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BeechPapa

Apprehensive About Adding Traffic

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The FSX airports have felt pretty lonely with default traffic for years, but I am afraid to lose any smoothness on approach so I never invested in a traffic program. I am right on the edge of what I consider enjoyable fps at certain airports and am worried that UI traffic programs would ruin other parts of my sim, like having a smooth enough experience to sense lift changes on final approach. Because of these concerns, I was wondering if some of you may be so kind as to answer some specific inquiries I have in regards to AI traffic

 

1) If I set a traffic program like UT2 to the same level I have now for default AI traffic (roughly 20%) will I see an FPS impact? I was wondering if the simpler plane models might compensate for the increased amount of traffic and be roughly the same performance impact as default AI. If that is the case, I'd jump right in.  

 

2) How easily can these traffic programs be uninstalled in the case that it doesn’t work out well performance wise? 

 

3) I’ve read UT2 is the best at fps performance, is that still true? The two which stand out as being best according to forum reading is WOAI and UT2, with many people seeming to prefer UT2 due to the optimized-for-FSX models.  

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

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UT2 is VERY LIGHT on FPS. The only downside with UT2 is that none of the default planes have updated liveries from what I could tell so there are no new UNITED colors or American Airlines colors just to name 2 of the biggest ones but there are A TON more that are in need of updating. 

 

Now I will say I am sure with the amount of plane models and airlines I have updated I suffer FPS loss. I run UT2 at 85% and for example at FSDT KDFW with ASN, REX4, UTX, using the PMDG 737 I get about 25 FPS at the gate and it drops to around 16-18 FPS on the runway when looking back towards the terminals with the planes. 

 

Also UT2 does not use the traffic density slider in FSX. It has it's own way of populating airports so 85% in UT2 I couldn't even guess what that means in FSX. Most people run UT2 at 100% which populates every flight in the UT2 schedule. That doesn't mean EVERY gate is filled though. So at a very small airport you need the UT2 setting to be 100% to see any traffic there.

 

The reason I don't is at busy airports there is always a log jam of planes trying to takeoff or land. I am sure there are programs that could fix this but I haven't looked into any of them. 

 

UT2 is a fantastic program and if you just want to see traffic with little FPS hit then UT2 is great. Like I said if you start updating stuff you will see the FPS hit. 

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I've been a UT2 user since it came out years ago and have been very happy with performance and all the custom option is offers like max spawn amount, min distance to spaw, etc. Plus the Power Pack makes it really easy to edit and update flight plans, schedules and repaints.

 

I find that the GPS hit is minimal, maybe 5 to 7 FPS in extreme situations like Heathrow and it performs much better than WOAI did for me in FSX.

 

They also offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so there is no risk to try it.


Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator

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Here we go again..get ut2 and pm me for my updates ive done over the years


 
 
 
 
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  913456

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If you're worried about AI and fps problems, get the freeware utility Traffic Optimizer. It will let you set a limit to how many AI aircraft and ships that get loaded into the sim. Works great in busy areas like Paris, New York, Seattle etc.


Simmerhead - Making the virtual skies unsafe since 1987! 

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Thanks everyone for the replies. I have to admit, it's still a bit discouraging. I'm used to 22-25fps at the gates and 25-27 fps on the runway. It's smooth enough that I can feel the air scoop under the wings and lift the plane, then feel the turbulence as soon as I'm in the air. The small bumps on approach are important to me too. When I get too close to 20fps that feeling of flight goes away. I understand I'm probably being a bit particular here, but it's something I always put a lot of priority in for a flight sim. I'm also concerned about constant go-arounds since AI traffic doesn't know how to vacate a runway quickly.

 

It sounds like there is no way to escape a fps loss with AI traffic addons. I do not have high expectations for traffic. I do not want traffic at every gate. Every 4th or 5th gate would be fine, I just want a few planes to give life to airports. Is there no way to keep UT2 settings so low that there is no performance hit compared to default traffic? 

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There is a setting in the UT2 UI that let's you set a minimum FPS and will automatically reduce traffic until your FPS limit is achieved. So you could set AI at 70% and 25 FPS minimum and UT2 will start zapping traffic until the Sim hits 25 FPS. It's pretty cool.

 

Try it and take advantage of the 30 day or your money back. You'll never really get a good idea from asking us about it until you try for yourself.


Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator

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There is a setting in the UT2 UI that let's you set a minimum FPS and will automatically reduce traffic until your FPS limit is achieved. So you could set AI at 70% and 25 FPS minimum and UT2 will start zapping traffic until the Sim hits 25 FPS. It's pretty cool.

Try it and take advantage of the 30 day or your money back. You'll never really get a good idea from asking us about it until you try for yourself.

Thanks for that info, it sounds like a good feature. I guess you're right about seeing myself though, since there is a guarantee I'll probably give it a shot.

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