Call of Duty: Black Ops tweaks and fixes

Post any tweaks or fixes you have here - I'll continually update the thread as I discover more.

My game seems to stutter/lag/hitch when I begin to fire or a grenade explodes near me (as an example):
Disable your onboard sound via bios if you are using a dedicated sound card. Also disable all additional sound devices by going to "Control Panel > Sound > Manage Audio Devices" and disabling ALL playback and recording devices, except for your primary in-use output such as "Speakers", and primary in-use "Microphone".

Game won't launch. Steam repeats "Performing first time setup..." procedure.
Manually download and install the latest DirectX End-User Runtime.

Why am I "unnamed soldier"? How do I get a normal name?
This means your Steam name is 3 characters or less, which is currently unsupported by Black Ops (bug?). Simply increase the length of your Steam name.

I have my clan tag set on Steam, but the brackets are removed in game.
Remove your clan tag from your Steam name. Then in config_mp.cfg (Steam\steamapps\common\call of duty black ops\players) alter seta clanName "clantag" to match your clan tag - it will put it in square brackets.

How can I improve my hit registration and general network performance?
cl_maxpackets 100
snaps 30

How can I remove the cap/limit on my maximum FPS?
com_maxfps 120

When trying to install off disc it gets hung up on "steam setup" then says "failed to run install script"
If you are on Windows XP; Start > Run > "C:\Program Files\steam\steam.exe -install E"
On Windows 7; Windows key + R "C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steam.exe -install E"
If "E" is not your CD-ROM drive, change it!

If your PC supports multi-threading:
seta r_multithreaded_device "1"
in config_mp.cfg (Steam\steamapps\common\call of duty black ops\players)

How do I improve the game's sound quality?
You can change sound to CD mode: 16 bits 44000 hz CD via control panel sound setting.

Misc. "potential" performance tweaks:
Run Steam in Offline mode > Start Black Ops > End the steam.exe process > Set BO process priority to high
/r_multiGpu - should be set to "0" if you do not have a multi-gpu graphics card.
/r_blur_allowed - people are reporting minor frame boosts with this set to "0"
/r_distortion - people are reporting minor frame boosts with this set to "0"
/r_dof_enable - people are reporting minor frame boosts with depth of field set to "0"
/r_glow_allowed - people are reporting huge frame boosts with this set to "0"
/cg_brass - people are reporting minor frame boosts set to "0"
/r_cachemodellighting "1" - people are reporting minor frame boosts set to "1"
/r_cacheSmodellighting "1" - people are reporting minor frame boosts set to "1"

I'll list some basic cod tweaks, not sure they will work on black ops but thats unlikely because of the engine used

Not sure if the console cammands are "\" OR "/" , its been a while since playing cod

\cg_fov 85 // dont try go past 85 because punkbuster has been known to kick people with high fov

\cl_maxpackets 100

\snaps 30

\com_maxfps 100 OR 125

Above settings are mostly for competitve gameplay eg Hit Rego etc

Josh;

Quote from "SparkyMcSparks":
cl_rate doesn't exist on the client, if you start typing it in console it doesn't show up.
And the max you can set for snaps is 30, if you try to set 40 it doesn't do anything since it isn't a valid integer.

Quote from rec;391174:
Josh;

fixed

try typing

rate 30000

Updated with additional fixes.

This is from TheOlderGamers website,

Quote:
Single player and general performance:

1.
Run Steam in Offline mode.
Start Black Ops.
End the steam.exe process.
Set BO process priority to high

2.
Be aware that apparently the game does not support crossfire or SLI, yet. I think this is a driver thing, so until new drivers are out, you might want to disable it in config:

seta r_multiGpu "0"
seta r_multithreaded_device "1" - if your GPU supports multi-threading, set this to 1

3.
Game won't launch. Steam repeats "Performing first time setup..." procedure.
Manually download and install the latest DirectX End-User Runtime.

4.
I have my clan tag set on Steam, but the brackets are removed in game.
Remove your clan tag from your Steam name. Then in config_mp.cfg (Steam\steamapps\common\call of duty black ops\players) alter seta clanName "clantag" to match your clan tag - it will put it in square brackets.

