playing GRAW 2 with no physx card, but with effects!

[ergonomics]

nice little work around i found (bound to have been found before, sorry if repost)

the file to edit is here:

C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2\Settings\profiles\(your name)\settings.xml

and there are 2 lines to change, they are:

<has_physx value="false" />
<physics value="0" />

change them to 'true' and either '1' for high physics or '2' for extreme

with a Q6600 @ 2.7ghz, i notice no slow down whatsoever with the physx set to extreme

more and more reason to not go physx

edit: a picture if people are sceptical about playability. 1680x1050, all max settings.

 

[ergonomics]

shouldnt be too bad, if it gets too heavy, set it to physx high (value number 1)

but even at extreme its miles away from unplayable as many claim it to be

 

[ergonomics]

also, here is how i did it in xp, as its quite different than the method for vista, as the file paths are completely different.

the file youre after is:

"C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2\Settings\profiles\(your name)\settings.xml"

make a copy of it just incase.

to get it to work in game start a new game, and during play, go to advanced video options (you should see that either of the physx options are enabled) and just click on the slider so you can say apply. click apply and now the physx effects are enabled

 

[ergonomics]

the ageia island doesnt work for some reason with this workaround

edit: pottsey i notice this was pretty much aimed at my statements a while back

'What I find really funny is people go around saying the PPU effects look rubbish when it’s only on the PPU but the same effects on the CPU which look the same as the PPU somehow magically turn from rubbish looking to amazing looking.'

for your benefit, i still find the effects poor. i just found this out and posted it to prove that these physics cards are just to take our money, and that a cpu is perfectly capable of these tasks, which many many people have claimed to not be true. im still extremely frustrated how none of these particles stay on screen for more than about 5 seconds.

i can almost garuntee that the ageia effects can be forced on every other game that supports it, and i will go out of my way to find out and let everyone know.

 

[ergonomics]

”and that a cpu is perfectly capable of these tasks, which many many people have claimed to not be true”
So far this proves the CPU is not perfectly capable of these tasks. The effects done on the PPU which are said to be to slow on the CPU don’t work even with the tweak. You have not proven anything yet.

No one ever said extra particles won’t work on the CPU only that extra particles cause slow down. That’s just what happens. It’s the other effects like cloth, wind, liquids that’s the CPU cannot do at decent speeds.

The tweak posted is not adding the new effects. It only increasing the particles.

so you will eat your words if i manage to get the ageia island to work yeah?

edit: im not out to argue, im just confident i can get this to work

 

[ergonomics]

For me with a quad core if its set to extreme and applied i the options its a slideshow.

odd, its well fine for me. even in pretty hectic parts its still fairly playable, never goes below 30.

and im thinking the way to get the island to work, would be to try to trick your pc into thinking you have the card installed.

so im working my way through the driver files to see if theres anything at all that i can change (same with the registry)

 

[ergonomics]

“i can almost garuntee that the ageia effects can be forced on every other game that supports it, and i will go out of my way to find out and let everyone know.”
How can you guarantee that? What do you know something we don’t? So far all but 1 of the PPU main effects have never been done on the CPU and the one that has, put the CPU down to single digits and that was cloth.

couple of things youve said here got me...

one, i can ALMOST garuntee, key word there, almost, read it.

second, i have found a way to enable it in the single player campaign, so it appears that all the cards effects do is add more particle effects in the single player game. by this logic, it means that you have bought a £100 card, to play the ageia island level in this game.

if you notice the settings tweaked have nothing to do whatsoever with the particle amounts/limit, those can be tweaked elsewhere in other settings files across the games data directories. check on tweak town if you must.

i tell you what, il take a screenshot of me blowing up a car POINT BLANK. you take the same screenshot with your ppu, and we can compare, kay?

