You want the best water effects FS can get?, come on in!!!

[Guest danowat]

Hi all,In the last few days since I posted some screenshots in the screenshot forum, I have been inundated with requests for the water I use.I take no credit for this water, as it was posted on here a while ago, but since people are obviously looking for this water I thought I would bring the post back into the mix.http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchCheersDan.

[Guest JamieG]

wow thanks a tonI searched and searched for your shots to see what your water looked like--but couldnt find it--do u happen to have a link or shot i could see. Sounds like an impressive set of textures tho. Ill definitely look into it!!

[Guest danowat]

Hi,The 2 threads that people asked for the textures for are > http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...39626&mode=fullhttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...39315&mode=fullHope you enjoy the water as much as I doCheersDan.

[Bill McQueen 0]

I put in the new textures as per instructions but it brings the sim to it's knees!If I switch it off frame rates return to normal.Any ideas :-hmmm Bill :-beerchug

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

Hi Bill,You are not alone. If I turn my water slider all the way to the right, fully detailed water, my system doesn't do to well at all, unless perhaps there is no water in my current view. This could be due to a few factors. I run my sim with very high detail settings, all my other sliders, except 2 of them, are all the way to the right. Everything else is checked and/or turned on. I also run my sim with a high resolution, 1600x1200, and I use 4x AA with 16x AF. I don't know, but it's possible that it's just one thing that causes my system to come to it's knees if I turn my water setting to detailed, like 16x AF. Anyone have any ideas?I'm curious, Bill, as to where your sim settings are, how high is your resolution, AA, and AF? Because the other thing I notice we have in common is that we both have an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. A video card that came out something like over a year and a half ago. ;) I will be getting a new video card, but not for a few months. One of the new Nvidia 6800 Ultra's or an ATI Radeon X800 XT. Probably the ATI, not sure. When I get the newer card then I'll see what happens... hehe.Regards,JimSystem Specs:Intel 3.4C(C = Northwood) on Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, 1 GB Muskin '222' Special PC3200 RAM, NEC MultiSync FE2111SB 22" Monitor, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Videocard with v4.2 Catalyst Drivers, DirectX 9.0b, Creative Audigy2 Soundcard, 250 GB w/8 MB Cache Western Digital HDD, WinXP Pro SP1

[Bill McQueen 0]

Hi Jim, I have AA set at 4x and AF at 8x in performance mode, Texture preference and Mipmap detail level is full right, Vertical Sync is application preference and Truform is off. I run FS2004 at 1280x1024 70Hz (Can't get 1600x1200 on this flatscreen monitor)Fs2004 settings, Terrain mesh is 100, Texture size is high, Terrain detail is Land only and water effects is high. Special effects detail is high, Scenery complexity is full right, Autogen is normal, Dynamic scenery and ground shadows are off, Sun glare and lens flare are on.The only thing I have off in Aircraft tab is Reflections, Weather set distance is 60, cloud draw is 60, everything else 100% detailed clouds.Hardware tab, Frame rate limiter set at 25, AA unchecked, Mip mapping at 4, Hardware lights at 8, Bilinear Filtering and Globel texture settings massive.Likewise when water comes into display thats when the frames drop to single digit in current setting above.Hope we can get to the root of the problem, mabye its an ATI driver thing :-hmmm I am also going to buy a new Graphic card this year, I'm going over to Florida on vacation in November so the X800 XT or 6800 Ultra could be on the shopping list, mabye even a PCI express one !!Cheers :-beerchugBill

[Guest danowat]

