Rogen's P3D v4

[okupton]

14 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

@okupton Yes, Rogen's shaders (aka 'preset') is amazing. I don't think you need to figure anything out. One option is to simply ask Rogen if he can send you his shader folder or if he can upload it to Avsim's library (it should be ok, wouldn't it?). If I remember correctly, it can be as easy as:

1. Delete your existing default shaders folders in P3D:
   a). Local Disk (C:) ► Users ► You ► AppData ► Local ► Lockheed Martin ► Prepar3D ► Shaders
        (auto-generated at next launch of P3D)
   b). Your Drive:\your P3D folder\ShadersHLSL
2. Copy the new shaders (aka 'presets') into: Your Drive:\your P3D folder\ShadersHLSL

Done. You now have a new sim. 🙂

More info here: Where to find my Shaders folder Prepar3D v2 & v3 & v4 - The Prepar3d Forum - The AVSIM Community

The issue is I’m in V5 and not V4.  His shader mod will not work in V5.

[BostonJeremy77]

Our whole issue is that P3D is trying to make strides in graphics and presentation. All this comes at the cost of compatibility. At this point even default aircraft that ship with P3D aren't supported. Tried to have night light on gauges in default aircraft? Unless LM takes steps to address this in the future updates, this platform will continue to die. 

[PavlinS]

8 hours ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

this platform will continue to die. 

While you talk about death I am doing polygons for scenery in QGIS. This means at least 1 developer still stands with P3D. And maybe more. 

[BostonJeremy77]

7 hours ago, PavlinS said:

While you talk about death I am doing polygons for scenery in QGIS. This means at least 1 developer still stands with P3D. And maybe more. 

You are one of two. (Majestic also). Everyone's complacency and shouting about how MSFS was "just a game" while boasting about P3D's superiority is why I am one of seven people that has v6 installed with no dev support. And unless LM begins looking at their product seriously and seeing how it's not ok right now (those default aircraft that it hasn't touched in YEARS that are no longer compatible with the simulator they ship with?), this platform is gonna continue to die in home simulation market. And yes, it's dying - not being able to admit it is outright denial. 

[Patco Lch]

37 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

I am one of seven people that has v6 installed with no dev support

So it's you, me and who's the other five?😂

[newtie]

Check under the table or behind the couch.

[Rogen]

There is dev support for P3D, only it's falling back to contact based.

Meaning if you want a development team to build, they would probably do so under a contract, just as is done for millitary or other commerical developments.

But then again that would cost a ton of $$ and require scoping and much additonal work to go with those much needed deep pockets.

Previously dev teams really had no choice but to develop for P3D, where there was enough of a pool of users to elk out a living, now they are flat out developing for the Microsoft sim, and even if you wanted to contract a dev team, you might be hard pressed to find any teams who can afford to allocate time to such a contract.

Essentually P3D was the incumbent sim people were kind of forced into what with Microsoft dropping FSX development, where a lack of real competion meant although LM were improving their sim, the look and feel was not one of the targets, plus P3D take up was not helped by LM's erroneous licensing terms (which have now been changed, but infact after the horse has bolted).

Personally I blame both LM and Microsoft.

Microsoft for their predatory actions and announcements and LM for failing to recognise they were being outclassed from a development pace perspective.

Admittedly LM do not compete with Microsoft since Microsoft targets selling as a game to general consumers, and LM sells as a training aid to commercial and military.

But LM's lack of raising the base look and feel is totally their issue, given they relied on 3rd parties to rase the bar instead of incorporating into the base of the sim.

Even Dovetail's "Flight Sim World" included things like PBR, Ambient Occulsion, Orbx's Base scenery, True Sky, and A2A's accu-feel and a really good mission creation system too and all as defaults.

Cheers

Edited September 1, 2023 by Rogen

[Rogen]

Hey Folks,

Despite my previous post (more a rant about my disappointment in LM) I do see many advantages in the use of P3D which is why I use it.

And for those like minded people, below in the spoiler are a collection of prepar3d.cfg settings I use to help improve the look feel noting a good CPU and GPU is typically pretty mandatory.

