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Preferencestxt

'preferences.txt' is a configuration file stored in your Darwinia game directory. It contains all the configuration settings that can be modified by in-game menus (and can activate a few not found in the in-game menus), and is accessible through any basic text editor.

If you do not have a 'preferences.txt' file (for example, if you have just installed the game, but have not yet played it), then one is automatically generated for you by the game upon game launch.

Here is an example of the basic format of 'preferences.txt' from v1.42 of the game:

ServerAddress = 127.0.0.1
BypassNetwork = 1
IAmAServer = 1

TextLanguage = english
TextSpeed = 15
HelpEnabled = 0

SoundLibrary = dsound
SoundMixFreq = 44100
SoundMasterVolume = 255
SoundChannels = 16
SoundHW3D = 0
SoundSwapStereo = 0
SoundMemoryUsage = 2
SoundBufferSize = 512
SoundDSP = 0

ScreenWidth = 1024
ScreenHeight = 768
ScreenWindowed = 0
ScreenZDepth = 24
ScreenColourDepth = 32
ScreenRefresh = 85

RenderLandscapeDetail = 1
RenderWaterDetail = 1
RenderBuildingDetail = 1
RenderEntityDetail = 1
RenderCloudDetail = 1
RenderPixelShader = 1

ControlMouseButtons = 3
ControlMethod = 0
RenderSpecialLighting = 0
Difficulty = 1
ControlIconsChatLog = key L
ControlChatLog = key TAB
ControlZoom = key Z
ControlDeselect = key SPACE
ControlUp = key E
ControlDown = key Q
ControlIconsTaskManagerEndTask = key C
ControlLeft = key A
ControlBackwards = key S
ControlRight = key D
ControlForwards = key W
ControlSkipMessage = key ENTER
ControlIconsTaskManagerDisplay = key TAB
BootLoader = none
UserProfile = gamedone

Additional parameters:

• RenderLandscapeMode

There are 3 possible rendering modes for Darwinia's landscape, which can be set by the preferences variable 'RenderLandscapeMode':

• RenderLandscapeMode = 0 uses Vertex Arrays
• RenderLandscapeMode = 1 uses Display Lists (default in v1.0)
• RenderLandscapeMode = 2 uses Vertex Buffer Objects - This is the default setting that the game uses if the RenderLandscapeMode line is not present in 'preferences.txt', so adding it is not necessary, and is in fact redundant.

The default in v1.2 and up is 2 (Vertex Buffer Objects), which should be faster in most cases than Display Lists (the default in v1.0). If VBO support isn't detected, the game should fall back to Display Lists.

It has been reported on the official forum that some video cards (including, but not limited to: some Intel-chipset cards, ATI's IGP or S3 cards, and some SiS cards) do not deal with Vertex Buffer Objects properly, and may require you to add/alter this parameter manually.

To implement: Add 'RenderLandscapeMode = x' to the bottom of your 'preferences.txt' file, with x being either 0, 1, or 2 as described above.

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