Main Menu, Model and Texture Detail

Main Menu

Two words describe the menus: %&$*@! sweet!. The Main Menus of this game are gorgeous. This game brings so much to the table in terms of graphics it’s unbelievable. From here we can start a new game, load our previous game, see if our friends are playing, or quit. So on to the options menu. From the options menu we click on the video tab. These are all the options available for us to change graphically, and obviously the ones that we are interested in for this article.

The Main Menu of game, all of them for that matter, are beautiful!

Video Options tab. Not that many options actually!

Settings in Depth

Model Detail

This setting adjusts the polygon count of objects. The higher this is set, the better characters and certain objects in the game will look in terms of shape and structure. With Model Detail set to low, expect higher frames per second at the cost of quality, in regards to characters and creatures. With this settings set to medium, expect decent quality and reduced frames per second. When this is set to high, you can expect the most realism in terms of true shapes, especially in the appearance of people and creatures you encounter. With Model Detail set to high you will experience, especially with the lower end video cards, a noticeable drop in frames per second due to the limited fill rate of the card you are using. Look at the following examples for more info.

Notice the shape of the guys on the screen. Especially the arms and heads

Much more realism and true form.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
800x600
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
Tachyon G9500 PRO	53	52.5
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	49.9	49.9
ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X	49.5	49.4

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1024x768
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
RADEON 9800 XT	53.3	53
RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF	50.3	50.1
Tachyon G9500 PRO	49.7	49.7
GeForce 6600 GT	45.3	45
GeForce 6600 GT 4xAA/8xAF	41.9	41.4
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	47.7	47.6
ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X	47.2	47

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1280x1024
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
RADEON 9800 XT	49.8	45.2
RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF	49.6	44.5
Tachyon G9500 PRO	43.3	43.1
GeForce 6600 GT	43.2	43.2
GeForce 6600 GT 4xAA/8xAF	36.7	36.5
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	41.7	39.9

Texture Detail

Texture detail sets the level of texture quality displayed on the screen in terms of terrain and static objects such as grass, buildings, lampposts, cars, etc. This option will be affected not only by the level of DirectX your hardware utilizes, but also heavily on the amount of memory installed on your graphics card. The more memory and the newer the DX level, the better the textures can be accurately portrayed on the screen. Memory acts as the storage of these textures, and less memory on older cards can definitely affect the frames per second of your gaming experience. With this setting on Low, expect the greatest performance with objects looking faded with the least definition. With this setting on Medium one can expect a good blend of performance and quality, with objects being drawn with more definition and detail. When setting to High and paired with Model Detail set to High, one can expect the most realistic portrayal of shapes, curves, and depth of objects and environments at the cost of a few frames per second. The following pictures will help better illustrate the differences between the settings.

Notice the leaves on the ground, the trees, and the building

The leaves have more definition, the tree looks more realistic, and the imperfections on the building are drawn better on-screen.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
800x600
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
Tachyon G9500 PRO	53	50
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	49.8	49.7
ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X	49.5	48.9

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1024x768
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
RADEON 9800 XT	53.3	52.4
RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF	50.3	49.6
Tachyon G9500 PRO	49.5	46.5
GeForce 6600 GT	44.3	43.5
GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF)	41.9	38.6
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	47.5	47.1
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	47.2	46

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1280x1024
Performance (Frame rate)	Normal	Max
RADEON 9800 XT	49.8	49.4
RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF	49.6	42.9
Tachyon G9500 PRO	42.8	40.5
GeForce 6600 GT	43.2	41.9
GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF)	36.7	5*
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	40.9	39.5

*The eVGA e-GeForce 6600GT ran at 5.0 FPS even after rebooting, letting the card sit for a few minutes, and after restarting the game a few times. Likely a software flaw.