Guildwars (gw.exe) Switches / Command line options
DDRroseDuelist
wow i never knew about this!! this rocks!!! btw... i dunno if someone said thsi but you can also just set it to remember your email
Nater
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius
I'm not sure if I'm imagining things, but... it looks like the graphics got 'clearer' after increasing heapsize?
It's like the contrast increased or the LOD bias was changed or something. Can't put my finger on it, but the graphics just look... crisper. Anyone else notice anything? |
I noticed something similar when I went from 512, 1GB, and to 1.5GB of ram. (was just fiddling with my PC) Anything over 1.5GB Guild Wars doesn't seem to use and you maxed your line of sight.
EternalTempest
From a PM 
Thank you koneko
Added two new switches
-windowed
-diag
Updated -repair
and correct -pref should of been -perf
Thank you konekoAdded two new switches
-windowed
-diag
Updated -repair
and correct -pref should of been -perf
Ishmaeel
Quote:
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Originally Posted by EternalTempest
-perf
Displays the performance statics - Tri, FPS, and Bytes/Sec (Tri = ?, FPS = Frames per second, Bytes/Sec = Transfer Rate) |
The "Tri" part in there refers to the number of triangles (polygons, as some people like to call 'em) that are being drawn on the screen at that moment. It's a stat about the current 3D scene.
You'll notice that the Tri count goes up if you are looking at detailed scenery and it drops down when there is not much going on on screen (as when looking down at the floor).
You'll also notice, if you have a crappy graphics card as I do, when the Tri goes up, FPS goes down.
koneko
Found another one in addition to -diag and -windowed - thanks to EternalTempest for adding them and maintaining the list :)
Forces full decompression of all remaining compressed data in Gw.dat - no more decompression when loading into an area for the first time.
Note: memory usage would spike from 150MB to 600MB during this long process and the entire system slowed to a crawl (CPU at 90-100%). I ended up having to shut off VMware :(
Also: results of GWdiag.txt (Gw.exe -diag) seem to be incomplete, logfile shows an error at the end (missing dxdiag info).
Code:
"x:\path\to\guild_wars\gw.exe" -image
Note: memory usage would spike from 150MB to 600MB during this long process and the entire system slowed to a crawl (CPU at 90-100%). I ended up having to shut off VMware :(
Also: results of GWdiag.txt (Gw.exe -diag) seem to be incomplete, logfile shows an error at the end (missing dxdiag info).
Ermac
My Processor demolished some time ago and ive waited a fairly long time for my new processor,mobo etc.
They arrived 2 weeks ago and when I finnished downloading everything I realized something was wrong with the game... the water had no reflections, it switched colors depending on where from you looked at it, Couldnt Turn anti-alias on and everything was really really laggy.
Now just a few minutes ago I found this thread by mistake..and.... I had missed the update about Dx 9. :O
Reverted it to dx 8, added -noshaders and -heapsize 256000...
Everything was back to normal !! The water was sweet, I could see the terrain further than before the processor melt down and Fps was way higger then I was used to !!
+ that turning off the shaders made the horns on my necro look more evil than before. xD
I love you guys so much right now. <3
edit: oh and all the colors are a lot more...colorful(lol?) now. ^^
edit2: more vibrant or something .
They arrived 2 weeks ago and when I finnished downloading everything I realized something was wrong with the game... the water had no reflections, it switched colors depending on where from you looked at it, Couldnt Turn anti-alias on and everything was really really laggy.
Now just a few minutes ago I found this thread by mistake..and.... I had missed the update about Dx 9. :O
Reverted it to dx 8, added -noshaders and -heapsize 256000...
Everything was back to normal !! The water was sweet, I could see the terrain further than before the processor melt down and Fps was way higger then I was used to !!
+ that turning off the shaders made the horns on my necro look more evil than before. xD
I love you guys so much right now. <3
edit: oh and all the colors are a lot more...colorful(lol?) now. ^^
edit2: more vibrant or something .
tidu
Quote:
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-perf Displays the performance statics - Tri, FPS, and Bytes/Sec (Tri = ?, FPS = Frames per second, Bytes/Sec = Transfer Rate) |
And thanks, this is good stuff.
