Tweaking
 

Enemy Territory offers tons of ways for you to customize and tweak it. These tweaks aren't necessary to play the game, but they are extremely handy and can help you get more frames per second, better aim, more convenient communication with teammates, etc.
 

The Options Menu

ET allows you to make some very useful tweaks from the options menu.

Game options:

• Automatic reload: set this to off. That way you won't get caught reloading in the middle of a fight. If you run out of ammo, you can just switch to your pistol quickly. Then, when it's safe to reload, hit "R".
   
• Complaint popup off: useful if you never plan to complain.

View options

• Reinforcement timer / mission timer: make sure these are on.
   
• Crosshair size: Make it basically as small as possible, but not so small that you have a hard time seeing it on the screen. The smaller your crosshair is, the easier it is to get headshots.
   
• Crosshair health info: this makes your crosshair change color to reflect how much HP you have. White for full HP, yellow for medium HP, and red for low HP.
   
• Crosshair color: some people like to choose a very visible color like Red, especially if they have a small crosshair which is easy to lose. Note that you can't have a customized crosshair color if you enable "crosshair health info".
   
• Blood flash and splatter: Turn these to OFF. They are completely useless, all they do is splat blood all over your screen when you get shot, which makes it very difficult to see your enemy.

Controls

• Mouse sensitivity: affects how fast your cursor moves. I talked a lot about this already in the Basic Skills section on Shooting. Later in this section I will show you how to write a script that lets you hit 1 key to toggle between sensitivities, since some situations might require more or less sensitivity.

System

• Effects volume: crank your volume up! Then you can hear footsteps more easily. Also, many people (including me) like to use headphones instead of speakers because it's sometimes easier to tell where sounds are coming from
   
• Resolution: The higher your resolution, the easier it is to see enemies, but on the other hand, you don't want to ruin your FPS. To tweak your resolution, what you should do is go into the console (type ~ to enter console) then type this:
  
  /cg_drawfps 1
  
  This is a command which will cause your FPS to be displayed on the side of your screen. The rule of thumb I'd use is, find the highest resolution you can go to and still get a steady FPS of 80 or above. If this is impossible with your hardware, then just go for 800x600.

Hardware tweaks

There are a few things you should tweak in your hardware to get good performance.

Overclocking
Find out how to overclock your CPU if you don't already know. This allows you to, for example, make a 1.8 Ghz CPU be as fast as a 2.1 Ghz CPU. It's risky though because overclocking wears down your parts, so your computer won't last as long.

Also, this is very important: if you notice ET crashing frequently, it may because your CPU is overheating. In this case, you need to reduce your overclocking or even "underclock". You might also be able to solve the problem by getting a better cooling solution for your case.

Video card drivers
Sometimes you might have a wonderful video card but you get a crappy FPS. Download the latest drivers from your card vendor's website, this often helps.

Mouse acceleration
I strongly recommend turning this off. It just makes it harder to aim. To turn it off, the first thing you should do is go into the console and type:

/cl_mouseaccel 0

Or, you can put "cl_mouseaccel 0" in your autoexec.cfg (If you don't already know about autoexec.cfg, you'll find out more in this section).

The other thing is, if you have Windows XP, you need to apply a registry patch to disable mouse acceleration in Windows (because that affects your game mouse acceleration). To do this, download this .reg file and then double click on it to add the patch into your registry:

Download mousefix.reg

Note: This patch was created by RaZiel. If you haven't already done so, I recommend downloading "Aiming by RaZiel", search for it on google to find it.

Graphics tweaks

Intro to tweaking

Here I'll go through some tweaks that can help boost your FPS (frames per second). A good FPS can make a world of difference; it's just damn hard to shoot enemies if they keep "warping" across your screen.

Your FPS is determined mainly by 3 things:

• CPU clock speed (ghz)
• Graphics card
• RAM

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to change these, which doesn't involve paying money... You can try overclocking your CPU; this can make a 1.7 Ghz processor go at the speed of a 2.0 ghz processor for example. However, this can cause your CPU to overheat (not a good thing). You can try getting a new graphics card, but it might not boost your performance much if your processor is the problem. For example, if it's a wimpy 866mhz, then a shiny Geforce FX card isn't going to save you.

