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 achieve pretty decent AA (anti-aliasing) without artifacting (such as the hotbar artifacting that can occur when forcing settings via the Nvidia panel).
UPDATE: I have tested all the settings in the screenshots and confirmed that they do not cause performance regressions with the new DGvoodoo2 2.85.0. All the settings below can be used with 2.85.0, which would be my recommendation.
Importantly, I have added AOPP instructions at the end of this post. Using these together with DGvoodoo2 can remove almost all zone crashes.
Also, a side note: this is meant to be used with one client or maybe two clients in dual-box mode. If you want to multibox, I recommend running your other five clients on an unmodded vanilla install. You can do this by copying the AO install (found in C:/Funcom) to the same C:/Funcom folder and renaming the new install to something like Anarchy Online Vanilla. Please note you will need to copy all preferences over from the AppData/Local/Funcom folder to the new install.
the main reason for not using all the clinets in 6 man box as dgvoodoo2 is dx12 or dgvoodoo2 has issue with alt tabbing, you can all tab just fine but if you tabbed for more then 5-10 minute with no input the clinet will crash when tab back in. This not ideal for Multiboxing so as stated above I run all clinets after my first with Unmodded install
Please note that mirroring all of the settings exactly as shown in my screenshots will provide the most optimal performance. It’s best to only change a setting if it is causing issues. The number one issue I see when troubleshooting directly with people is that they have missed some settings or have not mirrored the screenshots.
as teaser here is example of how looks with Voodoo running 2.85.0 with below settings/Reshade/AutoHDR
UPDATED (13/10/2024)
Since I wrote this guide, the author of DGvoodoo2 has continued development. With version 2.83.2, the specialized shader issue, which was the root cause of many ICC/Legacy of Xan and LE mission area stuttering and sub-10 FPS issues, has been rewritten or removed. This made a large portion of the guide irrelevant, so I have trimmed it to make it more manageable.
As an example of the potential performance, I can see a steady 80 FPS during AI event raids with more than 60 people on screen. Previously, I might have seen 20–40 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 already other video guides available?
Originally, you needed to use version 2.78.2 to achieve ideal performance without significant issues in ICC, the LE area, and LoX. This was because all versions afterward had specialized shaders forced on, which greatly affected the mentioned areas. You couldn’t use a version below 2.78.2 because of an FPS bug that reported doubled FPS to the GPU driver.
Since the release of 2.85.0, this process has been greatly simplified. I will now only show the settings for 2.85.0, which I have tested extensively. There is still a benefit to this guide as there are many optimizations you can make with DGvoodoo2, and it can even be stacked with AOPP.
I discovered many of these settings through 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 the extra FPS gains can be found, and my settings aim to stabilize DX12 performance.
The DirectX 11 mode is okay but doesn’t provide the same FPS increase. DirectX 12 can achieve 100 FPS in ICC with an average CPU. It’s also worth noting that when you open the snippet for the screenshot, many FPS overlays stop reporting. I included the screenshot 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
Reshade is easy to setup, Just download the latest Reshade setup .exe and run it selecting the AnarchyOnline.exe and setting dx12 to support dgvoodoo2. Ensuring you have all same shader as me selected. I have removed unneeded shaders just to optimize.
If you following the AOPP steps of this guide you will need redo reshade for AnarchyOnline.exe in AppData/Roaming/AOPP folder.
First, you must navigate to the DGvoodoo2 website (Downloads - Dege's stuffs) or the GitHub Releases · dege-diosg/dgVoodoo2 (github.com).
Once there, download DGvoodoo2 version 2.85.0. We need this version because older versions use specialized shaders that can reduce FPS down to single digits 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 from the MS–>x86 folder into your AO installation’s 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 folder, 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 briefly explain 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 three 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.
If you are using anisotropic filtering of any kind, use the “force filter only if not point sampled” option. This will stop some weird transparent fringing at the edges of windows.
Set VRAM as high as your GPU allows, ideally 4096MB of VRAM.
Enable Fast Video Memory Access. This helps improve 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 configure 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 DirectX Ext tab, you will notice an empty space where other tabs are located. Right-click here. You should get a dropdown that presents you with two options. One will default all settings, and the other will show the hidden tabs. Please show the hidden tabs, then make the changes shown in the guide below. If you do not see all tabs, then you missed this step.
