12.04b3 released

[MrBitstFlyer 3,928]

This looks interesting!

XPD-13656 – From Bug Report: .FOR file with grass have shimering and transparency with a LOD enabled”.

[Ops Normal 57]

And This also caught my attention.

XPD-13853 - Improve accuracy of reported airport visibility with real weather.

Testing now

 Full Change long below

• XPD-13857 - Sudden change in outside air temperature (causing pressure altitude to jump several thousand feet).
• XPD-13851 - X-Plane complains about broken DDS that previously loaded just fine.
• XPD-13853 - Improve accuracy of reported airport visibility with real weather.
• XPD-13843 - Only first of Custom Ground Trucks is recognized.
• XPD-13656 - From Bug Report: .FOR file with grass have shimering and transparency with a LOD enabled”.
• XPD-13848 - drawcall type data ref is not set correctly during `XPLMCustomizeAvionics_t` callbacks .
• XPD-13390 - Zink/Mesa is leaking staging memory.
• XPD-13285 - Zink on Linux.
• XPD-13284 - Allow fallback to the IHV driver instead of forcing Zink.
• XPD-13283 - Zink doesn’t correctly render UI plugins.
• XPD-13282 - Zink backend on AMD results in colours being rendered incorrectly.
• XPD-13472 - No longer able to: “Carry another aircraft” or “Be carried by another aircraft”.

[Malaromane 460]

The big addition to B3 (mainly for AMD GPU users) is Zink support being turned on. If you are getting plugin flickering, you might want to give Zink a try. There's a blog post about it at:
https://developer.x-plane.com/2023/02/addressing-plugin-flickering/

NOTE: There's also a very good chance that with this initial release, a good number of plugins and/or aircraft will not be compatible with Zink. 

[MrBitstFlyer 3,928]

Weather is getting better with each update, but the one thing that is still to be sorted is far clouds visible through near clouds.  At times, this bug really makes the sky look pretty bad. somebody described this as 'x-ray' clouds which is a very good desciption.

Depending on the cloud layers present, higher / further clouds get very ugly looking shadows around them. If i was to describe a bug as 'annoying', this one would be it.  The excellent cloud / atmosphere portrayal is being let down by this issue.  On the flip side of course, XP12 can show a sky so realistic it makes the eyes widen!

[MrBitstFlyer 3,928]

Tree shimmering with this update is more or loss non existent for me!

[Greazer 1,377]

XPD-XXXXX: Implemented all new 3D clouds, new shaders and renderer. Improved multicore performance 3x. Upgraded world scenery and Designer. Added support for TAA, FSR, DLSS 3, direct storage, frame generation, ray traced cockpits, proper animations and soft shadows.

Wake me up 2035 😑

[Humpty 752]

45 minutes ago, Greazer said:

 

Wake me up 2035 😑

Ok

[GoranM 3,820]

1 hour ago, Greazer said:

XPD-XXXXX: Implemented all new 3D clouds, new shaders and renderer. Improved multicore performance 3x. Upgraded world scenery and Designer. Added support for TAA, FSR, DLSS 3, direct storage, frame generation, ray traced cockpits, proper animations and soft shadows.

Wake me up 2035 😑

Is that it?  What an incredibly short and unusual list.  

[jcomm 6,096]

7 hours ago, Greazer said:

XPD-XXXXX: Implemented all new 3D clouds, new shaders and renderer. Improved multicore performance 3x. Upgraded world scenery and Designer. Added support for TAA, FSR, DLSS 3, direct storage, frame generation, ray traced cockpits, proper animations and soft shadows.

Wake me up 2035 😑

It performs and looks really great @Greazer! I actually load situations at airports I know from RL, to play an airline flight in the Zibo or the Toliss, and WOW! IMO, less the details of the scenery everything can look better to me than in other sims (don't know about AEFS4 because I don't own it). The lighting, the colours, even the weather effects...

This is, OFC, just a detail because I am more concerned with the sensation of operating an aircraft, from the physics & systems POV, and in that particular area, I will use XP12 in the very 1st place, alternating with an even poorer in terms of out of windshield details sim like Aerowinx PSX, where systems detail is 2nd to none when talking 744s... Do I have an alternative for these two in terms of flight dynamics and overall physics and systems modelling, unless I pick a combat sim?  I don't think so.

Weather is rapidly approaching a level of detail and plausibility, and integrating observation and forecasts with a quality that is IMO superior to the other alternatives, with exceptions given their specificity to Condorsoaring and Silentwings for soaring weather, and graphically and optimization wise those two are even way more outdated...

It all depends on our focus, on what we really care about. If you judge a flight simulator by the programming and use of technology in it's design and conception, as well as in the way it get's implemented, and on some scenery details, then it's probably going to be easy to not really consider XP12 at the tops, but if instead you care about the sensation of flight, the way weather effects are modelled, and the ability for 3pds to use their "magic" to build sophisticated and highly detailed aircraft for the sim, then I can't see how XP12 can't be your way to go?

