Renaming the file to default.bak - like we did tweaking FS9 - does the exact same thing as the utf-8 header change: removes much autogen, despite maxing it out with the terrain entires in the fsx.cfg. What's the difference?Edit: you beat me to it *******

*******, I have edited your topic's title. :(

Renaming the file to default.bak - like we did tweaking FS9 - does the exact same thing as the utf-8 header change: removes much autogen, despite maxing it out with the terrain entires in the fsx.cfg. What's the difference?Edit: you beat me to it *******

Interesting, I used the 'vanilla' default.xml from an FSX-SP2 fresh install and the benefits were exactly the same.My default.xml file was 12MB, the vanilla one (from SP2) is 4MB, so it *IS* possible that there is some kind of limitation in the way the FSX engine handles 'big' default.xml files. It all comes down now to the question: To use default.xml from a vanilla install (great performance) or keep the one I have. (pretty, but with some stutters.

*******, I have edited your topic's title. :(

lol.. don't worry, read above ;)

I have great news for everybody :) but, you'll have to see if this is for you.its 3:00AM and I'm about to go to bed, but for those still awake do this:Get the default.xml from the FSX-SP2 install! use that default.xml and try again ;) you'll be surprised. In my case, the default.xml file I had in my current FSX install was 12MB!! the vanilla one (from SP2) is 4MB! and 2 MB if you Save it as UTF-8.The benefits are the same, no stutters, even PNW with EXTREMELY DENSE AUTOGEN... evidently, FSX doesn't like big default.xml files.lol.. don't worry ;) read the post before this :)

GO TO BED !!!! :(

I have great news for everybody :) but, you'll have to see if this is for you.its 3:00AM and I'm about to go to bed, but for those still awake you can do this:Get the default.xml from an FSX-SP2 install! use *that* default.xml and try again ;) you'll be surprised. In my case, the default.xml file I had in my current FSX install was 12MB!! the vanilla one (from SP2) is 4MB! and 2 MB if you Save it as UTF-8 (save as option in notepad has an encoding option for saving as well).The benefits are EXACTLY the same, with no loss of autogen, except, for the one added by custom add-ons throught the years. Evidently, FSX doesn't like big default.xml files, I would be very interested in knowing 'what' addons changed my default.xml file.

Ive just done a quick test and that seems to work, will try a little more testing later. My default.XML was 4.6mb saved as UTF-8 reduced it around 2.4mb, with slight increase in FPS.

Ok, so I've done some testing. Bojote is without question on to to something quite big here.Did as he suggeted and replaced my default.xml file with an original copy (backup original first of course)Tested over Seattle (FTX) with everything under the display tab set to the right apart from water at 1 below max.Frames averaged at 40fps, even looking back at the default airport normally caused quite a big hit with my system but frames stayed at 30. Locked the sim at 30 frames and they stayed there even whilst panning. Track ir stayed perfectly smooth whilst panning which is unusual with that amount of autogen.One thing to be aware of, if you use FTX central to switch between products then it will reset your default.xml back to its original format but if you edit it before starting the sim then all is cool.Thanks Bojote.Bryan.

Ok, so I've done some testing. Bojote is without question on to to something quite big here.Did as he suggeted and replaced my default.xml file with an original copy (backup original first of course)Tested over Seattle (FTX) with everything under the display tab set to the right apart from water at 1 below max.Frames averaged at 40fps, even looking back at the default airport normally caused quite a big hit with my system but frames stayed at 30. Locked the sim at 30 frames and they stayed there even whilst panning. Track ir stayed perfectly smooth whilst panning which is unusual with that amount of autogen.One thing to be aware of, if you use FTX central to switch between products then it will reset your default.xml back to its original format but if you edit it before starting the sim then all is cool.Thanks Bojote.Bryan.

Bryan,Didn't you lose your trees or autogen in general with this trick ?Vic

Bryan,Didn't you lose your trees or autogen in general with this trick ?Vic

Hi Vic, there may be a slight reduction in autogen but it is not immediately obvious if it's there at all.Try it and see, as long as you backup your original file then you can't go wrong.As Bojote said though try and use an original default.xml rather than a bloated one.Bryan.

Something you need to know first:Stutters can happen for SEVERAL reasons, they can be due to memory timing problems, CPU reaching 100%, GPU overheating / overload... there are literally 'hundreds' of reasons why you would experience stutters, this FIX is not a 'magical' solution to your stuttering problems, however there is a procedure that will fix 100% of your autogen induced stutters.This 'fix' assumes you have a HEALTHY machine and that you ONLY experience the stutters when panning around in high density autogen areas EVEN with bufferpools disabled.The fix involves editing the Autogen/default.xml file in your FSX root directory and making sure it is saved in UTF-8 format. This is a VERY simple step to follow, you only need to:1) Open the Autogen/default.xml file in notepad2) Once you open it, you'll notice the FIRST line of the file contains: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>3) Change the above line to this: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>4) Save the changes and thats it!A word of caution: When you do this change, the next time you open FSX you'll see that the A/C in the welcome screen has no textures. there is nothing to worry about, this happens everytime there is a change to the default.xml file, and the second time you start FSX everything will be fine.FSX 'parses' XML files 'assuming' they are in the format indicated in the encoding field. The default.xml file is an ASCII only file, but its encoding is set to UTF-16, which is completely absurd. (ascii files in UTF-16 encoding take TWICE as much space), yet this file is NOT encoded in utf-16, just the XML header says so, and the XML parser in FSX will treat it as such. This 'fix' will also give you some aditional FPS! try it.If you want to see for yourself:1) Add to the [TERRAIN] section of your fsx.cfg file the following entries (this is just temporary) just for testing purposes: TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=6000 TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=60002) Start FSX and set the Autogen slider to EXTREMELY DENSE3) Go to PNW (the most autogen intensive product I have) and takeoff from KSEA airport, take a fast Jet, spin around while looking around the VC using the mouse. Preferably, 'record' a test flight with FSRecorder with a sampling rate of '1 frame' and re-play it while moving your mouse to look around the cockpit while the recording is playing. Do it with the default.xml before and after the utf change so you can objectively judge for yourself.Enjoy!

