Just curious - why is it that 3d clouds seem to be the most stressful thing in fs9? Whenever they're visible in significant volume my vid card fan kicks it up a notch or three.What's so special about them as opposed to any other object/texture?Somebody tellme - cause I really don't know clouds - a-at all...regards,Markhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/markrey/lsd2.jpghttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/mar.../sup_banner.jpgXPHomeSP2/FS9.1/3.2HT/1GIG/X700pro256

Apparently lots of polygons to process. Well, thank Microsoft that they developed this technique of really "pseudo" 3D clouds (other posts from the past explained what it is). True volumetric 3D clouds would apparently bring even the fastest PC of today to a screeching halt.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

I zee - thanks for that Michael. Grateful for them I am for sure - longed for them since waaay back, and now with AS6 handling things it's all so gloriously real.Perhaps fsx will do for the earth what fs9 did for sky.regards,Markhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/markrey/lsd2.jpghttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/mar.../sup_banner.jpgXPHomeSP2/FS9.1/3.2HT/1GIG/X700pro256

When you compare the 3-d clouds to FS2002's clouds, remarkably the fps hit is less than FS2002's if you limit the draw distance to 30 miles and use any of the low-res cloud sets that are floating around out there. I use 100 pct. 3-d and 100 pct. cloud density but limit the draw distance and manage very well--on an old P3-800. I also avoid using real weather so I can keep the cloud layers to a manageable level. Cloud layers combined with draw distance creates the biggest hit with clouds in my experience.I will update this post with a link to some recent shots I made, all with 3-d cumulus, and all where I was averaging 25 fps without breaking a sweat. Something about draw distance that you should be aware of--increasing the cloud draw distance from 30 to 40 miles doesn't add 25 pct. more clouds to draw. It nearly doubles the clouds that are drawn. Clouds are drawn in a rough circle around the aircraft. At 30 miles draw distance, MSFS needs to fill approx. 2800 square miles with clouds. At 40 miles draw distance that jumps to roughly 5000 square miles. Ten miles causes a pretty big jump in the number of clouds drawn!http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&mesg_id=225145http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&mesg_id=224735-John

thanks john, that's good to know. william

Although clouds can be a frame rate killer, it is possible to replace default clouds with lower settings that are a little better on frame rates. Another area that is hard on frame rates is setting the Land & Water Slider under the Display Menu to high. A number of the free addons found in the library will just destroy your overall frames when they are set to high.Tom