Cruachan

Now, I admit that this doesn't necessarily infer that the 64bit version is on its way, but maybe, just maybe its release should be anticipated by reserving space now on the AVSIM servers to accommodate the daddy of all threads as we all indulge our mixed emotions coming to terms with what just happened. My guess is that by this time next year, if not before, Prepar3D will be available in 32bit and 64bit versions. As with hardware, it is likely that the sim will continue to grow in performance, content and complexity making the transition to 64bit inevitable if not mandatory. Better not to delay than risk becoming sidelined by older technology. In time, Prepar3D could evolve into being the definitive affordable flight simulation adopted by all who are serious about the vicarious experience of realistic human flight. Pretentious rubbish? Perhaps. Place your bets now! Mike

Hi, Don't you think it's interesting that P3D 32bit is still being updated with enthusiasm and apparent unchecked momentum when we all suspect that the 64bit version will soon appear? The assumption is that the latter is intended to replace its mature progenitor, but perhaps instead the plan Is to allow development of both versions to continue in parallel, at least for a while, to facilitate a gradual and stress-limited transition. This would seem to me to be eminently sensible and would be enormously helpful by allowing sufficient time for their commercial clientele, 3rd party developers and, of course, us to refocus on the new platform. Many of us, myself included, have not been affected significantly by the VAS constraints imposed by 32bit and are likely to be happy to stay with v.3.x for some time to come. It may be that we might decide to install the 64bit version alongside v3.x and move over gradually as 3rd party compatibilities and finances permit. I imagine that at first the 64bit version's appearance and performance will be not dissimilar to its predecessor so, if you are happy with what you have now, there will be no compelling reason to rush to make the change but would prefer rather to adopt the less dramatic unhurried approach. It could be a win-win prospect for everyone! Mike

Hi Ryan, Ah, right, so it's a known issue. Seems odd that this appears to be associated with the sun. Thanks, Mike

I'm speculating that this may have something to do with the configuration of the aircraft's headlights/spotlights. The 'artifact' is not seen with other aircraft I've tested nor is it seen when the outside view is selected, only in the VC of the Legacy. All views are of the sun looking east after dawn. KBGE: KVPS: Mike

Hi Bjarne, Looks like the full uninstall/reinstall has broken links between the sim and your various Addons. Like you, I decided yesterday to update to 3.3.5 and on first run Prepar3D crashed without getting as far as the activation window. Fortunately there was enough info provided to point me in the direction of FSLabs Spotlights. Disabling the entries in DLL.XML got me going and subsequently a visit to their website for a compatible update got the module working again. I would uninstall all the affected Addons, check for any updates and then reinstall each one at a time checking all is well as you progress. Much quicker in the long run than trying to troubleshoot this issue. However, the fact that they are all affected suggests there may be a common cause. That may simply be incompatibility with version 3.3.5. This version has been out for some time now so it is likely all your affected Addons will have updates available for download by now. BTW, I only updated the 'Client' and 'Content' components of the 3.3.5 update from LM. Nothing was updated in the 'Scenery' component so was not required. So, problems can and do arise using either method. Regards, Mike

I agree whole heartedly. As my installation has evolved I've lost count of the number of times I have deleted this folder and allowed the sim to rebuild. Does no harm whatsoever. Just remember, and it's been said umpteen times, DO NOT delete the ShadersHLSL folder in P3D root otherwise you will find yourself up the proverbial creek without a paddle......unless, of course, you have remembered to create that backup before launching yourself into the unknown..lol Also, while you are at it, I suggest you check the content of your SceneryIndexes folder. You will find it in the same folder as Scenery.cfg. Corruption of the numbering sequence can and does occur, I know, it's happened to me twice and I still haven't identified the culprit. The indexes should be in an orderly sequence to match the content of your Scenery.cfg. If you see any deviations then simply delete the entire content of that folder (SceneryIndexes) and P3D will rebuild at next run. Mike

Remember Chris Willis (FS Sky World/FS2002)? He was the first, imho, to produce some decent clouds and sky textures for the Flight Simming community. I can well remember all the enthusiastic and excited posts following each of his releases. http://www.avsim.com/topic/16976-thankyou-chris-willis-awsome/?p=103028 Indeed, I acted as one of his testers for a short period. Mike

Thanks again , Rob. I never thought of the relationship in those terms. Hot fixes applied last night, FTX Unification update applied - all reported as being well so 'first light' later today, hopefully Regards, Mike

Thanks Rob. For some reason I was concerned I might lose the lower resolution options but I see that is not in fact the case. The slider in ASCA can now be moved all the way right from 2048x2048 to 4096x4096. Playtime! DXT or 32-bit? In the past (before ASCA) I've been using 32-bit for REX4 TD Soft Clouds and performance could be slightly better although, to be honest, I was never quite sure. Regards, Mike

