Graphics problems with visability

[Guest]

Hi,I am running a p500Mhz with 128mb of Ram and 16mb graphics card. I get resonable performance from fliight simulator but i have problems with visability. When set to a low visablility all i see is the sky, then the groung with a single line seperating them. There is no effect of haze like i have seen on a friends 'higher spec' computer. Can anyonre tell me if it is possible for me to achieve this and ifso what i have to do. Thanks,Graham

[Guest Eagle92395]

Well, I can relate a bit to you, but honestly a 500Mhz machine is just too slow. I had a 750Mhz with 192Mb ram and a 32meg card... BUT, if you run the game in a window that's about 1/2" from the sides of the screen instead of the actual whole monitor's width it REALLY helps for some reason. But in effect, it turns a 17" monitor into a 15" :-hang

[John_Cillis 2,406]

The speed of your system has nothing to do with your question--seems like the first response didn't take notice of your comment about reasonable performance.To answer your question, what type of video card do you have? The Voodoo and some ATI cards have exactly the problem you describe. I had it on my 16 meg Voodoo, and the only fix I'm afraid was my upgrade to a GeF/2.... Oddly enough, FS2000 never had the problem.I am running FS2002 on a slightly faster system--a P3/800, and I love it... I've never seen a need to upgrade to a faster cpu--easier to live w/o a little eye candy and spend the money on my family instead. But I'd encourage you to upgrade to at least 256 megs of RAM. That's one of the best things (and cheapest) you can do to make FS2002 even better on your system.... It made a world of difference for me. But in recognition again of your original question, a graphics card change is your only solution. A clearance GeF/2 would be a good choice, and probably inexpensive if you order it online...-John

[ronzie 21]

One test you can possibly make is to turn of MIP Mapping in the Display Hardware settings. This seems to take quite a load off the system.Since you have a low amount of RAM, make sure all unneeded background apps are turned off. You can use the icons on the right hand side of the taskbar or bring up the task manager with ctrl-alt-del to see what is running.You do as suggested need a better display adapter. I get adequate (not great) performance with a PIII 550, 382 MB RAM, and a GeForce 2 MX200 32 MB display adapter. This shows me enough detail with only occasionAL FRAME BURPS (locked at 13 FPS) to do VFR pilotage and landings.FYI between September and October, there will be some serious Pentium IV system price drops in the 2 Gz range due to the introduction of faster yet processors. Depending on what you can keeo from your existing system, maybe just HD, CD, and monitor, an upgrade might be feasable for your mobo (with processor and 400 to 512 MB RAM) and an appropriate graphics card.

[Guest]

Without some kind of upgrade, I'm afraid you are without much hope for any real improvement. I had the same problem with my "Legacy" system (PIII 450 with a 100 Mgz front side bus) Without the funds to really go out and buy a new system and really limited to a very judicous upgrade path, I was able to come up with a fantastic solution! PowerLeap products has a Celeron 1.4 ghz "slocket" upgrade for the older SE440-BX motherboards, easy install and it REALLY juices up the performance ($170.00) With the addition of a Leadtek G4 4200 graphics card ($152.00) things looked and ran really great. You can overclock it from the supplied software utility simply by moving the sliders to the right, performance is very near the G4 4600!What kinda of frame rates am I getting you ask? WELL, would you believe I have it set at 25 fps and most all sliders to the right and it hardly ever dips below this and it runs as smooth as a baby's butt.It made FS2002, IL-Sturmovik, Flyll! and the all the rest run like brand new flight sims! I couldn't be more pleased with the performance. I have 256 megs of RAM that I'll probably upgrade soon after installing the bargain of the year, a Maxtor 60 gig 133 ATA hard drive with a FREE ATA 133 controller card from Office Max, a whopping $79.95 I'll have a little over four hundred bucks into it and it should be good for at least another year or so. Not cutting edge equipment by any means, but, boy does it work slick for now...Easyflyer

[Guest]

I have an ATI 16mb Graphics card. Time for an upgrade i think. Thanks for your help.Graham

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Before you upgrade, try to scan either these forums or the usenet for the keywords:ATI Fog TableI recall there was an adjustment that might help some ATI cards....-John

[MikeAdamo 51]

Graham,What you need to do is find a tweaker for your ATI card and disable Table Fog Once you do this, the blue wall will disapear. No real need to upgrade your card for such a simple fix.You can try to find a tweaker for your card over at www.rage3d.com.Good luck!Mike