DGvoodoo2 guide 2024: the best the old engine can be! How to run Dgvoodoo2 properly

Right to start this guide off, this is going to be my attempt to explain how to run the old engine for maximum FPS and quality. It is possible to get more frames out of the old engine and get pretty decent AA (anti-aliasing) without artifacting (like hotbar artifacting that can be present when forcing via the Nvidia panel).

UPDATE I have tested all setting in screenshots and tested them to ensure no performance regression for the new DGvoodoo2 2.84.1. All below setting can be used with 2.84.1 that would my recommendation.

Please note that mirroring all of settings incidentally to my screenshots gives the most optimal performance, it best only to change a setting if it causing issues. The number 1 issue I see when troubleshooting directly with people is that have missed some settings or not mirrored the screenshots.

as teaser here is example of how looks with Voodoo running 2.83.1 with below settings/Reshade/AutoHDR

UPDATED (13/10/2024)

Since I have written this guide, the author of DGVoodoo2 has continued development. with version 2.83.2 the specialized shader issue which was root cause of alot ICC/Legacy of xan and LE mission area stutter and under 10 fps issues. Has been rewritten or removed. Making large portion of guide irrelevant. So I have trimmed the guide to make more managable

As an example of the potential performance, I can see a steady 80 FPS in AI event raids with more than 60+ people on screen, where before I might see 2-0 40 FPS even in the old engine. This is with decent modern hardware (5800x3D, AMD 6800xt).

So first, why did I bother writing this guide? Aren’t there other video guides up?

Originally you need to use version 2.78.2 to get ideal performance without massive issue in ICC, LE Area and LoX. This was because all version afterwards had specialized shaders forced on which affect the mentioned above area greatly. You not used a version below 2.78.2 because of FPS bug that report double fps back to GPU driver.

Since the release of 2.83.2 this has been simplified greatly, I will now only show setting for 2.83.2 that I have tested for quite awhile now. There still benefit in the guide has there a lot optimization you can make DGVoodoo2 and can even be stacked with AOPP

I found a lot of these settings with hundreds of hours of testing and relogging.

First, here is a screenshot of what the game can look like with proper settings and Reshade on top.

All these settings in the screenshots were taken in DirectX 12 mode. DX12 mode is where all extra FPS can be found and my setting aim to stabilize DX12

The DirectX 11 mode is okay but doesn’t provide the same FPS increase. DIRECTX 12 CAN DO 100 FPS in ICC with an average CPU. Also worth noting, when you open the snippet for the screenshot, a lot of FPS overlays stop reporting. I included the below with the in-game counter to show ICC FPS.

ICC can be the place where frames go to thrive, not to die!!

Here is 2 screenshots of the old engine running with no tweaks or Nvidia panel tweaks (AMD in my case).


The below is the end result of my tweaks:

The below is my Reshade settings (HDR optional, I don’t have it on that often):

Sadly I can’t post ini here due file incompatibility

First, you must navigate to the DGvoodoo2 website (Downloads - Dege's stuffs) or the githb Releases · dege-diosg/dgVoodoo2 (github.com).

once there download DGVoodoo2 version 2.83.2 We need this version because older version use a specilzed shader that can reduce FPS down single digit in ICC, Lox and LE areas. the only older version without this issue is 2.78.2

Once downloaded and extracted to your preferred location, you simply need to drag and drop all files in the MS–>x86 folder into your AO installation main folder (the contents only, not the folder). Also, copy and paste the Control Panel and Control Panel Config files into your AO installation (this just keeps the config nice and clean).

Once you have done this, open the Control Panel exe in the AO installation, and it should bring up a program where we will need to change some settings (the DGvoodoo2 Control Panel). I will provide screenshots for those changes below and brief reasoning as to why, but before that, you must right-click on a blank space near the tab and click “show all tab configuration options” (something worded to that effect).

Now for the main settings, there are 3 main tabs we care about here: the General, the DirectX, and the DirectX Ext tabs. Please see the following settings for each.

General settings:

The important one on this tab is the DirectX 12 selection. It is the only wrapper option that gives multi-core enhancement as this is built into DirectX 12. Using DirectX 11, I found, gave no measurable performance increase by comparison. DirectX 11 also broke some monitoring overlays like RTSS. As a point of comparison, see below:

DirectX 11 ICC: 30-50 FPS
DirectX 12 ICC: 80-100 FPS

DirectX settings:

There are a few key settings here. The first is if you are using anisotropic filtering of any kind, use the “force filter only if not point sampled.” This will stop some weird transparent fringing at the edge of windows. Another key setting is VRAM. Set it as high as your GPU allows, ideally 4096MB of VRAM. Then the last is “Fast Video Memory Access.” This just helps FPS and smoothness of gameplay. Disabling mipmapping also helps with poor quality textures, but I personally didn’t see much of a change; it might just be my system.

DirectXExt Tab:

Please note before going forward that if you DON’T do the DirectX Ext tab settings, you will experience extreme stutter in a few zones like Mitaar, ICC, and LE Mission Hub. This is a critical section of the guide.

