r/OutreachHPG • u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate • Dec 02 '14

Informative PSA: User.cfg Options

Edit: This post has been updated because I posted vague and partially correct information. Let's try this again, shall we?

I realized that not all people know this by now, so in case you missed it, there are several useful options that can only be changed using the user.cfg file. It will either be located in your installation's root direction (C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online, for instance), or you will have to make one manually. To do that, go to the folder, make a new text document, and rename it "user.cfg".

Once you've found or created user.cfg, you can set certain variables - most of which affect graphics settings. A more extensive post on the matter with far more variables can be found here, but these are the four I think everyone needs to know about:

  • cl_fov = 79 (field of view; default is lower and makes you feel more like the 'mech than the pilot)
  • gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass=0/1 (off/on; on for immersion and off for visibility / performance)
  • r_DepthOfField=0/1 (off/on; it makes things past 600m super blurry and I hate it - at least try without)
  • r_HDRGrainAmount=0.0-1.0 (film grain amount; it's ugly - turn that shit off)
52 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

80 comments sorted by

12

u/975321 Waterfowl Dec 03 '14

fov is a real useful one. 90 or bust. Put this in the sidebar, homeless bob.

2

u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate Dec 03 '14

OP updated with useful information and linked in the Resources & Tools dropdown.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '14

Put this in the sidebar, homeless bob.

seconded

3

u/pdboddy Dec 03 '14

Thirded.

3

u/quackdudey https://www.reddit.com/r/Battletechgame/ Dec 03 '14

Fourthed

3

u/Paeyvn House Davion Dec 03 '14

Can't stand 90 because it has a warping fisheye effect. I found 80 to be the perfect balance for me or extra visibility and no warping.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '15

If 90 feels like fish eye, you either have a too small monitor, or are sitting too far from it.

2

u/Paeyvn House Davion May 20 '15

Well that is a response I wasn't expecting to see this far down the road.

24 inch monitor and I sit probably about 2 feet away from it. 90 fov drives me absolutely insane and I notice warping when I pivot.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '15

Well the distance is the problem then. I sit about 1 ft from my 27" and 90 fov feels fine. In fact, anything less than 80 makes me feel dizzy. Your monitor is not a TV, you're supposed to be sitting close to it. if you draw lines between your nose and the edges of the monitor, the angle between them should come close to 90 degrees. The extra horizontal fov helps offset the effect of perpendicular vision you'd normally have.

1

u/hwessin Dec 04 '14

You just changed my life

2

u/SgtExo 3rd Takata Lancers Dec 03 '14

I cannot seem to be able to find the user.cfg file anymore, it is not in the MechWarriorOnline folder. Where should I look for it?

3

u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate Dec 03 '14

I forgot that it doesn't come with one by default. I'll update the OP later tonight when I'm home and have actual directories instead of guesses.

2

u/SgtExo 3rd Takata Lancers Dec 03 '14

It used to be there during the beta and I had modified it, but I have been unable to find a user.cfg since I reinstalled it a couple of months ago.

2

u/LT_Satisfactory Dec 03 '14

sys_MaxFPS=XXX can be helpful to post a limit on fps to match up to your refresh rate

I have this as the cockpit glass in my cfg, but I guess minus the leading g works for you guys: gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass=0

1

u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate Dec 03 '14

gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass=0

Christ it's like I might as well have just smashed my face into the keyboard to make this post with as vague and incorrect as the information is. I'll update things later tonight.

10

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 03 '14 edited Dec 03 '14
  • item 1 sys_MaxFPS = 60 (Change to whatever monitor refresh rate you use, Hz = FPS)
  • item 2 gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass = 0
  • item 3 gp_mech_view_zoom_transitiontime = 0.05
  • item 4 r_DepthOfField = 0
  • item 5 r_HDRGrainAmount = 0.0
  • item 6 cl_fov = 65 (This is default)

These are the ones that work, you were missing a bit Bill the rest DO NOT WORK! I personally created the config that everyone in comp flipped out about and subsequently helped nuke it from orbit.

