Changing Graphic Settings

Introduction
Many of you have played a variety of games on your computer, but never really changed the
graphic settings. You can enhance your gaming experience with a good graphics card. These
instructions will show you what these settings do and how they look.
Requirements & Key
- A computer with a graphics card/integrated graphics
- Games for testing
- Color Key: High Impact Performance and Low Impact Performance
Frames-per-Second
This is the most important factor when changing the settings in game. The recommended amount
of frames is a constant 60 FPS. However; if you have played consoles for a while, even 30 FPS
is acceptable. Anything below 30 FPS starts to visually become nearly unplayable as you won’t
fully be in control. To test how many frames are on your screen go to your game launcher and
enable the fps counter. If you are on another launcher simply go to their settings and enable.

Resolution
• Amount of pixels on the screen
• A higher resolution requires a better graphics card as the game has to render more pixels
every frame
• Here are common monitor resolution settings going from lower to high resolution:
• 1280 x 720
• 1920 x 1080
• 3840 x 2160
• 4096 x 2160
Anti-Aliasing
• This setting makes games look less blurry or jagged
• Anti-Aliasing or AA has four different settings: 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x
• The higher the number the smoother the objects will appear in game
• Below is On and Off
Tessellation
• Makes flat-textures “pop” or 3D
• Below is On and Off
Anisotropic Filtering
• Makes ground textures clearer from a distance
• Noticeable when walking around in game, especially at high speeds
• Left is off and right is on
Shadow Quality
• Shadows become less pixelated and appear as a shadow should in real life
• Below is On and Off
Summary
In general, higher settings will impact performance while providing better textures on screen.
Almost every modern game has a horizontal or vertical menu for each setting going from low to
high. If you feel that the game is performing badly, lower some of those high performance hitting
settings.

Test It!
If it was hard for you to notice the differences between settings try setting everything to low and
play for a couple of minutes. After that set everything to max and see what changed.
 User Test
My user test will have the user read through my written instructions and I would have

them replicate the different settings in game. I will give my users 5-10 minutes to read through

the instructions, then have them replicate each setting. I will watch as they do this and will not

answer any questions until the response phase. Once they are finished experimenting with the

settings, I will have them show and explain to me what the settings do. If they answer most of

the settings correctly, then the test will be a success.

 Usability Report
The first user I had was able to read through it and compare the images in the specified

time. They opened the game, Arma 3, and started changing the settings. Once they were done, I

asked them what the resolution did to the game. They responded correctly, then I moved on to

what Anti-Aliasing did and they changed settings and pointed out the differences. I had my user

go to Metro Last Light to test Tessellation. This is when things got a bit confusing for the user as

they had a hard time distinguishing the textures. Next, back to Arma 3, was Anisotropic

Filtering. The user pointed out that my instructions were wrong, specifically that the On state

was actually the Off state. Ironically, the user was able to point out the differences between the

states which meant this was a correct response. Finally, the user changed shadow settings and

pointed out the effects correctly.

The second user I had read through my instructions in the specified time. They opened

Arma 3 and went on to change the settings. They changed resolutions and showed what changed

and were able to explain what happened. They adjusted the Anti-Aliasing settings and showed

what happened when they zoomed into a vehicle. They used the terms jagged and pixelated

which was a good response. Again, Tessellation was hard to notice from Metro when turning off

and to Very High. The user was able to point out the differences, but with a bit of a struggle. We

went back to Arma 3 to check the Anisotropic Filtering, and he correctly pointed out the muddy

look when turned off, and the clarity when turned on. Finally, shadows were changed, and he

showed how the higher the shadow quality, the less rough it looked.

Overall, I consider this user test a success, even though Tessellation was hard to notice

for my users to tell the difference. I knew that this setting might have been hard to notice as you
must look at it from different angles. My users however did say that the use of images helped

them have a better idea what to look out for when changing settings.