Note it's not a complete configuration, more a list of selected settings with my notes regarding.

Cheers

Spoiler

[GRAPHICS]
// Ensure dynamic lighting is displayed without turning on and off when changing views/panning.
// Note aircraft lighting can also be affected when the total count of dynamic lights in the current view exceeds that specified in the configuration.
// Default values are 250.
// 500 values are recommended in FlightBeam's NZAA documentation.
// When using IniBuilds dynamic lighting profiles the value recommended is 1000.
MAX_POINT_LIGHTS=1000
MAX_SPOT_LIGHTS=1000

// MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE
// Rob Ainscough's vid showing the values https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vFgfBSSXeE
// The information comes from beta testing discussion notes:
// There's no cap on this value itself because it's intended as a limit.
// If you want textures requesting aggressively, you can set it something very high like 1000000.000000
// Units are memory allocation units (not distance).
// There are two other checks that must pass before textures are requested:
// 1) Object is within the far clip distance. This varies by altitude.
// 2) Object pixel size at a given distance passes min radius check. This we made configurable in 4.3 using RS_MIN_OBJECT_PIXEL_RADIUS (default is 2.0px).

RS_MIN_OBJECT_PIXEL_RADIUS=1.000000

//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=1000.000000  // default value, 1000000.000000 is max I've tested.
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=32000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=64000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=128000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=180000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=320000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=640000.000000
MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=1000000.000000

// Shadowing adjustments, note the below link also references changes in the default cameras.cfg for "Title = Virtual Cockpit" adding Clipmode=minimum and FarClipOverride=200000 to improve viewing distance.
// https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/554531-fix-terrain-shadow-degradation-fix-for-v4/
// Defaults
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=4
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=5
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=7
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12

//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.850000

// Adjustments
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.990000

// Defaults - note if changing these values in a profile, saving the profile in P3D will overwrite back to default and the settings will need to be manually updated.
//OPAQUE_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=2048
//OPAQUE_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=2000
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=2000

// Less jaggy cockpit shadows - just a doubling of the default settings above.
OPAQUE_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=4096
OPAQUE_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=4000
TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=4000

// This value has a big effect on gpu use and thus fps on cloudy days (512 is default) lower values = jaggier cloud shadows, higher values = smoother cloud shadows.
// The setting can be changed on the fly in this config file and then loaded by entering the P3D GFX settings and just clicking Ok to load the changes in the config file.
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=1024
TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=256

[SCENERY]
// Of interest is that Orbx night lights are basically a Tree in the shape of a light and increasing these tree values will subsequently increase the nightlighting range.
// Tree LOD independent of the UI settings - Default 2500.000000 LOD slider Max 6500.000000, cfg Max 8000.000000.
AUTOGEN_TREE_MIN_DISTANCE_TO_LOD=8000.000000

// Max distance allowed 12000.000000 - Default 9500.000000
AUTOGEN_TREE_MAX_DRAW_DISTANCE=12000.000000

// MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=16 - Default is 16 and relates to purging of scenery items from memory (not textures).
// The higher the value the more items purged and the lower the VAS but is more likely to be stuttery.
// LM originaly had this set to a value of 4 but raised it to 16 to account for slower machines to be able to clear memory when flying faster.
// 8 to 12 seems to be a reliable settings range, and a value of 2 is fine if the machine is fast enough.
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=1
MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=2
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=4
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=8
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=16

// AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD, default is 2, setting to 1 will greatly increase the amount of autogen buildings, almost double, although tends to result in too many buildings cramped together but does really fill out the world.
// Valid values are 1 to 9 with 1 the highest.
AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=1
//AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=2

[USERINTERFACE]
// Set UIHardwareAcceleration from True (the default) to False to enable reshade use.
UIHardwareAcceleration=False

[TERRAIN]
// P3D maintains a global terrain view for efficiency - if blurries start developing after a period of time or autogen stops loading trial setting to False.
UseGlobalTerrainView=False

// TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP
// Uses a massive amount of VRam and kills the frame rate as a result when the VRam runs out and swaps to using system ram (which is very much slower).
// You'll need 11 GB+ VRam to successfully use this setting with a value of 10+.
// Will improve the LOD radius (via increasing the texture resolution x4) for everything apart from PhotoReal according to LM on their forum.
// LM recommend not using for Photoreal as all it does is increase the texture size and memory requirements considerably for no visible effect.
// Texture tile size is 256x256 if the TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8, 512x512 if TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9 and 1024x1024 if TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 (value of 10 uses 16x the default value's memory and 16 x CPU/GPU work to generate the display).

