No Stutters....EXCEPT ..........

[Guest Ken_Salter]

Assuming this to be true, when the sim (as with any other program) reads data from disk, the data will be stored in cache for some time. I would think that since the textures used for land are not varied much, that this data would stay in RAM cache and not needed from the hard disk. Therefore, the more RAM you have, the larger the memory cache and the more data that the sim can get from cache than hard disk. Same should hold true for aircraft textures.So maybe if you cycle through the views when you start, to get the texture into cache, then you won't have as much of a problem later. This assumes you have enough RAM so that the OS doesn't have to page out to the swap file on the hard disk.

[Guest nutmeat]

Hi Ken,Ideally, this would be true but it appears to be not the case here. I'm assuming that this area of the code is from earlier versions of the sim and was originally written to provide for operation with small memories.I ran several tests on this topic, using the Real Air Scout, as this aircraft demonstrated the condition pretty clearly. Flying a straight course and then switching to the various side views, each time the sim went to the hard drive for the data. I'm running a fast AMD64 3400 processor with 1 Gb RAM. Even when switching quickly from forward to side, the disk was accessed. I concluded that the sim released the texture memory when the forward view resumed, thereby requireing new accesses each time.Try it for yourself and let us know what you see. Be sure to shut off other stuff like AI aircraft and dynamic wx first.Larry S.P.S. You can also use the Windows XP Pro performance monitor to see just how much data is being transferred.

[Guest Ken_Salter]

It is possible in the Win32 API to designate memory allocation as not allowed to be paged, etc. So, especially with your tests, this may be what is going on internally in the sim.Maybe with the next version (assuming there is one), the programmers will take a new look at this given the kind of computers that your average person now owns.

[normada 0]

larry,i cannot reproduce your example. using the rfp 747 with as2004 etc, once the textures are loaded into the cache, i can switch forward backward, vc, spotview etc, the texture are not loaded from harddisk, they stay on cache. do u have large system cache enabled? are u on nfts or fat32? do u have "ntfs last access update" enabled or disabled? did u defrag your harddisk? As i said when switching between the views the harddisk light is not flashing on my system, so there must be something wrong with your configuration, on my system the textures stay in cache.ron

[Guest nutmeat]

Hi Ken Again,I agree! I was a professional software developer for 37 years before I retired; especially proficient with the Windows API and Foundation class. I've been sitting here thinking that, the API did provide for cahing/no caching option but I couldn't remember exactly or thought I was just wishful thinking. Thanks for confirming this and putting my mind at ease :-). Perhaps, subconciously, this was my thoughts leading to believe that this area of the sim was "old code".For those who have'nt had the pleasures of programming within the Windows environment(???) there are a great many ways to accomplish the effective same end result but many of the options came about at differing points in time. This condition does not represent a bug or poor design, necessarily, it may have had more to do with the design and implementation choices (and skills) available at the time the code was written. As Ken has suggested, this is the things that we can hope are improved upon through subsequent releases, in addition to the visual and apparent goodies.Larry S.

[spilok 1,132]

Phenomenal discussion....Thank you very much. I've learned a lot. I've learned especially that many, many simmers have this problem and have accepted it a part of "an old code" or else they are looking for the magic elixir. I am going now to the Direct X part of my system to check the sound card acceleration to see if that makes a difference. I certainly hope MICROSOFT is monitoring some of these forum threads and is doing something about this in the NEXT VERSION.The "Fluidity Factor" is REAL, and it must be addressed for the sake of realism.MICOSOFT....How about breaking one rule and say "Hello". Let us know that you are at least listening!

[Guest nutmeat]

Hey Ron,Not all a/c manifest this condition. I've several with which the situation does not occur; that is why I choose the Real Air Scout, as it does show this condition very promenently. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with this aircraft; its the manner in which the textures were designed. You also may not see a light flash when the data transfer is small. You need to use the Performance Monitor (I think its only on the Pro version of XP but could be wrong).For some answers, I'm running NTFS with the page file set to 1534 mBytes. Both disks are defraged automatically as needed by Executive Defragger around 6PM each evening. Keep in mind that the Paging File (using specialized disk access techniques) is not the same as a cache. There are numerous caches in a typical system, both hardware and software. In a fast changing environment, such as flying around in a mountainous area, data can get flushed from a cache pretty quickly. Doing the same over an ocean in clear weather may not be the same...this I have not tested. Also, as I've said, the VC mode does not exhibit this at all. This I believe, is because it is more recent software and designed with user panning in mind.Hope this is of some help,Larry S.

[JohnSD 0]

I experienced similar stutters when changing views (my system is virtually identical to yours), and they went away when I changed from FPS locked at 30 to unlimited. Don't know if that will work for you, but it's worth a try.

[spilok 1,132]

Thanks....I always fly with "unlimited" checked. I'm going to try FS Start and see if that makes a difference. If not, I'm going to be content, and fly ...and enjoy. FS2006 just might take the "fluidity factor" into consideration.

[Guest bobsk8]

>Hey Ron,>>Not all a/c manifest this condition. I've several with which>the situation does not occur; that is why I choose the Real>Air Scout, as it does show this condition very promenently.>This is not to say that there is anything wrong with this>aircraft; its the manner in which the textures were designed.>You also may not see a light flash when the data transfer is>small. You need to use the Performance Monitor (I think its>only on the Pro version of XP but could be wrong).>>For some answers, I'm running NTFS with the page file set to>1534 mBytes. Both disks are defraged automatically as needed>by Executive Defragger around 6PM each evening. Keep in mind>that the Paging File (using specialized disk access>techniques) is not the same as a cache. There are numerous>caches in a typical system, both hardware and software. In a>fast changing environment, such as flying around in a>mountainous area, data can get flushed from a cache pretty>quickly. Doing the same over an ocean in clear weather may not>be the same...this I have not tested. Also, as I've said, the>VC mode does not exhibit this at all. This I believe, is>because it is more recent software and designed with user>panning in mind.>>Hope this is of some help,>>Larry S.>I do not think it is a Real Air Scout issue, because the Real Air Scout does not do that on my system . Switches are instantaneous.