DGvoodoo2 guide: the best the old engine can be!

[besaidaurocks]

Right to start this guide off, this is going to be my attempt to explain how to run the old engine for maximum FPS and quality. It is possible to get more frames out of the old engine and get pretty decent AA (anti-aliasing) without artifacting (like hotbar artifacting that can be present when forcing via the Nvidia panel).

This is also meant as the last guide you will need. The official GitHub for DGvoodoo2 says it is no longer being developed. So this, in theory, should be the final setup you need as you won’t get newer versions.

As an example of the potential performance, I can see a steady 80 FPS in AI event raids with more than 60+ people on screen, where before I might see 40 FPS even in the old engine. This is with decent modern hardware (5800x3D, AMD 6800xt).

So first, why did I bother writing this guide? Aren’t there other video guides up? Yes, there are. However, with newer versions of DGvoodoo2, they added some settings that will tank your FPS down 5 or 10 if you go through ICC or LE mission areas, making it unplayable in those zones. The workaround is to turn on Phong lighting (this somehow bypasses the issue), but this breaks lighting and is unacceptable!! Since I know I have a better way. It is worth noting that some of my settings fix transparent fringing at the edge of the window with Anisotropic filtering on.

I found a lot of these settings with hundreds of hours of testing and relogging.

***The original developer of DGvoodoo2 seems to be updating the project again. Upon retesting, the new DGvoodoo2 V 2.83.1 now seems to work with AO without stuttering in ICC. The original method is valid, but I will give settings for the new version method. I will add alternative steps into this guide in Bold Italic.***

******To make it clear all the setting listed for DGvoodoo2 v 2.83.1 have been tested but not yet long term. So not sure how stable they are. The FPS with 2.83.1 is very similar to 2.78.2 and both Don't have ICC and AI LE mission area stutter but they may be some small instabilities i will continue to test.***

***So far the key difference are 2.83.1 needs cache for second 2 when zoning to places like ICC or AI ship each time where framerate drops to 60-70 then goes back up to locked 100. This is practice is not noticable without an FPS meter. the trade off is worth making, as using the current latest verison DGVoodoo2 simplifies installing without having to use a old version and assuming no changes that break it again in ICC/AI area, you can also benefit form newer optizmations that come in the future.******

First, here is a screenshot of what the game can look like with proper settings and Reshade on top.

All these settings in the screenshots were taken in DirectX 12 mode. The DirectX 11 mode is okay but doesn’t provide the same FPS increase. DIRECTX 12 CAN DO 100 FPS in ICC with an average CPU. Also worth noting, when you open the snippet for the screenshot, a lot of FPS overlays stop reporting. I included the below with the in-game counter to show ICC FPS.

https://ibb.co/zJzjw1F

ICC can be the place where frames go to thrive, not to die!!

Here is a screenshot of the old engine running with no tweaks or Nvidia panel tweaks (AMD in my case).

https://ibb.co/pPXz9qS

The below is the end result of my tweaks: https://ibb.co/q0hhh5L

The below is my Reshade settings (HDR optional, I don’t have it on that often): https://ibb.co/f8fQYGr

First, you must navigate to the DGvoodoo2 website (http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2/) and download version 2.78.2. We need this version for two specific reasons:

1. Any earlier version will report double FPS back to the GPU. So as an example, if your in-game FPS counter says 100 FPS, then what is reported back to the GPU is 200 FPS on any overlay or in GPU software. This is not strictly bad, but if you use G-Sync, this might confuse the system and push it out of the G-Sync range, assuming you are using a 144 Hz monitor.
2. Any later version has a specific option called “specialized shader” that the toggle for is removed and is on by default (can’t be disabled), which we simply cannot have.

Once downloaded and extracted to your preferred location, you simply need to drag and drop all files in the MS–>x86 folder into your AO installation main folder (the contents only, not the folder). Also, copy and paste the Control Panel and Control Panel Config files into your AO installation (this just keeps the config nice and clean).

Once you have done this, open the Control Panel exe in the AO installation, and it should bring up a program where we will need to change some settings (the DGvoodoo2 Control Panel). I will provide screenshots for those changes below and brief reasoning as to why, but before that, you must right-click on a blank space near the tab and click “show all tab configuration options” (something worded to that effect).

Now for the main settings, there are 3 main tabs we care about here: the General, the DirectX, and the DirectX Ext tabs. Please see the following settings for each.