*******,YOU ARE KILLING ME! :( Now, back to tweaking.....

Bryan,Didn't you lose your trees or autogen in general with this trick ?Vic

Vic, the 'original' trick, was not 'trick' at all... it was nothing more than a brain fart on my part. *HOWEVER*, that lead to an interesting discovery.The trick that I initially posted, was simply making the file 'unreadable' to FSX, thats why everyone saw the huge improvement PLUS the missing autogen. The 'second' suggestion, which is the one Bryan is refering to involves using the 'original' default.xml file that comes with a fresh install of FSX SP2, changing it to UTF-8 but ALSO SAVING IT AS AN UTF-8 FILE! (you do this in the Encoding option you see when 'Saving As') That particular default.xml file will give you the 'exact' same performance benefits of NOT having a default.xml at all (which is what the trick did, make the file unavailable)The point here, is that somehow FSX doesn't 'like' the big fat default.xml files that we all have, product of all the add-ons adding custom objects to it. now, think about it, WHY does the original FSX SP2 default.xml perform so good? it is also a big file, yet is night and day with the default.xml file I had.This post went from 'breakthrough discovery' to 'major embarassment' to 'interesting observation' in less than 24 hours. hope it helps and I don't add to the confusion. I sincerely apologize for posting something without testing it more throughly. I better stick to the 'fsx.cfg' and leave other areas of the sim to the experts lol...

Vic,This post went from 'breakthrough discovery' to 'major embarassment' to 'interesting observation' in less than 24 hours. hope it helps and I don't add to the confusion. I sincerely apologize for posting something without testing it more throughly. I better stick to the 'fsx.cfg' and leave other areas of the sim to the experts lol...

Don't apologise Bojote, what you have done for this sim with your tweaks is a revelation.And many thanks for your generosity in sharing your findings with the community.Bryan.ps, if you got any more don't be shy about sharing them :( :(

Don't apologise Bojote, what you have done for this sim with your tweaks is a revelation.

Thanks, but the apology is necessary when the information posted is not 100% accurate, and I'm not going to make AVSIM edit my post to cover my mistake, much better to face it responsibly :)

This post went from 'breakthrough discovery' to 'major embarassment' to 'interesting observation' in less than 24 hours

:( In another 24 hours, it might turn out to be a major breakthrough after all.Some interesting point are raised :Better performance because of the UTF8 encoding ?Better performance because of a default.xml file with less entries so less workload for FSX ?I haven't had the chance to look at the default.xml file yet but I guess that large addons such as GEX or FTX each add entries to a single default.xml file. Would it be possible to switch to an optimised and smaller default.xml file per large area, i.e. :- 1 for default FSX- 1 for default FSX + GEX- 1 for ORBX AU- 1 for ORBX PNW- ....Food for thought :( Thank you ******* :(

:( In another 24 hours, it might turn out to be a major breakthrough after all.

It would be interesting to know 'exactly' what entries (and which developers) add to the Autogen/default.xml file. It is definitely valid the UTF-8 observation, file size is cut in half! obviously, you have to set the encoding correctly, which is what I failed to do in my original post. The default.xml file is in doble byte UNICODE format or utf-16.. so If i change the encoding in the header but leave the file as UNICODE obviously FSX will not be able to read it, duh..Now, the question is: What causes FSX to stutter so badly in my test scenario with the 'fat' default.xml file I had? was it the actual 'size' of the file or a particular entry or group of entries that were added to that file by a developer? I'm determined to look for the answer, but I first need to know which developers modify that file and what entries they add.I might add that, the 'test' scenario that I use is HIGHLY unrealistic. Meaning, that having Autogen set to EXTREMELY DENSE plus the [TERRAIN] settings: TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=6000 TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=6000are something nobody would use, but is a good way to 'measure' the FSX engine capabilities and limitations. What 'concerns' me, is that the above scenario with the stock default.xml that comes with FSX SP2 performs flawlesly!! so, this is definitely something to look at.Paul, are GEX and FTX the only programs you are aware of that modify this file? does REX or Ultimate Terrain add any custom autogen objects to default.xml? I believe they don't! I'll ask Nick and John to see what they say.Thanks,

Paul, are GEX and FTX the only programs that you are aware of that change this file? what about Ultimate Terrain?

Not sure at all about GEX or UT. Will have a look when home.