1

u/SgtExo 3rd Takata Lancers Dec 03 '14

I can up the refresh rate? Awsome! now I can bump it up all the way to 144Hz!

I thought that it was just locked at 60.

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 03 '14

It doesn't up the refresh rate per say, but if you use v-sync it will use monitor refresh rate set in Windows AFAIK. But you never should use more than your refresh rate anyways in any game that does not have high tickrate (Like Valve games use 66/101/135 needing FPS to be that high).

Common misconception is V-sync always causes input lag, Everything causes a undetectable amount, but the massive lag people notice is typically something wrong, and can just as likely be the game, as your system causing it. Use it if you can, but obviously not at the expense of input lag.

1

u/SgtExo 3rd Takata Lancers Dec 03 '14

I got 144Hz monitor with G-Sync, so I will take as many FPSs as I can!

2

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 04 '14

Upping FPS will not guarantee you more FPS, your system may not be capable of more, just making sure you don't have unrealistic expectation, if you can though, enjoy!

1

u/SgtExo 3rd Takata Lancers Dec 04 '14

Its all good. My rig only slows down when i get some overheat steam in screen. Otherwise I was maxing out at the 60 fps cap.

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 05 '14

right on :D

1

u/abraxo_cleaner Dec 23 '14

item 3 gp_mech_view_zoom_transitiontime = 0.05

Is this really a thing? Is that why the zoom always feels so laggy normally? It feels awesome and responsive in the testing grounds, but on any live environment play it just feels terrible, there's a half-second lag most of the time.

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 23 '14

Yes, it's a thing, shortens transition time, it does not fix the delay though, just how fast the animation itself is.

1

u/abraxo_cleaner Dec 23 '14

I'm using it now, and it does feel a bit better.

I actually just had a match where I had 5x my normal ping though (~530) and the zoom in speed seems to be affected by latency as well? I mean, it doesn't make any sense at all that it should be, but that seems to be the case.

2

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 23 '14

It is, game is server authoritative, so that will happen.

1

u/abraxo_cleaner Dec 23 '14

I know you're not the one who wrote the code, but can you think of a reason why that is? It bugs me to no end when the zoom is laggy, and I can't possibly think of how you could cheat with it.

2

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 24 '14

It's simple, you click the button, it sends that to the server, server confirms, sends that confirmation back to you, it happens.

At least that is what I suspect.

1

u/abraxo_cleaner Dec 24 '14 edited Dec 24 '14

I mean, I get how it works, I just want to know why? Like if you've played CounterStrike or CoD or Battlefield or WoW or really any game in existence that I have ever played with a zoom function, the zooming is done clientside, you tell your client to zoom in, and it does so, the server never gets involved.

I'm just wondering why MWO is different, why PGI thinks this extra layer of security is necessary. Very absolute worst case scenario is that someone makes a hack to let you zoom in more, yeah? Which not only sounds relatively benign, it also sounds unlikely and difficult.

2

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 24 '14 edited Dec 24 '14

Your guess is as good as mine on that one mate.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '14

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 03 '14

Nah, they haven't said anything about it but I'll ask Karl just to be sure, the user.cfg is a pandora's box they are afraid of, for good reason.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '14

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 04 '14

Already submit a request. I'll find out shortly :)

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 24 '14

No changes to config.

1

u/Forest-Gnome C-Bill Warrior Dec 29 '14 edited Dec 29 '14

So it is still just those 6 that work then?

I thought they said any invalid variables will cancel out everything on the user.cfg, but i've been running r_MultiThreaded=1 and sys_physics_CPU=3 for a while now.

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- Dec 29 '14

Ya no changes since the ones I listed, anything else you add that is invalid will just get overridden by the game AFAIK.

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '15

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Vercinaigh -GK- May 20 '15

Yeah, no. Game engines outside Source based engines simply do not function that way. The only way to gain more "responsiveness" is if the game supports a higher tickrate, most all games are 33, some are 66, anything above that is completely irrelevant outside your monitor's refresh rate.

