I probably am not following the sequence of loading stuff while setting up a flight, but I find one issue rather unfortunate and wonder if there is a cure. I will usually start FS, set up a flight plan, click "fly", then start AS2004. As FS2004 is loading itself to my departure setting, up pops AS2004 in front of FS2004, causing FS2004 to go into PAUSE mode. Is there anyway to get AS2004 to just do its thing in the background and leave it at that? I see no reason why it is necessary to see the AS2004 interface, especially when it hasn't even finished loading weather fully. Why is this?Noel

Hi Noel,I didn't see this post before, only your giberish one. Are you running FS in Full Screen Mode or Windowed Mode? I just tried to duplicate this in Full Screen and couldn't do it. Yes, in Windowed Mode it happens because the nature of Windows giving priority to the last program made active. I can get your FS not to pause on the switch if you want.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Hi Jim, I always use windowed mode. Is there a way to make this not happen and still use windowed mode for FS? Thanks for the rapid reply--AS2004 is quite the fantastic program.Also, IYO, do you think a X800XT Platinum will help keep scenes with dense clouds from killing performance much? I have a 9700 Pro now, and with that when the clouds get too busy it can bog down. But this is under extreme conditions as when landing in a very scenery dense area. Sometimes it seems fine even when clouds are dense. It's hard to tell exactly what kills perf. Overall, I have a super good experience with FS, but I'm drooling over a new Radeon XT.Thanks Jim,Noel

you can set FS to not pause on task switch.

JW has the solution for the pausing. It is in the General Settings section of FS. I can also suggest clicking on AS first then starting FS.I'll give you my 2 cents worth. I have a brand new machine running an XP3400, Win XP, an ATI9800XT, run default MS clouds and still get slow downs if the clouds build up too much. Now, slow downs to me mean FPS under 20. Almost a year after it's release I still don't think we have the hardware to fully keep up. Then you throw all the 3rd party add-on stuff into the mix and things become hopeless!! Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Thx Jim and JW. As for impact on frames, I'm really trying to answer the question of will I see a difference going from 9700 Pro to X800 XT Platinum (to be released soon) with my 3GHz machine. I notice a definite perf hit when I go to 4x AA. So I assume I will note some improvements. Would you agree?Noel

Before I answer: What kind of frame rates are you getting right now, with no AA and 4x AA?Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Well, it's so dang specific to the exact situation it's hard to give an answer. But I guess typically, I run between 17 and 27 in big terminals with 60% traffic or so. If I come up to a dense cloud area i might drop down to 10-12 or so, and I'm wondering if the new video card will move this up. Up in the air and on final into KSFO at dusk, in the PMDG 737-800NG, with 38m mesh, ActiveSky, ActiveCamera, FDC, I'm usually between 24 and 80 frames at 1600 x 1200 x 32. But sometimes in dense weather she'll drop down to the low teens, and rarely to the high single digits. So I wonder if the video card will come into play in these situations, and if adding AA to 4x would be better handled, and in a very visible way.Noel

You would get some improvement, especially at 4xAA. Visually you should notice a large difference.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Hi Noel - FWIW, I use a program called RunOptions that's available from the FSUIPC website. I have it autostart AS2004 when I start FS9. This brings up the AS2004 screen on top of the Create Flight screen and I can do the individual steps from there without "pausing". The sequence is up to you.VicVisit the Virtual Pilot's Centerwww.flightadventures.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Nice Vic, I will check it out . . .Noel

One other one for you to try - Windows XP powertoys, specifically tweakUI (written by some MS guys, freely available on the web, try google) has an option to "prevent applications from stealing focus" with options to blink the taskbar forever, just a couple of times, or never. Works like a charm set to "never"...Best,sg