Far Cry 2 technical thread

[DoomMunky]

As I’m trying to avoid any further spoilers or gameplay impressions, here’s a thread for performance tweaks, driver issues, and how to wring every last bit of fps magic out of this game. If this thread is unwanted, I’m sure it will wither quickly.

Here’s some stuff from the Far Cry 2 thread:

@DoomMunky

According to a link I got from the Steam forums, those new drivers improve DX10 performance even more than DX9. And according to that same link, it appears to be the first game with better fps performance in DX10 than DX9, overall.

And finally, in a piece of good news for those of us with the Stusserbeast, it’s apparently the first game (maybe ever?) to fully exploit the power of quad-core processors. Game ON!

@rrmorton

Well, from what I’ve experienced, they may not be ready for primetime.

I installed the new 180.42 beta drivers and when I tried to start the game, I would just get a black screen with a Windows border around the edge. I could hear the main menu music but I didn’t get any picture. I’m running two Nvidia 8800GT’s in SLI mode on a dual core.

After a lot of experimenting, I finally reverted to the previous beta driver (177.92) and now the game is starting properly. I haven’t played it yet to see how performance looks, but actually being able to get into the game is a nice perk for the older drivers.

I noticed the new drivers enable some kind of PhysX GPU options in the Nvidia control panel… maybe my problem had something to do with that? I dunno.

@tmastern

Here’s a supposed fix from one of the message boards…can’t vouch for it myself…

“Somebody probably solved this already. Anyway here’s the fix for that black screen windowed when you first load the game. Go in your (user)\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 2 folder and open up GamerProfile.xml.
Find (Maximized=“1”) change it to a 0 and save. Problem solved almost. Now load game and go to options and change dx9 to dx10 and accept then quit game. load game and go back to options and change your resolution to what ever you like then accept and play. Now the 180.42 drivers work great!
PS:I could not enable dx10 and change the resolution at the same time because game would go back to that black window mode.”

[GuildBoss]

This PC game seems gay.

[Hawkeye_Fierce]

I had the black screen windowed thing. Fiddling with the xml file fixed it just fine.

[Aleck]

@Hawkeye Fierce

I had the black screen windowed thing. Fiddling with the xml file fixed it just fine.

I had the same issue. It was the first time in a long time, however, that a game just flat out didn’t work for me out of the box.

[datter]

Another solution for the windowed problem (in Vista anyway) is right clicking the shortcut -> properties -> compatability -> disable visual themes.

[UncleSmoothie]

Did anyone else have the Steam vers of Far Cry 2 ask you to repair your .NET framework when you tried to launch it for the first time?

[DavidKaye]

So, what’s the verdict on PC vs 360 then, DoomMunky? Since we have the same PC, I’m keen to hear how it would compare.

[DoomMunky]

Hm, I’m not sure what you’re asking. I’m a PC-only guy, and my Steam copy is waiting for me at home right now. I’ll be doing some basic performance tweaking tonight and reporting back here, hopefully maximizing fps and visuals for all us Stusserbeast owners.

But as to how it compares to the 360 version? I dunno!

Did anyone else have the Steam vers of Far Cry 2 ask you to repair your .NET framework when you tried to launch it for the first time?
I remember getting something like that with CoD4, I think. It shouldn’t be an issue.

[datter]

I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly is a Stusserbeast?

[spiffy]

To be fair, it’s been at least 6 months right? The stusserBeast is probably downgraded to a stusserMan by now, and next summer, a stusserGimp.

If anyone finds perfomance charts for FC2 on dual vs quad core cpus, let me know. Upgrading soon!

[rrmorton]

@datter

Another solution for the windowed problem (in Vista anyway) is right clicking the shortcut -> properties -> compatability -> disable visual themes.

Nice. That did the trick.

[gordonrumble]

What are the console differences for this game? Are either the Xbox or (specifically for me) PS3 versions gimped in some way?

[Killzig]

@datter

I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly is a Stusserbeast?

Quarter To Three Forums

[rrmorton]

I spoke too soon. With the new beta drivers, I got the game to start but now it’s running in windowed mode and I can’t get it to snap back to full screen and stay there.

Patience waning.

Edit: NEVER MIND. I thought I had the xml file Fullscreen set correctly but it wasn’t. Problem solved (again) (for now) (I hope).

[Gendal]

I had the black screen too, but my Maximized was set to 0 to start. So I flipped it, and it worked great. At this point all I can say is fuck you Benchmarking tool. I can’t stop trying out minor changes and overclocking my Q6600 from 2.6 to 3.0 (difference = 1fps). The good news is I never drop below 31fps minimum with ultra high@1080p, 2x fsaa (very necessary with this title), and even vsync turned on. Didn’t bother OC’ing my 8800U. So, great performance but that was expected since it doesn’t look as good as Crysis imo.

[UncleSmoothie]

@DoomMunky

I remember getting something like that with CoD4, I think. It shouldn’t be an issue.

Indeed, 'twas nothing. Game runs like a dream on my rig.

For the record:

duo core 3.17 gHz
4 gigs ram
GeForce 8800 GT
beta drivers

[Scotch_Lufkin]

Is there a demo yet for this one? I’d like to see how my rig can handle it before I buy it.

2.4Ghz AMD x2
2 GB RAM
8800 GTX OC

[datter]

Intel Core 2 Quad 6600
2gb ram
Dual 8800GT’s (SLI)

Runs absolutely very smoothly at 1680x1050 with everything maxed out. For the record, I had the newest nvidia drivers which did ok, but I got a good 8 to 10fps out of the new “FC2” beta drivers.

Now, if only I were enjoying the game more. Wait, I’d better say that like one of the characters in game would…

NowifonlyIwereenjoyngthegamemore.

[DoomMunky]

It’s running like butter for me, too. I got very frustrated trying to make the new drivers work, but you really have to just follow the instructions at the end of the first post in the thread! I had to change “Maximised” to “1” as well, like Gendal, and after that all has been well.

It’s running so damn well, everything maxed, that I’m not even really tempted to drag out FRAPS or anything. I hope it stays like this, but you never know…

Now to find more diamonds!

[mono]

Playing at 1920x1200. Other than the annoying black window at launch issues, the game looks and plays quite well, for the 5 minutes I’ve had to mess around. Sadly, it’s obviously attended the Bioshock pre-patch school of Field of View. I think I may keep playing Crysis and STALKER until some brilliant 17 year old comes up with an FOV hack.

If you have the Steam version and are dealing with the black window, get properties of the game in the Steam games list, and add a line like this to your launch options:

-RenderProfile_ResolutionX 1920 -RenderProfile_ResolutionY 1200

Obviously, change 1920x1200 to your preferred resolution.