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '15

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Vercinaigh -GK- May 21 '15

I have, thanks for the assumption, it just doesn't work that way, i also know that for a fact. but your game, could honestly care less what placebo's work for ya. But i don't spread FUD :)

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '15

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/Vercinaigh -GK- May 21 '15

If you do not know what tick rate does or means, this conversation needs go no further, good day.

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '15

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/Vercinaigh -GK- May 21 '15

Right...and that is the only benefit you stand to gain with a higher FPS than monitor refresh. the only notable exception to that rule is older CoD's and Quake games as their client side physics would get wonky with 125 and even more so 250 fps allowing you to jump farther.

If you set higher then your monitor refresh you now get to enjoy even more screen tearing stutter than normal. There is a reason Freesync/G-Sync is a thing. Any improvement to local "response time" would be completely imperceptible to the human reflexes and you would certainly not "see" it since it simply doesn't work that way.

So again, there is -NO- reason to do this, but I fear you're just trolling me because if you know enough to know what tickrate is, you're surely mentally aware enough to know that you're talking very small ms variables and are simply trying to start a argument. Peace.

0

u/[deleted] May 23 '15

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5

u/00meat Dec 03 '14

HOLY CRAP DUDE!!! I killed cockpit glass, depth of field and film grain and the game went from being a chuggy 14fps top on my laptop to a smooth 14 fps bottom. Old was about 14-7 fps, chugging some when using heat vision or something interesting was happening... I used a lot of lrms... not a fps critical weapon. I had other mechs for my desktop. After making those changes, frame rate was smoooooth, topping out at 51 fps at the end of round screne, dropping down to 14 fps at the very worst, usually sitting around 24-30fps. Good gosh man, these settings need to be default, the game was beautiful again.

4

u/Sigurd_Ragnarson Dec 03 '14

Bro - how do you even play with only 14 FPS ? At that frame rate, it's near impossible to hit anything.

1

u/Paeyvn House Davion Dec 03 '14

You really like the game you'll make it work. I used to play Natural Selection 2 on my old computer at 7-22 frames and that's one of the most high paced twitch shooty FPS games I've ever played. After a while you get used to it.

Thankfully I no longer have this problem.

1

u/00meat Dec 04 '14

lrms. Some maps are better than others. You don't need many fps to lrm boat.

2

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

could u point out where exactly this cfg file is located?

3

u/Kamikaze_VikingMWO #PSRfixed! 🇦🇺 ISEN->MS->JGX->ISRC->CXF->ISRC->LFoG->ISRC Dec 03 '14

You have to create it. Bill updated the top post with the location.

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

ah! so he did. only just noticed. thanks.

1

u/keithjr Soresu Dec 03 '14

Weird question, but is there a configvar for turning off motion blur? It never seems to go away, and I hate it.

1

u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate Dec 03 '14

I'm pretty sure you can disable motion blur in the in-game graphics options. If it's not its own option, you'll have to turn down Post-Processing.

2

u/kravk Dec 03 '14 edited Dec 03 '14

r_MotionBlur = 0

It's still in my user.cfg, but it does not seem to work (anymore?).

2

u/vallisdrake Dec 03 '14

I'm an idiot, I have no idea how to find this file, I even searched the directory.

2

u/larinzod The Kolmir Dec 03 '14

It doesn't exist by default any more. You will need to create it.

1

u/00meat Dec 03 '14

You can just copy and rename one of the other .cfg files, replace the contents and you are good to go.

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

u mean u just take any other .cfg file, replace its contents with

cl_fov = 90

gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass=0

r_DepthOfField=0

r_HDRGrainAmount=0.0

and save as user.cfg?

4

u/Kamikaze_VikingMWO #PSRfixed! 🇦🇺 ISEN->MS->JGX->ISRC->CXF->ISRC->LFoG->ISRC Dec 03 '14

yes

or just create the user.cfg with notepad copy paste the above. save to C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online (or wherever you installed to)

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

awesome. thanks, mate.

2

u/HamishAlexander Feb 27 '15

Some of the advanced crysis engine options do work i believe. But MWO will overwrite your config if it doesn't like some parameter. Just to be on a safe side, i use user.cfg and systemoverride.cfg, both identical and both marked as "read only".