Mandy Memory
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Originally Posted by tidu
Just wanted to clarify that Tri is the amount of triangles being rendered, same thing as polygons. Some game engines require models to only have polygons of 3 sides(triangles), which is why these are referred to as tri's instead of poly's
And thanks, this is good stuff. |
EternalTempest
Thank you for the updates , did a quick update on the 1st post but will be updating it more proper latter.
koneko = Anet tech support told me there was no "utility" to do this when I asked them great find.
, did a quick update on the 1st post but will be updating it more proper latter.koneko = Anet tech support told me there was no "utility" to do this when I asked them
great find.
Omega X
Quote:
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Originally Posted by koneko
Found another one in addition to -diag and -windowed - thanks to EternalTempest for adding them and maintaining the list
Code:
"x:\path\to\guild_wars\gw.exe" -image Note: memory usage would spike from 150MB to 600MB during this long process and the entire system slowed to a crawl (CPU at 90-100%). I ended up having to shut off VMware  |
Though I used it in the Run box instead of messing with my shortuct.
The Client goes through the ENTIER DAT file and checks to make sure that all of the files are there. It they weren't then they were downloaded. All files are then decompressed.
My memory usage went up about 300MBs But suprisingly it didn't saturate my CPU like it does in game. I was able to do something else while waiting for things to download.
The final file size ended up being 3.59 GBs with everything downloaded and decompressed.
EternalTempest
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Originally Posted by Omega X
Yes, EternalTempest suggested that switch in another thread as a workaround for slow decompression in game.
Though I used it in the Run box instead of messing with my shortuct. The Client goes through the ENTIER DAT file and checks to make sure that all of the files are there. It they weren't then they were downloaded. All files are then decompressed. My memory usage went up about 300MBs But suprisingly it didn't saturate my CPU like it does in game. I was able to do something else while waiting for things to download. The final file size ended up being 3.59 GBs with everything downloaded and decompressed. |
Omega X
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Originally Posted by EternalTempest
Strange, mine is currently 1.9 GB and it didn't download any other data. Do you have the factions retail key on your account? Have you had to reinstall the game at all? It did decompress 22,000 files for me.
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1.9GB sounds like what it was if it wasn't all decompressed. My previous install with FPE stuff with some of it undecompressed was about 1.7GBs.
It won't be pretty but I can do a reinstall and let the client download everything completely and let it all decompress again just to make sure.
Edit 1: with -image starting a complete reinstall will download 52,500+ compressed files from ANET. It might be night time before I can confirm the file size(on a 256kbps connection). So I am not going to go through with it today. Maybe I'll find a friend and hijack his Cable connection to see if the filesize is accurate.
Tarun
It's roughly 1.88 GB (So about 2GB really, or 2,022,416,384 bytes) after it's fully decompressed. The *.dat file holds your settings as well.
anow
Hey, When I added these onto my guildwars Shortcut, it downloaded the new files, then decompressed, this took around 30 mins. when i came back the game would not start, the splash came up saying "Connecting To Anet" then it just crashed to my desktop... this is what i am right now "D:\program files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -password=***** -noshaders -image -nosound -perf -heapsize 256000
Ishmaeel
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Originally Posted by anow
Hey, When I added these onto my guildwars Shortcut, it downloaded the new files, then decompressed, this took around 30 mins. when i came back the game would not start, the splash came up saying "Connecting To Anet" then it just crashed to my desktop... this is what i am right now "D:\program files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -password=***** -noshaders -image -nosound -perf -heapsize 256000
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Client's normal mode of operation with that switch is: "download all new files, decompress, quit". You should only use it to force the client for a full update, preferably from the command prompt. You can also make a new copy of the shortcut just with the "-image" switch and rename it "Update Guild Wars".
Kaguya
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Tarun
The *.dat file holds your settings as well.
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Graphics quality setting is kept clientside, probably on registery, or the .dat file. Betting on registry tho.
vv-- hokay, but still there's stuff serverside. Keybindings on server would be kinda nice, but guess it would be useful seldomly, and eats a lot more database.
koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kaguya
Actually no, I got same settings at work as I got at home, from clean install. GUI layout and inventory is kept on server for sure, not entirely sure about keybindings and such.
Graphics quality setting is kept clientside, probably on registery, or the .dat file. Betting on registry tho. |
Account name: Client-side, .dat file (reinstalled, copied .dat file, account name value filled in)
Not very much being kept in the registry, really...