Hi, Anyone using the alternative ASCA HD resolution pack? If so, is there a performance impact or is that a rhetorical question? Mike

Hi AnkH, I realised a very long time ago to take such claims with a very large pinch of salt. Not saying we are being deceived as I'm sure those claims are perfectly genuine. However, rarely are we comparing apples with apples as so much depends on what you fly, where you fly, the settings employed and hardware specs. As you can see from the rig specs in my signature area I have a pretty potent build by todays standards. I choose to run with moderately high sim settings and I do use 4xSGSSAA in Nvidia Inspector. Most of the time performance is very good indeed, but still there are times when it can be a struggle to maintain frame rates >30. Unless each frame rate and performance claim is backed up with a full set of parameters then I would regard that claim as being irrelevant to me. In the end you have to be prepared to experiment and find an acceptable balance which is in keeping with the capabilities of your hardware and also covers your requirements, most of the time, as you move between flight situations. As an example, currently I am running some tests by visiting a multitude of airports/airstrips in the amazing Scotflight for Orbx product. I chose to fly around in the default Alabeo Extra as it offers both speed and agility. I have been using a mouse as my flight controller. Performance throughout has been outstanding with rare evidence of any stuttering and frame rates are generally maintained between 40-50, sometimes higher. However, these figures can drop significantly while flying in a very detailed area like Glasgow. Fortunately I can stll keep fairly close to 30fps and so smoothness of frame updating is maintained. It should be said that I run Unlimited with VSync On and my monitor is refreshing at 120Hz. Providing more details would likely be unhelpful as our setups are different but, hopefully, you get the idea. Regards, Mike

Hi Sam, This may not resolve your particular issue, but is certainly worth a try: http://www.avsim.com/topic/489881-latest-orbx-lib-and-blurries/?p=3446847 First make a backup of the SceneryIndexes folder. Just copy and paste it. You will find it in the same folder as your Scenery.cfg file. Check the content and see if there is anything odd, as I discovered, about the numbering sequence. If there are discrepancies then delete everything in the folder and start P3D - it will rebuild the indexes. Now see if anything has changed for the better. I had problems with blurries and slow tile texture loading following the FTX Central 2.1 LC Unification update. The above appears to have resolved as evidenced by extensive testing in ORBX EU Scotland this afternoon. However, there are still some issues which, hopefully, will be resolved by a further update in the not too distant future. Regards, Mike

Hi Stephen, Have you tried signing in using either your Facebook or Google account details? Just tried and it works. However, they do ask you to link your ORBX account with the above so that may be your stumbling block if you can't recall the details. What about Password Recovery? Is there an option available to you when you try to login to ORBX? Regards, Mike

Fixed it! As it turns out EZdok EZCA was the 'culprit'. I adjusted my viewpoint using the arrow keys and Page Up/Down and all is well. I tested with a short flight and, yes, the core display stays centred while the dynamic elements move around with the aircraft. Well, that didn't take long. Surprised I didn't think of the solution before now - must be getting old Edit: Hi Luis, just read your post - you beat me to it..lol Thanks everyone! Mike

Okay, here's another taken immediately after loading: (It's a cropped image in case anyone was wondering.) Mike

Ha, thought someone would say that. You will note that I'm flying straight and level. Maybe I should have grabbed an image while the F22 is sitting on the runway as the HUD appearance is exactly the same. Somehow the display has shifted off centre to the left. I wondered whether it was adjustable in the real world and this was implemented in the simulation? Mike

Hi Jay, Yes, I added this entry some time ago. No idea whether it has any beneficial effect, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Certainly haven't noticed any downside. To be honest I forgot it was there until your post appeared. Regards, Mike

Hi, Wondering whether anyone else has noticed this: I've been aware of this for a few days now and just assumed it would correct itself, but it hasn't. Any thoughts or solutions? Mike

Hi Dave, Actually not quite true I have stumbled across a different solution which is unorthodox, to say the least, and both Rob and Steve remain unconvinced. However, whatever may be the explanation, it works very well for me and Rob and Steve have seen the supporting evidence. I have to qualify this by saying that I can only cite experience on my i-7 5960X / GTX980Ti x2 setup and cannot vouch for how a similar approach would work, if at all, on 4 or 6-cored CPUs. Quite simply: HT=OFF and AM=21760 I was using an Affinity Mask of 21760 (0101010100000000) with Hyperthreading=On in the BIOS and getting generally very good results. At one point a few weeks ago I decided to try again with HT=OFF but forgot to disable the affinity mask setting in Prepar3D.cfg. No other settings had changed and I was struck immediately how much more fluid the sim felt to fly. Further observations are suggesting that every time P3D starts this is, in some way, forcing the JOBSCHEDULER to assign the P3D main job to a random core while the remaining cores are also active to varying degrees around the main thread. However, the effect remains the same: performance is maintained with added fluidity in all but the most demanding of situations and this is with SGSSAA x4 in NI and MSAA x4 Samples in P3D. I'm certainly not advocating that this approach will work with other setups nor am I recommending it as a solution. However, this unexpected finding is a winner for me and I'm keeping it! Regards, Mike

