2 questions: How to enable FSAA / C4 Benchmarking mode

[Vindicator]

Hello,

FSAA question:
I was wondering if anyone could inform me on how to enable Full Screen AntiAlias in C4. It is greyed out and unchangeable in the video options and indicates "Off". I am currently forcing it on in the video drivers, however I cannot understand why the game does not detect it.

I have tried editing the "antialias_mode" entry in C4.cfg to different values (0/1/2/3) however it remains "Off" and disabled.

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System specs if required:
AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+
2GB RAM
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB
Nvidia ForceWare v81.98

Comanche 4 v1.0.1.20 (European)
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Benchmark question:
I also have seen a C4 Benchmark Demo around. I was wondering if the full-game had a command-line option to run a benchmark.

Thank you.

[Bluetiereign]

I'll look into this this weekend. You only have one video card, right... ? Are you in SLI mode if you have two ?

[Vindicator]

Hello,

Yes, I only have the 1 video card.

[Iveco]

Hello,

I just installed the good old C4 to look around.

But I also have the problem that FSAA is grey and I can't enable it. I tried changing the number on the c4.cfg but it didn't work.

My Computer:
Windows XP SP 2 fully updated
Comanche 4 1.0.1.15
Geforce 6600 GT (newest nForce drivers) (just one but on the same mainboard like the threadstarter)
ASUS A8N-SLI SE
AMD 64 3200+
2GB RAM

Please - why cant I use FSAA???? I can even run Splintercell in 16x FSAA - but C4 shows me grey. Looks like its not very well programmed.

Anyone knows how to cut off the graphic limits? I want FSAA!!!

[Iveco]

I just found this right now:

"Comanche 4 supports anti-aliasing mode only on next-generation video cards featuring Nvidia?s NV25 chipset. Comanche 4 will automatically detect whether you are running on a NV25 chipset video card and enable the anti-aliasing selector in the options. This feature has been disabled for all other video cards due to a severe performance penalty when enabled."

That means I have to buy an old graphic card like Geforce 4 to get FSAA working? How about they update their C4 to make it working with more newer than NV25 chips which are even faster? What a crap!!!!!!!

[Bluetiereign]

........ How about they update their C4 to make it working with more newer than NV25 chips which are even faster? What a crap!!!!!!!

:spin: ... lol... this is Novalogic we are discussing here. They dropped C4 support a long time ago. The game is getting old.. it looks good for its day though. :)



On another note.. I never did check up on this. I hate I did not get back with Vindicator. Too many irons in the fire, I think. Erasing the c4.cfg will get your system benchmarked again.

[Vindicator]

That means I have to buy an old graphic card like Geforce 4 to get FSAA working?

Hello,

Thank you for finding out the FSAA option will only work if an NV25 chipset is detected.

I did some testing by creating a profile in the nVidia Control Panel (I can't remember if it was already there) and configuring it to force AA on in C4 (and maximising other settings there). There was a noticable performance penalty on my system, where it began to stutter when flying close to clusters of trees with lots of leaves, and flying into smoke.

Driver Settings for C4 were:
Antialiasing settings: 8xS
Anisotropic filtering: 16x
Image settings: High Quality
Gamma correct Antialiasing: On
Transparency Antialiasing: Supersampling

I tried loading up the tutorial mission and inspected various vehicles, buildings and terrain with and without these adjustments, and initially could not discern a difference.

I then tried a side-by-side comparison with screenshots and I noticed the edges of the roads and rooftops were less jagged, however this was about all I could notice.

I am unsure if this is FSAA, but it seems to have some AA effect.



On another note.. I never did check up on this. I hate I did not get back with Vindicator. Too many irons in the fire, I think. Erasing the c4.cfg will get your system benchmarked again.


It's alright, and thank you very much for the reply.

I was inquiring about a benchmark mode in C4 similar to 3DMark or timedemos in games like Quake 3 which measure how fast the system can render/run through a level or demo, rather than the benchmark the game initially does to determine optimal graphic settings.

I found reference to some benchmarks done using Commanche 4 (demo I assume) here:

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/motherboards/article.php/10703_2190511__9

so I assumed there was a command-line or switch in C4 retail which could be accessed.

However, I did some more searching around and according to posters here http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=25125 it seems it can only be done with the "benchmark demo".

[Bluetiereign]

I'm running SLI. I noticed a big boost in graphics. Added 'Force Mipmaps' and 'trilinear'...everything set to maximum. The demo produced this.


Standard Setup - with SLI

Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1024x768x32 FSAA=8 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 85.62 avg
Tris per second: 17,050,778 avg

Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1600x1200x32 FSAA=8 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 85.50 avg
Tris per second: 17,027,532 avg

__________________________________________________ ________
Everything MAX and using 8X FSAA (In the C4 Bench Pop-Up Choices)

Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1024x768x32 FSAA=8 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 45.69 avg
Tris per second: 9,099,413 avg


Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1600x1200x32 FSAA=8 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 26.19 avg
Tris per second: 5,215,967 avg
__________________________________________________ __________
Everything MAX and using 0 FSAA (In the C4 Bench Pop-Up Choices)

Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1024x768x32 FSAA=0 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 45.84 avg
Tris per second: 9,128,133 avg


Comanche 4 Benchmark Results for 1600x1200x32 FSAA=0 VSync=OFF DXTC=ENABLED AUDIO=OFF SHADERS=ENABLED

Frames per second: 26.19 avg
Tris per second: 5,215,983 avg

__________________________________________________ _________

Pretty cool.. but you are right - a huge performance hit. The pictures below show 1. Normal 2. Everything MAX. Thanks for the info. I had never tried this. Learn something new everyday..