16 replies to this topic

[m3talc0re]

Hawken Graphics Settings

I haven't seen any threads for this and didn't really see anything online anywhere either. This is a comparison of some of the graphics settings for what they do. I couldn't really find what Lens Flare was doing. As for Physx, there's better videos of what it does on YouTube, so I'm just going to link those in here. These images are all 1920x1080. If anyone has further information or instances of when these settings change something significantly enough to be added to this list, please feel free to share the info and I'll get it added in this post.

Ambient Occlusion
- Off : http://imageshack.us...3/8357/uh95.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...7/9594/msum.jpg
Notice how the shadows in the corners and where the overpass meets it's support are darker and richer when Ambient Occlusion is turned on.

Bloom
- Off : http://imageshack.us...0/7535/yltj.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...7/9594/msum.jpg
Look how the glow from the sky bleeds over the edge of the overpass and the structures on the right. Giving a more natural and real world lighting effect.

Film Grain
- Off : http://imageshack.us...6/2986/7q1w.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...6/2986/7q1w.jpg
This one is kind of hard to tell. The effect is more more noticeable in game when the grainy effect is moving on your screen like a tv static overlaying the image. In the picture, it looks more like a pixelated gif. Here is a gif showing it in action. I'll try to get a gif of it made from actually in Hawken soon.

High Quality Materials
- Off : http://imageshack.us...4/7905/yjvo.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...2/9200/o3lr.jpg
Objects have more realistic and clearer effects. Like metals looking more like metals and such.

Post Processing
-- First Set ( Uptown ) --
- Off : http://imageshack.us...0/9186/e47k.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...3/9774/dc7v.jpg
-- Second Set (Lost Eco) --
- Off : http://imageshack.us...9/7755/1i1b.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...1/6492/5bz9.jpg
In areas like Uptown and Origin, Post Processing more atmospheric fogs, lighting and shadows. Creating a much richer environment. You can see the effects on lighting it does for areas like Lost Eco as well, with the sunlight shining through the trees, the leaves casting more vivid and realistic light rays in the muggy jungle.

Anisotropic Filtering
- 1x : http://imageshack.us...7/3677/z8yw.jpg
- 8x : http://imageshack.us...6/1056/7rsj.jpg
- 16x : http://imageshack.us...5/3559/2j93.jpg
Notice how the street becomes blurry and muddied the further it gets from the mech. Anisotropic Filtering preserves the image quality of surfaces when viewed at oblique viewing angles, like the ground in front of you. Though the difference between 8x and 16x is negligible, the difference between 1x and 8x is night and day. 16x offering only slight improvements on objects further away, that you probably won't even notice. Like the street's dashed lines near the streetlights becoming slightly sharper with 16x.

Lens Flare
* I can't seem to find any differences with this on or off. I thought maybe thruster trails behind people while they're boosting, but it looked the same to me on and off.

Motion Blur
- Off : http://imageshack.us...3/9750/7hgh.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...5/9942/5xu1.jpg
Believe it or not, I am actually turning in the first picture. With Motion Blur enabled, it blurs everything around you as you move around fast, like turning or dodging quickly.

Depth of Field
- Off : http://imageshack.us...3/2163/m8bx.jpg
- On : http://imageshack.us...3/9720/73xb.jpg
Depth of Field basically means it tries to blur things according to what you're looking at. Like your eyes would when you focus on something close to you, things in the background become blurry and out of focus. This is a nice visual effect, but it's more of a handicap on maps like Lost Eco when you're trying to snipe through brush and overgrowth. It will focus on the foliage, blurring your target behind it.

PhysX
- Off : * I'm not really sure what's being added with it set to just "On".
- On : **
- On (Ultra) : The Hawken - nVidia PhysX Tech trailer:

Edited by m3talc0re, October 22 2013 - 09:30 PM.

[Cyclohexane]

I started playing with everything at max.  After dieing hundreds of times, I decreased everything to low to increase my fps.  Shame...

[SS396]

For the lens flare, you have to look towards the sun for it to register(its only an internal cockpit display effect, like the reflections).  Most notable is on bazzar, look towards east - southeast, I think thats the direction.

Edited by SS396, October 22 2013 - 09:39 PM.

[Aims]

It is important to note also that some effects can not be activated while others are disabled, even though it doesn't tell you this. I have asked about this in the past and people seem to have differing experiences.

