I have been reading about changing the numbers of the TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL in the FS9.cfg file.Some posts talk about chaning it to 19. Some say to 20. Some say to 21.What's the deal with this?Do these changes make a difference for any mesh scenery installed (including default) or is it specific to the person/people who made it?For instance, on FSGenesis' site, Justin says to change it to 21 when using his 9.6m mesh.If someone could try to clarify this for me I would appreciate it.Thanks!

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL determines how much terrain detail will be processed and displayed by the simulator. A value of:19 will process and display 1 data point every 76 meters.20 will process and display 1 data point every 38 meters.21 will process and display 1 data point every 19 meters.FS2002 could also process and display 1 data point every 9.6 meters. In FS2004, that extra data is wasted, but the simulator can still process the 9.6 meter data files.

So I'm assuming that the frame rates drop with every increase in that number. Is that right?

For me the frame rate diff was nil. What it did do was create "pop" up's as I went along. Very annoying.I went back to the default 19.XP Home SP1Asus P4P800-SE Intel 3.0GHZDDR 400 D/C 2x512MBGeForce FX 5700 256MB (56.72)SB AudigyMSFF2 & X45 throttleSee you in the fence...CYYZ

Consider that a maximum setting - if the mesh you have installed is default or 76m, you'll see no FPS effect. If you install 38m mesh or better, you may start to see some fps hit as the mesh resolution is improved.The POPs can be eliminated or minimized by changing your minimum dem area to 30 or so, extended levels to something less that 4 (like 3.5).Best,sg

What is "dem" and what "extended levels" are you referring to?

In your fs9.cfg look for the following line under[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=30.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=3.5Change to the above as required.Back up your CFG file first, incase you don't like it.XP Home SP1Asus P4P800-SE Intel 3.0GHZDDR 400 D/C 2x512MBGeForce FX 5700 256MB (56.72)SB AudigyMSFF2 & X45 throttleSee you in the fence...CYYZ

Okay, got that.Now, what are the pop ups?

Pop up's are when your flying along and then things just POP up in front of you. Like the draw ahead dustance is to near and instead of thing gradually coming into view they pop up, like toast from a toaster.....XP Home SP1Asus P4P800-SE Intel 3.0GHZDDR 400 D/C 2x512MBGeForce FX 5700 256MB (56.72)SB AudigyMSFF2 & X45 throttleSee you in the fence...CYYZ

In front of the airplane or on the ground?

And, is there any benefit to using FSG Mesh and leaving the number at 19?Right now my default settings look like this...[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=85.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=2TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=0You say to have Extended Levels less than 4. Well, 0 is less than 4.

For FS2002 it makes sense to set it to 21 since this will allow FS to display 19.2m terrain (it will process 9.6m but will only display it at 19.2).FS2004 only supports 38m, so there's no point in setting TMVL to more than 20. In fact, setting it to 21 can cause problems with auto flattens and texturing/lighting.The FS Genesis recommendation probably refers to FS2002 and no longer hold true for FS2004 with its dumbed down terrain modelling capabilities.

>In front of the airplane or on the ground?For instance, watch this clip and notice how the runway marker lights "pop up" as I get closer to them. Only in the daytime I see this with buildings.http://www.virtual-speed.com/stiff/media/c.../dh6landing.wmvXP Home SP1Asus P4P800-SE Intel 3.0GHZDDR 400 D/C 2x512MBGeForce FX 5700 256MB (56.72)SB AudigyMSFF2 & X45 throttleSee you in the fence...CYYZ

No idea, but that was a scary approach man... ;) :D