I can't seem to find any more fun-filled switches. The rest of the stuff that I dumped from gw.exe seem to just be gibberish (they don't work). Also, I just had to recreate my .dat file (corrupted) - uncompressed, it's sitting at 1.68GB (older .dat file uncompressed was larger - maybe because it only downloads latest files). Maybe Omega's had his file since the beginning (older updates + newer files overwriting older stuff, no cleanup) and that would explain the size? Who knows.
EternalTempest
Did Test on the lap top with -image.
Install client, get the exe and then when it tried to connect to download the gw.dat files, I blocked it with the firewall. Then from the command line did the image and let it download everything. This was today (with faction code). Came to: 1.92 GB (2,072,768,512 bytes). Not sure how much factions installed. I only have the pre-order key on the account, not the CE retail key..
Install client, get the exe and then when it tried to connect to download the gw.dat files, I blocked it with the firewall. Then from the command line did the image and let it download everything. This was today (with faction code). Came to: 1.92 GB (2,072,768,512 bytes). Not sure how much factions installed. I only have the pre-order key on the account, not the CE retail key..
Elrond Afil
Hi,
My gw is not updating properly..
so ive done the -image
its at 12.6 meg 3% 14,069 files remaining
I really don't want to wait 2 days for 2 gig of data to download...does it just download the data i don't have? or does it download it all??
My gw is not updating properly..
so ive done the -image
its at 12.6 meg 3% 14,069 files remaining
I really don't want to wait 2 days for 2 gig of data to download...does it just download the data i don't have? or does it download it all??
Nascent
Any word if there is some sort of a switch to disable the direct sound they implemented? I dislike playing the game with no sound in order to maintain a framerate -_-
EternalTempest
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nascent
Any word if there is some sort of a switch to disable the direct sound they implemented? I dislike playing the game with no sound in order to maintain a framerate -_-
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Start Run -> Type in Regedit (Enter)
Find this Registery Key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ DirectSong
Right Click and Export it (so you can re-enable it latter by double clicking on it), then delete the reg key
Nascent
its not direct song that is the problem, though. I've purposefully kept those uninstalled this time around thinking that might have been linked to the degrading performance.
I mean the games emulating 3d sound, etc. The new upgrades they made to the sound engine mostly. A way to perhaps return it to its previous state? or trick the game into thinking you dont have any 3d accelleration on your sound card so it doesnt try to even employ the new sound system.
I've attempted turning the silder in the 'advanced' options of the sound tad to No Acelleration, which, when I enter the game, does return it to a state of good performance with sound activated...for a short period of time. Then I start getting all sorts of weird sound glitches until I eventually end up just turning the sound off regardless. I've found this to not be a viable solution, thus I was wondering if there's a switch, or something.
I mean the games emulating 3d sound, etc. The new upgrades they made to the sound engine mostly. A way to perhaps return it to its previous state? or trick the game into thinking you dont have any 3d accelleration on your sound card so it doesnt try to even employ the new sound system.
I've attempted turning the silder in the 'advanced' options of the sound tad to No Acelleration, which, when I enter the game, does return it to a state of good performance with sound activated...for a short period of time. Then I start getting all sorts of weird sound glitches until I eventually end up just turning the sound off regardless. I've found this to not be a viable solution, thus I was wondering if there's a switch, or something.
Celestial Harmony
You deserve a medal for posting these, I've got much better performance outta my laptop in GW now, still run on lowest settings but the draw distance and framerate are a lot better for me with the -dx8 -noshaders and heapsize 1024000 switches.
So, if anytime you need a n00b monk....
So, if anytime you need a n00b monk....
Omega X
Quote:
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Originally Posted by EternalTempest
Did Test on the lap top with -image.
Install client, get the exe and then when it tried to connect to download the gw.dat files, I blocked it with the firewall. Then from the command line did the image and let it download everything. This was today (with faction code). Came to: 1.92 GB (2,072,768,512 bytes). Not sure how much factions installed. I only have the pre-order key on the account, not the CE retail key.. |
I also got finished testing and the DAT file came out to about 1.79GB. Which is weird because my file is so big. Maybe I stumbled across some kind of issue with the -image switch. My file shouldn't be that big.
So I'm gonna go back and redo my install to make sure that its not just my machine.(which it shouldn't be).
koneko
Factions-related content is downloaded whether or not you have the retail key for that particular campaign if you use -image. The program doesn't differentiate between Prophecies and Factions content when it downloads; it just grabs everything it can from the server.