Below is a screenshot of the tab that enables the DirectX Ext tab:
Now, this is the critical tab where the most important changes happen.
- 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 major performance setting, although you will only really notice it in high-load scenarios like big AI events.
General Ext Tab
If you experience instant crashes upon clicking the .exe, check the Presentation Mode under the General Ext tab, This must be set to Auto (or one of the Flip mods but best at Auto)
If you followed all the steps above, you should see a notable FPS improvement, particularly in ICC, and increased use of CPU cores if you have a newer processor. One major upside of this is that now the old engine is running on DirectX 12, we can run Reshade. With the settings I linked above, the experience gets very close to the feel of the new engine.
I hope this was helpful in ironing out some of the quirks of DGvoodoo2 and assisting anyone who updated to newer versions but ended up with a worse experience.
Also, ensure that when you next boot into Anarchy Online, go to settings, and under the visual tab and rendering device, make sure you see DGvoodoo in the name. This is a good indicator that it is running properly and that you haven’t missed a file.
On a side note, I tried this on the new engine to see if I could optimize the game a bit, but sadly DirectX 12 will instantly crash the new engine, and DirectX 11, which I got working, does not show any performance increase.
If this was helpful, let others know so they can get the best out of it.
I also run the Game with AOPP and AUTO HDR (I have a mini led monitor worth doing this for)
AOPP does improve stability particular zone crashes. So I will detail that below as an Optional steps. However I won’t really go into AutoHDR as that preference thought most screenshots were taken with it on.
Optional: AOPP Step to Reduce Zone Crashes
First of all, AOPP is a mod that allows a patched version of AnarchyOnline.exe to run. For the purpose of this guide, I’m uninterested in the quality-of-life changes. I am focused solely on enabling Uncapped FPS and the Large Address Awareness patch (optional: View Distance/Level of Detail patch, although this may halve FPS).
I am not sure of the specifics, but the Large Address patch paired with DGvoodoo2 removes almost all zone crash issues. So, let’s get started.
- Download AOPP: GitHub - xeropresence/AOPP: Anarchy Online Patch Project
- Install AOPP:
- Drag the
.dllfile into your AO installation folder. - Launch the game once to generate files in
User/AppData/Roaming/AOPP. If you have already done DGVoodoo2 steps i expect the game to crash at this point, this is normal we just need to generate it’s files.
- Edit the Config File: (User/AppData/Roaming/AOPP) Config.Json Open the config file in Notepad or Notepad++ and disable all quality-of-life settings. Enable:
- Uncapped FPS Patch
- Large Address Awareness Patch
- (Optional) View Distance/LOD Patch for sharper visuals, at the cost of lower FPS.
This done by setting it to either “true” or “false”
- Integrate DGvoodoo2: Clone the following DGvoodoo2 files from your AO installation folder to
AppData/Roaming/AOPP:
D3D8.dllD3D9.dllD3Dlmm.dllDDraw.dllDgVoodoo2.confDgVoodooCpl.exeAlso, repeat the Reshade setup forAnarchyOnline.exein the AOPP folder.
For Reshade I recommend redoing the setup using Reshade.exe for dx12 using the AnarchyOnline.exe from AOPP folder. You can copy the files from AO main install if know the files but you still need run reshade setup on AOPP Anarchy Online.exe to make all work.
Final Note
If using AOPP, add the AnarchyOnline.exe from the AOPP folder to the Nvidia Control Panel to apply any desired settings. Since AOPP is technically another exe no setting from NVidia will apply if don’t do this step.
TO BE CLEAR: Althought the game now runs from AnarchyOnline.exe from AOPP folder, you must still launch the game via the AnarchyOnline.exe in C:/Funcom/Anarchy Online main folder. AOPP will automatically switch .exes
Hope this guide was helpful! If it was, please add a comment to keep this guide at the top.
As a side note (which I won’t cover here), to run AutoHDR (assuming you have a good HDR monitor) with Anarchy Online, it’s simple as long as you are running DGvoodoo2 (DX12). You can download a program called ForceAutoHDR and add AnarchyOnline.exe (if using AOPP, use the one from the AOPP folder). Just make sure to check the 10-bit option.