// Testing a 1070 Ti with 8GB VRam, the amount of vram used is ~7638 GB, however if I change view from exterior to interior the vram used drops down to ~5000 GB, with the display freezing momentarily every ~5 secs while flying.
// Testing a 3080 Ti with 12 GB VRam and a Ryzen 5800X @ 4.7Ghz and have found the GPU/CPU combo is powerful enough to drive such a large texture size change.
// And while the GPU does handle it Ok the majority of the time, there is a tendancy to crash the GPU driver on occasions, even with a lower GPU clock rate.
// Uses approx. double the amount of VRam as TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9, far distance looks sharper, especially with a close A/C zoom which shows the background as quite a bit sharper.

// Further testing (25/03/2023) has shown with a value of 10 the scenery is sharper (including photoreal) as well as there being less "loading at the last minute", occasionally results in a GPU driver crash, likely due to running out of VRam, seems even 12 GB is not quite enough these days.
// Refer the below URL for additional information.
// https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/630517-texture_size_exp-9-or-10/
//TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9
TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10

 

// Set the autogen to max per cell that can be displayed
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=6000
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION_PER_CELL=6000

// Relates to vegetation and how it is placed along side rivers and roads. The default and minimum is 16 and can be set up to 2048 in double values i.e. 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048.
// The higher the number the more accurately a curved polygon will be rasterised. 16 equals placement accuracy of ~80 metres, 2048 equals placement accuracy of approx 0.5 metres. Higher values come with more performance costs.
// Result will be treelines that accurately follow the curves in roads and bends in rivers as opposed to the old straight lines and angles of before.
// Surprisingly setting the value to 2048 appeared to have little performance impact.
IMAGE_PIXELS_FOR_AUTOGEN_POLYGONS=2048

[JOBSCHEDULER]
//AffinityMask Notes:
// I have SMT disabled in the BIOS (no threads) leaving the eight CPU cores. This is because of the following reasons.
// 1), The CPU runs cooler - quite a bit cooler.
// 2), I can reach a slightly higher (stable) base overclock of 4.75 Ghz instead of 4.2 Ghz.
// 3), Prepare3D runs better on just the pure cores and I gain extra FPS which is important for a 30 Hz (30 FPS) vsync as even 3 FPS is a 10% improvement when targeting a 30 fps vsync.

//AffinityMask=15 // With SMT (threads) off 15 sets the first 4 cores. Testing in comb with CorePrority which is set to the last 4 cores, the theroy is CorePrority should spread out the processes onto the last for cores and it does however cores 0 to 3 are then under utilised.
//AffinityMask=62 // With SMT (threads) off 62 sets cores 1 to 5 leaving the last two cores free. The idea here being less threads equals less load on the main control thread and thus better FPS.
//AffinityMask=63 // With SMT (threads) off 63 sets cores 0 to 5 leaving the last two cores free.
//AffinityMask=126 // With SMT (threads) off 126 sets cores 1 to 6 leaving the first and last cores free.
//AffinityMask=127 // With SMT (threads) off 127 sets 7 cores leaving the last core free (opposite of using a 254 value).
//AffinityMask=254 // With SMT (threads) off 254 sets all cores except for core 0. TBM 06/01/2019 seems to have made a nice improvement, cores use seems smoother.
AffinityMask=252 // With SMT (threads) off 252 sets core 3 to 7. Core 3 is the fastest core on my 5800X, Process Lassoo then enables cores 1 to 7 for P3D use - result is main thread runs on Core 3 and remaining cores apart from Core 0 are used by P3D.
//AffinityMask=253 // With SMT (threads) off 253 sets core 2 to 7.
//AffinityMask=254 // With SMT (threads) off 254 sets core 1 to 7. Core 1 is the fastest core on my 3800X, Process Lasso then sets P3D to all cores which results in smoother ops with the main thread being spread.
//AffinityMask=255 // With SMT (threads) off 255 sets all 8 cores. This is the same as not running any affinity mask, however when in use with CorePrority threads are more spread and operation is smoother. Also there is a trick to making the P3D schedule smooth the CPU us out by manually disabling the main code (core 0) and then re-enabiling, all done once P3D is running.

