FS9 User NOTAM....do you want one of the best views from any flight sim? Huh?L

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Then here is the recipe...

 

Add the following adjustments just as you see for COLOR enhancement using nVidia Driver 359.06 WHQL

 

 

Using the DSR feature of driver 359.06, make sure that you dial in at least a resolution of: 2715x1697 which is double res (2.x) from my native 25 inch monitor.

 

Run FS9 in FULL SCREEN and set res setting of your choice, to 16 bit, not 32 bit.

 

...and you will be amazed at the best color depth, the best chrome, the best un-painted and painted metal air frames,and ground texture depth-of-color,  you have ever laid your eyes upon. One of the greatest and STILL greatest strengths, of FS9...is that all the color pallets are not cartoonish pastels, washed out...with no life-like depth. Color was good with just a stock rendering of FS9...but folks...with setting the color enhancements as you see here...make sure, you set it exactly as I show...

 

I also guarantee that you will see details that were there...but you have never seen in any prior usage of FS9.  I have a sun glint on the outer wing-tip vanes that I have never seen being rendered..but they sure are now!!!!

 

....and get ready to place something under your jaw...so as not to bruise it upon the computer desk.  Take a bird up that has some un-painted metal...view the wing and/or fuselage, as the sun moves across the sky...and you will see glint..that comes off NO OTHER flight sim out there....just incredible realism.

 

No scrimping, you need to follow the settings...same driver package, adjust as above in the color mask...and at least a 2.x DSR resolution setting within FS9. (You do NOT need to put your Desktop to the same settings..but you set the res, from within each of the flight sims, you might use.)

 

Check this out...for I am in a flight right now between Detroit Metro, and Phoenix Sky Harbor, just over Chicago....

 

If I could capture the depth and color enhancement, with a screen grab...I'd post to this thread...but you can't.  When you take a Screen Print, the print reverts back to default driver settings, You can ONLY see this in use...and ONLY in Full Screen Mode.  

 

Like I said...get ready to see real-world color in a flight sim, like you have NEVER SEEN!

 

One more tip...also set your sim to a 16 color bit setting to see the effects that has...quite nice as well...greater depth of color actually, over 32 bit...even if you wouldn't think so...   So..try both 16 and 32 bit color resolution settings to see what you prefer to fly and view with.  Choice is good!  Colors in full screen mode will show as darker and richer in 16 bit....good for daytime, but switch to 32 bit, near Dusk...

 

 

 

Ses 

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Set to 16 bit color depth...

 

I have such an intense rotating beacon flash of red in the depth of the protective coating of the paint on the engine nacelle...that it is truly spell-binding. I have experienced no level of realism for this effect in any other sim, including my pre-adjusted FS9, until now...FS9-post adjusted via driver and DSR settings.

 

If you still use/have FS9 on your system...trust me..you are going to keep these settings from now on as default.

 

One more final mention...the cockpit will seem 'darker' at first...the metal of the panel, but that is because of the full dynamic range you are now enjoying. The world, will seem 'darker' as well, until you acclimate to the new look, but in reality, it isn't darker...it is that now, you don't have this washed-out white haze/glaze that was always there, before full dynamic and color ranging is in play.  You will get used to it, the 'new look' quickly..and in test...just go between window (old default FS9 visuals) and then back to Full Screen a couple of times...and THAT will convince you, that you don't want to ever go back to the uh..er...window(default) look of FS9.

 

Happy flying...and back to the flight...the plane looks funky without a Captain in the cockpit....

 

Ses

[gwillmot 31]

Well, stuggling with my ATI Radeon.  Can't get it to integrate with the nVidia Driver 359.06 WHQL nor the nVidia control panel.

I sure would hate to miss out on one of the best views from any flight sim? Huh?

Any thoughts on the matter?  I hate only a second-best view!

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Well, stuggling with my ATI Radeon.  Can't get it to integrate with the nVidia Driver 359.06 WHQL nor the nVidia control panel.

I sure would hate to miss out on one of the best views from any flight sim? Huh?

Any thoughts on the matter?  I hate only a second-best view!

I guess that the main thrust of this is the use of that nVidia color menu, and running FS9 reso settings in 16 bit mode, (during the day).  I wish I could help you...but only stumbled upon this, when actually adjusting that section of the driver to full spectrum, over a video app.  I then ran a FS9 flight...and the rest is 'history', lol.

 

So, by what you are saying, you do need an nVidia card to see what I am typing about...

 

I have to say though, that the color levels, and special effects, (sun glint, etc) is quite spectacular...on my GTX680 and the aforementioned.

 

Again if you do find some way to also see this...it only comes across in full screen mode at a 16 bit res selection. Window mode cancels it, but that is a good way to A/B this quirk......but once someone sees the airport, ground textures receding under the wing...dirty snow...fields the way that it looks in real life...the wings, fuselage....all of it...you won't ever want to go back to anything less than what is now being viewed. Certainly not myself.....and oh clouds?....The ones that spell snow, or rain...are now dark and foreboding!  On my flight today to Phoenix, over Ohio...I came up through many menacing layers...and it looked like that...menacing! What a hoot!

