LOL mips are at 4, but thanks anyway! LOLRegards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

>No shimmering with Mips a 4 in FS.>>Btw. advice for performance AF and not quality - GREAT! Maybe>it's only me, but I really feel a performance boost, and>visually, not a change! Thanks! :-) :-) :-)Glad it worked for you!I made that settings change and got a quite a big boost in FPS.My FPS have always been fantastic and I use 1600x1200x32, 4xFSAA and 16xAF and I have NO FPS issues whatsoever. I am like you, I consider 35+ good FPS, not 20 or 25. Maybe it's my RAM clock and BUS speed.:)

FS is not programmed to take advantage of the newer video card features like shaders, geometry instancing etc - that's why FS doesn't run well compared to games like Half-Life 2 etc... Hopefully if the rumors are true, this won't be an issue with the next version of FS, since it will have all that stuff.

Its my opinion that FS is very very far from an efficient program. I understand that a lot of things are going on that become very demanding of a computer, but it seems to me that many games are in a simliar predicament, they've just done a better job of utilizing current technology to compensate. I love FS but I think its a little absurd when a $3000+ computer cant run the thing without "tweaking." Somethings gotta change. When a computer can run Doom III, Farcry, unreal tournament and IL2 PF beautifully but comes grinding to a halt when FS is selected, we might need to consider the possibility that the PC isn't the problem. Just my thoughts

I need help, I bought Flight Environment today and I did a flight to Cork this evening and the weather in Cork was clouds and rainy. My framerates were awful! (less than 5) My setting are......(in game settings)Sight Distance 150 milesCloud Draw Distance 80 miles3-D Cloud Percentage 100%Render to Texture is checkedTransform and Lighting is checkedAnti Aliasing is un checkedmips 81280x1024x32 (this is the highest I have)Framerate is set at unlimited(my video card settings)Anti Aliasing is at 6xAntisotropic Flitering is at 16x and is set at qualityTemporal Anti Aliasing is un checkedWhat can I change to get better performance? I was getting better performance before I bought Flight Environment.

>I need help, I bought Flight Environment today and I did a>flight to Cork this evening and the weather in Cork was clouds>and rainy. My framerates were awful! (less than 5) My setting>are......>>(in game settings)>Sight Distance 150 miles>Cloud Draw Distance 80 miles>3-D Cloud Percentage 100%>Render to Texture is checked>Transform and Lighting is checked>Anti Aliasing is un checked>mips 8>1280x1024x32 (this is the highest I have)>Framerate is set at unlimited>>(my video card settings)>Anti Aliasing is at 6x>Antisotropic Flitering is at 16x and is set at quality>Temporal Anti Aliasing is un checked>>What can I change to get better performance? I was getting>better performance before I bought Flight Environment.Try changing your FSAA to 4x and check to see what kind of improvement you get. FSAA has a pretty huge effect on FPS when it comes to clouds (which is wierd because I'm not sure FSAA does anything to the clouds).Also, try putting your view distance at 100 miles. Remember, your cloud draw distance is 80 miles so having your view at distance at 150 may not be the best combo. I haven't messed with my settings in quite a while, but IIRC, that is the setting I use for view distance.Btw, what are your computer specs.?Hope this helps a bit.

>I need help, I bought Flight Environment today and I did a>flight to Cork this evening and the weather in Cork was clouds>and rainy. My framerates were awful! (less than 5) My setting>are......>>(in game settings)>Sight Distance 150 miles>Cloud Draw Distance 80 miles>3-D Cloud Percentage 100%>Render to Texture is checked>Transform and Lighting is checked>Anti Aliasing is un checked>mips 8>1280x1024x32 (this is the highest I have)>Framerate is set at unlimited>>(my video card settings)>Anti Aliasing is at 6x>Antisotropic Flitering is at 16x and is set at quality>Temporal Anti Aliasing is un checked>>What can I change to get better performance? I was getting>better performance before I bought Flight Environment.LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!! :-lol :-lol :-lolSay, are you right now just being purely funny or are you serious?First of all, what kind of CPU/GPU/RAM do you have?Second, EVEN if you have like 2 Ghz more than I do and double the speed of GPU = impossible, you *WOULD NOT* get more FPS.What was the cloud situation? Are you using ActiveSky to make an overcast enhancement and to how many cloud layers is ActiveSky set to?So basically, to get better FPS with those great FE clouds, you can do:1) visibility range down to 100/40 (the most effective way of pulling more FPS)2) Render to Texture off if you don't need it3) MIPS down to 4 - no system will run MIPS 8 with many clouds, no matter the other settings4) AA to 4x - not much visual difference between 4x and 6x, though some performance boost5) AF to Performance and 16xYou were getting better performance before because probably you used FSW or other resized clouds (possibly also DXT), which are less quality and are faster.FE clouds are in quality the same as FS9 original clouds, so basically there is no FPS loss compared to the original FS9 clouds.Hope this helps!