[SOUND]
//v4.5 HF1 (4.5.12) and higher. I've noticed while sound spoolup is mostly resolved there is still some minor slowdown that spools up in all exterior sounds, still value of 0 is fine.
TIME_CONSTANT=0

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Rogen
spelling

[newtie]

1 hour ago, Rogen said:

Admittedly LM do not compete with Microsoft since Microsoft targets selling as a game to general consumers, and LM sells as a training aid to commercial and military

Therein lies the rub.

Never the twain shall meet.

 

[Sparkrite]

10 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

So it's you, me and who's the other five?😂

🙋‍♂️ Only looking for four more now............ 😂

[JetClipperJR]

I think Eaglesoft works/develops exclusively for P3D but I could be wrong.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Juliet Alpha

[bofhlusr]

6 hours ago, Rogen said:

Hey Folks,

Despite my previous post (more a rant about my disappointment in LM) I do see many advantages in the use of P3D which is why I use it.

And for those like minded people, below in the spoiler are a collection of prepar3d.cfg settings I use to help improve the look feel noting a good CPU and GPU is typically pretty mandatory.

Note it's not a complete configuration, more a list of selected settings with my notes regarding.

Cheers

  Reveal hidden contents

[GRAPHICS]
// Ensure dynamic lighting is displayed without turning on and off when changing views/panning.
// Note aircraft lighting can also be affected when the total count of dynamic lights in the current view exceeds that specified in the configuration.
// Default values are 250.
// 500 values are recommended in FlightBeam's NZAA documentation.
// When using IniBuilds dynamic lighting profiles the value recommended is 1000.
MAX_POINT_LIGHTS=1000
MAX_SPOT_LIGHTS=1000

// MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE
// Rob Ainscough's vid showing the values https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vFgfBSSXeE
// The information comes from beta testing discussion notes:
// There's no cap on this value itself because it's intended as a limit.
// If you want textures requesting aggressively, you can set it something very high like 1000000.000000
// Units are memory allocation units (not distance).
// There are two other checks that must pass before textures are requested:
// 1) Object is within the far clip distance. This varies by altitude.
// 2) Object pixel size at a given distance passes min radius check. This we made configurable in 4.3 using RS_MIN_OBJECT_PIXEL_RADIUS (default is 2.0px).

RS_MIN_OBJECT_PIXEL_RADIUS=1.000000

//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=1000.000000  // default value, 1000000.000000 is max I've tested.
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=32000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=64000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=128000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=180000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=320000.000000
//MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=640000.000000
MAX_TEXTURE_REQUEST_DISTANCE=1000000.000000

// Shadowing adjustments, note the below link also references changes in the default cameras.cfg for "Title = Virtual Cockpit" adding Clipmode=minimum and FarClipOverride=200000 to improve viewing distance.
// https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/554531-fix-terrain-shadow-degradation-fix-for-v4/
// Defaults
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=4
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=5
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=7
//SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12

//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.850000
//SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.850000

// Adjustments
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=12
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.990000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.990000

// Defaults - note if changing these values in a profile, saving the profile in P3D will overwrite back to default and the settings will need to be manually updated.
//OPAQUE_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=2048
//OPAQUE_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=2000
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=2000

// Less jaggy cockpit shadows - just a doubling of the default settings above.
OPAQUE_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=4096
OPAQUE_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=4000
TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_DRAW_DISTANCE=4000

