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--- en:games:star_trek_armada_1:tweaking_the_game [2025-06-09-10-13] – [ALT + TABing] 7saturn
+++ en:games:star_trek_armada_1:tweaking_the_game [2025-06-09-10-25] (current) – [GOG DirectX Wrapper] 7saturn
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 This happens when you <key>ALT</key> + <key>TAB</key> and come back later. This is especially frustrating, when you are waiting for other players and decide to do something else in the meantime. So with the stock game it is best to avoid it.
-With the GoG version of the game, there is the possibility of getting rid of this problem by using the [[#gog_directx_wrapper|DirectX Wrapper]] delivered with the game. Setting //Presentation:// to //Windowed// makes the game **a lot** more resilient in terms of crashes as well as avoiding the above shown black menu effect.
+For the GoG version of the game there is the possibility of getting rid of this problem by using the [[#gog_directx_wrapper|DirectX Wrapper]] which comes delivered with the game. Setting //Presentation:// to //Windowed// makes the game **a lot** more resilient in terms of crashes as well as avoiding the above shown black menu effect.
 ==== GOG DirectX Wrapper ====
 The GOG release of the game comes with the [[en:game_tech:gog.com DirectX Wrapper]]. It allows for an adjustment of the game's optical properties. However, it is recommended to use the following settings:
   * //Display mode//: Do not use a particular resolution or the desktop resolution. Instead, set it to //Set by application//. This way the game selects the resolutions and it will work as expected. Otherwise you might end up using not the desired resolution (e.g. setting 3840x2160 in-game is well possible with the 1.3 patch and similar techniques, but when you override this with another resolution with the wrapper, let's say, full HD, then the game will use full HD instead).
-  * //Presentation//: Should work either way, but it seems like the game gets more <key>ALT</key> + <key>TAB</key> resilient if you use //Windowed// instead of //Fullscreen// or //Set by application (Default)//.
+  * //Presentation//: Should work either way, but it seems to have a few beneficial side-effects:
+    * The game gets more <key>ALT</key> + <key>TAB</key> resilient if you use //Windowed// instead of //Fullscreen// or //Set by application (Default)//.
+    * The switching between menus and in-game view is faster.
+    * There are reports by some players that using //Windowed// mode increased their frame rate. (Can be checked with the in-game FPS indicator, see [[#rts_cfgh|RTS_CFG.h]] on the matter.) Others could not reproduce the effect. So it might depend on your setup, whether this is beneficial in terms of FPS.
   * //Aspect ratio correction//: Use it.
   * //Scaling method//: Use //Screen fit (Default)//. The alternative of //Integer scaling// works, but looks horrible for fonts.
+  * //Vertical synchronization//: Deactivate it (setting //Disabled//). With an unaltered game the FPS are usually already far below what any current screen provides as a refresh rate. But if you are in a position where the FPS are higher than what your screen allows for, having an extra buffer is still beneficial: The game has a tendency to have frame rate drops, like one moment you have hundreds of FPS, next thing they drop to 150. The same kind of behavior occurs if your FPS are already low, like, dropping from 60 to 20. So having the game not artificially limit the FPS rate makes it less likely to drop to an FPS rate that is really low (higher starting level results in less severe minimum level).
+  * //Gamma correction//: Use it, if you feel you need that. It can adjust the brightness of the game.
   * //Antialiasing//: Do not over-do that! On high resolutions it will enhance the experience. On low resolutions too high of an AA value will make the game look fuzzy.
-The rest of the settings does not seem to make a whole lot of difference, except maybe the //Gamma correction// (if you need that).
 ==== Increase Zoom ====
 One small annoyance can be remedied if one is not completely satisfied with the standard overview. Armada starts by default zoomed in quite far, which doesn't exactly improve the overview of the events at all. In principle, you can now adjust this zoom by holding down both mouse buttons at the same time or use the ''-'' and ''+'' keys //of your numbers block//. (The mouse control of this is a bit bumpy, but once you got the hang of it, it works. First the right button, then the left one, in between make sure that you don't move the mouse.) But you can also adjust this setting in the [[#RTS_CFG.h]] file. There you can find this line:
@@ Line 40: / Line 45: @@
 is the reason why you can't see anything on the map that is beyond a certain distance. You can set it generously to ''20000.0''. Then you can increase the //OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT// value accordingly. Normally it is sufficient to be in the range of 5000. With this you can already see practically the whole map.
-At this point, a warning is in order: The larger overview of course requires more computations from the system, so the CPU/GPU load will increase and the game may start to jolt. Especially if many nebulae and other elements have to be rendered, the game jolts even on current computers. Also some people consider this change to be cheating, as it gives a player the advantage of a bigger overview over the battle field. The default value for //OVERVIEW_INIT_HEIGHT// is 400 and //OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT// is 700. While setting //OVERVIEW_INIT_HEIGHT// to ''700'' will certainly not hurt, as you can achieve this without any changes in-game as well, the //OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT// might be a matter for discussion.
+At this point, **a warning is in order**: The larger overview of course requires more computations from the system, so the CPU/GPU load will increase and the game may start to jolt. Especially if many nebulae and other elements have to be rendered, the game jolts even on current computers. Also **some people consider this change to be cheating**, as it gives a player the advantage of a bigger overview over the battle field. The default value for //OVERVIEW_INIT_HEIGHT// is 400 and //OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT// is 700. While setting //OVERVIEW_INIT_HEIGHT// to ''700'' will certainly not hurt, as you can achieve this without any changes in-game as well, the //OVERVIEW_MAX_HEIGHT// might be a matter for discussion.
 ===== Scrolling Speed =====
 If one uses such increased zoom levels, one will notice very quickly that even at maximum scroll speed, the scroll is rather slow. This can be changed by turning up the parameters //FAST_MAX_SCROLL_SPEED// and //MAX_SCROLL_SPEED// in the [[#RTS_CFG.h]], e.g. to ''20''. This is not only useful when zoomed in, but also at higher resolutions, e.g. when playing on full HD. The scrolling always feels a bit slow otherwise.