To access the Direct Ext tab, you will notice there is an empty space where other tabs are. Right-click here. You should get a dropdown that presents you with 2 options. One will default all settings, and the other will show the hidden tabs. Please show hidden tabs, then make changes as the guide shows below. If do not see all tab then you missed this step

Below is a screenshot of the tab that enables the DirectXExt tab:

Now, this is the big boy tab where the most critical changes happen. First, ensure that “dithering,” “depth buffer,” and “N-Patch Tessellation” tabs are set to “App Driven.” I found this gives the best performance without affecting the colors or graininess of textures. Ensure the “Max VS Count Register” is set to 256. This is another big performance setting, though you will only really notice it in high load scenarios like big AI events.

One last tab that must be adjusted if you are having instant crashes upon clicking EXE. Called General Ext tab play close attention to presentation Mode.

If you followed all the above, you should see notable FPS improvement, particularly in ICC, and increased use of cores if you have a newer CPU. One major upside of this is that now the old engine is running as DirectX 12, we can run Reshade. With the settings I linked above, I get very close in feel to the new engine.

Hope this was helpful in ironing out some quirks of DGvoodoo2 and helping anyone who updated to newer versions, only to get a worse experience.

Also, ensure when you next boot into Anarchy Online, hit settings, and under the visual tab and rendering device, ensure you see DGvoodoo in the name, that is good indicator it is running and you haven’t missed a file.

On a side note I tried this on new engine to see if I could optimize the game a bit but sadly directx12 will instant crash the new engine and directx11 which i got working does not show performance increase.

If this was helpful let other know so they can get the best out of it.

I have also got AOPP and Window AUTO HDR running too for even further FPS increase but I don’t know long term stability so left those out for now.

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Nice that the newer version don’t report x2 fps too.

Thanks Caloss, Yeah it is very nice change. it also improve directx12 stability which where alot performance is :D.

Thank you sir!
You made my day.
AO launches much faster (compared to latest version) and no more crash at ICC.
win 11 / i7-11800H / RTX 3070 here

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Glad it helped you :D.

Just a update as few people messaged with this issue if you can see directxext tab, you might right click on any blank space in control panel and select form 2 option drop down the option that says “show all sections of the configurations” this will then add all tabs in which can move trough with scroll arrows that have appeared.

I am hoping to Bump the guide with comment as there been update with dgvoodoo2 version that simplified the guide in some ways.

DGvoodoo2 2.83.1 resolves alot of issue and thought need some changes from out box setting is more streamlined option.

I will not add to guide yet but i have experimented with AUTOHDR and running AOPP at same time if anyone want details PM me on here

If any forums admin can Pin this so guide can help other with FPS pacing issue that be great

for teaser of DGvoodoo2(2.83.1)/AOPP/Reshade/WindowsAutoHDR

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Nice.

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That is great guide for old engine, I have to try the AutoHDR.

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For AutoHDR you just need download a program from Github called ForceHDR, if running dx12 like my guide, ForceHDR should work, make sure ticket 10bit color if panel supports it.

Also once you have working in game open the window game bar with window g and click the cog and go game features, IF auto HDR intenisty button is light up it is working, then open the slider and slight all way to right for proper HDR.

Alot people neglect the intensity slider.

Thanks Besaid, nice guide & update.

In my case i couldn’t run Reshade v6 in my W7 so i rather used v5 from official mediafire (they got all archives down to v1).
I ran DGVoodoo2 very latest under DX11, and both apps are running perfectly with AO. Tested some shaders to find those i like to see activated.
Sidenote : DGV’s Fast VRAM option is really to be enabled otherwise games took a weird 1 sec delay !
PS : i also had to check the “force filter” DX option, without it all ingame icons looked weirdly cutted/overlined.

yeah the force filter under Anisotropic filter is one must haves. Each of setting chosen in screenshots are optimal setup for most systems, Though can’t say for sure for windows 7.

It is worth noting that dx11 is more stable with my settings but there is no real increase fps. Directx12 is where most performance/benefit is. I assume this is due to the inherit multihreading CPU support in dx12 but can’t say for sure, I am not quite that skilled or nerdy, I can just confirm that performance is there. on large raids like s42 i would often hover around 20-30 fps on (5800x3d) on dx11 or vanilla AO but dx 12 can keep my average well above 60FPS. Though do appreciate not everyone wants to run DX12, however, that where all testing settings are optimal (they do work fine DX11 too)

the only real issue I have seen is that with DX12 is that if I tab for 5-10 minutes (not always) or afk in game over an hour or 2 with no inputs (almost always). when I next go to make any inputs in game it will crash that seems be input based thing though but that will vary from setup to setup, as can play for 10 hours plus without a single crash. I do keep vanilla clinet for things like afk inferno or kite hill

on final note for those still using this guide I have tested the new dgvoodoo2 2.84.1 release over Christmas and it is working fine. so all same setting in guide apply to new version (2.83.2 setting can be use directly as my screenshot with 2.84.1).