There are some things you can control though:

• Drivers: this is the code that "talks" to your hardware. (like, "video card, draw a picture!") Sometimes drivers are poorly written or have some compatability problem that makes it run slowly on your system. So, if you know you have a kickass system, but you're not getting the performance you expect, try updating drivers for your video and sound cards. Keep in mind the "latest" drivers aren't always the best, although usually they are.
   
• Tweaking: That's what this whole section is about.

Now before you begin tweaking, make sure to add "cg_drawfps 1" to your config, so you can see your frame rate.

Tweaking cvars in the console

There are a couple of cool things you should know about entering cvars in the console... Firstly, you can press TAB while entering a cvar and the name will be completed... For example, type "/cg_wol", and then press TAB, and ET will automatically fill the rest for you ("\cg_wolfparticles "). Suppose you type in "/r_ati", and then hit TAB. Well, there are multiple commands that start in "r_ati", so instead of auto-completing it, a list will be displayed in the console:

]/r_ati [tab]
   r_ati_truform_pointmode = GL_PN_TRIANGLES_POINT_MODE_LINEAR
   r_ati_truform_normalmode = GL_PN_TRIANGLES_NORMAL_MODE_LINEAR
   r_ati_truform_tess = 1
   r_ati_fsaa_samples = 0

This is just a handy thing to know, you could get a list of all cg_ variables for example by typing "cg_" then pressing TAB.

You can also find out the current value and default value of any cvar by simply typing its name (with a slash) at the console:

]/r_texturemode
"r_texturemode" is:"GL_LINEAR" default:"GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST"

Finally, let's say you mess up some cvar... Then, to reset it back to the default value, simply type in "/reset (cvar)" in the console... For example:

]/reset g_gravity

Tweaks

set com_maxfps <n>
This lets you cap your FPS to some value. Due to numerical error in the Q3 engine, trickjumps work best at a steady FPS of 43 (good), 76 (great), or 125 (best). So if you want a steady FPS of 76 for example, then try to get your average FPS to be something like 80-90 (set com_maxfps to some really big number while you're doing this so you can see you`r true FPS without capping). Then once you are satisfied with the performance, add "com_maxfpx 76" to your config to cap it.

Ex: set com_maxfps 76

set r_picmip <n>
The bigger n is, the crappier your textures look, but it may improve performance on older video cards. Default value for n is 1. Allowed values are from 0 to 3.
Ex: set r_picmip 3

set r_picmip2 <n>
Similar to r_picmip. The default is already 3, so I don't see any reason to change it. You might be able to get better quality by lowering it, but as far as I can tell, the difference isn't noticeable.

set cg_wolfparticles <n>
This is 1 by default. If you notice your system slows down any time an airstrike goes off, then set this to 0. Besides boosting your FPS, turning off particles will also let you see through airstrikes more easily so you can shoot at people on the other side. The only disadvantage is that, without particles turned on, you might run into artillery strikes more often.

One option is to create a toggle script:

Ex: bind "K" toggle cg_wolfparticles

set cg_atmosphericeffects <n>
Turns on/off effects like rain or snow. There's really No reason why you would ever want this to be on, it just makes it harder to see and lowers your frame rate...

Ex: set cg_atmosphericeffects 0

set r_gamma <n>
Higher values of n make your screen brighter, so you can spot enemies easier. Default is 1.0, allowed values are from 0 to 3. I recommend making your screen brighter because it lets you see targets more easily. Be careful you don't set it too high, otherwise levels like fueldump or radar with lots of snow will be way too bright.
Ex: set r_gamma 2.2

set r_intensity <n>
Higher values of n make your screen brighter. Default is 1.0, allowed values are from 0 to 1.5
Ex: set r_intensity 1.2

