3 hours ago, Reset XPDR said:

If the only issue you were having was TLOD changing on final descent, it is easy for me to block out TLOD changes in this phase of flight, say below 1000 ft.

There’s an idea.
 

What I was getting at was still having it stay within a defined range until it’s free to climb unrestricted, as defined by an altitude (in my case 700 AGL). For instance, I can generally achieve my target FPS with a TLOD of 200 on the ground, but there are instances where it may need to be lowered to 100 under specific conditions. But no worries, I’m going to keep adjusting settings under strenuous conditions to find a “one size fits all” compromise.

9 hours ago, Reset XPDR said:

Thinking a bit more about this, why don't you just set TLOD Max to a ridiculously high value in the first place so that, regardless of whether you are flying over mountains or not, TLOD can free range up to whatever your system is capable of? What do you mean by AutoFPS struggles to maintain target FPS above TLOD 400? It shouldn't make any difference what your TLOD max is set to as the auto TLOD will work within whatever target FPS you have set.

That’s what I’m doing. E.g. set TLOD 975 (I know, it’s insane). If I’m flying GA in a remote area, I have the headroom for those really high TLODs. And IMO it does make a difference in terms of the increased terrain draw distance and mesh resolution. Especially over mountainous areas.

But it seems that AutoFPS has the tendency to “overshoot” ie set TLOD too high, so that fps falls below target fps. It doesn’t seem to do that at more reasonable TLOD max settings e.g. 400. Hopefully that makes sense.

I’ll do more tests to try to determine it it’s a pattern that can be reproduced. But again - I haven’t seen anybody else talking about insanely high TLODs, so I’m probably a bit crazy 🤪 

7 hours ago, Reset XPDR said:

9 hours ago, Reset XPDR said:

 

Here is the latest AutoFPS test version v0.4.2.17-test3, which only adds the trial extra TLOD in mountainous areas functionality that @Cpt_Piettindicated he would like incorporated

EDIT: Didn’t see this until I had posted. Thanks so much 🙏, can’t wait to test. 

Config file is here: %appData%\MSFS2020_AutoFPS\MSFS2020_AutoFPS.config

Edited August 22, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

@Reset XPDR, I am trying -test2 for the first time and despite having FPS headroom, it won't increase the TLOD. The only way I could get the TLOD to increase (either in VFR or IFR modes) was to manually change the TLOD Min value. When I am done with this flight, I will exit everything and retry and report back. Here is what my UI looks like (after setting the min to 300 and still having FPS headroom to climb to the Max; I had been stuck at my original TLOD Min of 100 through the climb out until I noticed it):

I restarted MSFS and AutoFPS, and I can see the OLOD decreasing, but the TLOD is still not changing:

8 hours ago, Reset XPDR said:

When active, you will see "Mtns +XXX" in the app status line where XXX is TLODExtraMtnsAmount, and TLOD will be allowed to increase up by this extra amount should sufficient FPS headroom exist above your FPS target.

I don't see this in the status line. 

%appData%\MSFS2020_AutoFPS\MSFS2020_AutoFPS.config:

<add key="TLODExtraMtnsTriggerAlt" value="5000" />
<add key="TLODExtraMtnsAmount" value="400" />

EDIT: It's working. Testing it with WU18 Germany, Austria and Switzerland now 🙂

Although at AGL 10,000ft it's not active, even though I have the headroom for it. 

Edited August 22, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

39 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

%appData%\MSFS2020_AutoFPS\MSFS2020_AutoFPS.config

Thanks!! 🤩

I couldn't find it either until I followed your path.

Vis a vis my issues above, I have now downloaded -test3 to see if my issue resolves itself.

Nope. Still not increasing TLOD. I will try uninstalling and reinstalling fresh.

After deleting the folder in AppData and reinstalling, it started working again. There must have been something that went wrong with the update from -test1 to -test2.

However, I enabled the Mountains feature like Cpt_Piett, and I can see it trying to enable it, it increases by a step, but although there is headroom, it reverts back to the TLOD Max that is configured before trying to increase. It did that two or three times and then stopped trying.