// This value has a big effect on gpu use and thus fps on cloudy days (512 is default) lower values = jaggier cloud shadows, higher values = smoother cloud shadows.
// The setting can be changed on the fly in this config file and then loaded by entering the P3D GFX settings and just clicking Ok to load the changes in the config file.
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=1024
TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512
//TRANSLUCENT_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=256

[SCENERY]
// Of interest is that Orbx night lights are basically a Tree in the shape of a light and increasing these tree values will subsequently increase the nightlighting range.
// Tree LOD independent of the UI settings - Default 2500.000000 LOD slider Max 6500.000000, cfg Max 8000.000000.
AUTOGEN_TREE_MIN_DISTANCE_TO_LOD=8000.000000

// Max distance allowed 12000.000000 - Default 9500.000000
AUTOGEN_TREE_MAX_DRAW_DISTANCE=12000.000000

// MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=16 - Default is 16 and relates to purging of scenery items from memory (not textures).
// The higher the value the more items purged and the lower the VAS but is more likely to be stuttery.
// LM originaly had this set to a value of 4 but raised it to 16 to account for slower machines to be able to clear memory when flying faster.
// 8 to 12 seems to be a reliable settings range, and a value of 2 is fine if the machine is fast enough.
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=1
MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=2
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=4
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=8
//MaxRegionsPurgePerFrame=16

// AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD, default is 2, setting to 1 will greatly increase the amount of autogen buildings, almost double, although tends to result in too many buildings cramped together but does really fill out the world.
// Valid values are 1 to 9 with 1 the highest.
AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=1
//AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=2

[USERINTERFACE]
// Set UIHardwareAcceleration from True (the default) to False to enable reshade use.
UIHardwareAcceleration=False

[TERRAIN]
// P3D maintains a global terrain view for efficiency - if blurries start developing after a period of time or autogen stops loading trial setting to False.
UseGlobalTerrainView=False

// TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP
// Uses a massive amount of VRam and kills the frame rate as a result when the VRam runs out and swaps to using system ram (which is very much slower).
// You'll need 11 GB+ VRam to successfully use this setting with a value of 10+.
// Will improve the LOD radius (via increasing the texture resolution x4) for everything apart from PhotoReal according to LM on their forum.
// LM recommend not using for Photoreal as all it does is increase the texture size and memory requirements considerably for no visible effect.
// Texture tile size is 256x256 if the TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8, 512x512 if TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9 and 1024x1024 if TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 (value of 10 uses 16x the default value's memory and 16 x CPU/GPU work to generate the display).

// Testing a 1070 Ti with 8GB VRam, the amount of vram used is ~7638 GB, however if I change view from exterior to interior the vram used drops down to ~5000 GB, with the display freezing momentarily every ~5 secs while flying.
// Testing a 3080 Ti with 12 GB VRam and a Ryzen 5800X @ 4.7Ghz and have found the GPU/CPU combo is powerful enough to drive such a large texture size change.
// And while the GPU does handle it Ok the majority of the time, there is a tendancy to crash the GPU driver on occasions, even with a lower GPU clock rate.
// Uses approx. double the amount of VRam as TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9, far distance looks sharper, especially with a close A/C zoom which shows the background as quite a bit sharper.

// Further testing (25/03/2023) has shown with a value of 10 the scenery is sharper (including photoreal) as well as there being less "loading at the last minute", occasionally results in a GPU driver crash, likely due to running out of VRam, seems even 12 GB is not quite enough these days.
// Refer the below URL for additional information.
// https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/630517-texture_size_exp-9-or-10/
//TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=9
TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10

 

// Set the autogen to max per cell that can be displayed
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=6000
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION_PER_CELL=6000

// Relates to vegetation and how it is placed along side rivers and roads. The default and minimum is 16 and can be set up to 2048 in double values i.e. 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048.
// The higher the number the more accurately a curved polygon will be rasterised. 16 equals placement accuracy of ~80 metres, 2048 equals placement accuracy of approx 0.5 metres. Higher values come with more performance costs.
// Result will be treelines that accurately follow the curves in roads and bends in rivers as opposed to the old straight lines and angles of before.
// Surprisingly setting the value to 2048 appeared to have little performance impact.
IMAGE_PIXELS_FOR_AUTOGEN_POLYGONS=2048