set r_mapoverbrightbits <n>
Higher values of n make the shadowy parts of a map lighter, so you can spot enemies hiding in darker areas. Default is 2, allowed from 1 to 3. Setting it to 3 may help see targets that are hiding in shadows
Ex: set r_mapoverbrightbits 3

set r_dynamiclight <n>
Turns on (n=1) or off (n=0) dynamic light. Dynamic light is used very little in the game. I suggest you leave it on, because it is what makes the "glow" around dynamite, which is very useful to know when dyno has been planted.
Ex: set r_dynamiclight 0

set cg_shadows <n>
Turns on (n=1) or off (n=0) the little circular shadows that appear under your feet. Set this to 0 if you want, although the FPS boost will probably be negligible.
Ex: set cg_shadows 0

set r_finish <n>
Setting this to 1 enables "sync every frame". This is ONLY important if you have some device lag, like mouse or keyboard. (Perhaps if you have a wireless mouse and you find it lags behind your actions). If you don't notice your keyboard or mouse lagging, then set this to 0 to gain a few FPS.
Ex: set r_finish 0

set r_detailtextures <n>
When detail textures are enabled (n=1), it means that basically every object is textured twice to make it look more detailed. Obviously this is slower, so try disabling this (n=0) if you want to get a nice FPS boost.
Ex: set r_detailtextures 0

set r_subdivisions <n>
If you want a little performance boost, set this to 999. Otherwise, set it to 4.
Ex: set r_subdivisions 999

set r_texturemode <n>
This lets you set texture filtering. The most common values are:

  (low quality):   GL_NEAREST
  (good quality):  GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST  (a.k.a. bilinear filtering)
  (great quality): GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR     (a.k.a. trilinear filtering)
  (good quality): GL_LINEAR

In case you don't know, filtering is somewhat like antialiasing, except for textures. You can see what the game looks like without filtering by setting r_Texturemode to GL_NEAREST. It's pretty ugly, and everything is very "pixelated" or "blocky".

The default is bilinear filtering, and this will give you the best performance, and pretty good quality. For "best" quality you can use trilinear filtering, although there might possibly be some dip in FPS.

There's one problem with bilinear and trilinear filtering; both of them make your crosshair blurry. Personally I like to use a small crosshair, so this really annoys me because when the crosshair is blurred, I can barely see it. So, if this happens with you, then I'd suggest using GL_LINEAR. This mode will filter the textures and looks almost as good as bilinear filtering; yet the crosshair will still appear pretty sharp. BUT, be warned, using GL_LINEAR will likely cause a noticeable decrease in your FPS.

You could even use GL_NEAREST as your filtering mode but I wouldn't recommend it, because it looks like crap. I actually used to use this because, well, I didn't know about GL_LINEAR at the time ;)

Ex: set r_texturemode GL_LINEAR

set r_fastsky <n>
If you set this to 1, it will just draw a solid color for your sky. This may give you a slight improvement in your FPS. It's not much, but then again, who cares how pretty the sky looks?

Ex: set r_fastsky 1


False Tweaks

Unfortunately there's a whole lot of inaccurate information floating around when it comes to tweaking... Most of the tweaking sites for ET I've seen reference cvars that don't even exist! This is probably due to cvars that used to be in RTCW but got scrapped... So, here's a short list of "false tweaks" that don't really exist... It's not meant to be 100% complete, but at least here are some of the more popular false tweaks:

cg_impactvibration
sv_screenshake
com_blood
cg_reticlebrightness  (wtf is a reticle anyways?)
cg_reticletype
cg_instanttapout
cg_drawattacker
cg_uselessnostalgia
cg_draw3dicons
cg_drawallweaps
cg_drawammowarning
cg_drawfpgun
cg_drawfrags
cg_drawicons
cg_drawrewards
cg_emptyswitch
cg_hudalpha