@Greazer, have you ever flown a real aircraft, with your hands & feet? No? Then you should do it, paying for a demo ride, in any type, preferably being allowed to get your hands on the yoke/stick and rudder and allowed to perform some basic maneuvers... Then get back to your PC and try the civil flight simulators you use and tell me what do you think brings the "sensation of being there" closer to RL.. Ideally you should get into real flight instruction and have the chance to experience taking off and landing, flying with weather, taking off and landing with significative x-winds, manoeuvring and performing basic aerobatics, etc... You'll see how they all are so far from reality, but at the same time you'll also see how flight simulators like XP can give the fundamental aspects of using the right techniques and their outcome when flying an aircraft like no other, exception being made to some specific ones like PSX for a 744 (so they, real 744 drivers say), IL2 and DCS for combat aircraft.

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by cagarini

[tonywob 4,784]

13 hours ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

XPD-13656 – From Bug Report: .FOR file with grass have shimering and transparency with a LOD enabled”.

Yeah, this was an annoying bug. Any airports that were using XP11 style .FOR files to place grass were not working correctly and the grass was just showing up as transparent at close range.

[UKflyer 630]

5 hours ago, Greazer said:

XPD-XXXXX: Implemented all new 3D clouds, new shaders and renderer. Improved multicore performance 3x. Upgraded world scenery and Designer. Added support for TAA, FSR, DLSS 3, direct storage, frame generation, ray traced cockpits, proper animations and soft shadows.

Wake me up 2035 😑

loools you don't want much!

[Franz007 612]

13 hours ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

Weather is getting better with each update, but the one thing that is still to be sorted is far clouds visible through near clouds.  At times, this bug really makes the sky look pretty bad. somebody described this as 'x-ray' clouds which is a very good desciption.

Depending on the cloud layers present, higher / further clouds get very ugly looking shadows around them. If i was to describe a bug as 'annoying', this one would be it.  The excellent cloud / atmosphere portrayal is being let down by this issue.  On the flip side of course, XP12 can show a sky so realistic it makes the eyes widen!

I agree with that. But the improvements on the weather have been massive in the 2 last updates and i am very happy so far. I am sure this effects you are describing will be adressed in one of the next updates together with some other "small" issues like seeing the mountain-ridges as black lines through the clouds at sunrise/sunsets. Or the steps/pixelisation/shimmering that appear beewteen mountains and clouds. Last but not least: the violet colours at sunset/sunrise that doesn't look right in my opinion and will be hopefully improved.

Otherwise the weather is really great so far 🙂

[Franz007 612]

36 minutes ago, cagarini said:

It performs and looks really great @Greazer! I actually load situations at airports I know from RL, to play an airline flight in the Zibo or the Toliss, and WOW! IMO, less the details of the scenery everything can look better to me than in other sims (don't know about AEFS4 because I don't own it). The lighting, the colours, even the weather effects...

This is, OFC, just a detail because I am more concerned with the sensation of operating an aircraft, from the physics & systems POV, and in that particular area, I will use XP12 in the very 1st place, alternating with an even poorer in terms of out of windshield details sim like Aerowinx PSX, where systems detail is 2nd to none when talking 744s... Do I have an alternative for these two in terms of flight dynamics and overall physics and systems modelling, unless I pick a combat sim?  I don't think so.

Weather is rapidly approaching a level of detail and plausibility, and integrating observation and forecasts with a quality that is IMO superior to the other alternatives, with exceptions given their specificity to Condorsoaring and Silentwings for soaring weather, and graphicallyand optimization wise those two are even way more outdated...

It all depends on our focus, on what we really care about. If you judge a flight simulator by the programming and use of technology in it's design and conception, as well as in the way it get's implemented, and on some scenery details, then it's probably going to be easy to not really consider XP12 at the tops, but if instead you care about the sensation of flight, the way weather effects are modelled, and the ability for 3pds to use their "magic" to build sophisticated and highly detailed aircraft for the sim, then I can't see how XP12 can't be your way to go?

@Greazer, have you ever flown a real aircraft, with your hands & feet? No? Then you should do it, paying for a demo ride, in any type, preferably being allowed to get your hands on the yoke/stick and rudder and allowed to perform some basic maneuvers... Then get back to your PC and try the civil flight simulators you use and tell me what do you think brings the "sensation of being there" closer to RL.. Ideally you should get into real flight instruction and have the chance to experience taking off and landing, flying with weather, taking off and landing with significative x-winds, manoeuvring and performing basic aerobatics, etc... You'll see how they all are so far from reality, but at the same time you'll also see how flight simulators like XP can give the fundamental aspects of using the right techniques and their outcome when flying an aircraft like no other, exception being made to some specific ones like PSX for a 744 (so they, real 744 drivers say), IL2 and DCS for combat aircraft.

 

100% agree with that. Same here 🙂

[bogdansrb 230]

I'm really happy that zink is here. I can finally use XP12 on Linux with really good performance and no flickering. 

On Windows I didn't see any performance gain but at least there's no drop with the new AMD drivers. I still prefer Linux though, solid 45-50FPS with the more demanding aircraft and most settings maxed out.

[jcomm 6,096]

Unfortunately got some time to try XP12.04b3 and weather is broken again 😞

Lot's of GRIB errors being reported and weather not available at most places. Africa for instance is totally broken 😞

It's expected because, beware!!!!, Ph.. is.....

Edited February 25, 2023 by cagarini