weapons" value="low"/>
<variable name="texture_quality_weapons_third" value="low"/>
</render_settings>
</renderer_config>

With these settings, the game looks SO AWFUL, it's hilarious.


Also, I changed it from 2.0 to 1.8 and like it much more. So if you have a 1.6 native resolution, try 1.8 and see if that improves your FOV any.

[SwissyJim]

THANK YOU THANK YO THANK YOU!

Dunno if this is all that can be done, but the FoV is slightly better now. I went with the 1.9 change...

[Dr.Greenthumb]

Any way to change FOV without squishing the aspect ratio?

[Sacre85]

Originally Posted by Dr.Greenthumb

Any way to change FOV without squishing the aspect ratio?

Not really. GRAW didn't have a FOV setting in the renderer_settings.xml, so I'm not sure how. I tried tags named fov, field_of_view, etc but nothing changed. 0.1-0.3 above your default seems to add some extra horizontal viewing without squishing, but it really depends on how sensitive your eyes are to it.

[Dr.Greenthumb]

grr why won't the devs say anything about this. Starting to feel like the L4D2 v_model fov fiasco. Took valve forever to budge and give us a command to change it.

[DexterSinister]

Thanks for posting this. Will try tonight.
+rep

[Ricster2k]

awesome thanks! I'll try this tonight when I get home.
I hate it when games give you tunnel vision, it hurts the eyes.

[mister_benn]

Heroic work, plays on my laptop now, with the low settings.

[Sacre85]

Originally Posted by mister_benn

Heroic work, plays on my laptop now, with the low settings.

Haha awesome, didn't even think about that. Guess it'll run on older computers if you drop the settings, yep!

[overkill_bo]

Hi guys

If you change these you are a bit on your own until they make it in to the Advanced Gfx menu.

NOTE: <variable name="dynamic_lights" value="false"/>

Never set this to false. This will ruin the new light system.

Thanks

Bo

[kufooru]

Oh.
My.
God.

You, sir, deserve a medal!

[Sacre85]

Originally Posted by overkill_bo

Hi guys

If you change these you are a bit on your own until they make it in to the Advanced Gfx menu.

NOTE: <variable name="dynamic_lights" value="false"/>

Never set this to false. This will ruin the new light system.

Thanks

Bo

Wow, it certainly does mess the visuals up. Lots of flickering and stuff.