5.
When trying to install off disc it gets hung up on "steam setup" then says "failed to run install script"
If you are on Windows XP; Start > Run > "C:\Program Files\steam\steam.exe -install E"
On Windows 7; Windows key + R "C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steam.exe -install E"
If "E" is not your CD-ROM drive, change it!

6.
Try setting the game to your desktop (or native) resolution and refresh rate, and try disabling vertical sync option via in-game graphics menu.

Lag Fixes:

1.
Open Console (`)
Type cl_maxpackets 100
Close Game.

2.
Right click on Black Ops Multi in steam games
Go Properties -> Updates -> Untick Enable steam cloud sync.
If the above doesn't work try the following..

3.
Steam > Settings > In Game > uncheck ?Enable Steam Community In-Game?

4.
Turn sound to CD mode: 16 bits 44000 hz CD
You can do this via control panel sound setting.

5.
How can I improve my hit registration and general network performance?
cl_maxpackets 100
snaps 30

6.
How can I remove the cap/limit on my maximum FPS?
com_maxfps 120

------------------------------DISCLAIMER
These are all fixes I've collected from Steam and other forums, some might work, some might not. I would suggest keeping track of stuff you do change so you can revert later on. I'm assuming once nVidia and ATI update drivers for BO compatibility, some of the performance issues should be resolved.

I know some have been posted, but thought post whole quote and rest can be filtered out ;)

Updated BO tweak list.

Interesting with the crossfire/sli thing. Been running the singleplayer with sli enabled (2 x gtx460s) just fine.

2xgtx460s... they're probably re-writing the game to fix all the bugs on the fly ;)

I finally got the game and played a few rounds. I seriously haven't had any lag issues or micro stuttering. Only issue is people from brazil and high pingers.

Some of the tweaks i have done are really working a treat for the people in mumble.

the multi gpu cvar should be 0 if you have a single card setup. I have it on 1 with crossfire with no issues.

r_specular 0 //Really good one
cl_maxping 200 // It may reduce the number of high ping servers in the browser

I have noticed Defragging the computer also helps to reduce lag issue

If you change the server filter " show full servers" NO
That server filter should make the server browser faster
More to come...

anyone found a fix for the game not using your name? im stuck as 'unknown soldier' been changing it in steam, i was unable to find console name change command but haven't looked real hard was busy playing lol

If u look at me in the friends list my name is listed as DNR and my tag thing says DNR, but in game it wont display.

No idea on that one - would love it to say rec again. :P

Your name doesn't happen to be less than 4 characters does it? If so, that might be your problem. "rec" sounds like it may be an issue ;)

i think the asusmption there, Ratty, is that you're so bad a player you're bound to wind up in a mass grave ;)

Ahh really... so is 3 characters disallowed, or just not showing due to a bug?

It's either disallowed and not handled well, or a bug :)

Guess I'll be "reccy" for now then... I'd use "rec." but any characters except letters also aren't rendered.

maybe you could add the color codes to your name "^5rec"

what about 'wreck'? =)

Thanks guys... fuck u Aegis :P. i tried the color code but same issue... might just have to revert to the good 'ol' GU_DNR

gah. I can play from 1 map cycle to 6, but my game bluescreens and I have no idea why.

Quote from psyave;391378:
gah. I can play from 1 map cycle to 6, but my game bluescreens and I have no idea why.

any memory dumps?

Hmmm how do you check for that?

Don't worry about it. Install the new patch and see if that helps.

Is there a way to have the settings run automatically whenever I play the game? It's kind of a hassle to bring the console up at the start of every single match...

change the settings in your mp config file and change the properties to read only

Anyone had the problem in the single player campaign mission SOG where when the Viet dude jumps on u from that little walkway in the trenches and your asked to repeatedly hit F... but it doesn't work no matter how fast hard or slow u hit F?

EDIT: Ok looks like i have worked around this issue, i now just mash left click + right click + melee + jump this seems to work fine lol

Ati has recently released crossfire profiles to improve fps for black ops.

Rage3D

Quote:
* Two Worlds 2: Improves CrossFire performance
* James Bond 007 ? Black Stone: Improves CrossFire performance
* Call of Duty: Black Ops: Improves CrossFire performance
* Lion Heart ? Enables Anti-Aliasing support through the Catalyst Control Center
* F1 2010: Fixes water flickering when running in CrossFire mode

You need to have Catalyst 10.11 to take advantage of these crossfire profiles

Turns out my "GPU hitching" wasn't that at all. I would stutter and freeze when beginning to fire, or the first time a grenade exploded near me.

After reading about Milenko disabling his onboard sound to fix this problem, which I had already done, I decided to disable additional devices in the control panel.

Control Panel > Sound > Manage Audio Devices

I've disabled ALL playback and recording devices, except for "Speakers" (driving audio to my headphones) and the single "Microphone" I've got attached and running.

Hey-presto. Silky smooth, hitch-free gameplay. Thanks for the idea Milenko. :D

hmm, must try this me thinks.... Alas, seemed okay for about 2min then back to glitching. No where nere as bad though...Good stress test is Nuketown.
Actually just found an update to my sound card driver, will give that a go.

Update, Well that improved things somewhat...still minor glitching though but nothing too dramatic :)

I'm running through an M-Audio music production sound card, so I wonder if this is why I haven't had these problems.

Heh no probs. I might give that a try myself.

hello people

i have the skidrow version of black ops while playing single player in windows xp service pack 3 get this "ship console error" and my computer freezes now someone suggested to try it in windows 7 now my game lags slightly even after applying these tweaks whereas in xp it worked smootly for first 5 mins but this damm "ship console error".

is there any work around for this so that i can play it on my xp .

thanks for your time.

Quote from marked4u21;392337:
i have the skidrow version of black ops

Is this version legit? If not, try buying it.

Ok I've been going through like EVERY fucking thread on the STEAM forums regarding these stuttering issues.

Basically; the following has worked for me:

Disabled all audio devices (except my actual 'speakers') in Sound options (control panel).

*** Steam Options:
1) In Steam -> Settings -> In-Game: Unchecked "Enable Steam Community In-Game"
2) In Steam -> Settings -> Downloads + Cloud: Unchecked "Enable Steam Cloud synchronization for games that support it"

*** Graphics in-game:
Increase (rather than decrease) Texture Quality, Anistropic, and Anti-Aliasing, for better gameplay.

*** Graphics in Windows:
Right-click BlackOpsMP.exe and in the Compatibility Tab put a check mark for 'Disable visual themes' and 'Disable desktop composition.

Once in game; if your sound is still looping and you are getting the stuttering; bring down the console (~) and type /snd_restart.

That has seemed to have fixed the issue for me; and allowed me to keep my sound :)

Quote from grandinferno;392339:
Is this version legit? If not, try buying it.

yeah skidrow is a well known guy on the torrents that rip games and take out certain content to reduce the file size.

question

ive never ran HDMI but it transfers the audio and video correct?
as a dual core user could i change to HDMI from DVI
and run the HD sound from the gfx instead of the cpu?
ive tried every sound fix posted on the net and still every
noise drops my fps.

[QUOTE=rec;392323][B]Control Panel > Sound > Manage Audio Devices[/B]

I've disabled ALL playback and recording devices, except for "Speakers" (driving audio to my headphones) and the single "Microphone" I've got attached and running.[/QUOTE]
I can't quite get how to "disable" mine.

Is this the screen I need to be at to do that? [URL="http://i51.tinypic.com/343l00i.png"]Click here[/URL].

Here's a small video of my sound interface... [video=youtube;64EVLvys6XM][video=youtube;64EVLvys6XM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64EVLvys6XM%22[/video"[/video]].

[QUOTE=Joe Simmons;396692]I can't quite get how to "disable" mine.

Is this the screen I need to be at to do that? [URL="http://i51.tinypic.com/343l00i.png"]Click here[/URL].

Here's a small video of my sound interface... [video=youtube;64EVLvys6XM][video=youtube;64EVLvys6XM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64EVLvys6XM%22[/video"[/video]].[/QUOTE]

your on xp

yes. does that mean i cant disable the devices like in 7?