Can we please stick to the topic of the post? Many of us are diligently following the progress LM makes on this cloud issue and have chosen to receive notifications when a new post is made. That coupled with the fact the new readers to the topic already have to sift through a dozen pages in this thread as it is... Let's make it easier for all involved. Please and thanks.

AI Optimizer - whats this Mitch - thanks

 

Ooops just found a thread on it

Hi Rich...it works for any A.I. program that still uses the P3D Traffic sliders. I don't think this can work work with UT 2......

Can we please stick to the topic of the post? Many of us are diligently following the progress LM makes on this cloud issue and have chosen to receive notifications when a new post is made. That coupled with the fact the new readers to the topic already have to sift through a dozen pages in this thread as it is... Let's make it easier for all involved. Please and thanks.

Yes, you're right...only about clouds...but we are all excited about ANYTHING that harvests greater FPS post fix/install, and can dart off along those lines.... but...you are right...

Hi Rich...it works for any A.I. program that still uses the P3D Traffic sliders. I don't think this can work work with UT 2......

Yes, you're right...only about clouds...but we are all excited about ANYTHING that harvests greater FPS post fix/install, and can dart off along those lines.... but...you are right...

 

Correct Mitch it does not work with UT2 - thanks

Don't know how you folks are setting cloud density to Max with ASN and not getting a huge performance hit?  Are you using Cloud Shadows = 80000?

 

I assume everyone has deleted their shaders folder when doing all this testing?

 

Cheers, Rob.

Can we please stick to the topic of the post? Many of us are diligently following the progress LM makes on this cloud issue and have chosen to receive notifications when a new post is made. That coupled with the fact the new readers to the topic already have to sift through a dozen pages in this thread as it is... Let's make it easier for all involved. Please and thanks.

You're right, I'll stay on topic.

 

If I use NI and set Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4 x Super Grid Sampling. I get rid of the VC shimmering. However, I lose my cloud detail. 4 x Super Grid Sampling 'blends' the cloud detail to, well, nothing.

 

Not sure if anyone noticed this...but I did.

 

But, if I do set NI to default values when using NI Prepar3D setting, and then in Prepar3D set FXAA to ON, MSAA = 8 Samples, Anistropic 16x, VSync = On, and Triple Buffering checked, along with the latest LM fix of width*.05 and height*0.5, I get GREAT cloud definition and frame rates.

 

I also use ASN and set cloud level to 7, WOW, very nice. And for me, no significant drop in frame rates. Excellent suggestion from this thread...

 

Also, I did just fly KCOE to KBOI, with ASN historical weather from 8/23/14 at 17:00 (also mentioned in this thread). Very nice flight. Plenty of overcast and while I did see a drop in FPS, it stayed around 25 - 30 FPS.

 

However, I do get the shimmering when using my head tracker...since  jabloom did speak to TrackIR, in this very thread, I thought it would be OK to ask a question about it. Also, I thought other people reading this thread might also be interested in cloud detail, using head tracker, etc.

 

jabloom, any chance you could PM me?

 

 

Hello jabloom, by chance do you have the Duke V2 or Caranado Phenom?

 

Sorry no. I do have a few Carenado planes, but not the Phenom. BTW, what is your "head tracker", if you don't have TrackIR?

 

I have never noticed any change in IQ when using TrackIR. The driver does place an additional burden on the CPU and can cause momentary stuttering. At low frame rates (<15 fps), TrackIR makes everything worse, but again, it's more of a jerky stuttering kind of behavior, rather than image quality.

Can we please stick to the topic of the post? Many of us are diligently following the progress LM makes on this cloud issue and have chosen to receive notifications when a new post is made. That coupled with the fact the new readers to the topic already have to sift through a dozen pages in this thread as it is... Let's make it easier for all involved. Please and thanks.

The off topic part was included in a post about the cloud fix. So, it was not a separate topic in this particular thread.

 

 

Don't know how you folks are setting cloud density to Max with ASN and not getting a huge performance hit?

 

I'm with you Rob I still use Medium for coverage but I don't run high setting or any addon scenery other than updated afcads.

 

I use it to review my real world IFR flight lessons each week to maintain proficiency so I'm not into the eyecandy just proper navaids etc and atc verbiage.

Don't know how you folks are setting cloud density to Max with ASN and not getting a huge performance hit?  Are you using Cloud Shadows = 80000?

 

I assume everyone has deleted their shaders folder when doing all this testing?

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

Cloud density max, min cloud draw distance in ASN is 110, max 150, 5 layers, cloud shadows and shadow quality at max:

 

I restored my original P3D cloud textures and performance increased significantly and I was able to set Cloud Density to Max ... someone mentioned not using REX Cloud Textures so I removed them and used P3D default.

