Settings in config file...what do you recommend?

[noodldoodl 0]

Apologies if this has been asked a trillion times already, but I'm a bit new to all of this and really would like to be shown the specifics of what tweaks, when applied within the .CFG file in FS2004, will make things like the dreaded blurries and autogen pop be reduced, if it can't be removed entirely.I have had a go with FSX and have 'tuned' that to within an inch of its life...and probably mine too if the truth be told! But I'm back to good old FS2004, because I had a hardware upgrade and wanted to see how much I can max it out, in terms of environmental add-ons and performance.Currently I can run FS2004 with 8x AA, 16x AF at a rez of 1280x1024...but all this is handled by my card and reducing these settings brings me no better FPS.I recently purchased Portland by FlightZone and Active Sky 6.5 and with those combined I do see some slow down (often down to about 10 fps from constantly over 30 in other areas with less severe weather). However, I do have a lot of cloud cover and use the max textures, so I can understand, somewhat, why this is happening. I'd rather tweak what I can in the .CFG before throttling back on some of the in-sim settings, as I'm sure you'd agree, so over to your very good selves for your most welcome thoughts and suggestions.Thanks in advance,noodldoodl :)P.S........can anyone recommend FS Global 2005, as I'm currently 'watching' an auction for such over at Ebay. Or Can I find better in the Avsim file library?

[enyap 0]

Lots and lots of posts on this, search in the FSX forum, which is the old FS9 forum. John

[tunnelcat 1]

I'll save you the trouble of searching all the forums. This set of hints I found at sim-outhouse a while back. They worked quite well. Back up your config. file before altering it. I copied this over from notepad, so there are some wierd characters. You can check out sim-outhouse.com for the full scoop, but you will have to register.Koorby's 2-minute performance and tuning guide, Version 2.0There is no reason a mid-spec PC spec running Windows XP, with 1024MB RAM and a video card like a Geforce 6600GT should have any issues whatsoever running FS9 as smooth as silk - simply none. I don't have a lot of time to get indepth, but here's my 2 minute guide, some of which you may already know:INSIDE FS91. Set visibility (vis) to about 30mi/48km - that's the real world and this single adjustment will a) make FS2004 textures look much nicer and realistic, and cool.gif Give you back lots and lots of FPS2. Avoid large amount of cumulus clouds - they eat FPS. Create a new weather theme which looks nice but avoids those. If you must use real-world weather then get Active Sky 6 and install their 128x128 DXT3 MIP cloud sets - perfect solution3. Slide MIP down to 4 - no need for more than that4. Slide LIGHTS down to 65. Slide 3D cloud density to 50%, will still look great6. Turn off lens flare (pilot's sunglasses don't have lens flare 7. Turn OFF anti-aliasing inside FS9 (Unless you have a low-spec video card, then it may actually be better to have no AA outside the sim)8. Set to Trilinear filtering always9. Run FS9 in Full-screen mode at the same resolution as your desktop10. Lock your FPS to 25 - seriously, you won't notice anything higher and it really does help. At the worst set it to 30FPS, but I never run it that fast, because PAL video runs at 25FPS and 3.5 billion people can't be wrong eh? Movies in the cinema run even slower. 11. Pull back the field of view (FOV) in all modes (2D cockpit, 3D cockpit, external views) to 0.75 by pressing the "-" (minus) key. This will immediately make all ground textures appear much, much crisper. You will see the letters "0.75" in red letters in the top right hand of your screent to confirm your FOV has changed.For an IMAX experience, switch to 2D cockpit mode, press the "W" key until all instruments disappear, then press the "-" (Minus) key until you see 0.31 in the top right corner in red letters. Now climb to 6,000FT and enjoy!Optional12. Optional (disable the XML autogen library by renaming the fs9Autogendefault.xml to default.xml.OFF - this will make very little visual difference to your flying but gives back FPS also. (NOTE: VOZ makes no use of the XML autogen libraries, so you won't see any difference with this setting turned off, but you WILL get better performance)Leave everything else maxed out.YOUR VIDEO CARD1. Set to AA to 4XS (anything else is overkill if running = > 1280x1024)2. Set AF to 4 or 83. Set Sharpness to +1 (this will make FS9 visuals look spectacular) NOTE: As far as I know, only the nVidia video control panel has a "Sharpen" slider, not the ATI control panel unfortunately. Also note that sharpen will take a few FPS in performanceYOUR WINDOWS XP1. Not running XP? -- Doh! Buy it, install it with Service Pack 2 and make sure you have automatic updates running.2. Shutdown about 40-50 Windows XP services you don't need. Grab a program called FSautostart, which will do this for you with tips on each setting. I have 1024MB RAM and when I start FS9 I have 895MB free. Trust me, it makes a huge difference to performance.3. Turn OFF any programs in the tray you are not using. This includes Anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-anything. Also turn off all those silly tray icons like quicktime and countless others. They are all consuming CPU cycles and the Anti-virus will most definitely interfere with FS9 performance.THE DREADED "BLURRIES"The most common thing that can ruin your flight experience is a case of the "blurries". I see this in so many screenshots, and it's completely avoidable.Here's a few rules to follow:1. If you are flying low (below 5,000 ft) (not slewing), keep your ground speed around 160Kts2. If you are slewing (not flying), always tap Y to go back into flying mode so the textures can be reloaded in your immediately area. So slew to the position, (tap the 'Y' key and fly for a bit to let the textures catch up, tap 'Y' again and just slew back to the best position for the shot.)3. Make sure your [TERRAIN] section of your fs9.cfg file has these last 3 entries in the section:[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19 (20 for 38m mesh, 21 for 20m mesh)TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=5 (Leave this one alone, can be set in settings.)TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=3.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=2324. Just above the [TERRAIN] section there is this line:TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40 <--- this is too low for current video cardsChange it to 100 and step it up in increments of 50 until FS9 stutters. Then set it -50 of that point. This will load your textures much, much faster and avoid more blurries. Right below this entry add the following line: TextureMaxLoad=105. Tweak the airport and other lights by adding the entries below to fs9.cfg - not strictly performance related but it will look more realistic and won't dominate approaches.RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=0.7 //scales edge, center,end,touchdown,runwaysRUNWAY_LIGHTS_VASI_SCALAR=0.7 //scales VASI/PAPI lightsRUNWAY_LIGHTS_APPROACH_SCALAR=1.0 //scales approach light barsRUNWAY_LIGHTS_STROBE_SCALAR=1.0 //scales RAILs and ODALsKim K

