how to change the render distance?

anyone know? My 8400gs isn't up for the job, or any, really. lol

 

It's set per map. Open level editor with F11, Object Editor mode with F1, then find theLevelInfo (it can be called something else) in the Scene Tree. In that object there's "visibleDistance".

Lowering it doesn't help as much as I'd expect, even with very low values like 50 meters.

Another setting you can try is in the terrain object, "screenError". It reduces detail in distant terrain. Higher number is lower detail, so it will render less polygons.