For myself, I can not turn on Bloom by itself (even with ini editing) if post FX OR depth of field aren't also enabled. Similar things occur with film grain. I can not work out why this is and I have tried many different combinations.

I have not tried it for a while so I can't recall the specifics but if anyone can add to this that would be great.

Edited by Aims, October 23 2013 - 03:53 AM.

[Xacius]

Great thread! Thank you!

[m3talc0re]

I have Bloom on with DOF off. I think disabling Post Processing disables Bloom though. Good point though, I'll run through and check what happens.

[zaepp]

m3talc0re, on October 23 2013 - 03:48 AM, said:

I have Bloom on with DOF off. I think disabling Post Processing disables Bloom though. Good point though, I'll run through and check what happens.

Yeah, that's I little bit weird. Does somebody know why there is no option for Anti-Aliasing_ Seems like I must have either Bloom or DOF AND Post Processing enabled to enable Anti-Aliasing. So there's apparently no way to disable DOF and Bloom and keep AA, except using D9-AA via config. But that's not the way to go I guess.

Edited by zaepp, October 23 2013 - 03:59 AM.

[DaPheel]

Nice thread - very helpful.

I had actually mis-interperated what a few of these are for. Now I am enlightened, Thank You.

It's things like this that make me love this community!

[ArccBR]

Wished I had a good GC...

[mikeymop]

If you're having trouble with fps, I noticed the most 'heavy' effects in order are (I will tweak the list as I see fit):
PhysX
Post-Processing
High-Quality Materials
Bloom
An-ISO 8-16x
Ambient Occlusion
An-ISO 2-6x
DoF

I got a good balanced look, on medium with 58-60fps (usually) enabling Bloom, ambient occlusion, with Anti-ISO 4x

OP:
For Lens Flare, I have noticed it but it's extremely subtle. Try looking at the sun through a snipe scope in last eco. I notice it on Frontline a lot when I look at the sun or dash behind a mech going up one of the ramps.

Edited by mikeymop, October 23 2013 - 06:17 AM.

[m3talc0re]

I'll try looking at the sun to see if I can find it, lol.

Post Processing seems to turn MLAA on/off, but it's odd there are no standard AA settings. I think it's odd they're using MLAA instead of FXAA, too

[gopherAnime]

m3talc0re, on October 22 2013 - 09:07 PM, said:

PhysX
- Off : * I'm not really sure what's being added with it set to just "On".
- On : **
- On (Ultra) : The Hawken - nVidia PhysX Tech trailer:

How do I choose nvidia Ultra_ Seems it's not selectable.
Also with On (basic) I used to get nice slo-mo rocks flying everywhere. Post-ascension I get these tiny pebbles i can hardly see.

Edited by gopherAnime, October 24 2013 - 12:14 AM.

[m3talc0re]

Do you have an nVidia graphics card or something else_ You have to have an nVidia graphics card and I think it has to be a 9800 or later, though. As far as I know, the 8800's can't do nVidia's PhysX

[havoc5]

For High quality materials, off looks more realistic. In the first picture the objects look proper for something in an industrial complex. With the effect on they just look like disco balls.

[m3talc0re]

I wish we could get a little Dev feedback on what's actually going on here. Like, a list of something of the more significant things these settings do.

[gopherAnime]

m3talc0re, on October 24 2013 - 07:05 AM, said:

Do you have an nVidia graphics card or something else_ You have to have an nVidia graphics card and I think it has to be a 9800 or later, though. As far as I know, the 8800's can't do nVidia's PhysX

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 2GB GDDR5 VRAM (dedicated card in my laptop)
Also on physX supported list: http://www.geforce.c...ted-gpus_page=1

Nvidia settings has a PhysX tab. I don't know if I need to activate it somehow, fix driver, or change ini_

Edit: btw, Bloom kills my fps. High quality materials is really nice, more fine bump details, reflections on metals & windows (look up at windows in Frontline). Lens Flare: In garage before deploying, turn to look up at the lights. I think it'll look more JJ Abrams-ish.

Edited by gopherAnime, October 24 2013 - 05:50 PM.

[m3talc0re]

Oh, I wasn't even thinking about that. Update your graphics drivers. Or try to reinstall them if you have the latest. If you have to, click on Custom or whatever. You should see the option to install the PhysX drivers, too. Make sure you install those.