Wierd, I have a similar setup to you, the only thing different is I have a 9800pro card, and I am using 4.3 cats, I have never got on well with the newer cats, the 4.3's seem to be my "sweet spot".On my sys, the water textures have very little to no effect on performance.I would suggest at least trying some of the older drivers, just to see if they make a differenceDan.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Jim,"If I turn my water slider all the way to the right, fully detailed water, my system doesn't do to well at all, unless perhaps there is no water in my current view.".....Now this is tricky. I don't wish to stir it any more than is absolutely necessary, but since I was the original poster who recommended the water combo I felt I should chip in. First, I should state right away that I have not noted any noticeable hit in sim performance while running these textures, indeed the combo appears to be very friendly in that respect.My specs:P4 2.4GHz (400FSB), 1Gig PC2100 DDR Crucial, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (Omega 2.5.36b), SB Audigy (5.12.0001.0443), Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" TFT LCD 20ms Monitor (1280x1024x32), Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBo, Ultra-Quiet PSU 400W, WinXP Home (SP1), DirectX 9.0b, AGP Aperture = 128MB (No overclocking!)Secondly, three screen captures:These were taking shortly after dawn with Seattle in the background and with three cloud layers - cumulus, stratus and cirrus. The SIAI Marchetti SF.260 is the chosen a/c. The first two have the water effects slider to the right (high) and the third has it fully to the left (None). Terrain detail: Land Only.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/78295.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/78296.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/78297.jpgAs you will see from the text info at the top of each image there is very little difference in the frame rates and certainly not enough to make any noticeable difference in the sim's performance.And now for the first bombshell! I am managing to run with all my scenery sliders hard over to the right including full autogen (with the default xml file), default fs9 clouds, Chris Willis's 140 Sky files from ffpv2.zip and cumulus dxt3 + cirrus dxt3 from his HiFPSv2.zip and 75% AI UT Traffic. The second Bombshell? Well, if the foregoing wasn't enough to impress you, then try this: I have AA=6x and AF=16x set in the Omega drivers.Perhaps by now you will have guessed where all this is leading.Yes, I have now joined those other stalwarts, taken the plunge and after approx. 5 hours of patient guidance and exhaustive explanations, Michael Greenblatt of FS-GS has accomplished what, quite frankly, I had hitherto regarded as being unachievable. If I have learned one thing from this experience, it is that it is not all about frame rates. This sim can and does run pretty smooth even at apparently low fps. The secret is a)to remove the bottlenecks as far as it is possible to achieve on each individual system so that data flow restriction, using existing hardware resources, is kept as low as possible and b)to forget about the fps counter after you have found that sweet spot to lock the counter at. I am advised that for a 750Mhz increase in CPU grunt you can expect a 20% increase in frame rates. If you averaged 10fps before upgrading then that's not a great deal. Even an average of 20fps will only show an increase of around 3-4fps on a system such as mine were I to go for that >3Ghz processor. As Michael has demonstrated, it's all about exploiting your current resources to the full. My graphics card was being underutilized, I'm sure the same can be said for many systems out there, and my CPU was maxed out with no headroom while the sim was running. He showed me how to get the best out of my current hardware without having to face yet another expensive upgrade. An excellent service and 60 euros very well spent in anyone's book IMHO. I included the screen captures to illustrate things as they are now on my system. To return to the original reason for posting this reply, I say again that the water combo as detailed in my original post at:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=163638&page=5....should not result in any noticeable hit in performance. However, I do have to qualify this statement by saying my experience before and after FS-GS is confined to the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Regards,Mike

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

Hello Bill, Dan, and Mike, :-sun1Ok, If you read the following(mainly posted for Bill), you'll see that I actually have three(not two)sliders that are not fully to the right.------------------------------------My settings are 1600x1200 resolution, 4X AA, and 16X AF with Quality on. I use MyTraffic 2004 with AI Traffic at 100%. Everything else in the sim is turned on and up all the way, sliders full right except the following...Terrain Complexity(Mesh): 85%Scenery Complexity: Very DenseAutogen: Very Dense (I'm also using a file in the Avsim library named: fs9xml.zip)Not all my Weather sliders are full right...Sight distance: 100 mi.Cloud draw distance: 60 mi.(These following are turned on and up all the way)3-D cloud percentage: 100Detailed Clouds checked.Cloud coverage density: Maximum(100%)------------------------------------The bump-mapping effect(Water slider full right when using Mikes guide for FS2004 water), and what this performace issue is about, is due to the files contained in 'fs9wat2a.zip'. I'm actually using a 3.0 version(as opposed to 2.0a) that came in a Bill and Lynn Lyons payware package.After reading Dan's and Mike's posts, my conclusion is what I was originally thinking. The Radeon 9700 Pro does not cut the mustard to enjoy the bump-mapped water. I am definitely thinking it takes a 9800 Pro or higher(or Nvidia 5950?) to use this water and not have your FPS brought down to a stutter inducing level. At least if you have your sim, resolution, AA and AF settings turned up high. Even if you don't have your settings turned up high the 9700 Pro still might not cut it. Just my (educated? :-lol) guess.Cheers guys,Jim

