Prepar3D Tweak Assistant (PTA)

[B777ER 2,484]

As far as I'm aware, there's nothing PTA can introduce that will affect VAS in any way - other than having to enable terrain shadowing etc., which you may not have had enabled before.

 

A long time ago PTA, when clicking on the ? would say that a particular setting was very resource hungry. Not sure if it still does. Is that no longer the case? Seems like my performance has suffered as of late. I used to run a pretty plain PTA preset but now running yours the sim struggles. Not sure if it's this or the latest AS16 /ASCA....

[Adamski_NZ 948]

A long time ago PTA, when clicking on the ? would say that a particular setting was very resource hungry. Not sure if it still does. Is that no longer the case? Seems like my performance has suffered as of late. I used to run a pretty plain PTA preset but now running yours the sim struggles. Not sure if it's this or the latest AS16 /ASCA....

Sorry - yes - my mistake. However - I think the performance issues are mainly in some of the [optional] Post-procesing custom shaders emulations. The only one I can see in the core PTA section is maybe "Cloud Scaling".

 

The performance hit info is still all there in the preset element description.

[simmerhead 885]

I still haven't had any performance issues using PTA, but it would be nive if there was some kind of warning for the settings that were very resource hungry,

[KNOSSOS 122]

Hello folks!

Here it is a beta version of PTA 2.04.

 

http://1coder.ru/PTA/distr/PTA_204beta.zip

 

The buggy tweak "Clouds shadows depth" still present, but redesigned. Min., max. and default values differ from previous version. 

 

To upgrade PTA just replace old exe by new from archive.

Then set the new value for this tweak and apply preset.

Hope now it will be OK.

 

I would appreciate feedback on PTA 2.04beta.

 

Regards,

 

 

[PaintSplasher 35]

Thanks Yuri, we'll try it out with our preset

 

Edit.: First quick test results, no hard shadowlines anymore and we have our softness back

 

Quick video: http://projekte.reflex-artdesign.de/thopat/quicktest.mp4

[KNOSSOS 122]

 

 

Thanks Yuri, we'll try it out with our preset
 
Edit.: First quick test results, no hard shadowlines anymore and we have our softness back
 
Quick video: http://projekte.refl...t/quicktest.mp4

Hi Thorsten! Thanks for the feedback!

[Adamski_NZ 948]

My "square" shadows were always relatively intermittent/hard to find. I think it depended on the angle of the camera. Anyway - here are a couple of pics from 2.04b. I couldn't find any square/straight edges in my short test flight. Are they totally fixed now - or do they still crop up, under certain conditions?

 

Morning: 0700

 

0415: Early afternoon

 

It's always such a pleasure, tweaking PTA - you get such stunning things to look at!!!

[KNOSSOS 122]

Incredible shots Adam!

The hard shadows lines were most noticable at low sun altitude. I hope the problem is solved in 2.04b

Thanks for input

[Adamski_NZ 948]

Well - I looked very hard ... and they all looked pretty round to me!

[ErichB 3,638]

 

 

It's always such a pleasure, tweaking PTA - you get such stunning things to look at!!!

 

Great work Yuri and Adam - the combination of your join efforts over time has made P3D look like an entiely new sim. Many thanks.

[nealmac 260]

Adam, those shots are absolutely amazing. I'm sure people ask you this all the time, but what scenery are you using? I use your PTA presets all the time, and while they make things look far prettier, I can never get them looking like you have done.

[BelgianTiger_2 22]

Is there any way to really start from scratch with this tool and shaders without reinstalling?Reason i ask is because i've been spending 2 entire days trying to get rid of the brightness/blue haze etc i have now using PTA2.0 and multiple presets(like adam's,URP and thopat's).

I used to have the old PTA tool and used the URP v0.9 and had no problems at all.But after updating,i just can't get it to look like it should/used to be.

 

Regards,

Steven

[Cruachan 705]

Adam, those shots are absolutely amazing. I'm sure people ask you this all the time, but what scenery are you using? I use your PTA presets all the time, and while they make things look far prettier, I can never get them looking like you have done.