[JOBSCHEDULER]
//AffinityMask Notes:
// I have SMT disabled in the BIOS (no threads) leaving the eight CPU cores. This is because of the following reasons.
// 1), The CPU runs cooler - quite a bit cooler.
// 2), I can reach a slightly higher (stable) base overclock of 4.75 Ghz instead of 4.2 Ghz.
// 3), Prepare3D runs better on just the pure cores and I gain extra FPS which is important for a 30 Hz (30 FPS) vsync as even 3 FPS is a 10% improvement when targeting a 30 fps vsync.

//AffinityMask=15 // With SMT (threads) off 15 sets the first 4 cores. Testing in comb with CorePrority which is set to the last 4 cores, the theroy is CorePrority should spread out the processes onto the last for cores and it does however cores 0 to 3 are then under utilised.
//AffinityMask=62 // With SMT (threads) off 62 sets cores 1 to 5 leaving the last two cores free. The idea here being less threads equals less load on the main control thread and thus better FPS.
//AffinityMask=63 // With SMT (threads) off 63 sets cores 0 to 5 leaving the last two cores free.
//AffinityMask=126 // With SMT (threads) off 126 sets cores 1 to 6 leaving the first and last cores free.
//AffinityMask=127 // With SMT (threads) off 127 sets 7 cores leaving the last core free (opposite of using a 254 value).
//AffinityMask=254 // With SMT (threads) off 254 sets all cores except for core 0. TBM 06/01/2019 seems to have made a nice improvement, cores use seems smoother.
AffinityMask=252 // With SMT (threads) off 252 sets core 3 to 7. Core 3 is the fastest core on my 5800X, Process Lassoo then enables cores 1 to 7 for P3D use - result is main thread runs on Core 3 and remaining cores apart from Core 0 are used by P3D.
//AffinityMask=253 // With SMT (threads) off 253 sets core 2 to 7.
//AffinityMask=254 // With SMT (threads) off 254 sets core 1 to 7. Core 1 is the fastest core on my 3800X, Process Lasso then sets P3D to all cores which results in smoother ops with the main thread being spread.
//AffinityMask=255 // With SMT (threads) off 255 sets all 8 cores. This is the same as not running any affinity mask, however when in use with CorePrority threads are more spread and operation is smoother. Also there is a trick to making the P3D schedule smooth the CPU us out by manually disabling the main code (core 0) and then re-enabiling, all done once P3D is running.

[SOUND]
//v4.5 HF1 (4.5.12) and higher. I've noticed while sound spoolup is mostly resolved there is still some minor slowdown that spools up in all exterior sounds, still value of 0 is fine.
TIME_CONSTANT=0

 

Thank you for this.

Along with the many add-ons you've listed, this needs to be memorialized to a pdf file? Pity if it all gets lost eventually.

Edited September 1, 2023 by bofhlusr

[Christopher Low]

13 hours ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

You are one of two. (Majestic also). Everyone's complacency and shouting about how MSFS was "just a game" while boasting about P3D's superiority is why I am one of seven people that has v6 installed with no dev support. And unless LM begins looking at their product seriously and seeing how it's not ok right now (those default aircraft that it hasn't touched in YEARS that are no longer compatible with the simulator they ship with?), this platform is gonna continue to die in home simulation market. And yes, it's dying - not being able to admit it is outright denial. 

I will not be moving from P3Dv4.5HF2 until MS/Asobo convince me that basic things like ground handling have been corrected when MSFS 2024 is released. I know for a fact that dodgy ground handling would drive me crazy.

[newtie]

What is dodgy ground handling?

[Christopher Low]

I have seen plenty of comments suggesting that the ground handling of numerous planes does not feel right in MSFS 2020. I like my planes to feel stable during taxi to and from the runway, and also during take off and landing.