 

Mitch

 

Mitch

[sascha 314]

Hi Mitch,

 

do you need to set resolution with DSR? What happens when you do not do this but set the colour enhancement on the control panel and select a 16 bit mode from FS?

 

Anyway, this sounds like a great find. Just need a new graphics card to be able to use it, I still have an old 9800 Nvidia series!

 

Cheers,

Sascha

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Hi Mitch,

 

do you need to set resolution with DSR? What happens when you do not do this but set the colour enhancement on the control panel and select a 16 bit mode from FS?

 

Anyway, this sounds like a great find. Just need a new graphics card to be able to use it, I still have an old 9800 Nvidia series!

 

Cheers,

Sascha

I'm not sure, to be honest, Sascha...for I do have DSR mode turned on at 2.x for all my sims...and so can only comment about this color-depth find with all of the factors in play. This particular driver set, its DSR function being used, and FS9 set to your highest resolution you want to use, but at the 16 bit level.  If you can do this...I think you will be amazed at the transformation.

 

 I do  highlight again, though, that at first, you might think things are 'darker' than what appears normally at 32 bit and lower resolutions, especially when viewing the instrument panels, but again, take time to adjust to it...and really LOOK at the metal texture, you will see more depth shadow on the metal highlighting the metal....and then go to outside view, sit back and LOOK at the ground textures, the airport building textures, and then as you climb out...the ground textures, snow, field, spring, summer, winter...and do a few full screen/screen flips...and you will see exactly what is happening, it is that fake white/haze...highlight, is gone (which probably came across as lighter-all-round)...and the ground looks as clear as glass..but the color registers now come out full.

 

 Your EVO would probably look KILLER!  You or Jon Aus would be able to tell us that.  The unfortunate thing, is that you can NOT post a pic of this...it does NOT stay as you see it on your monitor, in use. It looks like the old defaut FS9. That is why I did not post any pictures of my flight.  No screeshot will show this effect. That is important for the reader to know. This must be seen in first-person, on the user's system.

 

One of my suggested A-B tests, is to load in a plane (I use WestJet a lot) that has a good leading edge (metal texture) and then make sure you have a sunny day dialed in...put autopilot on, and make a 360 degree turn...with a wing view in place.  Watch how the glint (now, so life-like) travels along the leading edge, how shadows and reflections off of the engine nacelles are highlighted...how any shiny protective paint upon the engine nacelles, have visual depth...all of it...and then keep your eye on the ground textures farms, fields, water, whatever..as you do a climb out...and see how REAL it looks, as you think back of what you see as a R.W. passenger.

 

Personally, I love it..and would never go back to anything else. In fact..I'd be as bold to say, that under these conditions, FS9 looks more life-like in texture color representation, than anything out there...all MS products, as well as Xplane.  Since discovering this, I have been flying my head off, in FS9...and of course at 2715x1697...the ground, fields, snow, whatever looks as good at least, as anything you'd see in FSX/P3D/XPX!   Even the close to the ground low-resolution of FS9 has been eliminated with DSR and at 16 bit with nVidia 359.06.  

 

For myself, this is a all-time keeper, and is now my FS9 default.  Again to mention, I did find dusk-to-night needed to be at 32 bit...so, it is a breeze to just take a moment and go to your hardware section...and swap out to your res setting, but in the 32 bit section.  Then...you're done. You will lose the spectacular metal lighting effect of 16 bit...but it's dark anyways...so the loss effect, is minimal.  Dawn?  Day?  Flip back to your res at 16 bit, and carry on!

 

So Sascha, try it out...and if you like, without using DSR...and see what comes about...I don't want to screw up anything right now...for all my sims are running hot and perfect,  FPS, smoothness etc..and I don't want to break the bubble..lol.  So try it without DSR, and then post to this thread if you'd like, your findings....but if you do, please use only this driver set, to keep continuity, but less the DSR function. That way if it doesn't work for you, others will know that you do need DSR in the recipe.

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Hi Mitch,

 

do you need to set resolution with DSR? What happens when you do not do this but set the colour enhancement on the control panel and select a 16 bit mode from FS?

 

Anyway, this sounds like a great find. Just need a new graphics card to be able to use it, I still have an old 9800 Nvidia series!

 

Cheers,

Sascha

As I have posted, Sascha, I am going to look into the new generation Pascal...but if you want, I can suggest you find a good EVGA Signature or better GTX680 card, or 7xx card at a great price...for that will certainly bring this out...  It simply looks fantastic on my Kepler GTX680 2GB'er...

 

I'm just sorry that I can't post pictures of this...for I most certainly would do a series...and show people.  You can't...it's only for those that have FS9...and a nVidia card, with this driver/DSR/16 bit selected, in play.

 

Is it worth the user exploring the find?  You bet!

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Without pics...this sucks...but I just had to come into the thread, and post that I am right now, setting up a great flight between Myrtle Beach, to Oakland, California...at FL340, and there is fog today at the Myrtle Beach airport.  I'm sitting in the cockpit of the WestJet 737, and looking out (in 16 bit DSR mode) through the fog..to a high-rise hotel building...and the fog is so progressive and wispy, to be so totally life like and real.....gawd...this is fantastic.  AND in FS9, to boot! LOLOLOLOL. The grand daddy of our present sims...what a hoot...it looks freakin' fantastic, folks!