[noodldoodl 0]

Hi tunnelcat, that was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks vry much for saving me the option of searching for this as my time at the PC is a bit infrequent at the moment.All the best,noodldoodl

[CanadaOne 36]

Excellent. Thanks.I was looking for the max eye candy cfg. settings, I'll try these out.

[CanadaOne 36]

Tried out your cfg. tweaks. Changed the Texture-Bandwith from 40 to 100 and the textures are loading much faster than before. Had it up to 150 but that hit the FPS too hard. 100 is good enough and makes for a much smoother looking flight. Used the Terrain-Radius changes as well. I increased the video card sharpess and it looks great in-game, but too hard on the eyes out of game, so you do have to switch is back and forth.I flew over 9 meter mesh of the Grand Tetons with GE Pro + FE and your tweaks at 1290x1024, 4xAA & 16AF, all sliders maxed except visibility (lowest) and no AI, and got solid 25FPS (set max) with a few dips to 19. But what scenery! Stunning, absolutely stunning. Can't believe this is FS9.Thanks. @-@ (Any other secret weapons?)

[tunnelcat 1]

Hello,Glad I was able to help everybody, but the tweaks aren't mine. After extensive searching on all the forums I found it at sim-outhouse.com by somebody named Koorby. Go there and check it out. It sure helped me improve the appearance of FS9, especially the dreaded blurries. I like to run FS9 at a resolution of 1600x1200 and I get frame rates of about 25 except in busy airports or really bad weather, or when flying PMDG aircraft in the above situations. The cockpit guages just look better and are alot easier to read.One note: If your system is PAL (European) based, set the frame rate maximum to 25, United States based systems should be set to either 15 or 30 FPS maximum for the best allocation of your system resources. Kim K

[jasonX 24]

Just a little update.Koorby is the originater of the VOZ concept. You can find his 2 minute tweaks guide at the VOZ website.Regards Pete