HiI am getting terrible frame rates with FS2004 compared with FS2002. With the same settings that I had with FS2002, I used to get 18-23 F/S where as with FS2004 I only get 5-7! Am I doing something wrong?Pentium III 1 GHz512 RAMGeforce 2Stelios

You can't match up the sliders in FS2004 to FS2002 and expect the same framerates--there's more visual detail in FS2004 per most given slider settings. We have nearly identical systems, with your cpu a bit faster than mine, and my video card a bit better than yours. Here's my suggestions:~Apply the "xml tweak" that's been mentioned in the forums. I have to assume you fly with Autogen. The xml tweak involves renaming the default.xml file to default.bak. This file introduces framerate stealing objects into autogen. In essence, maxed autogen in FS2004 has about twice the detail of the same slider setting in FS2002.~Install the autogen texture set for FS2004. It will help performance~Reduce mesh to 50 pct. You'll be hard pressed to see a difference in visual quality. In FS2002, 50 pct mesh really washed out visual detail in the mountains. Not so in FS2004.~Disable all shadows and water reflections~Install Chris's cloud update--it improves the number of layers and thickness that you'll be able to support vs. the new 3-d clouds.~Max all your cloud settings, then reduce the cloud draw distance to 30nm. Work it up 10nm at a time to get the best cloud/fps compromise~I pick up a few fps by running in 800x600 with AA "forced" via the card tweakers, like RivaTuner. Once you get used to it, you may find the improved fps offsets any loss of visual detail. I also apply anisotropy to improve the image (I leave FS2004's mip settings at 4)~Set your AI to IFR only. You'll get the big jets and fewer civil aircraft, but it will improve performance. Or, reduce the slider to about half whatever your FS2002 setting was, then work it up from there.With these settings I'm averaging 20 fps (autogen maxed) and 25 fps (autogen off) in the small cities, and 12/15 in the major ones, like around LAX.... Hope this helps...

Hi,just a problem I have, besides the low framerates I will get fixed by your tipps, is that after a while flying I get a flashing flicker of any 2D panel - not so with VC. AND another problem is that I get a LOT better framerates within VC view than in 2D panel view of FS9. How come???So now, any tipps for my problems? I would love you for some usefull ones.

This is one of the best posts I've seen - thank you for your concise and thoughtful reply.

I have a 4200 and I haven't seen the flicker--do you run in full screen or windowed mode?There is a performance penalty for 2-d panels in FS2004, but there was one in FS2002 as well. It's just that FS2004 offers more detail and is thus more sensitive to the presence of 2-d panels. In other words, your system has to work a bit harder to achieve whatever you have it locked at.If you adjust your sim according to my suggestions, you may not notice the 2-d panel issue at all, especially if you lock your fps at 20 or below.I've also noticed that some panels--those that are actually made up of two "windows", cause more of a performance penalty. Where performance is important (such as on final), I usually close the second window, which most designers use for a light or compass panel. You can improve performance 10-15 pct... Doesn't sound like much, but everyone has a point where all of a sudden, performance seems smooth. For me, it's around 21 fps. For others, it's lower--we all see things differently.Hope this helps....

Well,I allways am in windowed mode, not in fullscreen, because I have two monitors and so in fullscreen the sim tends to expand all over the two monitors I have configured by nview to handle the resolution horizontal 2042x768.So, to pull left all sliders about 1/3 should make a help, I had them like in FS2k2 what seems to need more CPU power than todays AMD could ever give me. Interesting would be a mainboard fitting the new AMD 64 CPU and of course the new AMD 64bit CPU which would give the needed performance...Thanx a bunch buddy.