New customer - set-up problems

[Guest theleveller]

Hi,After hanging back for many months I've made the plunge and purchased AS - I'm looking forward to getting hooked!Although the installation went fine, frame rates have reduced by an average of 60% (e.g. 30fps -> 12fps) on all 'flights' (I've tried 20+).I've followed the installation instructions to the 'T' and tried the Alpha 2 patch as well but to no avail.I can't help feeling that I must be missing something obvious.Any guidance most welcome. :-) Cheers,Jools (UK).PENTIUM 4 2.8GHZ1GB RAMNVIDIA FX 5900 128MBWIN XP PRO

[JSkorna 137]

Hi Jools,I'll give you some suggestions:Turn down sight distance.Turn down cloud draw distance.Turn down AA and AF.Use FSW clouds:http://fsw.simflight.com/FSWFs2k4fix.htmlIf using Active Radar, turn down radar details.Make sure your video driver is up to date.Re-install DirectX9b.Limit cloud layers in AS.I have an XP1900 and a GF3 200Ti and I lock at 25FPS. Please let us know how things go!Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Guest theleveller]

Hi Jim,Many thanks for the prompt response.To your suggestions:>Turn down sight distance. set at miniumum (60 miles)>Turn down cloud draw distance. set at minimum (30 miles)>Turn down AA and AF. already disabled on card and in FS (use 1800x1440)>Use FSW clouds: http://fsw.simflight.com/FSWFs2k4fix.html already usingI had the sight/cloud distances set at default before so the reduction above has improved the FPS marginally but the relative degradation is still the same.I'm still losing over 50% of my average 25-30FPS. :( Please note, I have not tried to use the Radar yet.Please advise on what steps I should take next.Cheers,Jools (UK).

[JSkorna 137]

Jools,You need to be a little more realistic. You have a nice machine and set up, but to run at 18x14 with all the weather that AS generates will bring down even a P4 3.4! Lets try and go back to 16x12 or lower and see what happens. I know it may not look as great. Also, in AS limit your cloud layers say to 4 or 5. Please do not take my suggestions the wrong way! I try to take the information the user gives me and in return offer help and suggestions!Also make sure your system drivers are up to date, especially video. Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Guest theleveller]

Hi Jim,I think you may have hit the nail on the head!Although I am very familiar with FS9 generally, I have no experience with its advanced weather capabilities having stuck to 'basic' weather scenarios.I have done a lot of experimentation today and resolved that, as you indicate, the FPS slow-down is mostly a generic issue rather than AS specific. FYI, the first thing I did was fly from home last night (RAF Cranwell UK which is just a couple of miles away) and we were having a lot of weather! I'll try adjusting the cloud layers as you suggest and hopefully I'll get more familiar with the trade-offs over time.I'll give you a shout if I get stuck again.Again, many thanks for the prompt reponse and your help. :-beerchug Cheers,Jools (UK)