Counter Strike - Tweaking



Rate
The command everyone should be able to tweak. The rate command sets the rate at which you transmit and receive data to the games server.

Nez has been working on settings in CS beta6.5 since it's release:
First thing I've found is you have to get you're rate correct after much tweaking. Using odd values rather than the increments of 500 and 1000 to work best when finding your idea rate setting. I'm currently using a rate of 5750 which may seem odd but everyone's rate is different. You can fiddle with it by bringing down the console (` key) and typing "rate" in a range of values until you're happy. A good way to find if the you're using rate correct, is to have net_graph on. There is a few guildelines you can use to rate your connection, but it really depends on you're overall setup. Aqua's tweaking guide  has a fully detailed table showing recommended settings, but don't be afraid to tweak it to suit yourself (the table can be viewed at the end of this document).

S.A.S's Tip
To find your ideal rate setting first use the lowest rate value from the table (below) related to your connection. Then go onto a server. Look at your ping. Now increase by +100 the value and watch your ping (wait 2 minutes between each rate change to allow time for connection to stablise at that new rate setting). Increase until you see your ping getting higher. Once it does that lower back down to the setting before and that setting should be the idea value for you.

Pushlatency
If you ever played CS on a LAN you'll know how good it feels to play in zero lag :). Pushlatency helps bring back those feelings online.

Watch your ping and check for your average ping. Then use a value that is the same as your average ping or a value that is 50% of it. Remember it's pushlatency -<number> If you forget the minus sign latency will be added! This is only useful if you want to play offline, and want to add lag. When online use a negative value to help your connection feel smoother.

Tweakable commands

Nez Shows you the commands that are available to tweak

cl_cmdrate
which controls the amount of packets that are being sent to the server allowing you to tweak those bandwidth problems the rate above gives you a good idea of cl_cmdrate to use.

cl_updaterate
which seems to be the opposite to the cmdrate and depicts what game updates you receive. 

cl_lc
To use this setting the server and modification must support lag compensation. When set to 1 the server will take into account your ping when deciding if you hit a player or not. If you have a very low ping or wish the older style of play then set this to 0. 

cl_lc 1 (default)
Good Points: On a server that allows the function to work lpbs or hpbs with a decent connection can experience a more 6.1 version of aiming.
Bad: Only works on servers that allow it and may not be beneficial to people with a bad connection. 
Note: Servers by default allow this function to work (sv_unlag 1).

cl_lw 
This setting determines how weapons fire is controlled, for example with regard to sounds and animation. When set to 0 the client will perform as it used to prior to 1.1.0.0, the server returns/confirms weapon related fire information. 

If you set this to 1 the client weapon sound and animation will happen as soon as you press fire. It should be noted that when set to 1 the animations and marks displayed are determined client side, as a result they may not be an accurate representation of where you are actually hitting.

You may find it useful to bind different settings of cl_lw and cl_lc for different weapons. It is very important to make sure that if you use a setting of 0 for cl_lw that cl_lc is also set to 0.

cl_lw 1 (default) 
Good Points: Allows u to know when your weapons have fired due to the firing being controlled server side and not client side. Will again result in that beta6.1 feel.
Bad: Only useful for people with good connection also may find its not a true representation of were you're aiming. 

Recommended 
HPB - Ping (999-150): cl_cl 1 & cl_lw 1 (default settings)
LPB - Ping (Below 150ish): cl_cl 0 & cl_wl 1

The rest of the commands are from your regular guide guru SAS:

cl_showfps 1
Type this in the console to show your FPS (frames per second) in the top left hand corner.

max_shells 0
Default is 120, but if set to 0 will stop shells flying out from your gun. Saves a few FPS.

max_smokepuffs 0 
Default is 120, but if set to 0 will stop the small smoke effects when you fire at any hard surfaces. Again will save you some FPS.

Pic shows smokepuffs. In a busy game these can snap your FPS.

fps_max x 
fps_lan, modem, have been removed and it looks like fps_max is the only command. Default is fps_max 72.

fastsprites 0
Better smoke effects.
0 = high quality (looks like smoke), 1 = (default), 2 = very low quality 

For a bit of fun type adjust_crosshair at the console. Everytime you type this your crosshair will change colour :). There are 5 colours to choose from. 

Nez's Config

I've taken a close look at my config and tweaked it to ensure I have a good connection. You can see a list of changes I made here:  Nez's config
NOTE: Don't be surprised if you find the same command twice as it is from my own config.cfg and I can tell you now I'm not renowned for neatness.

One tip I will give is never leave net_graph on. This can seriously ruin you're fps I use a handy little bind to switch it on when I press and get rid of it on depress

alias "+net" "net_graph 1"
alias "-net" "net_graph 0"

just bind a key to +net

[CS-B]Pac's Tip

After the previous Half Life and Counterstrike releases (I think it was beta 4 that came out around the same time as the previous half life patch) I found that my Counterstrike config and Half-Life had been reset to defaults. I changed Counterstrikes pushlatency and rate settings in game but could never get the pings I had previously attained. 

However upon examining the Half Life config, I found that those settings were over-riding the Half Life settings used by Counterstrike causing very slight, but very annoying, lag. If you follow the procedures below you could find you drop your ping by around 10 - 20 ms.

Go to your Valve directory under the Half Life main directory 
e.g. C:\Games\Half-Life\Valve\ 
and open config.cfg, find the values for: pushlatency and rate

These should be set to the correct rates for your connection speed. I.e. the values you use in your CS config.

Nez's Tip

Well as always I've been scouring for that elusive tweak that sets everything right in the world, and although I haven't found it yet, I have come across a damn fine thing in the aid of a little aiming problem. As we all know since 6.5 came out we have all been having a spot of bother with the old aim so as you all probably know about the command cl_lc, which turns on lag compression. It has come to my attention that using the following tweak no matter how simple gives you a boost in aim so here goes:

if you're using cl_lc 1 then set you're pushlatency to a setting of 0 

if you're using a setting of cl_lc 0 then set you're pushlatency to -999

-999 means half-life will compensate pushlatency for you.

Aqua's Half-Life Tweaking guide
I highly recommend you look at Aqua's Half-Life connection section. It not only goes into the details I've talked about above, but also gives you a huge list of connection settings you can try which will help you tweak your connection to suit the type of connection your using. Be it a modem, ISDN, right up to a LAN :)

Click here for a table of network settings for Half-Life/CS
(Short cut to network tweaking options)

Other tweaking Sites

http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/halflife/ - Excellent Tweaking site that is well worth a look.

http://www.tweak3d.net/autoexec/halflife/ - Useful if you want to tweak your graphics settings and everything in your config related to helping you gain speed.

<-- Tweaking Part 1