Screen freeze at McChord AFB and SeaTac

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I have just realised why there is a significant freeze after take-off (or landing) at McChord AFB and SeaTac International. It isn't due to the number of trees in the area (which is far less than in the San Francisco area), but the rebuilt taxiway lines and lights at these two airports. When I upgraded these two airports, virtually every line was deleted and reconstructed. Maybe the original LGS versions were optimised, or maybe they were just less complex. However, this made me realise that there is a solution (at least, when taking off).When you are given clearance to taxi onto the runway, press Shift-F11. This will remove all of the lines. The freeze of several seconds still exists, but this is far more acceptable when still on the ground :-)I will also check Boeing Field and Paine Field, since these two are also quite complex.I am not sure if anything can be done when you are landing, but at least you will have touched down by that point.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest jonpoint]

Chris,I have noticed the same issue, especially when I did my GTF package. The delay happens because the lines are a vector overlay that must be drawn as a separate object. Vectors don't use polygons as such - that part is performed by the game engine. What this all means is, as you land (or takeoff), the engine must perform another series of display calculations, ON TOP of what it is already doing. No wonder they modified the line settings with the patch to remove them as you takeoff. I'd hate to think how many stutters you'd get as you crossed the region if the lines were always switching on and off :-eekThis is also part of the reason for me doing the airport lighting models (lights are rendered as part of the 3D 'ground' image so no bad overheads) as well as the runway 'overlays'. With the overlay, the 8-10 polygons of the airport are ALWAYS rendered as part of the ground image and the lines are 'just' part of the texture - so no overheads at all ;)BTW, I sometimes land at SEA with the taxi lights and lines turned off, then when I taxi off the runway to get clearance to park, I turn it on again. You don't notice the freeze then, because you are waiting for Tower to tell you where to go...:-waveJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Jon,Are you saying that there is a command to stop the lines appearing after you have landed ? I suspect that this is probably explained in the patch readme file, and it is certainly a good idea. Like I said with the take-off scenario, you don't notice the freeze too much when you're standing still !I want to add this kind of useful information to the documentation in my upgraded packs, so that all users are aware of this problem, and the solution.I can just about accept the three second freeze in the SanFran area when I have either Golden Gate Park or Angel Island installed, but the six second freeze at McChord AFB is a bit ridiculous.......Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest jonpoint]

Chris,Yep - the same + thaing!You can do it anytime. If you have the strip (F12) enabled, you will see a message appear when you do it. Just remember to hit it after touchdown ;)Of course, you can put 'no_taxi_lines' in your config file too, but I don't think it can be overidden with the keyboard, unless you want to use the 'console commands'.:-waveJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Jon,Are you saying that pressing "Shift + F11" will stop ALL taxi lines from appearing, at ANY airfield ? I had simply assumed that this removed the lines ONLY after they had already appeared.That is very useful information. That means that these screen freezes can be restricted to when the plane is motionless on the ground. Great stuff. That will have to be added to the documentation in my new packs.Thanks !Chris Low,ENGLAND.