Networking tweaks

If you're having trouble with laggy/slow connections... Well, honestly there's not much you can do! You're pretty much fucked! But, tweaking these settings might help a little:

set rate <n>
Can be from 2500 to 25000. The faster your connection is, the higher you should set your rate. So for example, a modem might use a rate of 5000, whereas for LAN you would use 25000.
Ex: set rate 15000

set snaps <n>
Can be from 20-40. Determines how many times the server sends you updates of the game state. I would suggest leaving it at 20 or so if you have a slow connection. If you have a good connection, set it to 30-40.
Ex: set snaps 30

set cl_timenudge <n>
This is a very odd tweak: if you have a lot of lag, then setting this to a negative number will cause some crazy calculations to occur to take your lag into account when determining stuff like where your bullet went. Most people should leave this at 0. If you have serious ping problems, try setting this lower, but no lower than -50. (-50 is the lowest allowed value on most servers). In fact though, in most competitions, cl_timenudge must be zero. So if you play in a clan, don't tweak this...
Ex: set cl_timenudge -25

set cl_maxpackets <n>
The bigger n is, the more information your computer sends to the server, so basically your actions will be more accurate. I think the default for this is 20, you can raise it higher if you want but no higher than 100 since this is the max allowed value. Be careful when tweaking this setting, if you set it to high, it may actually make your connection worse.
Ex: set cl_maxpackets 50

Fixing the resolution resetting problem

There's a really annoying bug in ET that happens for some people. Say you set your resolution to 1600x1200 in the options menu. Then you go and play on a shrub or etpro server. Then, you exit the game. Then, you run the game again. When the game loads up, it will be reset to 800x600 resolution!

If you are a victim of this bug, just add these three lines into your autoexec.cfg:

set r_mode -1
set r_customwidth  1600
set r_customheight 1200

Enabling cheats

Cheats are very useful if you just want to play a map by yourself. For example, if you are practicing your jumping skills and you want to be able to sprint forever without running out of stamina, there's actually a cheat that lets you do that.

The first thing you have to do is start your own server, so go to "Host Game" and start up a server on some map (doesn't matter which map). Then once it loads, go to the console and type:

/devmap <mapname>

For <mapname>, it's whatever map you want to play. For example if the name of the map you want to play is goldrush, then you will say:

/devmap goldrush

This loads the goldrush map, with cheats enabled. If you get some error message saying it can't load the map because of g_gametype or something like that, then try running these 2 commands before you run the devmap command:

/sv_pure 0
/g_gametype 2
 

So once the map is loaded with devmap, you can start going into the console and enabling some cheats. Here is a list of some cheats you can do:

• /give ammo
    -Gives you a shitload of ammo, like 9999 rounds + 15 grenades.
   
• /give skill X
    -Increases a specific skill by 20 XP. The values you can use for X are:
       0- Battle sense
       1- Engineering
       2- First aid
       3- Signals
       4- Light weapons
       5- Heavy weapons
       6- Covert ops
   
• /give skill
    -If you use the give skill command without a number after it, it will just add 1 skill point to all of your skills areas (heavy weapons, first aid, etc.)
   
• /give health
     -Pops you back to full health

• /god
     -Toggles god mode. In god mode, you can't get hurt.

• /nofatigue
     -Toggles nofatigue. If you enable nofatigue, then you can sprint as much as you want without ever running out of stamina. Your stamina bar will drain as if you've run out of stamina, but don't worry, you actually still have full stamina.
   
• /noclip
    -Basically turns you into a spectator. The only difference with "actual" spectator mode is that now you can go through solid objects and walls. You can even float around underground and look up at the map, it's very freaky =^o
   
• /cg_thirdperson 1
     -This will let you play in 3rd person, so you can see yourself running around and stuff. It's kind of neat to watch, although it sucks because then you can't see your crosshair any longer
   
• /cg_thirdpersonangle X
     -Lets you view yourself from a different angle. X is in degrees. If you want to go back to the original angle, just use the reset command.
   
• /cg_marktime 1000000
    -Makes bullet marks take forever to disappear. Useful if you want to test the spread of weapons or something like that.
   
