I had practically decided to buy this plane but when I started to read the flying guide I got concerned about something.

They state that the plane need 30 fps to perform as intended. With my system I'm usually unable to get 30 fps. Often I have about 10-20 but occasionally it goes up to 30. My fps isn't stable and it's locked at 30. So from

what I can see the very realistic flying behavior of this plane will be degraded on my system (see left).

Would be interesting to hear from people who fly this plane on system similar to mine. One thing I wonder about is that for me the fps isn't so important as smooth performance. Have heard that the fps is no good indication of performance.

This plane is harder on frame rates than the default aircraft, simply because all that detail has a cost in terms of system load. If you're getting 10-20 fps with the default planes then maybe you should look elsewhere.

 

Cheers,

 

Noel.

If the new Aerosoft DR400 X is "light on framerate" as it claims, it might be a worthy alternative.

 

If you really want the Legacy, it does have an option to use a lower polygon model which might help with performance.

With my fairly low end PC ( by current standards), I find the Legacy is ok. FPS in the air is low 20's and drops to about 16 when at a complex airport. On my system I have found that running with FSP set to unlimited gives a better overall level of performance than locking it lower, eg 20. I reckon you should be fine, its a great model.

If you really want the Legacy, it does have an option to use a lower polygon model which might help with performance.

 

If I have understood things correctly this only apply to external views.

The Legacy is definitely heaver on fps than their earlier releases. What fps do you get with default C172 VC?

If I have understood things correctly this only apply to external views

 

I think you're correct, however the guide says it helps performance on low end systems without saying whether the impact is only for external views. I know the exterior is modeled in VC view, but I guess that's not affected by choosing the lower poly model.

I don't think the Legacy is going to be any more unrealistic at low frame-rates than most other planes in most respects, but where things may get out of whack are in the special features. The various vibration effects and some of the complex sound sequences will probably not synchronize well in low frame-rate situations.

 

Realistically, most systems are going to dip into the 20s in some situations, especially given that most people tend to push whatever limits their system allows - heavy wx, that one payware airport... something will get almost everybody once in a while. I've certainly flown mine in such cases and haven't had any special problems yet. But if your typical (not occasional) framerates are well down in the 20s or less, this probably isn't the plane for you.

 

Scott

The Legacy is definitely heaver on fps than their earlier releases. What fps do you get with default C172 VC?

 

That depends heavily on where I fly. In ORBX Seattle area around 10 in ORBX further away from seattle around 20

in a megascenery earth area 20-30. Not any bigger difference with addon planes. But steady 30 fps with no drop seems very difficult in all circumstances unless I lower the sliders unreasonable much.

 

Is their Legacy also definitely heavier on fps than other commercial addonplanes from example A2A ?

I wouldn't worry too much about the Legacy and performance. For one thing it uses the default GPS and not some hybrid one. Second you have the option to reduce the skin quality if you have to.

 

Besides that it is probably the best GA aircraft out there currently (next to the RA Turbine Duke) so it should be a no brainer purchase.

 

Regards

jja

I wouldn't worry too much about the Legacy and performance. For one thing it uses the default GPS and not some hybrid one. Second you have the option to reduce the skin quality if you have to.

 

Besides that it is probably the best GA aircraft out there currently (next to the RA Turbine Duke) so it should be a no brainer purchase.

 

Regards

jja

 

Agreed somewhat. I mean the Legacy is my favorite but I wouldn't want to mislead anyone and say performance isn't a factor. If you've got a rig like mine it isn't. But the OP doesn't have an extremely powerful system. A long while back I did some simple performance comparisons between stock C172 and Legacy. Tests were performed at KEDW with no autogen, clear skies, no AI traffic and unlimited fps with no external limiter either. On average I lost about 30% fps when in the Legacy compared to the 172.

Yea to be expected. I can say the same for just about any purchased plane over the FSX 172.

 

Cheers

jja

Any addon aircraft that flies below 30 fps is subject to flight model choppiness, not just the Legacy. We just take the trouble to inform potential customers that this is the case. If you can maintain around 28 fps and there are no spikes or sudden drops that is just about ok, but for better flying smoothness there is always the option of reducing traffic, scenery and autogen.

 

Airline or passenger jets and turboprops are typically also subject to the same thing but since many of their features tend to be procedural rather than pure flying by the seat of your pants, a drop in frame rate is considered by some as not so critical. Personally I find any FSX aircraft that performs below 30 fps as not very satisfactory and always turn other detail down.

 

Almost all computers made in the last five years with a reasonably decent graphics card can easily achieve this goal if scenery and other details are kept to sensible levels. One thing I have always done, but it doesn't work on everyone's system, is to right click FSX.exe in the task manager/running applications and set FSX priority to one notch above normal. Some "experts" say this is a bad thing to do but I disagree. What this does is focus more computer resources on the simulator engine in FSX at the slight expense of things like the in-sim map or menus but on several systems I've had this enormously smooths performance and prevents spikes in frame rate.

 

All the best,

 

Rob - RealAir Simulations

Good tip Robert. Can't wait for the next RealAir offering.

 

Regards

jja

The Real Air Legacy is so good it makes up for any sacrifice in extreme scenery detail (within reason) that might be necessary to retain the fps smoothess. Mine operates near perfectly in the most extreme circumstances.

 

Kind regards,

 

Of course I am neutral in this matter, but am a fan.