How to determine Unreal Framerates:

First download the Unreal FPS Toolkit v1.04 [Revised 9/21/98]. It contains Timedemo 0.2 and its readme file, and two Unreal.ini files for high and low quality tests. (3Dfx Voodoo card owners - use the ini files from the 3Dfx folders, ATI RagePro owners should try the ATI Rave ini files.) The Toolkit also has a DOCmaker file with a lot of info on Unreal (FAQs, Troubleshooting, etc.). Make sure you use the 'Contents' menu to see all the chapters in the doc.

To help ensure that comparisons are valid due to the myriad of Unreal advanced settings possible (and often they are not the same from machine to machine) we are working on a set of INI files for HQ (high quality) and LQ (low quality) just for benchmarking use.

Put the Timedemo.u file in Unreal system folder. The Timedemo Readme File will explain how to run Timedemo. Make sure you include tests with both our HQ and LQ (hi/low quality) Unreal.ini files. When running Timedemo Make sure you *do not* leave the console down over the screen during the test - the test should be run in std full screen mode, not with the console obscuring the scene . Using the TAB key to enter console commands (vs the tilde key) is recommended. When you submit your framerates to me make sure you include:

• Your Mac model
• CPU speed and type (ie G3 at 300Mhz)
• L2 cache size (if known)
• Video card type (3Dfx Voodoo 1, Voodoo II, RagePro, etc.)
• Make sure your mac video mode is set to thousands colors
• Total RAM allocated to Unreal
• Indicate if you did the FULL install (otherwise I assume std install)
• If you are running virtual memory.
• Unreal Screen Resolution (640x480, non-dbl game mode a must for comparisons, but others welcome.)
• Run the tests with both the HQ (High Quality) and LQ (Low Quality) unreal.ini files included in the Toolkit
• Voodoo II owners please do 640x480 and 800x600 tests
• FPS Average after the Timedemo 3rd loop of the castle flyby (*don't* use the 'Killall' average - use the cycle loop average).
• Please note any non-default audio or video settings (scan doubling/skip lines, reduced audio channels and any reduced audio rates).

Thanks! I'm listing the results of all Mac scores I receive, as well as some PC scores for comparison (from the PII 300 with dual Creative Labs 12MB cards) to show how much SLI mode adds to performance. Thanks to MEK at http://www.planetunreal.com for the timedemo utility!

If you have any other Unreal info/bugs/performance notes or tips to share, please contact me.

Other Site Unreal Info: For screen shots of Unreal on the Mac/Voodoo II, see my Game Wizard Preview pages. For screenshots at 1024x768 mode (SLI) on a PC, see my Obsidian X24 Review page.

Unreal Jump Tip: Frank Bernier wrote with a trick to get to normally unreachable heights in Unreal:

" Hi Mike,
Here is a trick for people wandering how do people get on some inaccessible places in deathmatchs.

For example, here is how to get on the VERY top of the Tundra level :

Get up in the tower.Stand on the ledge of the tower and do a rocketjump with TWO (more you'll be killed) eightballs. You only got to make sure you got 100 health and a armoror you'll be killed.

To do the rocket jump, point the eightballs to the ground and release the rockets. That will do it ;)
Frank "

[9/30/98]

Unreal Speech Recognition: Frank Bernier sent Westlake's reply to the Unreal speech commands possibilty noted in below:

" We initially tried to do some voice recognition but we couldn't get it to work quite right. We left the option in so if Apple's speech recognition software is updated it might work in the future.
Mark Adams
President, Westlake Interactive "

Unreal Spoken Commands?: Frank Bernier sent a note and image showing that the Mac version of Unreal may be able to accept spoken commands.

" Hi Mike,
I was experimenting with Unreal after installing plaintalk and I stepped upon an undocumented feature. It appears that the mac version of Unreal could be speakable. I suppose one would pronounce the word 'Fire' for example and the weapon would fire . I sent an email to Mark Adams 2 days ago but haven't receive any answers yet.