[Guest]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong with my friends computer here that I built for him.These are the specs, and it gets slow performance from FS9 with everything maxed and using replacement faster textures including this water texture tip3.2 p41 gb ddr pc3200 ramwindows xpsb audigy platinumgeforce fx 5950 ultra250 gb hard drive

[Guest w2sjw]

I have to agree with Mike. I see no real hits to my system. I set up a test flight over Metro NYC with actual weather conditions at the time (just after sunrise), and I was able to pull the results seen in the shot.I must also agree with base fact that your system plays a huge part. My setup is an A7N8Xv2 w/ XP3200, 1GB Corsair Dual-Channel DDR400 & a GF-FX 5900 Ultra. I run the latest nForce2 drivers & the latest Forceware 56.72's. My FPS is left unlocked, I use no AA, and AF is 8x.I am very pleased with the results!Scotthttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/78310.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/78311.jpg

[Dirk98 354]

Hello Jim,What is "Bill and Lynn Lyons payware package" that you refer to? Where one can get it?Thanks,Dirk.

[Guest ba747heavy]

I use this water combo and I have no hit in performance.

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

Hi Dirk,Here's a link to Bill and Lynns's great website. :)http://windrfters.com/I have bought every Custom Classics for package FS2004 from Bill and Lynn. The version 3.0 of the water is contained in Custom Classics VII or higher package.They have also made a couple of their packages available as freeware that were originally payware for FS2002, and they are available in the Avsim library...Filenames:cub4free.ziptiger4free.zipI also believe their Hot Air Balloon works ok in FS2004, not 100% positive though.They used to have a few more of these freeware packages available, and I have them... the Globe Swift, Ryan STA/YPT16, Waco Classic biplane(a really cool one to have!). But I don't know where you can download these ones now. They're probably available somewhere, but there is no link to download them on the windrfters.com website and I don't think the filenames that I have for these packages are in the library. If anyone knows where to still get the above packages please drop a note!-----------------------------------------Fred,I'm still trying to determine for certain what model of Video Card is needed in order to be able to turn up your 'Water effects' slider to High when using this water combo. But you didn't say what your system specs are Fred. Drop another note if you want and let us know what video card you have. I see that Scott says that his Nvidia 5900 works ok. So as far as I know you'll need and Nvidia 5900 or higher, or an ATI 9800 Pro or higher. In other words I'm still thinking that a 9700 Pro doesn't cut it.Regards,Jim

[Dirk98 354]

>Hi Dirk,>>Here's a link to Bill and Lynns's great website. :)>>http://windrfters.com/>>I have bought every Custom Classics for package FS2004 from>Bill and Lynn. The version 3.0 of the water is contained in>Custom Classics VII or higher package.>>They have also made a couple of their packages available as>freeware that were originally payware for FS2002, and they are>available in the Avsim library...>>Filenames:>>cub4free.zip>tiger4free.zip>>I also believe their Hot Air Balloon works ok in FS2004, not>100% positive though.>>They used to have a few more of these freeware packages>available, and I have them... the Globe Swift, Ryan STA/YPT16,>Waco Classic biplane(a really cool one to have!). But I don't>know where you can download these ones now. They're probably>available somewhere, but there is no link to download them on>the windrfters.com website and I don't think the filenames>that I have for these packages are in the library. If anyone>knows where to still get the above packages please drop a>note!>>-----------------------------------------Thanks Jim, I'll order Classics VII and the Goose pachages, very nice planes.Best regards,Dirk.