• /g_debugbullets 1
     -This one is pretty sweet. It draws red lines to indicate where all your bullets went. I tried doing this to test the accuracy of the FG42 at far range and it was pretty amazing to see how horrible the accuracy really is.
     -Another thing you can use this is for shooting practice. As an example, I tried circle strafing around a palm tree on Oasis and tried to hit the tree as accurately as I could, firing all 20 rounds of my FG42 clip. As you can see in the picture below, g_debugbullets allowed me to see exactly how many bullets hit the tree and how many missed. From the picture, it looks like I missed about 5 shots.

I suppose another thing you could do for circle-strafing practice is launch 2 instances of ET, then make 2 players join- 1 axis, 1 ally. Make one of them go into /god mode (so he can't get hurt). Then practice circle-strafing around him and shooting him in the face and see how good of an accuracy you can get.

Bah. Or you could just strafe around a point on the wall :p

Here are some other commands which can be run on any server so aren't exactly cheat commands, but still pretty cool:

• /set g_gravity X
     -Lets you set gravity to some crazy value. Smaller gravity lets you jump around like you're on the moon.
     -To reset, just use the reset command (/reset g_gravity).
   
• /set g_speed X
     -Lets you change the player movement speed.
   
• /dir maps
     -If you want to use the "devmap" command, but you're not sure what the official name of the map is, use this command to get a listing of the maps. For example, once I wanted to run the "Ice" map, but it turned out the actual pk3 file is called "et_ice".
   
• /cmdlist
     -Gets a list of all possible scripting commands in ET. Don't trust this list 100% though, I think it includes some leftovers from RTCW that actually don't work any more in ET.

Punkbuster

Punkbuster is software that prevents people from cheating in ET. It runs on practically all servers. Each server may tailor exactly what punkbuster allows and doesn't allow, so I can't tell you exactly what settings are allowed, but here is one possible config showing the bounds of all the variables:

; Affect brightness and level of detail
pb_sv_cvar r_picmip in 0 2
pb_sv_cvar r_picmip2 in 0 3
pb_sv_cvar r_rmse in 0.0
pb_sv_cvar r_subdivisions in 4 20
pb_sv_cvar r_lodbias in 0 2
pb_sv_cvar r_lodcurveerror in 250
pb_sv_cvar r_gamma in 0.500000 2.000000
pb_sv_cvar r_ignorehwgamma in 1
pb_sv_cvar r_ext_gamma_control in 1
pb_sv_cvar r_intensity in 1
pb_sv_cvar r_overbrightbits in 1
pb_sv_cvar r_mapoverbrightbits in 2
pb_sv_cvar r_ext_NV_fog_dist in 0
pb_sv_cvar cg_shadows in 0 1
pb_sv_cvar r_shownormals in 0

; Affect fog effects
pb_sv_cvar r_uifullscreen in 0
pb_sv_cvar r_wolffog in 1

; Affect field of view
pb_sv_cvar cg_fov in 90 110
pb_sv_cvar cg_zoomfov in 22.5

; Affect view perspective
pb_sv_cvar cg_thirdperson in 0

; Affect aim movement
pb_sv_cvar cg_bobroll in 0.002
pb_sv_cvar cg_bobpitch in 0.002
pb_sv_cvar cg_bobup in 0.005
pb_sv_cvar cg_runpitch in 0.002
pb_sv_cvar cg_runroll in 0.005
pb_sv_cvar cl_freelook in 1

; Affect mouse sensitivity
pb_sv_cvar m_pitch out -0.011 0.011
pb_sv_cvar m_yaw in 0.022

; Affect weapon knockback
pb_sv_cvar com_maxfps out 0.000001 40
pb_sv_cvar forcefps out 0.00001 40

; Affect ping and lag
pb_sv_cvar cl_maxpackets in 30 100
pb_sv_cvar cl_timenudge in -50 0
pb_sv_cvar rate in 2500 25000
pb_sv_cvar snaps in 20 40

Here are some links where you can get further information:

http://www.evenbalance.com/
http://www.punkbuster.com/index.php?page=support-et.php
http://www.evenbalance.com/publications/et-pl/index.htm