Find attached a screenshot of what the configuration looks like. It can be accessed after installing plaintalk and going into the mouse configuration setting of the advance config menu.
Frank "

[9/24/98]

Unreal Titan Tip: Frank Bernier sends a tip on how to dispatch these foes:

" Mike,
If you are having problems with the Titans, try this neat trick :

First powerup a dispersion pistol to the 3rd or 4th level and use an amplifier. Use the secondary fire option of the pistol and you will be able to kill almost anything in the game with one single shot. This mainly works on the slow moving creatures like the brute and the titans though since the others can quickly dodge it.
Frank "

[9/21/98]

Unreal Memory/Level Loading Explained: Frank Bernier sent a mail with details from Westlake on the 'out of memory' errors sometimes seen when loading levels, and how Mac vs PC Unreal differs on memory allocation:

" From: Ken Cobb Subject: Unreal and Memory - Long Post

Since many people are having problems with running out of memory (especially when loading levels), I thought I would try to explain what happens in Unreal, and why it needs so much memory at level loading time.

As you all know, Unreal is rather slow loading levels. To help allieviate this problem, Unreal loads only those objects it needs and doesn't reload objects that are already in memory (by "object" I mean any bit of data needed by Unreal, whether a texture, sound, script, 3d model, animation info, etc). This is good. But there is a bad side to this method. Here's how it works:

When Unreal loads a new level from disk (by "level" I mean not just the map file, [.unr file] but all associated textures, sounds, music, etc), it doesn't free any data from the current level first. Instead, it loads all objects from the new level (if not already in memory), then goes through and "tags" each object in memory that it needs. Then finally, it frees all those objects it doesn't need (the ones that aren't tagged). While this method is logical enough, it has negative repercussions on memory:

1. There must be enough RAM available to keep 2 levels in memory at the same time, if only briefly. So you actually need more memory to load a level than to play a level.

2. This method tends to cause "fragmented" memory, which is when unrecoverable pockets of memory are created as a result of allocating and freeing various sized memory blocks. I know that's not really clear, but the end result is is a situation where there is more available memory than the program can actually use. And the more you play and the more levels you load, the worse the situation becomes. The only way to fix this is to quit and re-load your game.

3. The amount of memory you need to load a level depends not only on the app's partition size, but also what level you currently have in memory. This may be one reason why many people are having problems loading Noork's Elbow (other than the music problems). The level itself is not that large, but it comes after Terraniux, which is the largest level in the game. The program has to have enough RAM to hold both Terraniux and Noork at the same time.

These are some of the reasons, then, why Unreal tends to run out of memory when loading a level.

So you might be wondering, "Why don't Windows users have this problem?" The answer is, they do, it's just hidden from them. Under Windows, apps don't have pre-set memory partition sizes, they just allocate however much RAM they need, and Windows VM will happily give it to them (until they run out of disk space). With Unreal, Windows users generally have no idea how much memory Unreal is really using. On the Mac, however, we have to know how much, and set the app's size accordingly.

Believe it or not, Mac Unreal actually requires about 20 MB less memory than the PC version. We were able to find a class of objects that were allocating far more memory than they needed, and corrected the problem.

Maybe one day, when OS X is here and static partition sizes are history, we can also program with reckless disregard to memory ("Ah, let VM take care of it"), but until that glorious day arrives, we still have to program carefully on the Mac.

Ken Cobb
Westlake Interactive

PS. You can check the amount of available memory in Unreal at any time by typing MEMSTAT at the command line. The "FreeMem" amount is the total free memory. The "MaxBlock" amount is the largest single block of memory that can be allocated. The larger the difference between these two numbers, the more fragmented your memory. "

Unreal/Ramdoubler 2: A reader wrote that he could not run Unreal with a 48MB ram machine with Ramdoubler 2 enabled. I suggested disabling RD2 and using Apple's virtual memory under OS 8.1 instead (and getting more real ram)

" Mike. . . .THANKS.
I turned off RamDoubler and used the Mac VM (yes, in 8.1) and voila! it works now. Must've been a RAM2x conflict. I DO get major lag on the 3rd level due to the hard drive/RAM swapping. Time for a new 128mb DIMM! You know, I do some some freelance Graphic Design work and the reason I'm upgrading my RAM is to play Unreal.
JP "

For anyone with less than 128MB installed ram, I'd suggest leaving VM on for Unreal to avoid level loading out of memory errors, etc. Best is to add more ram - I'm running unreal with 95MB allocated and VM on in a 160MB ram G3 now.

