I ask because the 1.9 patch destroyed my game. I play on DX9, no high-resolution textures install or DX11, only the same patch 1.9 and now Crysis 2 has a horrible frame rate drops and lags. Exit to the desktop a little improved, but this is no solution. And Crytek does not care, since said they are pleased with how Crysis 2 runs.

i wish we could go back to 1.8 especially as a lot of us bought it on steam so it auto updates and no turning back.

There are always words and a man who can say:
"Man! This is next step in game design industry! If you want to play that game cool, you need some not joking hardware that could handle it!"

And in most cases that's true. However sad it may sound like. If somebody wanna play cool and play in most future and newest games, that man need an expensive hardware that will satisfy all game requirements for sure.
So....nothing to say more than this: =(

It would have been slightly better if they had allowed the option to use the older settings or the newer settings. That way people would have a lot more choice.

Well, Crytek is pleased with 1.9 because compared to before, there are less problems with the game compared to there was before the patch. Unfortunately, that is PC software for you, no matter how well it's developed and / or patched, a problem will exist for someone.

I think you will find it hard finding a 1.8 Patch server, though a few might exist, but I am not sure about that, I do not know if 1.9 is mandatory for MP game play or if it's optional. So far all I see is 1.9 servers.

Let me ask you this though... you say the 1.9 Patch has caused your game play to go down hill.. by causing your FPS to severely dropped and you get lag. First, is it "game lag" or "network lag"? (there is a difference).

Next.. other than trying to get help from Crytek, what have "you done" in order to try and fix it? Most people make the mistake of contacting the game developer and submit their issues to them, expecting them to be able to fix your game right away... this just is NOT going to happen. There are to many variables of what the causes could be and it will take time to research and fix the problems, it can not and will not happen over night.

This is when YOU should take matters into your own hands and try and address the issue/s with what methods you can. If it's merely a drop in FPS and game lag, which both are usually related, then you should try the following to see if it helps / makes any changes.

1) Do you just have "patch 1.9" installed, or do you have both "patch 1.9" and "directX 11 patch" installed? If just the patch 1.9 installed, then install the directX 11 patch too, even if your graphics card does not support it, cause you have in-game options of enabling / disabling directX 11.

2) Have you tried adjusting the "in-game graphics quality settings" to something lower? Drop your settings down to the next level, see if it improves, if not or just some, then drop it again.

3) How about your "game screen resolution", have you tried the next lower setting? If not, try this too! Keep adjusting to see what differences occur.

4) I will assume you either have "nVidia" or "AMD / ATi" graphics, besides the in-game quality settings, your graphics card also has settings within it's control panel, see what they are set at, sometimes they "override" your in-game settings. Try adjust them to syncronize with your in-game settings or put them @ "application controlled" .. if no improvements, set them to the "lowest quality settings" and work your way up, and / or put them @ application controlled and put your in-game graphics quality settings @ the lowest and work your way up.

5) Finally, if still no changes occur, people sometimes forget that a "newer version" of the game and / or a "new patch" causes conflicts or incompatibilities with their current "Display Driver" (graphics card driver), download the latest driver and try again, if you have the latest already installed, then either try the previous driver or drivers, or find a "beta driver" and try it, see if it helps any.

6) Another driver that people have no idea can cause "game lag / fps problems" is your "Audio Driver", your audio card driver has the ability to cause major game issues if not all is compatible or some conflict exists, though it is not as common as display driver issues, it does happen. Once again, first try adjusting your audio settings, if nothing, try another driver and see if any changes occur.

7) You can also try new motherboard chipset drivers, these to have the ability to cause game issues if any incompatibilities arise from a newer version of the game. Most commonly the "North Bridge" and "South Bridge" drivers... motherboard drivers control the motherboards PCi-E slot bandwidth, etc.. give them a try as well and see if any changes occur.

8) Do you have the "latest edition of Windows DirectX files" installed on your computer? If not, download the latest "DirectX Redist" and install it, or the "DirectX Web Installer" and run it, both will update your Windows directX file versions to the latest editions. You can get them here: (web installer): http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=35 or (redist): http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=8109 ** best bet is the web installer, it will just download the "required" updated files**

9) Is Windows up to date? If you are using Vista or Win7, make sure you have at the least, all the Microsoft Compatibility Updates / Enhancement Updates installed.

I know it may sound like alot of crap to do, but if your game isn't working and you want to play it, might as well give it a try. It may be that one of the above things fixes it, or a combination of two or more of the above. Then again, it may be that none of them help. Point is, you won't know until you try. In most cases, PC game issues are usually on the users end, and not the developers. Don't get discouraged if the first few things do not help / work, try them ALL until something makes a difference.

Another thing that helps.. when/if you are experiencing issues, list details of your setup. You don't have to get extremely detailed, but something like: AMD Phenom-II X6 CPU, Windows 7 x64 Bit, AMD 6870 Graphics Card, Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 motherboard, Creative X-Fi Audio, 6gb of ddr3, 900 watt PSU, and then your graphics card driver version, e.g: AMD/ATi Catalyst 11.6 x64.

Hope it helps...