 

Interesting finding, didn't expect it.  So for now I'll stay with P3D default clouds as the performance gain is significant ... the REX clouds do look nicer but have to make the compromise.

 

Cheers, Rob.

Don't know how you folks are setting cloud density to Max with ASN and not getting a huge performance hit?  Are you using Cloud Shadows = 80000?

 

I assume everyone has deleted their shaders folder when doing all this testing?

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

For me, ASN, cloud coverage density at max in P3D, five layers in ASN and all other ASN settings at default except "enhance overcast" on, cloud draw distance at 90 in P3D, cloud shadow distance at 80000 but shadow quality low, REX 4 clouds at 1024, dxt 5.  I suppose I should try increasing some of the other settings to see what happens.  I think I'm seeing some performance degradation compared to lower cloud coverage density and draw distances, but frames are staying smooth and are holding to more-than-acceptable frame rates (anywhere from high 20s to 40s).  Now, this is with a low frame-rate aircraft (the Manfred Jahn C47 v2 with the recent VC mods), so it's not yet an absolute stress test.  When I get a chance - probably in the next day or two - I'll try the A2A Accusim B-17, which is particularly hard on my P3D setup.  What amazes me (and I can't really account for it) is not that frame rates are astronomical but that performance is so fluid and smooth.  Doesn't make complete sense but that's what I've got so far.

I restored my original P3D cloud textures and performance increased significantly and I was able to set Cloud Density to Max ... someone mentioned not using REX Cloud Textures so I removed them and used P3D default.

 

Interesting finding, didn't expect it.  So for now I'll stay with P3D default clouds as the performance gain is significant ... the REX clouds do look nicer but have to make the compromise.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

That may have been me. I replied to you after you mentioned that increasing cloud density to maximum with ASN and REX had a significant FPS impact for you. I replied that the impact for me was minor with ASN  .... but that I wasn't using REX.  I'm glad that you now have it sorted out.

 

After flying in all sorts or weather over the past few days P3D v.2.3 with the fix and using maximum cloud density, I'm enjoying the best P3D flying to date (and the most consistent frame rates, with higher settings than I've been able to use in previous versions).  It is so enjoyable to just leave my settings alone and not have to decrease some setting just because I fly into an overcast sky.

The default cumulus01.bmp is 256px so does REX not have a 256px option? That should be equivalent performance-wise?

 

If anyone's interested here are the sizes and formats that ship with P3D v2.3 (well these are the ones that HDE v2 replaces anyway):

 

 

 

cirrus_broken.bmp        512x512      32bit
cirrus_broken01.bmp      256x256      32bit
cirrus_broken02.bmp      32x32        32bit
cirrus_broken03.bmp      256x256      32bit
cirrus_few.bmp           512x512      32bit
cirrus_few01.bmp         256x256      32bit
cirrus_few02.bmp         256x256      32bit
cirrus_few03.bmp         256x256      32bit
cirrus_overcast.bmp      512x512      32bit
cirrus_overcast01.bmp    256x256      32bit
cirrus_overcast02.bmp    32x32        32bit
cirrus_overcast03.bmp    256x256      32bit
cirrus_scattered.bmp     512x512      32bit
cirrus_scattered01.bmp   256x256      32bit
cirrus_scattered02.bmp   256x256      32bit
cirrus_scattered03.bmp   256x256      32bit
cumulus01.bmp            256x256      DXT5

 

 

Hi all ,

 

Is anyone testing these clouds settings etc with a payware airliner e.g the Aerosoft Airbus.

 

I notice it is mainly small GA aircraft, being used as test beds...would be interested to know what the performance hit is then..

 

All the best

I restored my original P3D cloud textures and performance increased significantly and I was able to set Cloud Density to Max ... someone mentioned not using REX Cloud Textures so I removed them and used P3D default.

 

Interesting finding, didn't expect it.  So for now I'll stay with P3D default clouds as the performance gain is significant ... the REX clouds do look nicer but have to make the compromise.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

In that case I'd like to recommend the free HDE v2 clouds, available on the Avsim server. No need for compromises if free alternatives are available!  ^_^ Those clouds look good (far better than default) and don't seem to hurt performance (at least not on my PC). I am using them with ASN (P3D cloud density full right, shadows at 80.000, high quality, ASN 5 layers, cloud distance at 90-120).

 

I only use the included Cumulus1.bmp (the 512x512 DXT3 one: there are various types). The file is in the FS2004 section but the Cumulus works perfectly fine with P3D. You could also use the Cirrus but imho that one isn't as good as the Cumulus. All other files you should forget about.