[9/20/98]

Curved Surfaces/3Dfx Cards don't mix: I've gotten two reports from both Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 2 card owners saying that enabling 'curved surfaces' in the 3Dfx advanced settings causes problems. Since curved surfaces are normally just made up of more polygons (smaller ones) this could be causing memory problems. As noted in the Unreal Readme (found in the Unreal folder), Curved surfaces is an experimental feature.

'CurvedSurfaces: Enables smoothing of monster meshes. This is experimental and very slow, and should be left off.'

Unreal Easter Egg: Frank Bernier sent a note that Mark Adams has mentioned while in the castle fly-by, toggle the console and type "ahoy" without the quotes. You will see some nice Pirate's flags. [9/19/98]

Saved Game Notes: Frank Bernier, author of our FPS Toolkit sent a note on using saved games with the HQ/LQ test ini files:

" Mike,
Before having people restart Unreal , please mention on the web page that after performing the tests, people should drag and drop their last saved game on Unreal and Resave them after performing the benchmarks tests.

I noticed that sometimes, for strange reasons, Unreal after doing the HQ and LQ tests did not allow me to select my saved games properly. After performing the drag-drop and resave, it was perfect.

[Summary] Go in the finder, open the unreal saved game folder and do a sort by date. Select the most recent one and drag it on Unreal. That will not only skip the Castle fly-by (saving time) but will start right where you saved. This can save as much as 25-30 seconds of loading time.
Frank Bernier "

[9/16/98]

Tweaking 3Dfx Voodoo 1 cards: Andreas Varga, author of 3Dfx Tweaker wrote with some comments on Unreal tweaking:

" Hi...
Took a close look at all the Unreal benchmarks on your page... I think I should add some words on the effect of 3DfxTweaker with Unreal:

Unlike Quake, Unreal requires much more CPU power even with a 3Dfx card. On slower machines (for Unreal this is a 603e with < 200MHz or a 604e with < 166 MHz), 3DfxTweaker will show little or no improvement. However, on faster CPUs (e.g. G3s at 266MHz or more) a Voodoo1 card is more of a bottleneck than a benefit. This is clearly shown in the first of the graphs on the tips page (you wrote that the G3 300 reveals the Voodoo2 power [That was Frank Bernier's comments- as noted he did the graphs-Mike]). Overclocking a Voodoo1 card on a fast G3 system will boost framerates significantly.
Cheers, Andreas
btw: Unreal has an option to set the swapbuffer interval to 0 (called FastUglyRefresh in the 3Dfx section of Advanced Options). 3DfxTweaker will override this though ! It really looks ugly, that's why I use the default swapbuffer interval (that's why my framerate sticks at ~15fps, because 15 is an even divider of 60) "

[9/13/98]

Unreal System Cache: I didn't see a lot of Timedemo improvement but thought I'd pass this along as some say in play it seems to help performance. If you have enough RAM, try increasing the CacheSize setting from 2 to 4 (MB). It's under the 'Advanced Options', 'Game Engine' parameters. You can also set the 3Dfx refresh rate under the 3Dfx options as well. Some say higher refresh rates (Check your monitor's capability first!) may help peak framerates, which will help average fps a tad possibly. [9/12/98]

ASMD Weapon Trick:

" Hi Mike,
It is mentionned in the Unreal manual that the ASMD weapon might be able to be used in a combo attack to inflict more damage... I think I just found what it is:

First, shoot at the ennemy with the ASMD secondary weapon and when the energy ball is getting close the the target, rapidly press the primary fire key . It will shoot a fast burst that will hit the energy ball , making it explode in lateral directions. You will see that you've successfully done it when you will see a large purple halo . I find it useful when shooting at mutiple ennemies and when you are shooting at them from a corner.
enjoy,
Frank "

I'm beginning to call Fran Bernier 'Mr. Unreal' for all his tips and help. Check out the Unreal Timedemo Graphs for more of his handywork. Thanks again Frank! [9/12/98]

