Alot of people have problems with there framerate in games and there has been a program released a while back, but with limited information about it, and with a ton of problems that people can seem to get around. I have been fooling around with this program for a while and have eliminated all of the possible bugs/problems that other people have had. In order for you to achieve 100% results, follow every instruction CAREFULLY.

This topic is basically to clear up any questions and answers that everyone has about how this program works and how to get it functionally working.

Question 1 - Why would you want to "limit" your framerate?

Answer - Limiting the framerate for your games is basically to achieve the best "consistent" framerate for your games. This means that things like framerate spikes (large FPS drops or gains during games that can typically annoy the common person) will be either extremely reduced to the point where you wont even notice it, or completely eliminated. Both of these results are based on what kind of machine you are running, and what games you're playing.

Question 2 - What does it mean to "limit" your framerate?

Answer - Game performance has been the PC gamer topic every since games were invented. It is the pinnacle point between quality and performance of what type of balance you will get for your games. Essentially, the human eye is very effecient in spotting the differences between high and low framerates, for example, if your playing a game, and the FPS is in the high 60's (the best consistently smooth framerate for 60hz Monitors) and drops to the low 30's or even 20's, the human eye will immidiately detect that there isnt a smooth picture anymore.

Question 3 - Does lower framerate mean less of a smooth moving picture?

Answer - Yes it does. However, the human eye is very unique in a way where it can adapt to certain rates of images. For example, if there is a consistant 30fps (Frames Per Second) in front of you, your eye is more likely to be comfortable with that then if your framerate is increasing and decreasing every second for random periods of time. Console games today use 2 common framerate caps - 30fps and 60fps. These framerate caps are put in place for this very reason - to have consistent framerates through your gamig experience.

Question 4 - What are the limits of what is considered consistent and what is not?

Answer - The most common FPS locks are basically any number above 30, but with multiples of 5 or 10. So 35, 40, 45, 50 and even 55 are the numbers to hit for best results. Keep in mind, this concept of limiting your FPS is strictly LIMITING your framerate, as you cannot add framerates that you could not get in the first place.

The steps listed below will guide you from start to finish on how to cap your framerates in your games.

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Step 1 - Download the link below:

http://rapidshare.com/files/160642187/FPS_Limiter_0.2.rar

Step 2 - Extract the file anywhere you like, but make sure that the place where you put it, will be its PERMENANT location (this is to eliminate directory path problems in the future).

Step 3 - Run the file in the folder that you just extracted, called "FPS_Limiter_GUI.jar", DO NOT run the "FPS_Limiter.exe" file, it will not work.

Step 4 - When you have the program running in front of you, you will need to browse to the root location of the executable file of the game of your choosing. (NOTE: Games that already have an automatic 30fps cap cannot be increased any higher, so it is pointless to select these games)

Step 5 - Once you have the game's DIRECT executable chosen, select from one of the 3 in the dropdown list at the menu at the top of the screen.

D3D8 - DirectX 8 games

D3D9 - DirectX 9 games

OGL - OpenGL games (very few games run with the OpenGL language)

Step 6 - Once you have selected either D3D8/D3D9/OGL, then select which framerate you want the game to lock at at the "maximum fps" box. For best results, if your lowest framerate is under 30, select a number that is 5-10 fps above for that specific game. If your framerate is above 30, select any number between 30 to 50. Experiment with it a little, you can always change your framerate lock.

Step 7 - Once you've selected your Maximum FPS, click on "create bat" to make a .bat file in the FPS Limiter folder.

Step 8 - When you're ready to play, double click on that .bat file. If you wish to make a shortcut, right click on the .bat file and select "Create Shortcut". You can change the name of the shortcut ONLY, do not change the name of the .bat file.

NOTE: To change your Maximum FPS setting without repeating the whole process, right click on the .bat file created, and go to edit. Now find the line that says "/f:X" replace the "X" variable with whatever you like.

FOR ATI USERS ONLY - ATI Tray Tools or any other 3rd Party Driver software cannot be run while using FPS Limiter. I am not sure how the program reacts with Nvidia 3rd Party Drivers, but it is recommended that you disable it before continuing.

Here is a list of games that I personally own and have tested that work with the program:

NOTE #1 - A [*] beside the game indicates that there is an alternate method to cap the games FPS, but the FPS Limiter program still works with it.

NOTE #2 - Games that do not use a direct executable file to run, can not be used with FPS Limiter.

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DirectX Games:

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BioShock

Crysis [*]

Crysis: Warhead [*]

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin [*]

Fallout 3

FarCry

FarCry 2 [*]

Frontlines: Fuel of War

Half Life 2: Episode One [*]

Half Life 2: Episode Two [*]

Portal [*]

Left 4 Dead [*]

Medal of Honor: Airborne

Mirrors Edge [*]

Prototype

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Titan Quest

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Turok (2007)

Unreal Tournament III [*]

Velvet Assassin

Age of Empires III (Including All Expansions)

Assassins Creed

Clive Barker's Jericho

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2

Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo 2

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Includes Colonies Edition)

Mass Effect [*]

Need for Speed - Most Wanted

Rise of The Argonauts

OpenGL Games:

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Doom 3 (Inludes Expansion Pack)

Quake 4

Prey

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena