2.3 -> 2.4 update report

[hychewright 46]

Hi Michael, yes, I will do that for you shortly....and will report my FPS in that location.  I must say though..that I have been tweaking my GTX680, and with my settings I now have in place on the Precision X 16 over-clock app,  I have gone in unlocked from 33 to 48-56 FPS in P3D v2.3.  Do you want me to keep my overclock, or do you wish me to drop to as-delivered stock settings?  My card is an EVGA GTX 680 2GB Signature Plus. Let me know before the test..because that will certainly slant it, system-wise....

 

Regards,

 

Mitch

Hi Jeroen,  ok then..I wasn't sure.  Yes...at first I wondered what that was, as the ground swept dark around me...lol..I thought a CTD was coming, but nope...it came and went. It was amazing to see. I know that a lot of folks absolutely love their FSX installations, as do I...ORBX 1.30 looks fantastic, in every way, over 1.20 in that platform...and so I know that I shall keep both for all time.  Rockcliffe is missing out on some great features that just can not be duplicated for immersion, by not running alongside his FSX...any form of P3D.  I hope he reconsiders, unless system space is an issue.  Yes...there are some things that are not butter-smooth, but if you can make a mental allowance...man...dedicated-only FSX'ers..are just plain missing out. My P.O.

 

Cheers,

 

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

I run both, I love both.  They have different strengths, and I find it hard to just say 'one in preference over the other'.  I fire up either, depending on what I want out of that flight.  If they both had the exact-same feature set...then I think yes...you could decide to run the one that gave you the smoothest animation.  FSX on present systems does give you (N.I. support ect) better animation, but then...no cloud shadows, no cloud shadow dynamics, no killer-HDR effects, and so on.   So for myself...I don't think I can ever come to, that one is all-considerations-aside,better than the other...and come to think of it...I'll add in FS9...the all-time champ for Heavy Iron flights...  They all have great strengths, it all depends on what you wish to do in a coming flight.   At least for myself..... 

 

 

I run both as well.  Fly more with FSX now. With P3D I do not have any add on software because I just keep updating each version with full install til LM gets things sorted out, which may be a while.

[polk2 15]

I thought stock P3D autogen was identical to stock FSX autogen unless upgraded by FTX Global or GEX etc.

 

Daz

 I have global on both and I reckon its identical  but the more washed out look of fsx dx10 against P3D dx11 autogen  looks better in my opinion but the atmospheric conditions are improved in P3D

 

 

Hi Michael, yes, I will do that for you shortly....and will report my FPS in that location.  I must say though..that I have been tweaking my GTX680, and with my settings I now have in place on the Precision X 16 over-clock app,  I have gone in unlocked from 33 to 48-56 FPS in P3D v2.3.  Do you want me to keep my overclock, or do you wish me to drop to as-delivered stock settings?  My card is an EVGA GTX 680 2GB Signature Plus. Let me know before the test..because that will certainly slant it, system-wise....

 

Regards,

 

Mitch

Hi Jeroen,  ok then..I wasn't sure.  Yes...at first I wondered what that was, as the ground swept dark around me...lol..I thought a CTD was coming, but nope...it came and went. It was amazing to see. I know that a lot of folks absolutely love their FSX installations, as do I...ORBX 1.30 looks fantastic, in every way, over 1.20 in that platform...and so I know that I shall keep both for all time.  Rockcliffe is missing out on some great features that just can not be duplicated for immersion, by not running alongside his FSX...any form of P3D.  I hope he reconsiders, unless system space is an issue.  Yes...there are some things that are not butter-smooth, but if you can make a mental allowance...man...dedicated-only FSX'ers..are just plain missing out. My P.O.

 

Cheers,

 

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

I run both, I love both.  They have different strengths, and I find it hard to just say 'one in preference over the other'.  I fire up either, depending on what I want out of that flight.  If they both had the exact-same feature set...then I think yes...you could decide to run the one that gave you the smoothest animation.  FSX on present systems does give you (N.I. support ect) better animation, but then...no cloud shadows, no cloud shadow dynamics, no killer-HDR effects, and so on.   So for myself...I don't think I can ever come to, that one is all-considerations-aside,better than the other...and come to think of it...I'll add in FS9...the all-time champ for Heavy Iron flights...  They all have great strengths, it all depends on what you wish to do in a coming flight.   At least for myself..... 

 

I find hard to say one in preference over the other too, especially if you have a tweaked FSX with DX10 fixer and fiber accelerator.

[brucek 38]

Well...I found out that if you follow Rob's advice to back up your present v2.(x) files...the best way to upgrade..is to:

 

1. Back up the files as per Rob's advice and posting.

2. Uninstall your present v2.(x) but do not delete the folder it resided in...!!!

3. Download the FULL INSTALLER for the new version, and run it. Direct the installation to your OLD and (still there) folder that housed v2.(x) (3 in this case)...........

 

Hi Mitch, Getting ready to install v2.4 myself. I have downloaded the full install, but before starting I thoght I would ask you what the issue was for you when attempting the patch, that promoted the full install?

 

Thanks, Bruce.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Hi Mitch, Getting ready to install v2.4 myself. I have downloaded the full install, but before starting I thoght I would ask you what the issue was for you when attempting the patch, that promoted the full install?

 

Thanks, Bruce.

It went through the patch routine, but did not actually place the P3P.exe update. It still was 2.3.  So I decided to do a full install, of which of course...every true file that comes with v2.4, did install.  With my suggested method, you don't lose any of your 3rdP installs.  You do need to follow Rob's advice on what to save..and then where to put back the files he stipulates. That...allows P3D v2.4 to find all the add-ons you had in v2.3. 

 

That was it. The patch just didn't do its job...even with all of Rob's suggestions.

 

The full install sure did....for I had a properly working (no technical problems) v2.4, but for personal reasons, decided to re-install v2.3 after a trial run of said v2.4

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch

[storkman 0]

No, it makes no difference what the settings are at.

Yes it does GHarrall make a difference, if it didn't then why would we be getting different FPS when we changed the settings?

[GHarrall 494]

Yes it does GHarrall make a difference, if it didn't then why would we be getting different FPS when we changed the settings?

 

Complete lack of reading skills and comprehension.

 

You have taken this totally out of context.

 

I said the slider didn't make a difference to the micro stutters (that's why I quoted the previous post in my reply)

 

Of course the sliders make a difference to the FPS.......but not the scenery micro stuttering.

[mpw8679 428]

Complete lack of reading skills and comprehension.

 

You have taken this totally out of context.

 

I said the slider didn't make a difference to the micro stutters (that's why I quoted the previous post in my reply)

 

Of course the sliders make a difference to the FPS.......but not the scenery micro stuttering.

I am getting frustrated with everytime this micro stutter issue comes up people blame high settings, system setup, blah blah blah. I can turn all my settings all the way down, load basic aircraft, low demand area, and no matter what they are still there. I hope this issue can be resolved soon.

[glenecho3 9]

I just returned to flightsimming from a pretty long layoff (at least 5 years...I quit counting). I'm still up in the air on whether I'll renew my dev license next month.

 

I'm constantly annoyed by two huge persistent flaws that exist only in Prepar3d. Exhibit A: Mouse Look...very frequently when using mouse look the cursor will get STUCK in mouse view and the only way to break it out (at least for me) is to switch to another application, click in it somewhere, return to P3D, and hit the spacebar again to break out of it. Very annoying anomaly. Exhibit B: The awful ATC window. Why break what worked fine in the first place? Big...ugly...blue...and worse of all non-transparent. And it usually doesn't respond to your key presses unless you click on the window and bring it to the foreground. I'm sorry...but that is weak.

 

I hoped 2.4 would fix these rather obvious issues but it didn't. I will take a look around the forum for some fixes, but I have this issue on two very different PCs after a vanilla 2.4 install. I don't understand why a newer product has issues that the older product it's based off of doesn't.

[DylanM 1,069]

I am getting frustrated with everytime this micro stutter issue comes up people blame high settings, system setup, blah blah blah. I can turn all my settings all the way down, load basic aircraft, low demand area, and no matter what they are still there. I hope this issue can be resolved soon.

 

Just remember - there are many (myself included) who don't have the issue with microstutters - if it was systemic, everyone would. That is why we're trying to pinpoint specifics on what may be causing this for some and not others.

 

Couple of things to check one at a time:

- Has the windows swapfile setting been changed

- Have you checked which background or services or applications are loaded or running in windows

- Have you run a recent check for malware using multiple programs (free Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, etc)

- Have you tried running without a weather engine or FSUIPC

- Have you tried running with frames set at unlimited, and experimented with vsync / triple buffering on or off - better or worse

- Have you tried running with a low Fiber_Frame_Time_Fraction (e.g. 0.1) - better or worse

- Have you tried running wit a higher TextureMaxLoad (e.g. 12, 24) - better or worse

- Have you confirmed no thermal throttling is occuring for your CPU or video card

- Do you have the latest AHCI drivers if you've got a specific Intel or Marvell chipset

[Jim Robinson 122]

Exhibit A: Mouse Look...very frequently when using mouse look the cursor will get STUCK in mouse view and the only way to break it out (at least for me) is to switch to another application, click in it somewhere, return to P3D, and hit the spacebar again to break out of it.

I know exactly what you mean, this happens to me whenever I Alt+Enter from windowed mode to full screen ( or what would be known as windowed mode and full screen in FSX). I've found if you just click somewhere once before hitting the space bar it prevents it from happening. Also I assigned a joystick button to mouse-look and hitting that button will break me out of stuck mouse-look whenever it happens.

[GHarrall 494]

Just remember - there are many (myself included) who don't have the issue with microstutters - if it was systemic, everyone would. That is why we're trying to pinpoint specifics on what may be causing this for some and not others.

 

Couple of things to check one at a time:

- Has the windows swapfile setting been changed

- Have you checked which background or services or applications are loaded or running in windows

- Have you run a recent check for malware using multiple programs (free Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, etc)

- Have you tried running without a weather engine or FSUIPC

- Have you tried running with frames set at unlimited, and experimented with vsync / triple buffering on or off - better or worse

- Have you tried running with a low Fiber_Frame_Time_Fraction (e.g. 0.1) - better or worse

- Have you tried running wit a higher TextureMaxLoad (e.g. 12, 24) - better or worse

- Have you confirmed no thermal throttling is occuring for your CPU or video card

- Do you have the latest AHCI drivers if you've got a specific Intel or Marvell chipset

 

I can guarantee you do have it. You are either not seeing it (great if it doesn't bother you) or choosing to ignore it. It was the same with FSX until 1/2 refresh rate fixed it.

 

All that you have listed is great for people who know squat about setting up a basic FSX machine. I have been at this for nigh on 30 years. I have a stutterless FSX installation. Why would P3D be any different in terms of my PC set up??

 

I think even Rob has admitted that the scenery micro stutter refresh exists. As of yet, nothing fixes it because there is no support at the driver level. 

[DylanM 1,069]

With FSX and 1/2 refresh rate fix, I would still get timed/periodic long frames (very obvious if I went into spot mode and looked straing down at the ground, as you see the terrain float by - then stutter. Rinse & repeat.).

 

I certainly don't have that anymore with P3D, so yes. I am certain. Only stutters are when new custom autogen / textures / buildings get loaded in.

 

p.s. I've been pushing hardware for just as long. The advice you get here is worth the amount you paid for it...and you can choose to ignore, especially if it wasn't directed at you.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

The only stutters that I ever see with P3d is sometimes when ASN updates the weather. And I can fix that by limiting ASN to run only on the 12th physical core (It's nice to have 12 cores). Most of the time, I don't even bother doing that.

[jlebesis1 9]

But that's a combat flight simulator...  :mellow:

It's a combat flight sim.. but that actual sim experience is beautiful. I get abolutely ZERO stutter, except in really heavy missions where there are lots of online players and heavy graphics. In general, I don't believe you can compare the sims side by side graphically.. but in general, the ground textures are really crisp and beautiful. Remember DCS is not about scenery etc, but the graphics of the aircraft models, the smooth flight experience, the REALISTIC flight models of some of the aircraft is so good. 

 

I actually found it very hard to even look at P3d after playing this...if it wasn't for FTX global.. the textures are just horrendous in comparison. 

 

I'm not saying you can replace one sim with another.. they do different things. But do yourself a huge favour.. get DCS and at least purchase one of the aircraft with an advanced flight model. I've never flown anything in FSX or P3d that feels remotely close to the real thing. (Despite developers telling us that it's all been tested by airline pilots etc etc). The sim just can't reproduce it. 

 

Last thing.. I agree about the microstutters, some may believe "Oh, it's no big deal.." but unfortunately.. it IS a big deal. It's not just about looking for them. The fact they even exist at all, is taking away from a true, smooth flying experience. Period. 

 

I have to admit though, since P3d 2.4, I'm quite excited about how far things have come in such a short time.. We were stuck with a  piece of ###### coded game for so many years (FSX), and we all spent most of our time tweaking, rather than flying.

 

On the DCS front.. EDGE.. their new maps and graphics engine is out before christmas, along with more new aircraft modules that are beathtaking. Mark my word. You won't find anything like it,... I promise you that. Invest in it, it will renew your vigour for online flying  

 

Happy flying to you all! 

 

J