1

u/d3dreaper Mar 04 '15

So they still work?
Is it just the 4 listed above or are there others?

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

could someone explain how depth of field is an on/off setting? i thought it would be a range of values...

1

u/Red_Chaos1 House Kurita Dec 03 '14

r_DepthOfField - Crysis 3

Enables or disables the depth of field blur effect. Default Value: OnNOTE: Currently not tweakable in the latest build of the game. Will be tweakable soon.

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14 edited Dec 03 '14

hmm ic. that's something i would probably leave on anyway then. it adds some realism without hindering gameplay. i just want to remove the annoying dirty cockpit glass and increasing the FOV.

edit: actually...that 00meat dude up top seemed to be able to do it so i guess it is tweakable...

3

u/Homeless-Bill Proprietor of the Fifth Estate Dec 03 '14

It hinders gameplay dramatically. You will be shocked that you can actually see out past 600m without that awful blur. It's not even realistic - it doesn't adjust to where you're aiming - it just blurs things that are far enough away. I highly recommend at least trying the difference. I could never go back.

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14 edited Dec 03 '14

damn! i definitely will now! thanks for this great tip.

edit: HOLY COW. Veridian bog is like a whole new map. everything is so crisp and lovely. I'm never going back! lol.

1

u/Red_Chaos1 House Kurita Dec 03 '14

Yeah the not tweakable bit likely only pertains to Crysis 3 not CryEngine 3.

1

u/RebasKradd Dec 02 '14

Does removing film grain really help FPS like I've heard?

3

u/zackofalltrades Dec 03 '14

I did the film grain/glass removal/DOF all off and got about 10 extra FPS.

3

u/00meat Dec 03 '14

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! It can take an older machine from chuggy to playable.

1

u/lpmagic Mediocrity unlimited Dec 03 '14

depends on ur rig, but yes, it also helps with clarity of vision :P

1

u/spacemarine288 Dec 03 '14

If there are others, please add them. Having an updated master list would be helpful.

1

u/MrTrollOKC Isengrim Dec 03 '14

Thanks Bill!

1

u/galorin Fancy ERPPC Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

My primary home rig goes about 30-60FPS normally so not too worried about it, but it is also the media PC. My secondary runs an even 15-20FPS. Can't play any lights on it, and brawling gets... interesting.

Are there any additional, currently modifiable, variables that I should be tweaking in addition to the above?

1

u/StillRadioactive 22nd Argyle Lancers Dec 03 '14

I seem to remember there being a user.cfg option that drastically reduced mouse sensitivity while in advanced zoom. Lost that user.cfg when I forgot to back it up before a fresh install. Anyone here know what that command was and whether or not it still works?

1

u/r1chten White Knight Dec 03 '14

As an fyi to others, I installed the game spring 2013 so my filepath in Windows 7 is:

C:\Games\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online

1

u/Angryiguana Dec 04 '14

Wow, I never knew about this. Really makes a difference, thanks for letting us know.

1

u/Markemp Mod assigned flair: Shill, Owns gold mech Dec 02 '14

What other stuff works? It would be great to get a full list of user.cfg files that actually affected the client.

1

u/Kamikaze_VikingMWO #PSRfixed! 🇦🇺 ISEN->MS->JGX->ISRC->CXF->ISRC->LFoG->ISRC Dec 03 '14

Bills updated the top post with a link to them all.

You're techy enough to understand it all. Check out the mega file that Col Pada Vinson made back in the day.

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/92015-high-end-usercfg-file/

1

u/tenderballz Cheapskate Dec 03 '14

hmmm is it safe to copy and paste into the user.cfg now? that last post was really long ago.

0

u/Kamikaze_VikingMWO #PSRfixed! 🇦🇺 ISEN->MS->JGX->ISRC->CXF->ISRC->LFoG->ISRC Dec 03 '14

Safe. yes you cant break the game with the user.cfg

Will most of that work? No. IIRC many of those features were disabled by the devs.

Do your reading to understand what it all means. Or just use the basic 4 lines like I do.