Rage Updated

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RAGE Patch Release Notes - October 8th 2011[br]-------------------------------------------[br][br]RAGE defaults to lower video settings to allow the game to work on a[br]wide variety of hardware and software configurations.[br]Unfortunately, it is not possible to anticipate all possible graphics[br]driver issues in combination with unique end user hardware and software[br]configurations. For this reason RAGE does not automatically increase[br]video/graphics settings as this could result in negative side effects[br]on specific hardware and software configurations. The original release[br]of RAGE does not expose many video/graphics options for people to tweak[br]because some of these settings, although desirable from a quality[br]perspective, simply will not work on specific configurations either due[br]to hardware limitations and/or driver bugs. Due to popular demand for[br]more video and graphics options, this patch updates the video settings[br]menu and exposes several quality and performance settings. However, not[br]everyone may be able to increase the settings due to hardware limitations[br]and/or driver bugs.[br][br][br]VSync[br]-----[br][br]The new "VSync" option in the video settings menu allows you to remove[br]screen tearing. There are three options: ON, OFF and SMART.[br][br]When VSync is turned OFF you may experience screen tearing.[br][br]When VSync is turned ON you should not see screen tearing. However,[br]any time your frame rate drops below 60 frames per second you will[br]get a sudden more severe drop to 30 frames per second. This is how VSync[br]inherently works. If your computer cannot maintain 60 frames per[br]second and you miss the synchronization to the vertical retrace of[br]your monitor then you will miss a whole frame and synchronize to[br]the next frame instead.[br][br]Some graphics drivers now support a so called "swap-tear" extension.[br]You can try using this extension by setting VSync to SMART.[br]If your graphics driver supports this extension and you set VSync[br]to SMART then RAGE will synchronize to the vertical retrace of[br]your monitor when your computer is able to maintain 60 frames per[br]second and the screen may tear if your frame rate drops below 60 frames[br]per second. In other words the SMART VSync option trades a sudden drop[br]to 30 frames per second with occasional screen tearing. Occasional[br]screen tearing is usually considered less distracting than a more[br]severe drop in frame rate.[br][br]If your graphics driver does not support SMART VSync and you set VSync[br]to SMART in the video settings then RAGE will automatically fall back to[br]turning VSync OFF and you may experience screen tearing. The "swap-tear"[br]extension is brand new and may still present some issues on certain[br]graphics hardware. If you experience any problems using SMART Vsync[br]then set VSync to either ON or OFF. We are actively working with the[br]graphics hardware vendors to improve the "swap-tear" extension.[br][br]If changing VSync in the RAGE video settings menu does not appear to[br]make any difference then make sure you are not overriding the VSync[br]setting in the graphics vendor control panel. You can find the[br]graphics vendor control panel by right-clicking on the Windows desktop[br]and selecting the " control panel" option from the pop-up menu.[br][br]If you force VSync to the 'on' setting in the graphics vendor control[br]panel then you should not see any screen tearing in RAGE but you may[br]get a more severe drop in frame rate if your computer cannot maintain[br]60 frames per second.[br][br]If you force VSync to the 'off' setting in the graphics vendor control[br]panel then you may experience screen tearing no matter what setting you[br]use for the VSync option in the RAGE video settings menu.[br][br][br]Texture Cache[br]-------------[br][br]The new "Texture Cache" option in the video settings menu allows you[br]to increase the texture cache size to keep more texture data in[br]video memory.[br][br]If the Texture Cache is set to LARGE then RAGE will keep more texture[br]data in video memory. This may not only significantly reduce blurry[br]textures and texture popping, it will also allow complex scenes to be[br]rendered with more texture detail.[br][br]However, this may not work on computers that do not have enough system[br]or video memory, or you may experience a significant drop in performance.[br]If you experience issues due to hardware limitations you will have to set[br]the Texture Cache back to SMALL.[br][br]If after changing the Texture Cache to LARGE you experience a crash or[br]texture corruption (like a partially or completely blue world) then[br]the graphics driver may have run out of memory.[br][br]We are actively working with the graphics card vendors to resolve[br]any crashes.[br][br]If you do not experience a crash but you see texture corruption then you[br]may be able to get the large Texture Cache to work by accepting the change[br]and restarting the game. If you still experience texture corruption after[br]restarting the game you will have to set the Texture Cache back to SMALL.[br][br]You may also be able to improve the memory situation on your computer by[br]changing the Windows paging file management. Note that making changes to[br]the Windows paging file management may change the performance characteristics[br]of your computer. Any changes you make to your system configuration are[br]at your own risk. Always make backups of your system and revert these[br]changes if you notice undesirable side effects.[br][br]To change the paging file management on Windows Vista and Windows 7, first[br]press the "Start" button, then right-click on "Computer" and then select[br]"Properties" from the popup menu. Then select "Advanced system settings"[br]on the window that appears. Select the "Advanced" tab on the[br]"System Properties" window that is displayed and press the "Settings"[br]button under "Performance". Select the "Advanced" tab on the[br]"Performance Options" window that shows up next and press the[br]"Change..." button under "Virtual memory". Now uncheck the option[br]"Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" and make[br]sure that the option "System managed size" is selected on the[br]"Virtual Memory" window. Confirm the change by pressing the "OK" button[br]on each window. After making this change you will have to restart your[br]computer for the change to take effect.