I see the +400 message appear, I get an increase in my FPS above TLOD Max and then in decreases again to the TLOD Max without the mountains option.

 

Log:

2024-08-22 10:29:39.594 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Initial LODs PC 200 / 200 and VR 200 / 700
2024-08-22 10:29:39.594 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Initial cloud quality PC High / VR Medium
2024-08-22 10:29:39.595 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Setting TLOD Min on ground 100
2024-08-22 10:29:39.595 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Setting OLOD @ Base on ground 700
2024-08-22 10:29:40.086 [INF] [ MainWindow:LoadSettings          ] Expert: True Mode: FG ATgtFPS: False FltType: IFR TgtFPS: 68 TLODAMtd: 0 Tol: 20 TMin: 100 TMax: 400 OLODB: 700 OLODT: 20 OLODBAlt: 1000 TMinEx: false CloudQ: False CRecovT: 140 Pause: False TLODBAlt: 500 MaxDesRate 1500 CustomOLOD: True OLODTAlt: 5000
2024-08-22 10:29:49.716 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 100 OLOD: 700 AGL: 25372 FPM: 152 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:29:59.826 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 216 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25418 FPM: 18 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:30:09.936 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 95 FGAct: False Pri: FPS TLOD: 303 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25405 FPM: -4 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:30:20.047 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 123 FGAct: False Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25390 FPM: -4 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:30:30.159 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 119 FGAct: False Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25395 FPM: -8 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:30:40.272 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 128 FGAct: False Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25388 FPM: -4 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:30:50.384 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 129 FGAct: False Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25332 FPM: -4 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:06.563 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25280 FPM: -7 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:16.673 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 458 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25210 FPM: -8 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:26.785 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 429 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25227 FPM: 6 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:36.895 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25269 FPM: -13 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:47.008 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25287 FPM: -4 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:31:57.118 [INF] [ LODController:UpdateVariables    ] FPS: 72 FGAct: True Pri: FPS TLOD: 400 OLOD: 20 AGL: 25272 FPM: 0 Clouds: High
2024-08-22 10:32:09.253 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] ServiceLoop ended
2024-08-22 10:32:09.255 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Sim still running, resetting LODs to 200 / 200 and VR 200 / 700
2024-08-22 10:32:09.255 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Sim still running, resetting cloud quality to High / VR Medium
2024-08-22 10:32:09.260 [INF] [ ServiceController:ServiceLoop    ] Default MSFS settings reset successful. Removed back up default MSFS settings from MSFS2020_AutoFPS config file.

 

No idea what happened previously, but the Mountainous Terrain adjustment works a treat! I restarted everything and it worked as expected!

 

7 hours ago, mmcmah said:

I restarted MSFS and AutoFPS, and I can see the OLOD decreasing, but the TLOD is still not changing:

Your TLOD is not increasing because you are using FPS Tolerance auto method set at 20%, which does not trigger a change unless your current and target FPS differ by 20%. With a target FPS of 68 like you are showing, 20% is 13.6 FPS, so your current FPS has to be 68 + 13.6 = 81.6 FPS for TLOD to increase and you are currently only getting 72 FPS, so not enough. Either use FPS sensitivity mode (which does not have a tolerance threshold, but the changes will be small), set your target FPS much lower and/or reduce the FPS Tolerance to the default 5%.

6 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

don't see this in the status line. 

%appData%\MSFS2020_AutoFPS\MSFS2020_AutoFPS.config:

<add key="TLODExtraMtnsTriggerAlt" value="5000" />
<add key="TLODExtraMtnsAmount" value="400" />

I should have mentioned that you need to run the upgraded app at least once in order for the keys to be created, then you can edit them in the config file.

Config file location is covered in, dare I say, the readme. 😁

 

6 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Although at AGL 10,000ft it's not active, even though I have the headroom for it. 

What do you mean by this? Your screenshot shows otherwise. Note, it is not 10000 ft AGL that it necessarily triggers at, it is whenever the terrain elevation is above the trigger alt you have set, which from your post seems to be 5000 ft. ie. if you are 10000 ft AGL over ocean (ie. terrain elevation of 0 ft), it will not trigger but if you are at 1000 ft AGL over a 5500 ft mountain (ie you are flying at 6500 ft MSL) it will trigger. The app calculates terrain elevation by subtracting AGL from MSL altitude. Does this make sense?

5 hours ago, mmcmah said:

I see the +400 message appear, I get an increase in my FPS above TLOD Max and then in decreases again to the TLOD Max without the mountains option.

If you are flying right on the cusp of the terrain elevation trigger Mtns +XXX can switch on and off as the terrain slightly undulates below you. I think I might add some delay to the switching off of this feature so that such rapid switching in this condition doesn't happen.

 

2 hours ago, mmcmah said:

No idea what happened previously, but the Mountainous Terrain adjustment works a treat! I restarted everything and it worked as expected!

 

Glad to hear! If there is enough interest in this as a permanent feature, I could add the settings to the UI so that config file modification is not required.

37 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

Your TLOD is not increasing because you are using FPS Tolerance auto method set at 20%, which does not trigger a change unless your current and target FPS differ by 20%. With a target FPS of 68 like you are showing, 20% is 13.6 FPS, so your current FPS has to be 68 + 13.6 = 81.6 FPS for TLOD to increase and you are currently only getting 72 FPS, so not enough. Either use FPS sensitivity mode (which does not have a tolerance threshold, but the changes will be small), set your target FPS much lower and/or reduce the FPS Tolerance to the default 5%.

Noted, and I will try reducing the value.

However, as you will see from my most recent screenshot, I still had it at 20 and it was working. Other than this recent issue of TLOD not changing, I haven't had a problem with the 20 value for TLOD Sensitivity. Maybe something isn't working the way it should, as I have my frames locked at 72 (capped in NCP and using GSYNC, which will allow it to dip) and I'm using 68 as my benchmark for adjusting the TLOD. 

Apologies - just realized that the most recent screenshot had FPS Sensitivity selected instead of Tolerance. That must have happened when I reset the settings. Still, I had previously not had issues with a Tolerance seeing of 20 (I think!). I will test again to make sure that was the issue.

33 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

I should have mentioned that you need to run the upgraded app at least once in order for the keys to be created, then you can edit them in the config file.

It took me a little while to realize that, but as you said the config file did update after running the app.

Been testing it a lot today. GA and airliner flights, remote and urban areas including the updated PG-city Vienna with WU18. It works really well, no stutters. Well, except when I was doing a descent in the 737-600. I then got heavy stutters for a couple of minutes.

It’s only the Mountainous Terrain adjustment that I only got working briefly. Entries look correct in the config file.

33 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

What do you mean by this? Your screenshot shows otherwise.

It was working briefly. 

33 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

The app calculates terrain elevation by subtracting AGL from MSL altitude. Does this make sense?

It does. I’ll do more testing tomorrow.

24 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

If there is enough interest in this as a permanent feature, I could add the settings to the UI so that config file modification is not required.

That would be great. Should be possible to change values during a flight then. Much easier to test.

Edited August 22, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

12 minutes ago, mmcmah said:

Noted, and I will try reducing the value.

However, as you will see from my most recent screenshot, I still had it at 20 and it was working. Other than this recent issue of TLOD not changing, I haven't had a problem with the 20 value for TLOD Sensitivity. Maybe something isn't working the way it should, as I have my frames locked at 72 (capped in NCP and using GSYNC, which will allow it to dip) and I'm using 68 as my benchmark for adjusting the TLOD. 

In the two screenshots where you said you were having the issue, your auto method was set to FPS Tolerance mode and 20% which is why you were having the problem. In your most recent screenshot, your auto method changed to FPS Sensitivity which is why it started working again, even with a sensitivity setting of 20. As the name suggests, FPS Tolerance needs an FPS tolerance to be breached whereas FPS sensitivity does not. In short, stick with FPS sensitivity with your stated use case.