I'm afraid the answer may be too complicated for us to know.But I'm almost 100% confident that the cause for the low performance and stutters to almost any PC configuration is DirectX 3D !!!!I came to this conclusion after installing Il2-Forgotten Battles after many years that I have it in the self waiting.First, and motioned by the FS experience I setup the game to use DirectX. Guess what?! I got terrible stutters even when I was alone in the sky with no clouds etc!!!!Then, I changed the setup to use OpenGL.And WOW... What a surpise! The stutters were gone! Completely!Surpised I switched to DirectX again to confirm that. Stutters were back. OpenGL again, everything smooooooth...!!!And, oh God, do those clouds look realistic! Surfing along them and through them is simply amazing!My PC is not top performer with todays standards but for the Il2 it was the recommended setup for its time. (P4 2.4G, 512MB DDR333, Ati Radeon9600XT/128Mb)It's not likely that MS will switch to OpenGL since they want to support their own DirectX, so unless they do something about it, the stutters and pure performance will be there.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

>I'm afraid the answer may be too complicated for us to know.>>But I'm almost 100% confident that the cause for the low>performance and stutters to almost any PC configuration is>DirectX 3D !!!!>>I came to this conclusion after installing Il2-Forgotten>Battles after many years that I have it in the self waiting.>>First, and motioned by the FS experience I setup the game to>use DirectX. Guess what?! I got terrible stutters even when>I was alone in the sky with no clouds etc!!!!>Then, I changed the setup to use OpenGL.>And WOW... What a surpise! The stutters were gone!>Completely!>Surpised I switched to DirectX again to confirm that. >Stutters were back. OpenGL again, everything>smooooooth...!!!>And, oh God, do those clouds look realistic! Surfing along>them and through them is simply amazing!>>My PC is not top performer with todays standards but for the>Il2 it was the recommended setup for its time. (P4 2.4G, 512MB>DDR333, Ati Radeon9600XT/128Mb)>>It's not likely that MS will switch to OpenGL since they want>to support their own DirectX, so unless they do something>about it, the stutters and pure performance will be there.>>George Dorkofikis>Athens, Greece>http://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.png>http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg>You can't really compare the performance of IL-2 to FS2K4.IL-2 has less terrain detail.IL-2 has less detailed models.IL-2 does not render nearly as many models and textures.IL-2 has less detailed textures.IL-2 has no gauge system fidelity.IL-2 has no AI Traffic.IL-2 has no dynamic weather system.IL-2 does not model the entire world.IL-2 is much older.Lastly, I think IL-2 was designed to run best in OpenGL (I could be wrong though).IL-2 is not even in the same realm of detail as FS2K4. Therefore, any comparison is not really relevant. ;)They are completely different engines and it isn't possible to compare the code between the two. With regards to OpenGL vs DirectX, if you followed the "OpenGL does not cause stutters, but DirectX does" train of thought, then ALL DirectX games would stutter and ALL OpenGL games would not. That is just simply too broad based of a genralization to have any validity.:)

Ok I see what I was doing wrong. In the Flight Environment main setup page it has two cloud options, one says "check to create lower resolution and quality but higher speed clouds" and the other says "check to create DXT3 cloud textures, leave unchecked for normal 32 bit"Well I had the first box checked, but in the Flight Environment help file they recommended that those two boxes leave unchecked (I did not see that part at first). Well I unchecked them and sure enough my performance was so much better.

Lately, I've become very interested in "Trainz", which is from Auran.com and is a simulation of model railroading. Although I have yet to purchase a copy, and thus can not submit to any of the forums except the "General" one after a free registration, I can 'read' all the others. Interestingly enough, the same complaints about the performance of Trainz match those which appear here and other Flightsim websites about FS. And this includes the debates about DirectX 3D versus OpenGL, various hardware and settings, including "best" CPU, video card, etc. etc. One can virtually interchange 'Trainz' with 'FS' in nearly every message in which the search for stutter-free, double-digit FPS is the topic. Even though the two sims are entirely different in file structure and graphics engines, similarities exist with regard to the perception of each program's failings by the respected users. Perhaps those struggling with FS may find solace from these comments knowing that it isn't just FS; and it isn't just MS; and it isn't just their PC or hardware.

Cloud draw is another great way to pick up more frames. I have mine set to 30 or 50 miles, and try to keep my visibility 50 or less. I find my best perfomance comes with a visibility of 30 miles or less. This must be because FS is not trying to render anything past my visibility setting. I don't use real time weather though. I always create my own weather based on what I see outside my window or what floats my boat for the day. :DJust another thought....Kev

Here is a video that shows stuttering on my high end machine. :)http://pressroom.ups.com/staticfiles/audio...es/94_av_lv.wmv

not bad video, ou can tell its not real though, bagage handlers in real life are not that carful. BTW that rudder wasn't half flapping around on landing.

Bruce,Did you notice how it stutters at points even after it's fully downloaded? :)Who says it's not as "real as it gets"