Display Mode Changes: Coming Next Week
With next week's update, it'll no longer be possible to select the Software display mode in your RuneScape graphics settings. We're removing support for this mode in preparation for future updates to the RuneScape UI and to the game's content, with which our existing Software mode will be incompatible. While there'll still be a limited safe mode as a backup, the default display modes for RuneScape will be DirectX and OpenGL.
Why are you making this change?We have some truly amazing changes planned for RuneScape this year: massive improvements to the game's interface, and epic-scale content releases. These updates will be making full use of the abilities of modern graphics cards that cannot be supported by our existing Software mode. A recent example of the direction we are working towards is the Bestiary which was released a few weeks ago.
In recent tests, we've found that almost all hardware configurations benefit from choosing DirectX or OpenGL over the existing Software mode. There will, of course, always be a native Java safe mode to fall back on in the event of any problems.
We're confident that this is a change for the better, and it'll pave the way for some truly spectacular updates in the future!
How will this affect me?Most of you use DirectX or OpenGL already, and won't be affected at all. However, if you do have Software mode selected when the update goes live, you'll automatically be moved to DirectX, if you're a Windows user, or OpenGL if you're on OSX or Linux.
The very vast majority of you making the switch should actually experience better performance in these display modes than you did in Software mode, and the switch should be seamless. It's worth making the switch early, though, so you can tweak the display settings in the new mode ahead of time and get the game running just as you like it.
If you'd like some help shifting over to DirectX mode, take a look at Mod Wizzy's handy video guide below. Note that this also applies if you're switching to OpenGL mode:
When that's done, selecting the 'min', 'med' or 'high' options in the display settings will give you preset graphical settings to suit a range of hardware. If you'd like some help further tweaking your settings, though, Mod Rambo's
guide has some useful tips.
If you have an old, low-spec computer with an onboard graphics card, and neither DirectX or OpenGL work for you, RuneScape will fall back to 'safe' mode. This means that computers with the absolute minimum hardware requirements should still be able to run the game. However, there should be very few situations in which this is necessary.
Help!If you're having trouble with any aspect of the above - or any RuneScape-related technical issue, for that matter - don't worry! Our friendly Tech Support team are here to help.
Your first port of call should be the
Tech Support wiki. There you'll find quick solutions for a wide range of common problems. You can also find help on the
Tech Support forums. For general advice on improving your game performance, our
Official Jagex Support YouTube Channel is packed with informative video guides.
If you can't find what you're looking for in any of those places, the
wiki also contains details of how to get in touch with the team directly.
The RuneScape Tech Support Team
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