Tweak3D.net - Autoexec Creator

Updated: July 29, 1999
Written by: Dan "Tweak Monkey" Kennedy

This tool does not work with Google Chrome and may only work on legacy versions of Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Make all the choices you wish to make, then click the "create" button. It will then create your autoexec. Highlight all the text (or press CTRL-A), right click, choose copy (or press CTRL-C). Now go into notepad and paste (or press CTRL-V). Choose File, Save As, and point it to your Sierra\Half-Life\Valve\hw\ directory. For mods, put it in the mod's directory (example: tfc\ ). Save it as "autoexec.cfg" (INCLUDE THE QUOTES). Now start Half-Life and your settings should be activated automatically.

Further instructions will be available when you have created the autoexec. Enjoy!

Graphics Settings

Decals, bulletholes, and explosion scars

Make sure to limit the number of decals, bulletholes, and explosion scars.

You will gain a 10% to 15% improvement in performance, especially in lengthy matches. See the pics below:

Decals etc. enabled:

Click to enlarge

Decals etc. disabled:

Click to enlarge

Maximum number of decals on screen at a time (recommended 200 to 500)

Dynamic lighting

Do you want to disable dynamic lighting?/p>

Dynamic lighting is when lighted objects create projections on the walls or objects around them. You will gain performance (especially in rocket wars) by disabling this. However, your flashlight will no longer work. See the pics below: (pay close attention to the glow they create on the wall)

Dynamic enabled:

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Dynamic disabled:

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Dynamic enabled:

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Dynamic disabled:

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Disable dynamic lighting and gain performance

Weapon visibility

Do you want to be able to see your weapon during the game?

The weapon limits visability, and making it invisible can give you between 3 and 5 FPS or more increase in performance. See the pics below:

Invisible weapon:

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Visible weapon:

Click to enlarge

Make weapon invisible and gain performance.

Collinear vertexes

Enabling this will fill in more gaps, resulting in less cracking of polygons. Disabling this can boost performance, but I saw a little cracking when I tried it with my TNT card.

You may gain around 1 or 2 FPS from disabling this.
Disable collinear vertexes

Shadows

Shadows are disabled by default in Half-Life. They look unrealistic, and should only be used if absolutely necessary for some reason.
Enabling shadows will drop framerates around 15%. See the pics below:

Shadows enabled:

Click to enlarge

Shadows disabled:

Click to enlarge

Disable shadows and gain performance.

gl_texsort

Enabling this will give much brighter images, but performance will take a big hit. Some video cards may need this feature enabled or disabled. Try both if your video card is having problems.
The colors will look less vivid when disabled. See the pics below:

gl_texsort enabled:

Click to enlarge

gl_texsort disabled:

Click to enlarge

Disable gl_texsort and gain performance

Offset

This adjusts the offset of textures/decals. It can fix problems with decals heading through walls or being displayed wrong.
This command has little/no effect on performance. Voodoo2 users or anyone who doesn't see problems should set this to 4 (default). Riva TNT / Intel I740 users (or anyone else...) that sees problems should try the values: -1, .1, 20, or 5. If that doesn't work, try experimenting.

Poly-Offset

Brightness/Gamma

Brightness adjusts the brightness of the characters, weapons, and other objects only. It can brighten up objects very well.
This command has no effect on performance.
Gamma adjusts the brightness of everything. This value can be set from 0.0 to 4.0 and has no effect on performance. I recommend setting the brightness to 2.0 and the gamma to 4.0 if you have a TNT based card or any other card that you believe is too dark. Also, make sure to read about the command below.
If you adjust these brightness settings, you must type exec autoexec.cfg at the CONSOLE and restart the game for changes to take effect. (only after making changes)

Brightness (higher is brighter)
Gamma (higher is brighter)

Texture Gamma/Light Gamma

Texture Gamma (texgamma) adjusts the overall gamma of all textures in the scene. If you set the above to 2 and 4, try setting these commands to 3 and 2 (respectively)
Otherwise, set these commands to 2 and 2.5 (respectively) which is default. It is recommended that you experiment with the settings to find your personal preference. These commands have no effect on performance.
If you adjust these brightness settings, you must type exec autoexec.cfg at the CONSOLE and restart the game for changes to take effect. (only after making changes)

Texture Gamma (lower is brighter)
Light Gamma (lower is brighter)

High quality player models

Player models can be set to either high or low quality. I saw little visual difference betweent the two, and using low quality will save on texture memory. For TNT users (or other cards with tons of texture memory... not 3Dfx cards), little will be lost from enabling this. For 3Dfx owners, using low quality models will be to your benefit.

Use low quality models.

Pic mip

This is the overall texture quality. You will gain a little performance by changing it to 2, but you will lose SEVERE image quality. Objects will appear blurry or less detailed. Most new cards will gain nothing from setting this to a value higher than 0, so I recommend keeping it there.
If you have an old Voodoo board or a Riva 128, try setting this higher and see how it impacts your framerate.

If your system crashes, this command may be the cause, so remove the line relating to gl_picmip if it crashes.

Pic mip

ZTrick

ZTrick is a command to skip the clearing of the Z-buffer.
With some cards,(Riva 128 in particular) enabling this will cause flickering of textures and skins, but may increase performance a nice amount. Any other cards should give this a shot. Very distant objects will flicker slightly. Look at the image below and you'll notice that at a distance the sign on the wall does not show up. (it actually flickers on and off)

Ztrick enabled

Click to enlarge

Ztrick disabled:

Click to enlarge

Enable ZTrick and gain performance.

Direct3D Flip

If you use a TNT or any other video card that causes the input to be very slow (e.g. you move the mouse but it doesn't move on screen for 2 to 3 seconds) then you need to enable Direct3D flip.

