XP12: the good, the bad, the ugly

[Baber20 1,492]

4 hours ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

I feel this is the biggest area XP12 needs to be improved.  There is the new lighting model which is superb, but ground features lack depth because there are no shadows.  

 

I have somewhat partially fixed this using Prod80's ShadowsMidtonesHighlights shader in reshade. I increased the contrast of shadows a bit. I won't say it's a huge difference but it definitely looks better now.

[blingthinger 667]

On 9/7/2022 at 9:19 AM, Bjoern said:

Plugins still flicker on my AMD GPU (I thought this was a thing of the past with Vulkan and Zink)

I've been watching the Mesa git repository where Zink is developed. They're still rolling out a steady stream of performance-enhancing changes that LR might be waiting on.

[MrBitstFlyer 3,901]

4 hours ago, Baber20 said:

I have somewhat partially fixed this using Prod80's ShadowsMidtonesHighlights shader in reshade. I increased the contrast of shadows a bit. I won't say it's a huge difference but it definitely looks better now.

I'm a little confused - there aren't any shadows to increase the contrast of, or did you find a way to increase the range of shadows?

[Paraffin 2,197]

11 hours ago, Humpty said:

I feel LR should at least have trees with collision , this would be a great effect for heli riders trying to land in forest areas. 

I agree, as a bush plane and helicopter sim flyer I've always wanted tree collisions to help build skills landing and taking off in in constricted areas. 

Apparently we're never going to get it in default XP. But if I remember right, you can add invisible collision boxes with the scenery editor on modified scenery files if you want to practice in a specific area. I'd rather have it universal in the sim, but at least that's a workaround.

[abrams_tank 7,490]

Just saw this on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/xdfaq0/ingame_popup_ads_for_xp12_while_im_playing_xp11/.

I think showing XP 12 ads on the loading screen of XP 11 is okay, especially when XP 11 is loading at the very start, or when a flight is being loaded in XP 11.  But after the flight is loaded in XP 11, I think showing an XP 12 ad may annoy some XP 11 users (and you can see that some XP 11 users in that thread are not happy to see the XP 12 ads).

Edited September 14, 2022 by abrams_tank

[flying_carpet 671]

9 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Just saw this on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/xdfaq0/ingame_popup_ads_for_xp12_while_im_playing_xp11/.

I think showing XP 12 ads on the loading screen of XP 11 is okay, especially when XP 11 is loading at the very start, or when a flight is being loaded in XP 11.  But after the flight is loaded in XP 11, I think showing an XP 12 ad may annoy some XP 11 users (and you can see that some XP 11 users in that thread are not happy to see the XP 12 ads).

Didn't Microsoft do the same with Windows users - nudging them to upgrade to the newer version?

[abrams_tank 7,490]

7 minutes ago, flying_carpet said:

Didn't Microsoft do the same with Windows users - nudging them to upgrade to the newer version?

For functionality and security reasons though.  Eventually, older versions of Windows will stop receiving security updates.  You don't want to be stuck on an older version of Windows without security updates.  In addition, for many people, upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is free: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-11-for-free.  Upgrading to XP 12 is not free.

I think you are making an insincere point, IMO.

Edited September 14, 2022 by abrams_tank

[flying_carpet 671]

33 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

For functionality and security reasons though.  Eventually, older versions of Windows will stop receiving security updates.  You don't want to be stuck on an older version of Windows without security updates.  In addition, for many people, upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is free: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-11-for-free.  Upgrading to XP 12 is not free.

I think you are making an insincere point, IMO.

With older versions of Windows it was the same. As you are writing "In addition, for many people ...": what is with the others?

[rka 916]

3 hours ago, flying_carpet said:

With older versions of Windows it was the same. As you are writing "In addition, for many people ...": what is with the others?

People hate windows. Is that what Mr. Meyer is trying to achieve here?

[Sethos 4,609]

4 hours ago, flying_carpet said:

Didn't Microsoft do the same with Windows users - nudging them to upgrade to the newer version?

How on earth is that relevant here

[blingthinger 667]

4 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

Just saw this on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/xdfaq0/ingame_popup_ads_for_xp12_while_im_playing_xp11/.

I think showing XP 12 ads on the loading screen of XP 11 is okay, especially when XP 11 is loading at the very start, or when a flight is being loaded in XP 11.  But after the flight is loaded in XP 11, I think showing an XP 12 ad may annoy some XP 11 users (and you can see that some XP 11 users in that thread are not happy to see the XP 12 ads).

This is not great. For me at least, it's only there after the first load in and then once more after a flight config change. 

Disappointing? Meh. Bothersome? Mildly. And it might go away in the future. I'm sure it's using the same hooks as the auto-version-checker function that lets you know when a software update is available. Which you then have the option to download (are not forced to upgrade).

And I'd rather see that than $$ values in my face in the main default map when I'm setting up every flight. You know, the one that shows what the cheapest 3rd party addon for that airport scenery is costing in the built in DLC-selling store that also restricts what free content I can have easy access to. You know, that function that only supports some of the little guys?

Fair trade, I'd say.

[UKflyer 630]

XP12 with some orthos, quite happy with this combo 👍

[Bjoern 1,174]

17 hours ago, blingthinger said:

I've been watching the Mesa git repository where Zink is developed. They're still rolling out a steady stream of performance-enhancing changes that LR might be waiting on.

Yup. Sidney said that Zink isn't implemented into XP12 yet and we'll have to make do with the old Vulkan-OpenGL bridge until then, so I guess it's a few more months of waiting. Or hoping that some fix sneaks in on Mesa's side.

 

By now, I found out that the flickering can be minimized by limiting the framerate ("--lock_fr=30" start parameter) and keeping it near the specified value.

[flying_carpet 671]

4 hours ago, rka said:

People hate windows. Is that what Mr. Meyer is trying to achieve here?

??? *Scratching my head*

Why do "people" hate windows? At least myself, I'm loving windows - without them I can't look out of my house 😄. BTW, who are these "people" you are talking about - is there a more precise description? Apart from that, I don't know what these "people" think about Windows, whether they hate or love it - they are too many to ask.

 

4 hours ago, Sethos said:

How on earth is that relevant here

Some people seem to search pretty desperately 🙃 for "issues" (actually non-issues) about XP12, even on other web sites. If nothing else helps, the popup window in XP11 has to serve the purpose ... Apropos, XP runs (amongst others) on Windows, so there's the link 😄.
And apropos Earth - I read, earlier version of XP could also simulate flight on Mars. It's a pity that this functionality was removed, otherwise we could simulate also the NASA Ingenuity Helicopter. Well, the outside view would be "limited beautiful", but that's not the (main) point of a simulator, right? 😀

 

[Sethos 4,609]

6 minutes ago, flying_carpet said:

Some people seem to search pretty desperately 🙃 for "issues" (actually non-issues) about XP12, even on other web sites. 

Sounds more like you are desperately deflecting from a very valid complaint. Those sorts of nagware pop-ups are obnoxious and shouldn't be present. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Sethos