JimmiG,So in other words, we need to go back to using only the FS2002 type of Autogen. Renaming the default.xml file alone will not cure the problem. Is this correct?Jim

You Guys Are Great.

Everyone: thanks for all the interesting comments on this issue. I've started a new thread on the scenery forum with measurements of visibility distance for a selection of objects. The measurements explain why the problem is most noticeable when looking back or turning 180 degrees. If you're interested, pop over there and take a look! Best regards, Chris

"So in other words, we need to go back to using only the FS2002 type of Autogen. Renaming the default.xml file alone will not cure the problem. Is this correct?"Yes. All the improvements Microsoft did to Autogen scenery for FS2004 was a complete waste of time. They might as well have left the Autogen alone and kept the FS2002-style ag only. In fact, that would have been better because we wouldn't have had to waste time trying to troubleshoot the framerate problems people experienced because of the faulty autogen code.It's a shame because just before FS2004 was released, people commented the huge improvement with regards to autogen scenery in the new version of FS. Then it turned out we have to disable it all to get decent framerate. Not because it's too demanding for out systems, but because of an error in the sim. It was one of the features I looked forward to, actually, since I used to do a lot of low-level VFR flying. Really annoying.And, it seems Microsoft has chose to stay quiet and not care about it. Better wait for Microsoft Patch 2006 before doing VFR flights again.

It depends on the type of flying you do. I ran FS9 on a 700Mhz TNT3 Win98 box prior to upgrading my system. I can run it with full autogen and the default.xml file just fine for VFR low level flying with 38 meter terrain mesh at 1024x768x32 with trilinear filtering (no AA) in the default Cub with no problems. Yes, I had sliders pulled back a bit, but not that far. Scenery is FAR better than FS2002. I don't fly circles around big airports so the autogen isn't a problem for me on the old box. I find it is a very narrow, specialized type of flying that creates a slowdown, and in general (and for most simmers, judging from the lack of posts on the other forums) it just isn't a big deal. If you fly consecutive touch and go's, yes, it can slow you down on a mid level system. Other factors are the amount of RAM and your HD performance.Comments that FS2004 is like FS2002 when the default.xml file is removed just isn't true. There is much more autogen scenery left than FS2002 ever had.MDavis

>Comments that FS2004 is like FS2002 when the default.xml file>is removed just isn't true. There is much more autogen>scenery left than FS2002 ever had. I agree. This is an annoying problem that I hope Microsoft will fix, but nevertheless I regard the autogen system as superb and a huge improvement over FS2002. Unless I'm flying in dense urban areas I have autogen on full and the effect is amazing. It really brings the world to life! Best regards, Chris