While I'm working on wxLauncher, I'm wondering which flags users actually need to see, as the current list is kind of daunting. Therefore:
(1) Of the non-advanced flags (where "advanced" includes troubleshooting, experimental, and devtools) that I don't use or recognize, including flags that aren't in the flag file or aren't yet in official builds, which of them either
(a) should either not be used or only be used with great care, because they are obsolete, deprecated, non-functional, or even potentially dangerous (e.g., can cause irreversible changes or severely harm gameplay)
or
(b) will either rarely be used or used by relatively few users?
In my view, flags of the first type shouldn't be visible in the launcher and should only be accessible as a custom flag. Flags of the second type should be in the launcher but hidden from view and only accessible by, e.g., clicking on an Advanced... button or
disclosure widget.
A key to the lists that follow:
- ** : the flag isn't in the flag file for 3.6.12 final
- * : the flag is in the 3.6.12 flag file but has no description there
- ??? : the flag has no description in the 3.6.12 flag file or the wiki page
Graphics -mipmap (Enable mipmapping)
-nomotiondebris (Disable motion debris)
-noscalevid (Disable scale-to-window for movies)
-post_process** (Enable post processing)
-fxaa** (Enable FXAA antialiasing)
-bloom_intensity** (???)
-height** (Enables height maps)
-clipdist** (changes distance from viewpoint for the near-clipping plane)
-res** (specify custom resolution)
-fxaa_preset** (adjusts FXAA quality/speed)
Audio -nosound (disable sound and music)
-nomusic (disable music)
Game Speed -img2dds (Compress non-compressed images)
-no_vsync (Disable vertical sync)
-cache_bitmaps (Cache bitmaps between missions)
HUD -dualscanlines (Another pair of scanning lines)
-ballistic_gauge (Enable the analog ballistic ammo gauge)
Gameplay -no_ap_interrupt (Disable interrupting autopilot)
-fov** (specifies field of view for player eyepoint)
Multiplayer -standalone (Run as stand alone server)
-startgame (Skip mainhall and start hosting)
-closed (start hosted server as closed)
-restricted (Host confirms join requests)
-multilog* (Creates a log with a summary of packets sent/received in multi games)
-clientdamage (???)
-mpnoreturn (Disables flight deck option)
-gamename** (name of game)
-password** (password for standalone server)
-allowabove** (player's minimum rank to join)
-allowbelow** (player's maximum rank to join)
-port** (port to use for hosting)
-connect** (???)
-timeout** (???)
-cap_object_update** (caps maximum object update...)
(2) Of the flags in troubleshooting, experimental, and devtools, are there any which should either not be used or only be used with great care, for the kinds of reasons mentioned above (obsolete, deprecated, non-functional, potentially dangerous)? To refresh your memory, they are:
Troubleshooting -oldfire (???)
-nohtl (software mode, very slow)
-no_set_gamma (disable setting of gamma)
-nomovies (disable video playback)
-noparseerrors (disable parsing errors
-safeloading* (loads missions the old way)
-query_speech (does this build have speech?)
-d3d_bad_tsys (enable inefficient textures)
-novbo (disable OpenGL VBO)
-noibx (don't use cached index buffers (IBX))
-loadallweps (load all weapons, even those not used)
-disable_fbo (disable OpenGL RenderTargets)
-no_glsl (disable GLSL (shader) support)
-disable_glsl_model** (don't use shaders for model rendering)
-ati_swap (fix color issues on some ATI cards)
-no_3d_sound** (use only 2D/stereo for sound effects)
Experimental -ingame_join (allows ingame joining)
-voicer (voice recognition)
-post_process (enable post processing) [presumably to become part of graphics]
Dev Tools -fps (show frames per second on HUD)
-pos (show position of camera)
-window (run in window)
-fullscreen_window (run in fullscreen window)
-timerbar* (displays a timing bar across the top of the screen)
-stats (show statistics)
-coords (show coordinates)
-show_mem_usage (show memory usage)
-pofspew* (reads all objects in the pof file of the selected mod...)
-tablecrcs* (allows for table validation)
-missioncrcs* (allows for mission validation)
-dis_collisions (disable collisions)
-dis_weapons (disable weapon rendering)
-output_sexps (outputs SEXPs to sexps.html)
-output_scripting (outputs scripting to scripting.html)
-save_render_target (save render targets to file)
-debug_window (display debug window)
-verify_vps (spew VP crcs to vp_crcs.txt)
-nograb (don't grab mouse/keyboard in a window)
(3) Finally, the flag file has "Easy setup" choices for toggling high memory usage features, where "high memory usage features" consist of specular, glowmaps, environment maps, normal maps, 3D shockwaves, and preloading mission game sounds. Would these features still be considered to be high memory usage on machines built in, say, the last several years? Are there features currently available that would be considered "high memory usage" that are
not on that list?
Sorry about the long post, and thanks for your help.