**General settings:**

https://ibb.co/FY9SYCM

***GeneralExt Tab for DGvoodoo2 2.83.1 alternative (THIS IS ONLY NEEDED FOR 2.83.1)***

https://ibb.co/64rGT7M

***This is only relevant for 2.83.1. However, if you do not adjust these settings, particularly in the presentation model, the game will crash on boot.***

The important one on this tab is the DirectX 12 selection. It is the only wrapper option that gives multi-core enhancement as this is built into DirectX 12. Using DirectX 11, I found, gave no measurable performance increase by comparison. DirectX 11 also broke some monitoring overlays like RTSS. As a point of comparison, see below:

DirectX 11 ICC: 30-50 FPS
DirectX 12 ICC: 80-100 FPS

**DirectX settings:**

https://ibb.co/88jfCDB

***DirectX settings DGvoodoo2 2.83.1 Alternative***

https://ibb.co/zNvwTkp

***These settings are more or less the same with a few renaming in 2.83.1.***

There are a few key settings here. The first is if you are using anisotropic filtering of any kind, use the “force filter only if not point sampled.” This will stop some weird transparent fringing at the edge of windows. Another key setting is VRAM. Set it as high as your GPU allows, ideally 4096MB of VRAM. Then the last is “Fast Video Memory Access.” This just helps FPS and smoothness of gameplay. Disabling mipmapping also helps with poor quality textures, but I personally didn’t see much of a change; it might just be my system.

**DirectXExt Tab:**

https://ibb.co/QmHnxHb

***DirectXExt Tab DGvoodoo2 2.83.1 Alternative***

https://ibb.co/zn95yqP

***2.83.1 does have some renaming and some changes to options.***


**Please note before going forward that if you DON’T do the DirectX Ext tab settings, you will experience extreme stutter in a few zones like Mitaar, ICC, and LE Mission Hub. This is a critical section of the guide.**

**To access the Direct Ext tab, you will notice there is an empty space where other tabs are. Right-click here. You should get a dropdown that presents you with 2 options. One will default all settings, and the other will show the hidden tabs. Please show hidden tabs, then make changes as the guide shows below.**

Below is a screenshot of the tab that enables the DirectXExt tab:

https://ibb.co/tqC3Bcg

Now, this is the big boy tab where the most critical changes happen. First, ensure that “dithering,” “depth buffer,” and “N-Patch Tessellation” tabs are set to “App Driven.” I found this gives the best performance without affecting the colors or graininess of textures. Ensure the “Max VS Count Register” is set to 256. This is another big performance setting, though you will only really notice it in high load scenarios like big AI events.

Now, the big change setting you MUST ENSURE IS DISABLED is “Enable Specialized Shader.” It must be unticked and off. This setting breaks the FPS in ICC and LE missions to the point it drops down to 5, becoming unplayable. This setting was not in early DGvoodoo2 versions like the one in Calooss’s video (which is also a good guide but made out of date by the newer version now). The doubling of FPS reported back to your GPU is, and it is this setting that is missing but defaults to on (can’t be disabled) in the new versions. This is the main reason we need 2.78.2.

(Edit) DGvoodoo2 seems to have been dusted off as a project by the author. It appears to have had a new version released. I have tested all new versions hoping to simplify things, but they all use special shaders which make AO in ICC or Xan hub areas like Mitaar unplayable.

So for those reading this guide, please stick to version 2.78.2.

If you followed all the above, you should see notable FPS improvement, particularly in ICC, and increased use of cores if you have a newer CPU. One major upside of this is that now the old engine is running as DirectX 12, we can run Reshade. With the settings I linked above, I get very close in feel to the new engine.

Hope this was helpful in ironing out some quirks of DGvoodoo2 and helping anyone who updated to newer versions, only to get a worse experience.

Also, ensure when you next boot into Anarchy Online, hit settings, and under the visual tab and rendering device, ensure you see DGvoodoo in the name, that is good indicator it is running and you haven't missed a file.

On a side note I tried this on new engine to see if I could optimize the game a bit but sadly directx12 will instant crash the new engine and directx11 which i got working does not show performance increase.

If this was helpful let other know so they can get the best out of it.

[Noorb]

Downloaded the 2.78.2 version of DGvoodoo2 and ran through this guide.
I do not see DirectxEXT as an option within the control panel??

[besaidaurocks]

Hi Noorb,

when control panel is open if click on any blank space area, with right click you see in drop down and opition called "show all sections of the configurations" this will enable the Directext tab.

Make sense?

[Noorb]

Got it!

thank you!

=)