As is Maarten Boelens' excellent SimLauncher X: http://www.avsim.com/topic/453567-simlauncherx-the-freeware-tool-everyone-has-been-waiting-for/ Fully compatible with P3D v3.2. Doubtless Maarten will soon have an update for 3.3, if he hasn't already. Regards, Mike

Most of us understand that it's pretty easy to witness frame rates >60 if you prefer to fly out in the sticks rather than dense urban or airport areas. It's all about balance and accepting what is and what is not possible and being prepared to move some of those sliders back a notch from time to time. In fact I prefer the set-it-and-forget-it approach rather than be forever fiddling. I have to accept there will occasionally be some downsides but I can improve things temporarily by simply switching off VSync. Clearly my rig does allow a wider range of possibilities, but I too can be frame rate challenged though not very often Mike

Hi Elaine, Thanks for stepping in to help. Where would we be without you? I think I may have said it before, but it's certainly worth repeating: Your guides are second to none and richly deserving of all the accolades they receive. The time and effort spent with their meticulous construction is evident for all to see and I would like to assure you that it doesn't go unnoticed. Now, EZdok EZCA. Rather than hang around and negotiate licence reactivations, etc. I decided just to crack on and install my freshly purchased v.1.18.7 with it's spanking new shiny licence I followed your guide closely, Elaine, and encountered nary a problem. Actually, not quite true, there was one issue relating to antiviral exclusions. My ESET NOD32 intercepted something (unfortunately I didn't note the particular file, but it might have been the EZCA executable). I didn't waste time over it and just reinstalled over the first installation after excluding the target folder. No problems thereafter. The point I'm trying to make is that you cannot exclude the target folder from being scanned if it doesn't exist prior to starting the installation. Adding the Installer to the exclusions zone didn't prevent this interception. The only other ways to prevent this from happening would be to disable the A/V product temporarily before the installation is started or create an EZCA folder and exclude it as you would do later on. Anyway, thought I should mention it in case you felt you should update your guide. Now, all we need is a written Dummy's guide showing us all how to untangle the secrets offered by this product...hint, hint No, I think you've done more than enough for us already relating to EZDok EZCA and I see there's plenty stuff on YouTube relating to P3D, including v3.2. What with the superbly enhanced visuals produced by the v1.1 RealismShaderPack, and now my reintroduction to EZDok EZCA, the upcoming P3D v3.3 seems somehow less appealing. It will have to go some to convince me that a further change is necessary or, indeed, needed. Who am I kidding...LOL! Still, there is an element of truth to this as, right now, a carefully customised P3D is pretty special and a richly rewarding experience Regards, Mike

Hi Rich, Thought I'd tried that yesterday, but kept telling me that my password was wrong so was unable to progress. This was strange as I accessed my account at Flight 1 without any obstacles and was able to change my password - you can only do this providing you can enter your existing password. Clearly I got muddled somewhere along the line..lol I may follow your helpful advice regarding the refund, we'll see. Sometimes it's worth encouraging a project by not appearing to be too parsimonious. Flight 1 are the masters when it comes to making you jump through hoops to achieve your goals...legitimately...and who really can blame them in today's climate. Pity it can seem confusing for infrequent purchasers of their advertised products. Regards, Mike

Hi Rich, Thanks for the heads up! I am one of many who became disillusioned with this popular utility. It never seemed to work properly for me in P3D v2.x so, in the end, I uninstalled it in the hope that someday the author would roll up his sleeves and sort it all out. It appears that this may now have happened - hooray! Downloaded v.1.18.7 from Flight 1 last night in the hope I wouldn't have to purchase it again for my new rig with Prepar3D v3.2. No go, my old licence (purchased 2014) doesn't work :( Tried everything I could think of, including following the instructions for transferring to another computer, but stopped short of having my attempts locked out. So, accepted the inevitable and went ahead and purchased a fresh licence. If it turns out to be performing as well as folk are saying this time around then it will have been money well spent. Will install later today. Fingers crossed! Regards, Mike

Hi Ed, Good point, I hadn't considered that, but I do tend to delete redundant stuff as I go along. Routine disk imaged backups take care of any possible rash moves on my part, at least in theory - haven't had to test that as yet! However, it's always reassuring to have an escape route.. LOL! This is a bit of an eye opener: http://www.gameplayinside.com/optimize/cleaning-up-old-nvidia-driver-files-to-save-disk-space/ Regards, Mike