Several questions regarding multiplayer...

[ls25 0]

Hey all!Just several questions regarding multiplayer issues. Myself & another friend fly MP flights a lot. well tonight we flew the same flight, just a few minutes apart. My altitude & speed was a tad bit more in the optimums & I caught him. Well, within 2miles of him, I could not see him. He had his lights on & send/receive details, & so did I, yet I could not see him, but in daytime, I could see the aircraft, just no lights on it.Any ideas why? This is really annoying to have to use names.Also, When we face each other flying into an airport (for example, one of us lands first) our frame rates drop to nothing, but as soon as the other MP party moves, frame rates go back up to normal. Any ideas on this one?Thanks in advance!

[ls25 0]

Anyone have any ideas?Thanks

[Guest Milton]

There are many things at play here. The group I fly with has done a lot of testing in these regards.It would help to know the aircraft each of you are flying.A few examples of things that make a difference:1. Level of detail in the design (LOD) if only 100 is used then the aircraft may not be visible at a distance, though the lights may be.2. Lights used: The default Mooney as an example uses GMAX lights instead of fx lights. These show up brighter and at more distance than the the fx lights; but, that can also be related to LOD's used.3. Lights: If gmax lights are used, they are subject to LOD's used. If fx lights are used, you will see them at shorter distances only.Some default aircraft use multiple LOD's (like the Dash 8) but all may not.Many add-on designers (me included) have not taken advantage of LOD's to make the aircraft more MP friendly or AI friendly. This really hits the framerates hard in MP and if they are used as AI aircraft.We have done some testing of 3 methods to employ LOD's and will likely be using these on future releases. Since we fly MP nightly and would like to fly what we are building and testing in MP, we want those advantages as well as you.To avoid these issues for add-on's, if you fly the same aircraft, renaming them for MP helps, and joining the session in a default first. After everyone has joined, then switch to the add-on's that you have renamed.Hope this helps a bit.Milton

[1mikel151 71]

Hey Milton, that gives me some insight, if not the poster. I have a VA and fly for another (Cougar Mountain Helicopters). I am extremely dissatisfied with the visuals and the flight characteristics in MP. Is there any other insight you can give to make this better. We have the send and recieve texture/info set up and I will try your trick next time. Especially with helicopters, no rotors, rotors not turning, wrong ship, etc. I have AI helicopters flying around and it is much better to fly with them than MP aircraft. I am beginning to think that this is just the way it is, if so, I cannot understand the popularity of VATSIM, other than live ATC.Just frustrated, thanks for any insight!BTW great Commander!Regards, Michaelhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpg

[ls25 0]

Many thanks for the information. I certainly appreciate the reply, & will see if I can get something going next time.Thank you again!