Over the last few weeks, a couple of new tricks have seen the light of day, that collectively have added some fun to my FSX experience.I thought I had my FSX setup pretty well optimized, but was getting a bit bored with the "same old look". Now, after applying a few changes, I'm re-discovering the fun of flying with FSX.First of all, Orbx's freeware Tasmania is a lovely area to fly around in, and the autogen is really well done. Also, the documentation has a whole section on how to optimize FSX for best visuals. Download from here: http://fullterrain.com/freeware.htmlThat leads me to trick one and two. 1. Autogen. In an attempt to get best performance out of FSX, I had set my trees to 3000 and buildings to 0 in fsx.cfg. Based on Orbx's recommendations, I set trees to 1800 and buildings to 600 per cell.2. Zoom setting. I always had the zoom set for identical views out the front for VC and 2d view. Based on Orbx's recommendations, I now have the 2d view set at .5 or .4 . I start with the identical view and hit the Zoom-out button (-) three times in the 2d view.3. W-key fix. A recent download in the Avsim library is the Alacrity Panelmania set. Buried in the wealth of panels, is the first programmed fix to the W-key problem that I've come across. Read and follow the documentation, and you can equip your favorite aircraft with an unobstructed 2d view. To avoid loading up the rather big cab file for every aircraft, I copied out the small Wfix.xml file and added it to my Mygauges folder which I keep for great gauges such as this.Once I found the best combinations, I set the forward zoom in the panel.cfg files for the handful of planes I fly a lot to 0.5, and added the Wfix gauge / blank panel.The result is a better looking 2d world with crisper textures, less noticeable LOD blur and no keystrokes required to get the unobstructed view which I was used to from FS2004.If you, like me, are ready for new things to try... you might want to look into this and download Orbx's Tasmania and Alacrity's Panelmania.Thanks go to Avsim for always providing new and exciting content and to the authors of the two fantastic products !Now... is it a co-incidence that these two files both end in "-mania"? :-)

Forgot to add number four:Reducing Traffic speeds from 100 km/h to 80km/h which looks more realistic IMHO.It's been a fun week :-)

Hi Bert. Thanks for the wonderful tips. I will give them a try as soon as I can.Thanks also for the wonderful panel config for the Garmin530/SR22 platform. Works like a charm-mania.Take care.

deleted

>3. W-key fix. A recent download in the Avsim library is the>Alacrity Panelmania set. Buried in the wealth of panels, is>the first programmed fix to the W-key problem that I've come>across. Read and follow the documentation, and you can equip>your favorite aircraft with an unobstructed 2d view. To avoid>loading up the rather big cab file for every aircraft, I>copied out the small Wfix.xml file and added it to my Mygauges>folder which I keep for great gauges such as this.>Not sure where you got the "Alacrity" bit from, Bert, the download is just called "Panel Mania v01". If anyone else is interested in it, it's available here:http://library.avsim.net/search.php?Search...=root&Go=Search...and discussed here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=22412&page=>Now... is it a co-incidence that these two files both end in>"-mania"? :-)Well I can't speak for the original namer of Tasmania, but Panel Mania is so called because learning Reverse Polish Notation almost drove me completely round the bend ;).Cheers,DD

Sorry Dick... must have had a senior moment... ;-)But your W-fix coding is brilliant !Thanks again,

>Forgot to add number four:>>Reducing Traffic speeds from 100 km/h to 80km/h which looks>more realistic IMHO.>>It's been a fun week :-) Where do you find the entry to reduce traffic speed? Been looking to do this for a long time. Thanks.

>Where do you find the entry to reduce traffic speed? Been>looking to do this for a long time. Thanks. There was a recent thread here: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...53773&mode=fullThe original thread is here: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchThe change is very nice looking.

>3. W-key fix. A recent download in the Avsim library is the>Alacrity Panelmania set. Buried in the wealth of panels, is>the first programmed fix to the W-key problem that I've come>across. Read and follow the documentation, and you can equip>your favorite aircraft with an unobstructed 2d view.I've been looking for a solution to this W-key error for a long time, and finally, here it is! This is a brilliant fix to a pesky and annoying problem caused by the FSX SP1 patch. SP1 damaged the views, and even SP2 did not fix this view error.Now finally, I can get an unobstructed view again! Thanks and kudos to the author for this! :)

>>3. W-key fix. A recent download in the Avsim library is>the>>Alacrity Panelmania set. Buried in the wealth of panels, is>>the first programmed fix to the W-key problem that I've come>>across. Read and follow the documentation, and you can>equip>>your favorite aircraft with an unobstructed 2d view.>>>I've been looking for a solution to this W-key error>for a long time, and finally, here it is! This is a brilliant>fix to a pesky and annoying problem caused by the FSX SP1>patch. SP1 damaged the views, and even SP2 did not fix this>view error.>>Now finally, I can get an unobstructed view again! Thanks and>kudos to the author for this! :)I discovered a super easy work around too for this, but it only applies to the forward view. Is there any way to get an unobstructed view for any view except directly forward? If so, I need to learn it!NoelQX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed

This applies to all view directions.Two ways to do it:1. Download panelmania and install the wfix gauge according to the instructions in whatever airplane you are using. Your airplane now will have unobstructed views in 2d, when hitting the W key from the Minipanel view.2. Manual approach. Go to 2d panel, hit W to get the minipanel, hit shift-2 (or -3, or -4) to get a popup gauge window to show, hit A, hit shift-A. Done. (until you change views back to the 2d panel :-( )The panelmania gauge actually pushes the same key-sequence, but it uses a blank popup panel so it is automatic and invisible. Very clever !!

Bert, can you look left, right, forward-left, forward-right, rearward, etc and have an unobtructed view? This is my question. Thanks Bert . . .QX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed

For a more complete explanation of the w key fix. go to:http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?...&st=0&sk=t&sd=aAnd it works, but remember to hold the non-centered hat switch view until after you close the gauge.Bob (Las Cruces, NM)XP-Home, With FS Genesis Terrain MeshLogitech G15 Backlit Game Keyboard and18 Programmable Macro/Keystroke KeysAsus P5N-D MotherboardIntel E8500 @ 3.16GHz (Now)CPUThermaltake MaxOrb Enthusiast CPU FanCorsir XMS2 PC6400/DDR2/800 Dual, 4GigsSATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDDEVGA Geforce 8800 GT/512 (OC'd Version)Dual Flat Panel Monitors

The answer is: yes :-)

Thanks Bert, I see that now in your first reply.QX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed