World of Pwnage

Counter-Strike Source tips

Make your shot register better

Here is an article submitted by someone about a year ago. The updates should have fixed some of these bugs. For CAL matches cl_interp must be set to 0.01 and and cl_interpolate to 1. This article servers merely as an archive record:

With these commands CS:Source has a more CS feel. Bullets actually hit and you will get much better fps than a straight out-of-the-box setup. This will require you to create an autoexec.cfg file in:

Valve\Steam\SteamApps\e-mail@whoever.com\counter-strike source\cstrike\cfg

Netcode Settings:
These settings are for those people that are having issues with such things as “shots not registering”, “bad net-code”, “lagging hitboxes”, “jerky play” and other similar complaints (comments are included for most settings).

Setting Comment
cl_interp 0
cl_interpolate 0 Use in combination with cl_interp 0 — See * note below
cl_lagcomp_errorcheck 1 Checks for player position errors
cl_cmdrate 100 I’ve always used 100, some use 101, shouldn’t make a difference
cl_updaterate 100 Same as above
cl_rate 20000
cl_smooth 0 Stops the game from feeling choppy
rate 25000

* cl_interpolate makes your screen shake a little. It is nothing drastic but this may annoy some people. When interp and interpolate are both set to 0 your hitboxes will be perfectly on the player model. I can tell you from experience that after you play with interpolate on 0 for few days, you totally overlook the little shake. I have 2 keys bound for interpolate:

bind “.” “cl_interpolate 0″
bind “/” “cl_interpolate 1″

You can replace “.” and “/” with whatever keys you would like. The reason I do this is I tend to AWP better with a setting of 1 and use deagle/colt/ak/everything other than AWP better with a setting of 0.

Graphics Tweaks:
These settings are for those people that want to increase their FPS in CS:S using existing drivers and hardware. Keep in mind that this is not for people who think graphics quality is important. This is for the competitive people like myself that want good gameplay.

Setting Comment
cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0 Makes the models disappear once they are killed; saves CPU from rendering death animations
cl_phys_props_enable 0 Disables little cans/bottles that are rendered client side. Takes stress off CPU
mat_fastnobump 1
cl_show_splashes 0 Disables water splashes
mat_bumpmap 0 Disables bumpmapping
mat_specular 0 Disables specular (AKA no more shiny crap)
mp_decals 0 Disables decals
r_lod 5 Player models look bad but saves CPU power. A setting of -5 will make the game render perfect quality models from any distance
mat_picmip 2 This is the command that the in game “Texture Quality” setting changes: 0 = High 1 = Medium 2 = Low
r_decals 0 It says decals and you can’t really see them in source anyway so lets turn it off
r_shadows 0 Even though they show through some parts of walls they are still useless
budget_show_history 0 Found this on many sites, self explanatory
cl_ejectbrass 0 Disables bullet casings from flying out of your gun when you shoot
cl_phys_props_max 0 Sets range at which props show up

All of these combined make blood show up a bit better when you hit a person:

Setting Comment
violence_agibs “1″
violence_hgibs “1″
violence_hblood “1″
violence_ablood “1″
cl_show_bloodspray “1″

Launch Options:

Open steam. Click play games. Right click CS:Source. Properties. Launch Options. In the edit box put the following:

-dxlevel 81

Note: 70 = directx7.0 80 = directx8.0 81 = directx8.1 90 = directx9.0

This takes some stress off your graphics card. Default is 90, which is Directx9.0. I run “-dxlevel 81″ as it seems to be the best mix between performance and quality.

CS:Source, if you run all of these settings, should run smooth with higher FPS and you will enjoy the new found bullet registration. If you ever want to return your game to its stock state you can always go back to your cfg folder and delete the autoexec.cfg file that you created. Source will automatically set the removed settings to default values.