FPS are what!

[Guest keattchr]

I have had FS2004 for two days. My PC is a Dell 8300 with...P4 3 Ghz512 mbTi 4400I used to fly Fs2002 at a fixed 27 fps - rarely did it drop below that. With Fs2004 I get 4 to 5 fps in clouds! I have reduced the sliders until there isn't much point in having 3d clouds, until the fps are in the teens.When no clouds are in view or there are very few clouds then my fps will go up to my fixed value of 27fps. These low values can't be my PC as FS2002 will run at 100 fps plus if I take the fixed fps off!Obviously, I remain open minded as the program is new BUT I have flown fs2004 far less than fs2002 because of the frame rate hit.Is it just me or are there many of you out there sort of dissapointed with FS2004 because of the framerate in clouds? I could understand it if my PC specs were low but I have one of the fastest one out there at the moment!Ray Keattch

[Guest Paragon]

Hi Ray,As I understand it, the clouds are not so much dependent on the CPU but more on the graphicscard. You would see a major improvement in framerates if you bought another, but that might not be an option. As a side note...I don't know why people expect their framerates to be the same as in fs2002 when that game has significantly less detail. You can't expect fs2004 to run as smooth as fs2002, it doesn't work like that...not in any game for the PC. With every new version of a game, it will demand more from your setup.

[Guest Bigshot]

Go ahead and max out your 3d clouds and cloud distance; but run the cloud density slider at about 50%. I find these setting work great on my 9700 Pro and am able to slice through the clouds with little or no framerate hit. Building thunderstorms cause some slowdown but not enough to effect the smoothness.

[jacsantos 0]

Actualy Fs2004 compared with FS2002 out of the box is smoother!!! :) I get more FPS and smoothness with this new version... one just has to tweak the system in order to obtain the max performance...PS: A LOT of ram will certainly help ;)

[W2DR 1,859]

Ray - If you are using FSAA it's possible the culprit is the video card. The clouds can be very difficult with a relatively slow GPU. It's easy to verify though, run it with FSAA at 2X, 4X, and then OFF. There will be a noticeable difference if the card is having a tough time of it.Doug

[Dark Moment 0]

Perhaps. But it makes a mockery of Microsoft's 'minimum spec' ... I doubt that you'd ever rise above 1FPS with that. I struggled with my new FS2004 for a while yesterday. When I loaded FS2002 after purchase, I just went ahead and flew, and fluidly; but this has been a nightmare so far. Antialiasing from within the game, which ought to be default but isn't, knocks off 10FPS on my system. Come on, MS, that should be standard fare in this day and age! Even with AA activated through the Nvidia menu there's a big hit.If this was just another game to me, it would be back on the shelf by now with the others. But it's not, of course, so I shall read every forum, trawl for every tweak, and get it going somehow; but I was, simply, hoping not to have to do all this.Now, more coffee ...

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi Ray, same here as well. with fps locked at 25 in 2k4 even with auto gen set to normal, AI traffic set at 75%, visibility set to 60 miles, other settings set to max, AA in game is disabled, 4X AA & 8X AF in ATI settings my fps in Heavy clouds falls into the single digits. the blurries whether static or dynamic is worse in 2k4 than in 2k2. overall performance in 2k2 was much better. even with clear skies in 2k4 and 2k2 my lowest fps is lower in 2k4 than in 2k2. in 2k2 visibility slider set at 60, Water Effects was set to None. All other sliders including AI traffic and Autogen were maxxed.(ATI settings for 2k2 was 4X AA and 16X AF also, fps locked at 25 as well. happy flyin, fmp43.069700 pro1 gig of ramsb audigy2winxp sp1dx9.0b

[Guest Fortress]

>As I understand it, the clouds are not so much dependent on>the CPU but more on the graphicscard. You would see a major>improvement in framerates if you bought another, but that>might not be an option. >Not quite sure about the need to buy a new graphics card, I increased each display option in 2k4 beoynd the default and haven't seen FPS below 25 yet..Cheers,Paulhttp://www.strontiumdog.plus.com/sbird.jpgOfficially licenced by British Airways plc for use of name and logo[p]AMD XP2800+ Barton, Gigabyte GA-7NNXP nForce2, 1Gig Crucial PC3200 DDR 400MHz, Gainward 128 MB GF4-4200, SB Audigy, 3 x WD Caviar SE[/p]

[Guest keattchr]

I would be daft not to expect some fps loss with a new sim BUT a P4 3Ghz, 512 Mb ram and a Ti4400 card getting 5 fps?Ray Keattch

[Guest keattchr]

Nope - I do not use FSAA!Ray Keattch

[Guest jase439]

It might be forced on in the driver. I have the same video and RAM setup as you, but a slower CPU (2.4 Ghz). I have yet to drop below 15 fps flying through solid overcast. If I turn FSAA on (in software or hardware), I plummet to about 3.If that doesn't cure you, I don't know what to say except you have some other severe hardware or driver bottleneck at work.J

[Guest keattchr]

No, FSAA is not the problem - just looking out the window tells me that! I get very smooth 27fps (fixed) most of the time. I have scenery and autogen on dense and do not see any fps drop anywhere. FS2004 is very smooth so far.My clouds are set to 40 mile draw, 100% 3d and LOW density, yet if I fly through several cloud layers my fps hit 4 or 5! I have checked and double checked that fsaa is off. I have run the SANDRA performance software and it reports my PC as being very fast and with no problems anywhere!If you download real weather and go somewhere where there are several layers of cumulous, what fps do you get?My sons also play games like Battlefield 1942, Vietcong and other first person shooters and they all run at amazing framerates!Ray Keattch.

[JSACKS 0]

Ray:I hear ya! I hear ya mate....I have a high end DELL like you and fps sucked....until:I installed DirectX9.0bI changed my nVidia drivers from 41.07 back to 30.82.The sim is still imperfect but miles better than before. Things now work far better: menus, starting, closing, selecting, etc. FPS are in the range of 18-20 at SeaTac and drop quickly to 8 in heavy clouds. Slider capped at 20 still.I have downloaded leaked nVidia 45.20 drivers and may instal them. They are supposed to run like gangbusters. There's a thread on them in the forum and I am about to post a question on them there.It is maddening to have expensive rigs and then be forced to do all of this tweaking, but there is no other choice. I thought about quitting altogether late last night--but I done 6 years so far, and it's sorta too late to give it all up now! At least the tweaking is working for me (touchwood).Good luck!JS