FS2K2 experience on a 5.15GHz

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

OK, so it's not a single computer system, rather the combination of the following three systems using WideView to make an FS2K2 "system":Front View:My sig + 20" Sony monitorLeft/Front View:Celery 1GHz, 256M SDRAM, Voodoo3 2000 PCI (woohoo!), 17" Gateway MonitorRight/Front View:Athlon 1.45GHz, 512M SDRAM, Voodoo5 5500 PCI (do you see a trend here!), 17" IBM monitorFor those of you who have a couple of computers on a network that are remotely FS2K2 spec worthy, I highly recommend hooking them together using WideView (freeware) to substantially expand your FS2K2 experience. Your main PC does all of the hard work, and gets most of your attention, but the increased flight simming absorption achieved by the peripheral views of a few lower spec computers you have hanging around is well worth the effort.If you have available hardware, I strongly recommend you give it a shot. I only wish that I did so sooner, such that I could have been enjoying the absorbing panoramic effect much earlier!

[Guest]

Interesting, I would have assumed that the differing speeds of your CPUs would have created a lag on some of the views as opposed to others. Oh well, that shows you my ingnorance. I kind of had the picture in my mind of this kind of setup being simply a number of FS2002 programs running simultaneously with a hookup. I guess that idea is wrong. How would you characterize it?Robb

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

Robb, the differing speeds of the CPUs, and standards of video cards, do create a differing performance and standard of FS2K2 display, however there is little to no lag between the setups. I believe this is because the computers are synced to each other around 15 times per second, hence there is very little opportunity for one system to lag another beyond the current frame it is drawing.As for performance difference between the slowest and the fastest machine, the Celery 1GHz and Voodoo3 manages to pull 15-25fps in most areas, even at airports like KATL, whereas my P4 pulls in the 20-30fps (capped) range. The in-game visual settings are the same on all computers, but it is obvious that the Voodoo3 shows less detailed textures due to its dated graphics capabilities, including being only 16-bit. Also. I have Quincunx AA and 2x AF set on the Geforce 3, which holds my P4 system back from its full potential (insert Radeon 9700 here!)My middle system, the Athlon 1.45GHz and Voodoo5, is also quite nimble, pulling in 20-30fps. Whilst the Voodoo5 lacks the water effect capability of the Geforce3 (is there a tweak for this?), its display qualities in this game are remarkably comparable to the Geforce3. This system is actually my kid's game system, so I need to pry it out of their hands to give me that third view for my cockpit.Once I get my Radeon 9700, the Voodoo3 will be relegated to my spares pile and the overall visual standard of my WideView setup should be more consistent. It will be interesting to see whether FS2004 has this multiplatform capability built in, or whether a new release of WideView will be forthcoming.