Massive Frame Rate Hit - I must be missing something...

[ndflieger 60]

Greetings all!I'm not trying to be negative or anything, but I am suffering a massive framerate hit with AS2004. I have read the manual front to back several times using the settings suggested therein, done a search on this forum under "framerates" and followed the suggestions posted...all to no avail. I am a registered used of this product and FSUIPC. I also am a registered user of the WxRe version of ActiveSky for FS2002.I am currently running an Athlon AMD XP 2500+, 512Ram, ATI Radeon 9200 128MB graphics card. I have WinXP Home Edition as my OS, and there are no programs (including anti-virus) running in the background when I'm simming. I have my framerates locked at 20, and when I use AS2004, they plummet to 3 at times...probably average about 9 or so. Now I know that my computer is not a powerhouse by today's standards, but when I'm not running AS2004, the framerates are in the upper teens to the locked limit...and this is in dense scenery areas, using the standard MS clouds. I did download and install the FSW set for FS9, but that didn't make any difference.Before I purchased AS2004 I ran WxRe v1.92 (which ran flawlessly in FS2002) in FS9 and didn't have any framerate issues. There were wind issues, but that is another matter since WxRE wasn't designed with FS9 in mind.Anyway, after 3 evenings of tweaking and changing settings over and over again, I pretty well frustrated and somewhat miffed - especially after shelling out the buck for AS2004. After such a positive experience with WxRe in Fs2002, I was really enthusiastic installing AS2002 in FS9. So, needless to say I am quite disappointed. So, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions/etc...I would love to hear them. I would really like to get this product working on my system.This is not meant as a slam towards Damien & Co., nor their product. I am just unfortunately one of the minority for which it does not seem to work.Regards,ScottKJMS

[JSkorna 138]

Hi Scott,Sorry you are having trouble. Here are some things to try:Update video drivers.Turn down cloud draw distance.Turn off AA and AF.Limit cloud layers in AS.Turn off Render to Texture in FS.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[ndflieger 60]

Jim,Thanks for the reply. All of that you suggested has already been tried. No difference in the abysmal frame rates.Regards,ScottKJMS

[vgbaron 3,728]

Scott - I seem to recall reading in another forum that ATI suggested rolling BACK the drivers to an EARLIER version for FS9. Does 3.xx ring a bell? I am an nVidia person so I'm not 100% positive on this.HTH,VicVisit the Virtual Pilot's Centerwww.flightadventures.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[ndflieger 60]

Vic,Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard that about the ATI drivers. I will have to research that a little bit. It's to the point now where I've been messing with it so much I'm about ready to give up and just use regular weather so I can get back to simmming.Regards,ScottKJMS

[JSkorna 138]

Scott,I know this isn't going to help, but just know that users with lesser systems than your's are using AS2004 successfully. From what you can tell is it the clouds or something else that cuts your FPS?Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[ndflieger 60]

Hi Jim,Yes, it really bogs down when Cumulus/Cumulonimbus clouds are present, especially if there is precipitation (I am using the FSW better FPS clouds, 32bit texture. Dosen't make abit of difference if I check or uncheck the rendering option). Although I have the "limit cloud layers" (or something like that) checked in the AS2004 options menu, there still do appear to be several layers of clouds. I'm sure that all those clouds are contributing to the problem.Another thing that I've noticed is that when attempting to use the ActiveRadar, I load my flight plan and nothing appears after processing it. I use the latest version of FSNav to create the flight plan, then export it to FS9. The plan is in the list of those from which to pick, but the ActiveRadar will not pick it up for some reason.Anyway, thanks again for your help in trying to figure out the problem.ScottKJMS

[JSkorna 138]

Ok you are using the limit cloud layers, but are you changing the cloud layer # in the box on the right hand side? I think the defauls is 10. Try lowering it to 3.Also, check OFF: Overcast enhancement, fog generation, and visibility smoothing.To solve your flight plan problem. Import the FSNav plan into FS, open it and then re-save it. Then, that plan can be used in Active Radar.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[ndflieger 60]

Jim,Success!! Thanks for the tip about changing the cloud layer number in that box on the right. Mine was defaulted to 10, and I changed it to 3 as per your suggestion. So far I have bumped it up to 5 and am happy with the results. The only setting I changed was the cloud layer number. The other boxes you mentioned I left "checked".I have noticed though, a tendency for the clouds (and the denser they are, the more prevalent it is) to exhibit, randomly, a straight line that moves, resembling something that is tearing or peeling. This is probably a FS9 anomaly, but is there any way to cure it? Also, is there a way to soften the hard/stark sky vs. ground line that delineates the horizon?Once again, thanks for the tip on changing that setting. That moved my FPS back up to where they should be :-) I apologise if I missed this in the documentation.Regards,ScottKJMS

[JSkorna 138]

Glad you got it!The cloud tearing is a video card/driver vs. processor issue. I saw the same thing with my AMD 1900, but it went away after an upgrade. Locking your framerate may help.The horizon issue is an FS thing. I think lowering the general sight distance helps. Also, the pay version of FSUIPC has some helpful options in this area.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[ndflieger 60]

Hi Jim,You mentioned the tearing/peeling went away after an upgrade. Which did you upgrade? The processor or video card or both...and to what?I do have the registered version of FSUIPC, but I thought in the AS2004 docs it said to uncheck most everything in FSUIPC and let AS2004 handle all the weather inputs. I will start playing around with FSUIPC settings and see what I come up with.Actually, the farther out I have the sight distance set in FS9 seems to make that horizon/sky line more tolerable, and it dosen't seem to affect the FPS at all either.Thanks again for your help and the top-notch support!Regards,ScottKJMS