DirectX 9.0, 30.82s....before and after tweaks (pics)

[Cruachan 705]

Hopefully Paul will forgive me for coming back yet again, but to underline my conviction that the installation of DirectX 9.0 does not result in significant image degradation I have posted a couple of images below.First, my setup:P4 2.2GHz, 512MB Crucial PC2100, GeForce 4 Ti4400 128MBWindows XP Home (SP1)Screen resolution = 1280x960x32, Anisotropic filtering = Level 8,LOD (RivaTuner with patch script applied) = -0.1MipMapping = onFSAA = NoVsync = always on[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=3.470000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=2TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=7.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=8.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=3Terrain detail textures - YesTexture Quality = MaxTerrain texure Size = HighMax visibility = 60 milesFSUIPC = default visibility settingsBoth screen shots were grabbed using FSScreen at Meigs from an altitude of 2000ft facing West.Time 12.00pmWeather cleared (apart for a few clouds in the first shot)Each image was resized in Paint Shop Pro from 1280x960 to 700x525First image - before application of LOD and AF 'tweaks'http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e486b234c5fa0f8.jpgSecond Image - after application of LOD and AF 'tweaks'(Windows XP was restarted before reloading FS2002)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e486b744d23a8d7.jpgNow, as I have stated before, it is indeed doubtful whether there is any compelling reason at the moment to 'update' DirectX. For those of you who wish to do so and might be feeling a little hesitant about taking the plunge for fear it might wreck the visuals in FS2002, perhaps this will provide some reassurance.Mike :-wave

[Guest PaulL01]

Mike,Nice of you to do some investigation, sometimes I feel so alone! :-lolOK, first, it looks like you have every thing in order, problem is you seem to be looking in the wrong place...The problem lies where the extents of the best or full (256x256) res Mips are drawn on the terrain, the circle is now too soon "cut short" exposing blurred textures even sooner than before.Just go up a little more and look all around bellow you, same as when searching what Levels= was doing...Nice work Mike. :)Edit:After all this you may feel that this is making a "mole hill from an ant hill" Which in the eyes of most is probably true, but it is nontheless a step backword.

[wsieffert 0]

You are probably correct about updating to DirectX 9.0 not improving the FS2002 images since FS2002 doesn't use any DirectX 9.0 capabilities. The images should be the same.There are two reasons to update. If Microsoft found any errors or optimized the DirectX 7.0/8.0 code. Lastly, the DirectX 9.0 adds more of the WHQL digital signatures to the list, which will let you know if your drivers have been certified.

[RobertRent 17]

Mike, What makes the second image so much clearer than the first image? Is it DX9, or is it one of the setup changes that you made? What I am referring to is how much sharper and detailed the highway interchange is on the second image (the interchange on the left side of the image, midway between the bottom of the image and the horizon).Thanks,Robert

[Guest Ben]

Guys can you direct me to the DX9 TWEAKS paul has posted please ???