[Agentbolt]

Ohhh okay, gotcha.  That is the exact path I put the .tga into, however like I said, it didn't really improve performance at all, whereas putting in your edited vps file made all the difference in the world.  So thanks again for messing with it.  

[Huggybaby]

Cool. Now if I could just figure out why the tga works for me...

Anyway, that's why I did both. 

[Commander Zane]

The .tga file in my data/effects folder made no difference.  I'm still not sure about that fix since I had to create an effect folder to stick it into, I may have something effed up with my install to begin with. 

The different VP with the animations turned off worked BEAUTIFULLY, however.  Brought me from ~6 FPS during an explosion to never dropping below 60.  Well done. 

What do you mean by the animation is turned off? Could you show me where to get it?

[Turey]

here.

[Commander Zane]

Beams? Weren't you talking about shockwaves without animations?

[Huggybaby]

I  think he was, regardless, both are here:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=44757.msg913653#msg913653