Clean install (no Gw.dat), hovering around 1.75GB.
My theory on why the .dat file grows in size over time like Omega X's: (old base Gw.dat) + (update) + (update) + ... ---> new/updated Gw.dat + leftovers of old outdated files that aren't cleaned up/removed. Or something...
Clean install (no Gw.dat), hovering around 1.75GB.
My theory on why the .dat file grows in size over time like Omega X's: (old base Gw.dat) + (update) + (update) + ... ---> new/updated Gw.dat + leftovers of old outdated files that aren't cleaned up/removed. Or something...
Omega X
That is my theory as well.
When I did the reinstall FROM CDs instead of downloading in full, the Dat file grew to about 3gb(I did it twice to make sure). Since its old GW+New GW+SF+Factions.
But when I did an -image install directly from Anet, the DAT file was in the 1.7GB range. That kinda size makes sense because Factions reuses a number of textures and models.
Maybe someone should bring this to the attention of Anet. But to make sure, someone else should do what I did to see if what I found out is reproducible.
What I did was:
-Install from CD: Guild Wars: CH1
-Close program after finishing.
-Install from CD: Guild Wars: CH2
-Close program after finishing.
-Run the exe with the -image switch
Then report the size of the DAT file.
When I did the reinstall FROM CDs instead of downloading in full, the Dat file grew to about 3gb(I did it twice to make sure). Since its old GW+New GW+SF+Factions.
But when I did an -image install directly from Anet, the DAT file was in the 1.7GB range. That kinda size makes sense because Factions reuses a number of textures and models.
Maybe someone should bring this to the attention of Anet. But to make sure, someone else should do what I did to see if what I found out is reproducible.
What I did was:
-Install from CD: Guild Wars: CH1
-Close program after finishing.
-Install from CD: Guild Wars: CH2
-Close program after finishing.
-Run the exe with the -image switch
Then report the size of the DAT file.
Omega X
Ok I did another test.
I installed straight from the Factions CD since it most likely contained a more recent image of the game instead of the original Prophecies CD.
The size grew to 4GB and once the process finished, it shrunk back down to 3.18 GB (3,421,900,800 bytes).
So it actually lost some weight unless it comes later since I have yet to add in my UI customizations and options.
I'm gonna write to Tech Support and ask them the correct size of the Image.
I installed straight from the Factions CD since it most likely contained a more recent image of the game instead of the original Prophecies CD.
The size grew to 4GB and once the process finished, it shrunk back down to 3.18 GB (3,421,900,800 bytes).
So it actually lost some weight unless it comes later since I have yet to add in my UI customizations and options.
I'm gonna write to Tech Support and ask them the correct size of the Image.
kaya
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Originally Posted by EternalTempest
-heapsize
This must always be the LAST switch off of the shortcut. This is a windows trick that tells windows to devote ram just to a program (in this case, guildwars). This can speed up loading of maps. It was recommended you specify ½ of your ram. Usage: "C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe” -heapsize xxxxxx xxxxx = the bytes Quick chart: (½ ram) in bytes 128MB -heapsize 64000 256MB -heapsize 128000 384MB -heapsize 192000 512MB -heapsize 256000 640MB -heapsize 320000 768MB -heapsize 384000 1024MB -heapsize 512000 Here is a handy Bit Calculator - http://www.matisse.net/bitcalc/ |
Somebody want to educate me?
EDIT!!
oh wait... I think i figured it out... where is says bytes in the above quote, it's sapposed to say kilobytes? Let me know if thats right or not, and if so then it probably should be updated. Thanks!
kaya
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Originally Posted by Omega X
Ok I did another test.
I installed straight from the Factions CD since it most likely contained a more recent image of the game instead of the original Prophecies CD. The size grew to 4GB and once the process finished, it shrunk back down to 3.18 GB (3,421,900,800 bytes). So it actually lost some weight unless it comes later since I have yet to add in my UI customizations and options. I'm gonna write to Tech Support and ask them the correct size of the Image. |
I ended up with 3.31 GB (3,560,779,264 bytes) after i customized my settings.