[br][br]To change the paging file management on Windows XP, first press the[br]"Start" button, then right-click on "My Computer" and then select[br]"Properties" from the popup menu. Select the "Advanced" tab on the[br]"System Properties" window that is displayed and press the "Settings"[br]button under "Performance". Select the "Advanced" tab on the[br]"Performance Options" window that shows up next and press the "Change"[br]button under "Virtual memory". Make sure that the option[br]"System managed size" is selected on the "Virtual Memory" window.[br]Confirm the change by pressing the "OK" button on each window.[br]After making this change you will have to restart your computer for[br]the change to take effect.[br][br][br]Anisotropic Filter[br]------------------[br][br]The new "Anisotropic Filter" option in the video settings menu allows[br]you to increase the anisotropic texture filtering.[br][br]Anisotropic filtering is a method to enhance the image quality of[br]textures on surfaces that are at oblique viewing angles.[br][br]The anisotropic texture filtering in RAGE defaults to a low value to[br]accommodate for low-end graphics hardware. However, the anisotropic[br]filtering can be increased for high-end graphics hardware by setting[br]the Anistropic Filter option to HIGH in the video settings menu.[br][br]Do not force anisotropic filtering to the ‘on’ setting in the graphics[br]vendor control panel because this may cause rendering artifacts in[br]the game.[br][br]Note that increasing the anisotropic filtering may improve the[br]texture quality while it may also decrease the frame rate.[br][br][br]Patch Changes / Fixes[br]---------------------[br][br]- Implemented workaround for AMD driver crash right after intro cinematic[br] on Win 7 32-bit systems.[br]- Disabled UBOs because they are causing animation issues with AMD drivers.[br]- Don't allow swap-tear to be enabled on AMD while the extension is not[br] exposed because it may crash.[br]- Support for new video settings: "texture cache", "vsync" and[br] "anisotropic filter"[br]- Automatically adjust vt_maxPPF based on the number of available cores.[br]- Improved performance for SLI cards when GPU transcode is enabled.[br]- Fix for GPU Transcoding option being disabled after exiting gameplay.[br]- Added safe mode to restore video settings to default values.[br]- Allow g_fov to be changed from the RAGE launch options in Steam.[br]- Server now forwards text chat from clients to all other clients while[br] in-game.[br][br][br]Known Graphical Issues[br]----------------------[br][br]The following issues were found using NVIDIA graphics hardware with[br]the GeForce R285 Driver or AMD graphics hardware with the AMD Catalyst[br]11.10 Version 2 Preview Driver.[br][br][br]- If you turn up both the screen resolution and anti-aliasing settings[br] to high values in the video settings menu and/or you enable[br] "GPU Transcode" then the screen may no longer update on some hardware[br] configurations. This means your system does not have the necessary[br] video memory to run with these high settings. You can re-enter the video[br] settings menu and lower your settings to restart screen updates.[br][br]- If you turn up both the screen resolution and anti-aliasing settings[br] to high values in the video settings menu you may experience a crash[br] if your system does not have the necessary memory to run with these[br] high settings. To avoid this problem you will have to re-enter the[br] video settings menu to lower the settings. If you can no longer launch[br] the game after changing the video settings to high values you can add[br] the following to your RAGE launch options in Steam:[br][br] +com_safemode 1[br][br] The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam[br] and selecting "Properties". Then click on "Set Launch Options" in[br] the dialog that pops up. Adding this option will reset your video[br] settings to the default values the next time the game is launched.[br] When the game is launched in safe mode the game will show "safe mode"[br] in the corners of the screen. Do not forget to remove the safe mode[br] launch option after launching the game once to make sure you do not[br] lose your video settings each time you launch the game.[br][br]- Using a NVIDIA graphics card on Windows XP 32-bit or XP 64-bit, you[br] may experience a crash or hang when changing the screen resolution in[br] full screen mode or switching from windowed mode to full screen mode.[br] This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We have spent[br] significant effort trying to work around this problem and were[br] successful in reducing the frequency of occurrence but a driver update[br] is necessary to completely fix the problem. We are actively working with[br] NVIDIA to make a solution to this problem available as soon as possible.[br][br]- Using an AMD graphics card, you may experience black flickering[br] artifacts on flags, banners and zip-lines if you run in full screen[br] mode. This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We are[br] actively working with AMD on a solution to this problem.[br][br]- Using an AMD graphics card, you may experience black grid lines on[br] some graphical user interface (GUI) elements like the in-game mini-map.[br] This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We are actively[br] working with AMD on a solution to this problem. If you find the grid[br] lines particularly distracting, you can add the following to the RAGE[br] launch options in Steam as a temporary workaround.[br][br] +vt_maxAniso 1[br][br] The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam[br] and selecting "Properties". Then click on "Set Launch Options" in[br] the dialog that pops up. However, note that adding this setting will[br] lower the general texture quality in the game.[br][br]- If you have an AMD graphics card with a dual core CPU system you may[br] experience severe hitching and low frame rates. This has been[br] identified as a driver problem. We are actively working with AMD on[br] a solution to this problem. As a temporary workaround you may add the[br] following to the RAGE launch options in Steam:[br][br] +jobs_numThreads 0[br][br] The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam[br] and selecting "Properties". Then click on "Set Launch Options" in[br] the dialog that pops up.[br][br]- If you are running RAGE in full-screen mode and you ALT-TAB to a[br] different application you may lose your VSync setting. When you[br] switch to a different application VSync stops functioning.[br] RAGE detects that VSync is no longer working and automatically switches[br] back to synchronizing to real-time to make sure the game time advances[br] in a consistent manner. We are actively working with the graphics[br] vendors on a solution to this problem. [br][br]Дальше... (http://store.steampowered.com/news/6464/)