Hi Neal,

 

It may be down to your choice of Sky textures. I find those textures provided by ENVTEX work very well or you might give serious consideration to installing textures created by Gennadiy Mamedov which are also very good and highly recommended: http://1coder.ru/SKY/

 

Regards,

Mike

[Adamski_NZ 948]

Adam, those shots are absolutely amazing. I'm sure people ask you this all the time, but what scenery are you using? I use your PTA presets all the time, and while they make things look far prettier, I can never get them looking like you have done.

 

It's ORBX New Zealand.You could say I'm biased - but by any measure you apply, it's fantastic scenery. The developers at ORBX have admitted that they rather went over the top with time and effort for a scenery that they thought few people would buy.

 

What constantly amazes me (as if the actual topography isn't enough) is the care and attention to colouring, vegetation and blending. It really does look like that in RL - and vice versa! For the price of a couple of pizzas, I've had endless hours of pleasure. Start off wth the S.Island (NZSI) and you'll soon find you can't resist the other half (NZNI) - a more subtle thing altogether. NZNI is the "Hurricane" to NZSI's "Spitfire". Then there is the totally magical Milford Sound (NZMF) - quite unbelievable. Throw in Queenstown (NZQN) and you have the whole country, LOL!

 

Great as it all was from day one, PTA has transformed my NZ landscape - as it enhances the contours of the mountains and brings out the best in colours. The two together really are a treat!

 

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this link: https://orbxdirect.com/category/oceania

 

[Mods - please edit this post if necessary!]

It may be down to your choice of Sky textures. I find those textures provided by ENVTEX work very well or you might give serious consideration to installing textures created by Gennadiy Mamedov which are also very good and highly recommended: http://1coder.ru/SKY/

 

 

Without downplaying the importance of good scenery to show off, I have to agree. Good sky textures (ie. good colouring) is *crucial*. Badly chosen skies can turn even the best of scenery into mud! There's no "quick fix" - you have to try a good few then settle for one that works well ... then *leave them alone*! LOL.

 

Adam.

 

P.S. Sorry - I have to add - just like in RL, photography around mid-day is a no-no. Over-saturated and too "flat" - and the light just blasts all the shadows away. "Time Preview" is your friend!

[nealmac 260]

Hi Neal,

 

It may be down to your choice of Sky textures. I find those textures provided by ENVTEX work very well or you might give serious consideration to installing textures created by Gennadiy Mamedov which are also very good and highly recommended: http://1coder.ru/SKY/

 

Regards,

Mike

Thanks for the link. Although I was actually referring to how the ground looks moreso. 

 

EDIT: Just from reading Adam's reply it sounds like your choice of sky textures actually affect the terrain. Am I understanding this correctly?

It's ORBX New Zealand.You could say I'm biased - but by any measure you apply, it's fantastic scenery. The developers at ORBX have admitted that they rather went over the top with time and effort for a scenery that they thought few people would buy.

 

What constantly amazes me (as if the actual topography isn't enough) is the care and attention to colouring, vegetation and blending. It really does look like that in RL - and vice versa! For the price of a couple of pizzas, I've had endless hours of pleasure. Start off wth the S.Island (NZSI) and you'll soon find you can't resist the other half (NZNI) - a more subtle thing altogether. NZNI is the "Hurricane" to NZSI's "Spitfire". Then there is the totally magical Milford Sound (NZMF) - quite unbelievable. Throw in Queenstown (NZQN) and you have the whole country, LOL!

 

Great as it all was from day one, PTA has transformed my NZ landscape - as it enhances the contours of the mountains and brings out the best in colours. The two together really are a treat!

 

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this link: https://orbxdirect.com/category/oceania

 

[Mods - please edit this post if necessary!]

 

Thanks Adam. The only Orbx region I have is Orbx Ireland. I might try flying around Ireland and see how it looks. I also have Orbx Base, Vector and Eurpean landclass.

 

I might just try out New Zealand, because it looks amazing.