 

What a find....16 bit/ high-res DSR---- FS9 simply visually ROCKS!

 

Back to the flight...

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Final comment on effect...I just broke through the cloud layers, on my way through 12,000 feet towards FL340, and I was thinking of an analogy that would describe the 'new look' of the sim at 16 bit, high res...and I would say that it is this..

 

...for those that wear glasses...you will get the greatest impact...it's like you have been BBQ'ing with your glasses on...and then you take them off and look at the lenses, to find of course...that there is a film of smoke that has now coated your lenses.

 

You put them under soap and water...dry them off...and put them back on...to a crystal clear view of your surroundings, no longer seen through a haze coating of smoke particles.

THAT is what is happening now with my view.  You can even see the tiniest marking or dirt upon the upper edge of the wings...nacelles of the engines...every detail on the plane has now come to life...so there MUST be a real hazing and loss, in using FS9 in a 32 bit color mode and normal res.

 

Folks...truly...it looks real world on the plane body, the wing views...and the custom ground textures I am using...it truly is a head-shaking 'wow' moment.

Pretty much, now staying with FS9 now for most of my tube flying...and why wouldn't I?!??!?   What a great visual flight experience now...and at top-notch performance that FS9 can dish out.... 

 

The plane fuselage and wings look gorgeous...the sky has depth of blue and other, the clouds have depth...the terrain looks killer, and all is good in the moment.

 

I see now, that 32 bit really masks a lot of detail in the simulation. I'm not saying that it is that one thing, amongst all the plays mentioned in this thread, but all together...exactly as I have posted the 'recipe'.....I can't imagine anybody that would wish to go back to 'normal' 32 bit mode, none DSR, blah, blah....but hey, each to their own expectations...

 

Cheers!

 

Post Edit:  I am now getting the 'God-Ray' effect over the tops of the cloud banks...never have seen this before...spatial light, and I don't even think this is actually modeled into REX Extreme for 2004. I am not using Soft Clouds as I have not purchased it to date. What a bonus, quirk...

 

Captain WestJet Mitch signing off...

[gwillmot 31]

Ahhhh ..... you're talking to yourself ...... just wanted you to know in case you felt you needed help .....

[sascha 314]

God-rays?!!! That does it ... first thing home I'll see about replicating these effects!!!!

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

God-rays?!!! That does it ... first thing home I'll see about replicating these effects!!!!

 

Yep..I almost spewed my coffee...lol... I am heading from Myrtle to Oakland...broke through the clouds tops...and was looking at my right wing, locked. I then switch over to my left wing...and WHAM, BAM...god ray spatial, orange/pink light aura's...as well as painted the cloud tops...H.S.!

 

I am hooked...and Sascha...the sun glint...it is NOT just a white-based texture anymore...it is a true-to-life GLINT!  Even the illuminated buttons on the autopilot functions, now LOOK like they are illuminated...and not just a texture to 'simulate' something being lit up, over something that is not.

 

I would respectively suggest that you do not delete any of the set-up as I have posted it here.  The same driver set. The same 2.x DSR mode, set sim to 16 bit register...and go and explore.  I am never going to run FS9, in any other configuration. In fact...it looks now..like the best depiction of R.W., from ANY sim, on my system.  WOW..wow...and WOW......  What a find!

 

Cheers,, and back to the cockpit...

 

FSPassengers are crabbing, that the Captain keeps disappearing from the flight deck to come post here, mid flight.......not happy with me...lol.  I think FSPassenger is going to hit me up for deducted points...because of that...lol.

Ahhhh ..... you're talking to yourself ...... just wanted you to know in case you felt you needed help .....

I guess that I am talking to you....you are responding..lol.

 

Having a ball...and I'm sort of blogging with this thread,  as I find/observe new things, not viewed before I stumbled upon this...and by sheer accident!

 

Cheers!

[sascha 314]

I'll have to look about finally getting a new sim rig ... my old faithful has been running the same FS9 installation (no re-installations!!!) for about 8 years now.

 

Are you using GeForce Experience? It seems that DSR is also set there.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I'll have to look about finally getting a new sim rig ... my old faithful has been running the same FS9 installation (no re-installations!!!) for about 8 years now.

 

Are you using GeForce Experience? It seems that DSR is also set there.

No Sascha, I only update drivers in Custom mode, with the actual driver, and the PhysX. Nothing else...not even HD Sound.

 

All of my sims, looks so good and stable with this nVidia 359.06 set...that I am pretty much decided to fall off the driver update wagon...and stay with this setup, until I see what Pascal brings to the table with on-site, hand's on, gaming reviews.  This driver is awesome.

[sascha 314]

I will need to update my drivers first. i left out all updates in the last 8 months because of issues with other games (Fallout3 and Skyrim which I play occasionally).

 

Can you maybe take photos / video using a smart phone or other device? I would so love to see this! At least we could see the glints and effects even if the colour would not be true ....