Vertex settings

[Bluescaster 21]

Hi All, I do hope this is the appropriate forum for my query, I apologise if it is not.Whilst trying to optimize my setup I read somewhere (I think one of the Avsim forums) that I should alter the FS9 Config file to match the various "Mesh" scenery I'm flying over. (I have addon mesh for British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Alaska etc. ie. Holger Sandmann - and others - freeware from this site)I've now heard that this is not necessary as the program will only load the appropriate settings. I'm afraid I am not too familiar with the intricacies of computer programming - would someone be kind enough to put me right regarding this as I don't want to scramble my Sim by fiddling where it's not necessary.Regards, Blue.

[Guest visualflight]

BlueI assume you're referring to altering TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL (TMVL) in the FS9 config file? It's quite important to understand that setting this at a higher level than the best of your terrain mesh sceneries required will result in FS9 interpolating vertices in the mesh to the level you've specified, which may put additional unnecessary demands on your system.In a nutshell, if you are using a 19m terrain mesh (such as that included in VFR Terrain), you need to set TMVL to 21. This will place a node in the terrain scenery every 19m (approx approx). However, if you are using a 38m mesh and set TMVL to 21, you will still end up with a mode every 19m, with the intermediate nodes being interpolated between the genuine 38m spaced nodes. This quaduples the number of nodes being displayed compared to the number of nodes genuinely needed to display the 38m mesh, and that may cause an unnecessary performance hit on your system. If your best mesh is only 76m and you set TMVL to 21, you will end up with FS9 displaying 16 times as many nodes as you absolutely need to display your mesh at 76m.The appropriate settings for the most common terrain mesh resolutions are as follows:19m mesh: TMVL=2138m mesh: TMVL=2076m mesh: TMVL-19This last one is the default of course, so no changes needed if you are not using any 38m or 19m terrain mesh.There is an argument for using a higher TMVL than absolutely necessary in any case. The resulting interpolation will give a rounded off appearance which some users may prefer. The difference would only be apparent relatively close up though. If in doubt, experiment, possibly by saving a paused flight and taking comparative screenshots.If you need instructions on how to change TMVL, you can find them here:http://www.visualflight.co.uk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2337The instructions are geared to a 19m mesh, but you can choose the appropriate value for your scenery from the information I've given above.JohnVisual Flighthttp://www.visualflight.net[a href=http://www.visualflight.net/]http://www.visualflight.net/london/images/signature.jpg[/a]

[Bluescaster 21]

John, How very good of you to reply to my post. I am using UK VFR Photographic Scenery on my system (along with the Freeware I mentioned) so your comments are very relevant and much appreciated.If I could just impose upon your hospitality for one furhter question: If I were to leave my FS9 Config at default (I assume this is TMVL19) would the system decide what was best to display in as the scenery loaded? I ask as I'm not always certain as I load up various flights which Mesh applies to that area. (I could check out the files each time as I have spent time ensuring they are explicitly labelled within their individual scenery folders)My system contains some of each mesh size; default, 19m and 38m. Many thanks again for your help and advice.Regards, Blue

[Guest visualflight]

If I were to leave my FS9 Config at default (I assume this is TMVL19) would the system decide what was best to display in as the scenery loaded?In a word, no. You would get a maximum terrain mesh resolution of 76m, the default (TNVL=19). You could set TMVL to 21 instead, but then you're displaying interpolated terrain mesh vertices every 19m even with a 76m mesh, which is a 16-fold increase in the number of vertices compared to one every 76m. However, this can be a valid option if you don't mind FS doing this interpolation, and in fact it may well have very little impact on your system. Possibly the thing to do would be to try this and see how you get on.An alternative strategy would be to create different configuration setups for FS2004 which you can choose from when firing up FS, e.g. depending on what area you're flying in. While it is possible with FS2004 to specify which configuration file to use via the FS9 command line (don't worry if you don't know what/how), it's easier to simply make multiple copies of the main FS9.exe file and give each a different name. For example, if you want to have one set up for 19m terrain mesh, copy FS9.exe to FS9_19m.exe. This will result in a different configuration for each copy of the exe file as FS bases the configuration file name on the name of the executable. (Not a lot of people know this!).When you start this up for the first time it will create its own FS9.CFG named FS9_19m.CFG, stored in the usual place (see [a href=http://www.visualflight.co.uk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=993]Where is FS9.CFG?[/a]). Obviously this will be a completely fresh copy of the config file, but if you want to start with your existing settings, you can simply copy FS9.CFG to FS9_19m.CFG before you start.Having done this, you could then set TMVL to 21 in FS9_19m.CFG, create a new shortcut "FS9 19m" pointing to FS9_19m.exe on your desktop, and you're away. You can choose between firing FS2004 up with your existing settings by using the existing FS9 shortcut, or firing it up with 19m resolution using the new shortcut.One thing to bear in mind is that any settings you make when running your new config is that most changes (apart from scenery library changes) will only affect the configuration you're currently using. This can be a blessing or a pain, depending on whether the hassle of maintaining the settings in each configuration outweights the potential benefits of being able to set FS up completely differently for each configuration. Possible benefits include setting a different startup situation for each, so it can be a very useful tool.This trick also works for FS2002, which if I recall correctly, doesn't have the option of specifying the configuration file on the command line.JohnVisual Flighthttp://www.visualflight.net[a href=http://www.visualflight.net/]http://www.visualflight.net/london/images/signature.jpg[/a]

[Bluescaster 21]

John, We're obviously in the same Time Zone :-) Many, many thanks for your reply. All is now clear.... I'll squeeze me brain around your suggestions. It will be interesting to see the difference with the same areas but differing TMVL settings.Regards, Blue