Tweaking 3Dfx Voodoo 1 cards: Some Voodoo 1 card owners apparently have not heard of 3Dfx Tweaker. It's been around for quite a while and works well. Tweaker can help boost framerates in games by using the "swap buffer=0" option and also allows overclocking the card (stock speed is 50mhz, Tweaker offers speeds up to 60+ MHz). I strongly suggest a fan for use at higher speeds and running the card too high will cause lockups and image degredation. Most quality cards I've tested run 57 Mhz fine if cooling is not an issue. This may void your warranty so check with your card manufacturer if you're not sure. (I ran a PC 3Dfx card for over two years at 57MHz and it is still running fine, but Orchid does not honor the warranty on overclocked cards - Canapus does.)

3Dfx Tweaker's home page is at: http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/3dfx/. Tweaker also allows changing the vertical refresh rate. 3Dfx card cooling info can be found at http://www.dnai.com/~flyman/tweaking.html. Note: I've emailed flyman to correct his comment on thermal adhesive and grease not conducting electricity - they do. They use aluminum oxide as a conductor usually - be careful with these, if they get across connections/pins they can short out devices. 3DfxCool sells a easy to install fan/bracket assembly made just for the Voodoo cards. If your Mac uses a screw to secure PCI cards (some older Apple Macs like the 8500/9500 use plastic tabs instead of a screw) then this is the quickest and easiest way to cool the card. [9/12/98]

Castle Flyby - Explore it: Think the Castle intro scene looks inviting? Walk around and check it out. Bring down the console during the flyby (~ key) and type 'fly', then 'walk' to drop to the ground. 'Summon Flare' when things get too dark, ride the shuttle, and 'fly' again to explore all around the scene. Other cheats that may come in handy (you probably already know these but just in case) are:

• GOD : god on (type god again to turn it off)
• Allammo: gives you all ammo
• Fly : fly
• Ghost : like noclip in Quake
• Summon 'X' : summon a weapon, flare, monsters, etc.

[Thanks to Frank Bernier for the castle exploration tip!] [9/11/98]

PowerBook G3/250 Performance: Note that the Unreal CD comes with a ATI driver update containing new 3D, 2D and Video memory manager extensions. Default 75mb allocated, new ATI drivers on the CD installed. I'm running QD3D v1.5.4 from the QT3.0 install. Here's the performance from the timedemo2 test at various res:

640x480: 17.35 fps
(scan doubled, skip lines off (much better looking but still not great), 8 audio channels)

640x400: 11.85 fps
(much better looking and still playable surprisingly, at least in most areas.)

512x384: 13.20 fps
(still looks good, but small screen - I'm using this mode for now)

No lockups on level loading so far, but I've only played it for 5 min or so (2nd level). I suggest you don't use Libmoto and minimize extensions for best reliability. Can't wait to see it at home on the Voodoo II!

Reducing Detail tips with 3Dfx Cards: Eric Whitmore sends a reminder that if you're not getting enough speed even with a Voodoo card you can disable some advanced features to help performance:

" ...in the 9600/300 [post] he said you can't turn off the coronas around the lights or such. You can. In advanced options all the way down to the 3Dfx rendering options turn off coronas to remove the glow. Other options can be turned on or off to increase detail or game speed to your liking. Play with it. I like to keep everything at max and just play it. It's fast enough for me, and a SLI will help as soon as Microconversions supports it.
Eric Whitmore "

3Dfx Refresh Rate Tip: Beware setting the rate higher than your monitor supports but this might help some readers:

" Haven't seen this one anywhere else, you can set you monitor to 120Mhz [120HZ I suspect, and beware - many monitors may not support that high a refresh rate - even 75 or 85hz might help-Mike] in the 3dfx tweaker, but this dosn't work if you are using VM, but if you use the advanced settings in unreal there is a option at the bottom allowing you to specify that, Presto! my framerate went up 5 frames!
Robin Bockman "

3Dfx Tweaker Boost: (See the Links page for Tweaker's home page)

" Heya Mike,
Here are my results for the Timedemo test:

8600 G3 325/512k
Power3D Voodoo1
200M to Unreal
no VM
---------
16fps, untweaked
20.7fps, tweaked @ 57mhz, swapbuffer set to zero (25% gain)
26.37fps, tweaked @ 57mhz, swapbuffer set to zero, BUT running at 512 res - 512 res mode is just as good as 640 if you want the extra fps

NOTE: I ran several tests with my normal system and an 'optimized' system (ie, Appletalk off, few extensions, etc.) and noticed NO difference at all in terms of FPS performance. In addition, even though 20 fps may seem slow, it isn't. The game is very fluid and responsive. I think the processor helps greatly in making the game flow smoothly, even though the framerate may not benchmark 'high'.
John Vigil "

Chris Collins commented that Tweaker only helped by 1 fps or so on this Voodoo 1 equipped 7500/120. CPU speed apparently is the reason.

" PowerTower Pro 225
225Mhz 604e
1MB L2
3Dfx VoodooII
120MB allocated to Unreal
No VM

19.77fps average with all options on. With everything off it's about 10fps higher. Not that much of a boost I didn't think. It still freezes during level loading when it seems to run out of Ram or something. I don't think its my HD because I have over 1GB free on it. I think it's either 1) a bug or 2) not enough Ram to do it. I gave the game 24MB for cache, but I have yet to see it in use.
Eric Whitmore "

9600/233 with MacPicasso/3D Overdrive: Not too bad actually considering the above Voodoo II scores.

" Here is my (really lousy) framereates for Unreal

9600/233 604E
512k cache
voodoo1 Picasso Card
90 megs allocated
no VM
Average FPS in 3rd loop: 15.01 (780 frames, 51.97)

I am hoping that this slow setup is because I have a heavy load of extensions and have set everything in the advanced options to high detail.

I had alittle trouble with the picasso card after setting the main video setting from low to high.... so I switched every[thing] to high detail and turned off all the rave settings. so I will reinstall Unreal and leave the settings on low and see how it is. I just love the little things you see that are not in the low detail settings...
Brian Dayton "

The MacPicasso/3DO 3Dfx card is not compatible with the 3Dfx Tweaker Utility as reported in my Review of the card. [9/9/98]

" Heya Mike,
8600 with G3 card running at 325mhz/512kcache, Techworks Power3D (clocked to 57mhz), 325M ram, 150M allocated to Unreal: with all the graphics and sound effects bumped up to the max I get upwards of ~40fps and when things are going heavy, can be as low as 15 or so. However, even if the framerate may be 'low' it still feels fast and very smooth. Unreal is the most gorgeous game on any platform, bar none.

[Later comments] I noticed that if you play against the bots, as opposed to single player mode or multiplayer mode, it is a bit jerky, but one must take into consideration that the computer is controlling several bots with great AI in addition to rendering, etc..
John Vigil "

Unreal on 9600/300: (I suggested he at least try the "Swapbuffer 0" setting with 3Dfx tweaker for increased performance - see Links page)

" I'm running Unreal on a 9600/300 with a 3Dfx Voodoo (1) card and the 9600 video driver from 8.5b8f2 which is supposed to be a lot faster than previous versions. I've devoted 250 MBs to the game (might as well, nothing else is using it).

Well, it's visually stunning alright, but disappointingly jerky. I've set graphics and sound both to low, reduced the sound channels (in the advanced config prefs) from 16 to 8 and there's still significant slowdown whenever you can "see" farther than 40 ft.

Oddly, the multiplayer arenas, although as large (or larger) than the single-player levels, are fast and fluid. If only I could turn off optical effects in the 3Dfx version (like light halos, etc. They really seem to be a major cause of slowdown).

On the other hand, I've done nothing for the last two days but play Unreal, which is really pissing off my cats.
Rob Erwin "

Unreal on 6500:

" Hi,
Enjoy your site very much....running a PM6500/225/96RAM/1024L2/Power3d/OS8.1...Unreal in 3DFX mode is outstanding the card and CPU seem to handle things extrememly well....some slow downs in certain areas, but animations and game play is remarkable.

Just as an experiment I tried running in software mode...yikes, unless serious tweaking and down grading of graphics, the game would be difficult to play...definetly loves RAM, wish I had more I think it would benifit .....
My .02¢
Bob Ryan "

[Added 9/8/98]