Well...it looks like I was wrong about the config files being very different from 1.0's, but the fact of the matter is editing them still helps. The CFG files are how you edit half-life's graphical options, whereas most newer games have these things in the menus (things like refresh rate, 32bit texture depth, etc).
To be honest, you'd have to tinker with it. I added these lines to my autoexec.cfg in the Beta 1.0 days, and it drastically increased performance for me...doing the same in 1.1 also drastically increased performance from the defaults.
[Please Note: If you have WIndows XP, the OS will lock your refresh rate to 60hz during games, meaning that with vsync on, you will be stuck at a max of 60 fps even if you set half-life to do otherwise. To remedy this I use a program called RefreshLock that I got from Tweak3d.com, that forces my refresh rate to always be at it's highest safe limit. Please remember DO NOT SET THAT PROGRAM HIGHER THAN YOUR MONITOR OR GRAPHICS CARD CAN GO, OR YOU WILL DAMAGE THEM.)
Okay now...on to my config file. I'll do my best to explain what it all does, or at least as much as I know, anyhow...
AUTOEXEC.CFG - Everything below the first three lines is added...and changing these ****s stuff up royally, so I wouldn't bother much to try:
r_mmx "1" <--Default
r_dynamic "0" <--Default
sv_cheats "0" <--Default
fps_max "100" <--Tells ESF my maximum framerate allowed ingame is 100fps. It will not go higher, so don't try. I recommend everyone set this, as I don't know why it isn't in the file in the first place...(there is a setting in the CONFIG.CFG file in the ESF folder that tells the game to max at it's default of 72...which sucks cause...if you are at 70 and lose 40 fps, you're in the dumps...if you're at 100 and you lose 40, it's not as much of a horrible loss visually)
gl_texturemode "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR" <--This is one of four possible settings telling half-life how to render its textures. THe four settings are really variations of that one, but this is the highest setting. Think of it like this: of the four settings, two are for low and high quality bilinear filtering, and two are for low and high quality TRIlinear filtering. I'll try to find the commands again, I think I found them off of a website called "i.am.halflife" or something like that, if it helps.
gl_max_size "512" <--This is the texture cache. I jacked it up to 512. I had it up at 1024 before but it didn't seem to help any, so I lowered it a bit and called it even. It's default, I believe, is 256.
cl_showfps "1" <--A better way to view your framerate than using the net graph. It's much less intrusive (upper right corner) and is slightly less accurate, but doesn't adversely affect performance as much on low end machines.
r_displayrefresh "100" <--Tells Half-Life to force my 100hz refresh rate. THis is kind of redundant since RefreshLock forces it anyway, but I wanted to be certain, and non-XP people may be able to use this command as well.
vid_wait "1" <--This is SUPPOSED to turn on Vsync. I want this because my Vsync would sync me in at 100fps max...which is the engine's max anyway, so I wouldn't be missing out. I get refresh rate tearing, which is why I set this...but as yet, it has made no difference either way. Maybe there is a setting in the CONFIG.CFG file that is overriding this one?
cl_rate "7000" <--This is a customized data rate between half-life's DSL and T1/Lan settings. THis works well for my cable modem; when I find the guide I used to learn all of this, I will post good settings for various connections. It should also be known that some people in TFC would bind various rates to keys, and use them to compensate for lag.
precache "1" <--This tells the game to pre-cache all the textures. A longer wait for the level to load, but performance overall improves.
ati_npatch "0" <--This weird thing...just seems to make ATI cards suddenly smoke and work massively better in half-life. I HIGHLY recommend using this setting for ATI card users, since it was the BIG difference maker in my game when I first discovered it (Note: there are a few similar looking settings in the CONFIG.CFG file as well, maybe they work in conjunction?)
I don't understand the other file as well, but I'm working on learning the settings. If I learn anything else that is useful, or recall/rediscover the variables for some of these settings, I will post some more info.