 

[ergonomics]

ouch i never even knew they were that much

and here is where the file is in xp:

C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2\Settings\profiles\(your name)\settings.xml

and there are 2 lines to change, they are:

<has_physx value="false" />
<physics value="0" />

change them to 'true' and either '1' for high physics or '2' for extreme

and here is a screenshot i JUST took with the physics on extreme:

 

[ergonomics]

cheers, wow that looks impressive, also must admit the ageia level looks pretty sweet as well, for anybody who has'nt seen it is motion,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2cs1o_qqAI


I do have to say though I still think the cpu will struggle with a few effects the ppu seems to be able to handle very easily like the cloth effect for example, also if you are able you play the physX level I'm not sure how well the cpu will handle those wind calculations, have a feeling it could grind down to single frames like with the cloth effect, I could be wrong though.

if/when i find the way to enable it ill let everyone know.

edit: there is also another 'trick' i think, that can enable a couple of the ageia only effects in cellfactor, like the proper cloth effects. searching google brought up a couple of threads about people discussing. cant do it myself though as i uninstalled that 'game' a while back

 

[ergonomics]

there can be a very slight 'drop' like you're describing, i can film it with fraps and upload it if you want, to see if its the same thing.

 

[ergonomics]

No need to fraps it I am sure it’s the same thing. There seems to be drop when the extra graphics assists are loaded in. Made a copy of your post at futuremark.yougamers.com figure the more people that see this the better.

fair enough, thankyou

edit: it would be worth mentioning though that they have to start a game, THEN apply the changes, otherwise it will either CTD or turn into a slideshow.

 

[ergonomics]

so ill assume these triple crossfire/sli set ups are going to require an even more ludicrous power supply now.

 

[ergonomics]

Well, Im all for a dedicated card to do it but the support is terrible for Ageia PhysX.

When will we start to see these setups with CrossFire/SLi + Physics cards? For Havok etc.

when games NEED them, but not before

 

[ergonomics]

please keep the arguements over ppu's out of my thread please. i made this thread so i can tell people how to get physx effects in graw2 without needing a card, not to repeat this pointless arguement again and again

 

[ergonomics]

its exactly the same, but i cant get the island level to work yet, which has the other effects like wind and all destructable huts.

but single player is exactly the same with the ppu, minus about 5-7 frames depending on your system

 

[ergonomics]

I haven't tried it with a PPU but did the workaround, works fine.

Noticed a lot more debris, sparks, ashes in the air etc. Nothing major or groundbreaking though. I've seen stuff like that in other games that don't 'need' a PPU.

as pottsey had said before, the physx enhancements in the single player campaign arent that amazing, its mostly in that single island level, which is a bit annoying tbh. but they do look better though than without it i guess, occasionally

 

[ergonomics]

kind of hard to say this hack works if you can;t compare it directly to a ppu accelerated version.

it does work as there is a notable difference than when the tweak isnt used. and people WITH the ppu have said the effects are the same as when the ppu is used

check my picture

 

[ergonomics]

ahh then in that case, all i can say is, whats the use of the ppu?

also

pottsy:
http://www.ageia.com/physx/index_new.html

odd all i get is a 404 error

i cannot enable the island level to work, so the ppu is required for that level

im trying though, but tbh i dont even play that game much

 

[ergonomics]

whats so good about this ppu island? is it like cell factor or something?

it has other effects, like strong winds that effect particles, and i think all wooden buildings can be blown up/knocked down, things like that

 

[ergonomics]

ha i didnt think this would get on inquirer.

it is a very easy workaround tbh, a settings file, and changing 2 pretty obvious strings. i did it, but it wouldnt work, i kept having CTD's, because i didnt change the settings ingame. so i googled around for a while, and someone said to change the settings whilst you are ingame, which i would never have thought of.

i still cant get the island level to work though, thats a bit beyond me

what im really after though, is to 'trick' the pc into just thinking you have the card. thats why ive been sifting through all of the driver files, but im at a loss as to what im looking for and what to change