EternalTempest
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Originally Posted by kaya
Ok, I'm a little confused about this... maybe I just dont know how theese numbers work. Anyway, from what I gather were sapposed to imput 1/2 our ram in bytes. I have 2 gig of ram, and from the chart it says that 1024 MB = 512000 bytes, but when i use that handy little calculator it tells me that 1024 MB = 1073741824 bytes. I'm wondering which number I'm sapposed to use, and why are they different? Or am I just reading it wrong?
Somebody want to educate me? EDIT!! oh wait... I think i figured it out... where is says bytes in the above quote, it's sapposed to say kilobytes? Let me know if thats right or not, and if so then it probably should be updated. Thanks! |
Kabale
If you have 2Gb of RAM use -heapsize 1024000
kaya
hmm... it's still a little confusing to me. I'll google it... but i'm wondering if the heapsize should be in kilobytes, or bytes. because everyone seems to be using kilobytes, but the instructions say to use bytes. Both totally different numbers.
anyways it's probably kilobytes, but if it is then the instructions should be updated for people who dont know much about it like me.
anyways it's probably kilobytes, but if it is then the instructions should be updated for people who dont know much about it like me.
EternalTempest
Quote:
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Originally Posted by kaya
hmm... it's still a little confusing to me. I'll google it... but i'm wondering if the heapsize should be in kilobytes, or bytes. because everyone seems to be using kilobytes, but the instructions say to use bytes. Both totally different numbers.
anyways it's probably kilobytes, but if it is then the instructions should be updated for people who dont know much about it like me. |
Thinking of tweaks.. I wonder if the tweak to for adding "prefetch to the shortcut will make it load faster
Example, Windows media player has a tweak that ms did
"C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1
Which copies part of the exe to a part of windows, so when launched it makes it load faster.
kaya
hmm... good one to test out. :P
Omega X
Quote:
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Originally Posted by EternalTempest
I tweaked it to say 1/2 ram and add three zero's and added 2GB ram in the chart. Techie, the one that posted a ton of good tech stuff appears to no longer be on the forum and he was the one to post that windows tweak.
Thinking of tweaks.. I wonder if the tweak to for adding "prefetch to the shortcut will make it load faster Example, Windows media player has a tweak that ms did "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1 Which copies part of the exe to a part of windows, so when launched it makes it load faster. |
monkey grip
any ideas on the -map switch?
thanks for compiling all these, this is great!
thanks for compiling all these, this is great!
schroedingercat
yay! the -dx8 switch fixed a bug i have had forever - every time i opened a belt pouch or bag, i would completely lock up for over a minute.
made life really sucky when i was farming. hehe.
made life really sucky when i was farming. hehe.
EternalTempest
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nascent
its not direct song that is the problem, though. I've purposefully kept those uninstalled this time around thinking that might have been linked to the degrading performance.
I mean the games emulating 3d sound, etc. The new upgrades they made to the sound engine mostly. A way to perhaps return it to its previous state? or trick the game into thinking you dont have any 3d accelleration on your sound card so it doesnt try to even employ the new sound system. I've attempted turning the silder in the 'advanced' options of the sound tad to No Acelleration, which, when I enter the game, does return it to a state of good performance with sound activated...for a short period of time. Then I start getting all sorts of weird sound glitches until I eventually end up just turning the sound off regardless. I've found this to not be a viable solution, thus I was wondering if there's a switch, or something. |
Another trick is to shut down DX Sound Acceleration in windows but that's more of an incovient work around. Control Panel -> Sound and Audio Device's -> Audio (Tab), Advanced Button (under Sound Playback), Performance (Tab)
If it's not set to max, turn it up. If it's max, start bumping it down a notch an see if it works better.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by monkey grip
any ideas on the -map switch?
thanks for compiling all these, this is great! |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Omega X
IF Prefetch was set correctly in the Registry, there is no need to add the /prefetch switch since it does it for all exes. I think XP is set by default to prefetch programs in SP2.
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Helll is for Heroes
there is also
-dx7
increases my performance from dx8 by about 20 frames.
-dx7
increases my performance from dx8 by about 20 frames.
EternalTempest
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Helll is for Heroes
there is also
-dx7 increases my performance from dx8 by about 20 frames. |
Normal Launch (Shows Direct X 9 render in options)
-dx8 switch (Shows DirectX 8 render in options)
-dx7 switch (Shows Direct X 9 render in options)
I have a Geforce FX 5700 Ultra.