Enable Direct3D flip to correct input problems.

Texture Mode

The texture mode is the drawing mode the hardware will use. Nearest neighbor interpolation will look blocky and jagged, where linear interpolation will look smooth.

Examine the pictures carefully and choose a mode to use. Pay special attention to the sign in the background, and the look of the barrels. If your card does not support the bottom setting, try the others.

Nearest neighbor interpolation for bilinear hardware:

Click to enlarge

Linear interpolation for bilinear hardware:

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Nearest neighbor interpolation for trilinear hardware:

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Linear interpolation for trilinear hardware:

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Nearest neighbor interpolation for bilinear hardware
Linear interpolation for bilinear hardware.
Nearest neighbor interpolation for trilinear hardware.
Linear interpolation for trilinear hardware.

Sound Settings

Sound Compatibility

Some sound cards (Ensoniq AudioPCI in particular) have problems with stuttering while playing games using the Quake II engine.
If your sound stutters, set it up for maximum compatibility. Otherwise set it to maximum performance.

Use maximum performance sound (unchecked means maximum compatibility)

A3D

A3D is supported in Half-Life, but supposedly only by Vortex 2 cards. Since it is buggy, only enable it if you really want to try it out.
You will lose performance by enabling this.

Disable A3D

EAX

EAX is another 3D audio API, which is supported by Sound Blaster LIVE and other cards.
Enabling this will result in a loss of performance.

Disable EAX

Reverb

Reverb, or echo, is the effect of sound bouncing of surfaces. In Half-Life, this command does not do much, and disabling it can boost performance slightly.

Disable reverb

Sound quality

Low quality sound will reduce the amount of memory the game will hog. It will also give a slight performance increase in some systems. If you have a PCI sound card or a really fast CPU, there is no reason to give up good sound.

8 Bit 11 kHz
8 Bit 22 kHz (high quality)
16 Bit 11 kHz
16 Bit 22 kHz (high quality)

Internet Settings

Maximum modem framerate

When playing over modems, lag is unavoidable. The best way to eliminate some lag is to limit your framerate. Setting this lower will result in lower pings - but also framerates. My favorite setting is 33. With a 56k modem my ping is usually around 160 (of course that's after all my other tweak guides), so I can fully recommend the setting of 33 to most users. If your modem is slower, set it lower.
Non-modem users should not be concerned with this command.

Max modem framerate

Maximum LAN framerate

This command is the same as above, but for LAN users. I recommend setting this to 45. If you experience lag or poor performance, adjust accordingly.
If you don't use a cable modem or LAN, don't worry about this command.

Max LAN framerate

Rate

Another way to battle lag is to adjust the rate. Setting this lower will result in lower pings in most cases, because the servers will be sending you less data. With my 56k (and 160 ping) I set the rate to 3000, which is very low, but works great for me. I recommend setting this to between 2500 and 3500 for 28.8/33.6 users, 3000 to 5000 for 56k users, and 5000+ for others. For LAN games, set this up to 25,000 or so. Try different values and pick what works for you.

Rate

Prediction

This command (pushlatency) sets the prediction for multiplayer games on the internet. Play online for a while and get familiar with your ping. Once you have an estimate of your average ping, set this value between negative1/2 and negative 1 times the average ping. So, for example, if your ping was 300, you could set this to as low as -1/2 * 300 = -150 or as high as -300 (or between -300 and -150).

Push Lantency

Allow download

When you connect to a server online, this variable decides whether or not to download decals, maps, and models.
If you just want to jump into a game and skip all that fancy stuff, disable this. I like to enable this.

Allow downloading of decals, maps, and models.

Allow upload

When you connect to a server online, this variable decides whether or not to upload your decals, maps, and models.
If you want others to see these, enable this.

Allow uploading of decals, maps, and models.

Read the HL Internet Tweak Guide here for the best tweaks for lag

Misc. Settings

MMX

If your processor supports MMX (Pentium MMX, Pentium II, Celeron, K6, K6-2, etc.) make sure you enable MMX. If your CPU does not support MMX, disable this option for a possible speed boost.

Enable MMX support

Mouse filtering

If you use a mouse and want smoother movements, make sure that filtering is enabled. This command averages the two coordinates (before and after) together to smooth out mouse movements.

Enable mouse filtering

Console speed

The console (toggled up and down by hitting the ~ key) is used for several purposes. By default, it slowly moves its way down and up, wasting precious time (and in some cases endangering your life)
Increase this value to cause the console to come down and go up faster. (or lower to cause the console to go up and down slower)
The default value is 600. A value of 3000 or higher makes the console come up and down almost instantly.

Console speed

Joystick

Most people find it easier to use a mouse/keyboard combo rather than a joystick when playing first person shooters like Half-Life. Disabling joystick support will increase performance.

Disable Joystick and gain performance.

Third person view

This will enable the 3rd person view. It has no real purpose, but may be fun for some. Performance may be slightly lower in 3rd person. If the box is unchecked, it will use 1st person (default) view. See the pics below:

Third person view:

Click to enlarge

First person view:

Click to enlarge

Use third person view.

Make all the choices you wish to make, then click the "create" button. It will then create your autoexec. Highlight all the text (or press CTRL-A), right click, choose copy (or press CTRL-C). Now go into notepad and paste (or press CTRL-V). Choose File, Save As, and point it to your Sierra\Half-Life\Valve\hw\ directory. For mods, put it in the mod's directory (example: tfc\ ). Save it as "autoexec.cfg" (INCLUDE THE QUOTES). Now start Half-Life and your settings should be activated automatically.