FAQ: How do I improve the performance of the game?
by Justin Mette · in General Game Discussion · 12/22/2002 (8:24 am) · 0 replies
There are a handful of video and quality options that can be tweaked in order to optimize the performance of Orbz for your particular computer. The best place to make performance tweaks is from the Main Menu (with the moving 3D background).
Frames per Second (FPS)
Go into "Options" and choose "Video" or "Quality". In the upper left corner of the screen, you should see your frame rate this is a measure of how many times per second the screen is redrawing. The higher the number the better your overall performance will be.
25-30 FPS or better will result in a smooth game experience. Less than 25 and the game is still playable, but may be a little choppy at times. Note that the frame rate will jump around a little bit (for example, anywhere from 25 to 30 FPS) so you have to watch the number for a few moments and estimate the average.
Here are a few options to try changing that usually have an effect on your frame rate. Note that if your frame rate is 25-30 or better right after installing Orbz, there is not need to mess with these options unless you are interested in seeing how high you can get your frame rate.
Color Depth In the Video Options, change your Color Depth to 16. This means 16-bit color will be used instead of 32. On some older video cards, this setting will make the most difference in frame rate. After changing the Color Depth, you need to hit the Apply button for changes to take effect.
Visible Distance this setting is available in the Quality Options and controls how far you can see into the distance. The closer the setting (there are 5 total), the better your frame rate should get. These settings take place as soon as you change them so you should immediately see changes in your frame rate.
Terrain and Shape Detail these settings are also found in the Quality Options and control how detailed either the terrain or the different shapes (like the orb, pillars, platforms, etc) will be. The less detailed the setting, the better the performance. These settings take place as soon as you change them so you should immediately see changes in your frame rate.
Video Resolution this setting is in back in the Video Options and controls the overall pixel resolution of the game. Orbz runs at a default 1024x768 video resolution. Reducing the resolution may improve frame rate on older video cards. After changing the resolution, you must hit the Apply button for the changes to take effect.
Default Settings
In case you have been tweaking the above listed settings for a while and want to return to defaults for some reason, here are the settings Orbz comes installed:
Resolution 1024x768
Color Depth 32
Visible Distance Farthest
Terrain Detail High
Shape Detail High
Frames per Second (FPS)
Go into "Options" and choose "Video" or "Quality". In the upper left corner of the screen, you should see your frame rate this is a measure of how many times per second the screen is redrawing. The higher the number the better your overall performance will be.
25-30 FPS or better will result in a smooth game experience. Less than 25 and the game is still playable, but may be a little choppy at times. Note that the frame rate will jump around a little bit (for example, anywhere from 25 to 30 FPS) so you have to watch the number for a few moments and estimate the average.
Here are a few options to try changing that usually have an effect on your frame rate. Note that if your frame rate is 25-30 or better right after installing Orbz, there is not need to mess with these options unless you are interested in seeing how high you can get your frame rate.
Color Depth In the Video Options, change your Color Depth to 16. This means 16-bit color will be used instead of 32. On some older video cards, this setting will make the most difference in frame rate. After changing the Color Depth, you need to hit the Apply button for changes to take effect.
Visible Distance this setting is available in the Quality Options and controls how far you can see into the distance. The closer the setting (there are 5 total), the better your frame rate should get. These settings take place as soon as you change them so you should immediately see changes in your frame rate.
Terrain and Shape Detail these settings are also found in the Quality Options and control how detailed either the terrain or the different shapes (like the orb, pillars, platforms, etc) will be. The less detailed the setting, the better the performance. These settings take place as soon as you change them so you should immediately see changes in your frame rate.
Video Resolution this setting is in back in the Video Options and controls the overall pixel resolution of the game. Orbz runs at a default 1024x768 video resolution. Reducing the resolution may improve frame rate on older video cards. After changing the resolution, you must hit the Apply button for the changes to take effect.
Default Settings
In case you have been tweaking the above listed settings for a while and want to return to defaults for some reason, here are the settings Orbz comes installed:
Resolution 1024x768
Color Depth 32
Visible Distance Farthest
Terrain Detail High
Shape Detail High
