What does the Acceleration Pack do?

[golli 0]

Good day people.As I'm researching FSX I'm a bit pussled over this Acceleration Pack. Does it do anything for the framerates??And furthermore, does FSX use all 4 cores on a quad core, after SP2 ???Thanks in advance.Golli.

[frankla 45]

Good day people.As I'm researching FSX I'm a bit pussled over this Acceleration Pack. Does it do anything for the framerates??And furthermore, does FSX use all 4 cores on a quad core, after SP2 ???Thanks in advance.Golli.

Acceleration is an expansion pack that includes new missions, new aircraft and new scenery and the price is very very reasonable. Since the pack includes SP2, it helps frame rates if you have not installed the service pack. FSX with SP2 utilizes the 4 cores in a quad core to load scenery files which help with stutters but not frame rates. Frank

[Art_P 6]

FSX Acceleration should not affect framerates other than it's inclusion of SP2 and whatever impact any added scenery may have on a low-end system.FSX, even after SP2, only uses one core primarily. The other core use is not significant.This is based on what I have read.

[jjjallen 37]

FSX Acceleration should not affect framerates other than it's inclusion of SP2 and whatever impact any added scenery may have on a low-end system.FSX, even after SP2, only uses one core primarily. The other core use is not significant.This is based on what I have read.

I think that everyone should use DX10 Preview just to see what it can and cannot do. If a definitive fix for the flickering taxiway lines was found then I could use it all the time. If it doesn't have any memory leaks.jja

[scoob 18]

if you just want to get the game up to the last development status by MS you can collect and install for free SP1 and SP2.if you want to get 'addons to FS from MS' you can pay for acceleration.if the 'game additions' in acceleration are not of any interest to you, just collect the free SPs.--

[FalconAF 213]

FSX, even after SP2, only uses one core primarily. The other core use is not significant.This is based on what I have read.

Don't know where you read that Art, but it's not true. The main FSX program (.exe) will run on the first core (Core 0), and on a quad core most of the other things like texure loading, etc will occur on the other 3 cores (Cores 1, 2, and 3). You can see this very easily if you run Task Manager while FSX is loading or running, and watch the core usage. On a Quad Core, cores 1, 2, and 3 can be maxed out at 100% while loading textures, while the first core (Core 0) is almost at idle, or a very low percentage usage. SP2 facilitates this quite well, and it is an advantage of having the Acceleration Pack installed also.

[Steve1969 8]

Yep, the higher the screen resolution, the more active the other cores are. I'm running a skulltrail with a tripplehead2go and during flight, the other 7 cores regularly run at 100%.In relation to the acceleration pack, I understood that there was a difference between it and SP2. Acceleration has enhanced engine modelling and failures and this is why there is an engine stress option in the options screen with Acceleration only. I guess this is also why the Level D 767 has an engine start bug with acceleration - it has to spool up twice but with SP2 it works fine.

[duckbilled 310]

There is also an issue with Acceleration and some add on airports (Imaginsim LGA for one) where the night lighting doesn't work causing a massive FPS drop. I have no idea what the cause is but everything I have read indicates it has something to do with Acceleration.I think the biggest problem is that many developers are not testing with Acceleration; they are going with the assumption that SP2=Acceleration. IMHO, the last development stage of FSX is Acceleration and every developer should be using it. It is not that Acceleration adds that much to FSX, it just makes compatibility issues simpler for the community. It is just another example of where we need some industry standards for add on developers.

[FalconAF 213]

It is just another example of where we need some industry standards for add on developers.

Or end-user standards for FSX. I view Acceleration as the "FS10.5" version of FS. It contains an SP2 that is "different" than the stand-alone SP2, and I feel it should be the first "addon" any serious FSX user should buy. Let's face it...there isn't going to be an FS11, so why not get your current FSX up to the latest and last version there is going to be? Then the addon developers could start producing addons for the FSX + Acceleration only, using the Acceleration SDK, etc. There is going to come a time when the developers quit making addons for FS9. The same thing COULD (and in my view...SHOULD) apply for FSX without Acceleration. It would make everyone's life a lot easier. Heck...Acceleration is cheaper than some single airplane or scenery addons for FSX...a lot cheaper. Why not just get it and get it over with? Before a couple years from now, where it might cost you an arm and a leg on eBay?

[Art_P 6]

Don't know where you read that Art, but it's not true. The main FSX program (.exe) will run on the first core (Core 0), and on a quad core most of the other things like texure loading, etc will occur on the other 3 cores (Cores 1, 2, and 3). You can see this very easily if you run Task Manager while FSX is loading or running, and watch the core usage. On a Quad Core, cores 1, 2, and 3 can be maxed out at 100% while loading textures, while the first core (Core 0) is almost at idle, or a very low percentage usage. SP2 facilitates this quite well, and it is an advantage of having the Acceleration Pack installed also.

There have been other posts expressing concern that their quad-core processor was not working properly because Task Manager showed heavy activity on one core and minimal activity on the others. The replies indicated the same as you indicate. Since the original post seemed mostly concerned about improvement to frame rates, I didn't think the activity of the other cores was significant. It is my understanding that, while the extra cores make the sim run smoother, they do not help framerates. Am I wrong?

[FalconAF 213]

As far as framerates are concerned, yes and no. While those extra cores won't necessarily INCREASE frame rates, they will help with the speed of the texture loading though, and that can help eliminate the "stutters" and "pauses" that occur, which can help STABILIZE any given frame rate at a more constant or consistant rate. The extra cores also can help eliminate those dreaded "blurries" from slow loading textures.

[ESzczesniak 128]

In addition to new aircraft, Acceleration also adds carrier operations (arresting and catapult functioality) and helicopter hoist and sling load operations. For some this is meaningless, for others it's a big deal.

[PhilTaylor 45]

Good day people.As I'm researching FSX I'm a bit pussled over this Acceleration Pack. Does it do anything for the framerates??And furthermore, does FSX use all 4 cores on a quad core, after SP2 ???Thanks in advance.Golli.

the "official' details on all the post-FSX RTM releases:SP1 details:http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...blog-posts.aspxSP2 details:http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...on-and-sp2.aspxAcceleration details:http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2008...t-worth-it.aspxMulti Core usage in SP1:http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...ork-in-sp1.aspxso its a bit more than textures on the other cores since SP1, its a combination of DEM, terrain texture synthesis, and AutoGen Type I batches. SP2 fixed a bug in scaling beyond 4 cores, and added AutoGen Tpe II batches being performed via threads on multi-core processors.

[scott967 63]

Now there's a voice from the past! Good to see you still around.scott s..

[duckbilled 310]

Now there's a voice from the past! Good to see you still around.scott s..

Agreed. Good to see you in here.Since we have you attention, do you have any idea why we get low FPS with some add on scenery and Acceleration and not with SP2.The ones I am particularly think about are some Imaginesim scenery.They are fine during the day but they won't work at night. For now, people know there is a problem but I have never heard what it is. The only thing in that list that could relate to night lighting is the meatball.