How to Improve Borderlands 2 with .ini File Tweaks
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Disable Shadows and Lighting to Boost Performance
In WillowEngine.ini, find these lines (all of which are under [SystemSettings] but not all of which are together:
DynamicLights
DynamicShadows
bAllowLightShafts
Set them all to “False.” The lines should look like this:
DynamicLights=False
DynamicShadows=False
bAllowLightShafts=False
If you’ve already knocked your graphical settings down to the minimums and are still having troubles with framerate, turning off those settings may help.
Reduce Texture Pop-in Time on Ammo
If you’ve noticed texture pop-up when you open loot containers and it’s irritating you, you can greatly reduce it or eliminate it with this alteration.
In WillowEngine.ini, find these lines:
MipFadeInSpeed0=0.3
MipFadeOutSpeed0=0.1
MipFadeInSpeed1=2.0
MipFadeOutSpeed1=1.0
Reducing the texture pop-in requires you to turn down the values by changing them all to zero. They should look like this:
MipFadeInSpeed0=0
MipFadeOutSpeed0=0
MipFadeInSpeed1=0
MipFadeOutSpeed1=0
Reduce All Texture Pop-in
You can also alter the time it takes for textures to render throughout the game. I’m unsure just how noticeable an effect this tweak actually creates, but it may make the game run a little smoother.
In WillowEngine.ini, find [SystemSettings].
Scroll down until you see a number of lines that start with the phrase TEXTUREGROUP.
On each of those lines, copy and add this text string: ,NumStreamedMips=0
Enable/Disable Reflections
You can turn reflections in water and other surfaces on and off independently of your other graphics settings if you choose.
In WillowEngine.ini, find these lines:
AllowImageReflections
AllowImageReflectionShadowing
Just switch the True/False value to turn them on or off. They’ll look like this:
AllowImageReflections=True
or
AllowImageReflectionShadowing=False
Boost Texture Resolutions
If you want to kick up the graphical fidelity of Borderlands 2, you can increase the resolution of some textures so they’ll look more like those of cutscenes. Expect this tweak to negatively impact your performance, however.
In WillowEngine.ini, find these lines:
MaxProcBuildingLODColorTextureSize
MaxProcBuildingLODLightingTextureSize
and change them to this:
MaxProcBuildingLODColorTextureSize=2048
MaxProcBuildingLODLightingTextureSize=2048
Got more spiffy .ini tweaks you want to share? Drop them in the comments, we’ll verify them and make them available to everyone.
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15 Comments on How to Improve Borderlands 2 with .ini File Tweaks
MrSliff
On September 26, 2012 at 3:18 am
Heyy Guy, thx for those tweaks!
I cant find those lines in the WillowEingine.ini
MaxProcBuildingLODColorTextureSize
MaxProcBuildingLODLightingTextureSize
should i just add them in the [SystemSettings]-Section ??
One more question:
With VirtuMVP turned on, i have some Graphical issues like Texture-Flickering, dont know whats the cause, maybe the Program itself..
Royalgamer06
On September 26, 2012 at 11:57 am
I have information for you guys!
I’ve put them nicely in these 2 threads:
http://www.tunngle.net/community/topic/97281-borderlands-2-mods/
and…
http://www.tunngle.net/community/topic/95981-borderlands-2-unlocks-and-dlcs-other-tweaks/
Phil Hornshaw
On September 27, 2012 at 7:05 am
@MrSliff
I just double-checked those two lines in the .ini file and found them. Are you sure you’re searching down from the top of the document? Notepad isn’t too smart.
Anyway, they should look like this (I’m recopying from my .ini just in case it’s the text in the original post that’s messing you up, like a typo or something):
MaxProcBuildingLODColorTextureSize=1024
MaxProcBuildingLODLightingTextureSize=256
Look for them under [Engine.Engine]. They’re between a set of five lines that start with VertexColor above them, and seven lines that start with LightComplexityColor below them. That should give you some landmarks to track them down.
DcGames
On September 27, 2012 at 3:06 pm
If you want the graphics shown on the geforce trailor but can buy the video card do this and it will activate the extra graphics such as realistic banners and real blood.
WillowEngine
and find DropParticleDistortion=False and turn it into
DropParticleDistortion=True
then you will have the fancey gforce graphics on any video card
I should get a medal for this Enjoy
Gruntis
On September 30, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Another nice tweak to the WillowEngine
Physx=2
to
Physx=3
I thought 2 was the highest but tried 3, works nice for me but I have a decent rig.
XVicarious
On October 2, 2012 at 10:08 pm
You can enable DirectX 11 by changing:
AllowD3D11=False
to
AllowD3D11=True
or OpenGL:
AllowOpenGL=False
to
AllowOpenGL=True
XVicarious
On October 2, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Wait rearguard my last comment. My mistake.
MJON
On October 4, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Uhm, i just wanted to be clear or make sure that that there is nothing wrong here, but when i disable cel-shading or black line w.e ryanpostscene and just postscene. FXAA, Ambient Oclusion dosnt work neither does DOF, DOF works with RyanPostScene tho, but it makes it really contrast.
Id love to know if i could fix this so i had black outline removed and fxaa and ambient occlusion, thanks!
Thank you!
Veer
On October 20, 2012 at 2:15 pm
I can’t find the ‘DefaultPostProcess’ field in the Willowengine.ini. I’ve searched the text file and manually checked under engine.engine but I cannot find it… Would it be safe just to add those lines in or would that ruin the game?
Nefesta
On October 29, 2012 at 1:36 pm
This one worked in the original Borderlands and I am using it in the sequel, and I do seem to see a FPS difference:
The lines “MinShadowResolution=1024″ and “MaxShadowResolution=1024″ (1024=default). can be scaled down/up to increase/decrease FPS respectively to values such as 512, 256, or 2048.
Z0DI4C
On January 2, 2013 at 4:54 pm
Hello, i tried turning dynamic lights off but now all weapons in inventory and on loading screen are black (like with no textures), anynone noticed that?
mouthfulofbirds
On February 23, 2013 at 7:08 pm
Borderlands 2, like many applications developed in a 32-bit environment, can only handle 2GB of memory address space by default. It bothered me for a while that the game wasn’t making full use of the 16GB of RAM in my laptop. Thankfully there is a way to fix this (and it works for other games and applications as well!)
1. Download and install a program called “CFF Explorer” (to prevent conflicts with saving, I recommend enabling the .exe file to run as administrator).
2. Open your BL2 “binaries/Win32″ folder.
3. Right-click on the “Borderlands2.exe” file and click “Open with CFF Explorer.”
4. In the left pane, click on “File Header.”
5. In the “Characteristics” row, under the “Meaning” column, click where it says “Click Here.” This opens a box called “Characteristics.”
6. Check the box that says “app can handle >2GB address space.” It should be unchecked by default.
7. Save and close CFF Explorer.
That should do it! I’ve used this tweak for a number of other games, including Skyrim and other new ones. It works quite well, in my opinion. Hope it works for you.
Cheers.
Eman
On April 21, 2013 at 9:57 am
ANYONE KNOW WERE EXACTLY I CAN CHANGED THE DIRECT X SETTING TO 10 OR 11 IS
victor
On April 24, 2013 at 2:08 pm
wonder if there is any way to put windowed mode on boderless windows
IwannafuckGaigeallday
On May 16, 2013 at 12:18 pm
you can also use texture size 4096, it looks amazing.