RGS

Thanks for the replies guys. I bought the package and have been testing it out over the last couple of hours. Right now I'm undecided as to whether I'll stick with DX10 or revert back to DX9. Like Sesquashtoo my primary reason for wanting to run in DX10 was the possibility of decent VC shadows. Whilst they're certainly a lot better than the default, unfortunately there are still issues. I'll start a new post to discuss only the shadows but as a series of points: Though softened they are still a bit low res. If only there was a way to double the resolution... Even with the softening of the edges they display oddly at times, so you will get a harsh jagged shadow where it appears to cut through the geometry. Possibly related to the issue above; they are too inaccurate - looking back into the cabin I see a lot of light bleeding through from the exterior at the top edges of the cabin walls, this also happens at the bottom of doors (and yes there is a shadow casting mesh shell beyond the walls). The shadows sometimes seem offset from the actual mesh - Look at the base of cockpit window pillars to see the effect. Some elements simply don't want to cast shadows - for e.g. the joystick and shaft shadow fine (I can even make out the hat switch and buttons!) but the material boot at the base of the stick just doesn't cast a shadow at all, judging from the shadow cast it would appear as though the joystick is floating in the air! There seem to be quite a few inconsistencies like this. Now, I'm not saying Steve's to blame here - I'm sure he's done a great job with what he can access (Microsoft are to blame though!), but for me I just don't know if it's enough. When it looks good, it's great, but there are too many occasions where it looks bad/broken for my liking. It's really frustrating how the 'wow' moments are shortly followed by the 'ugghh' moments :(. I wonder what, if anything, can be done in 3dsMax prior to export to help the shadows display better (I'll post those sort of Qs over on the FSDeveloper forum though). I'll experiment further and post more soon.

Hello Nick, I have read some of the other posts here, but I will look again. I am aware some of my questions have been covered in part (and no doubt some in full), however sometimes people report different results, plus when reading older posts I don't know if something's been updated/fixed since or not. There's quite a few pages to go through in some cases, but I will have another rummage. I didn't see any answers related to this particular VC shadows point though: I have searched for some high res images and YouTube videos but not found anything of high enough quality to really judge.

Hi guys, It's been a few years since I've used DX10. As we all know it was unfinished and eventually the rough edges got to me. Steve's DX10 Fixer has me very interested in giving it another shot, however I have a few Qs before taking the plunge: VC Shadows: I remember really looking forward to the introduction of VC shadows only to discover upon release that they were of such low quality (low res) and seemingly very inconsistent (which elements cast/receive shadows/accuracy of shadows) that in fact the sim looked far better without them. I've not installed the freeware, but I'd really like to know how much of an improvement Steve's made with his 'Fixer.' I know he's managed to soften the edges, but are they still very low res? I saw on his blog that he was able to increase the resolution of the jet VC shadows - has he done the same with the other aircraft, or is it possible to do so easily? I'd really love to have good quality shadows in the VC but I'm not impressed with Microsoft's implementation. Other Issues: From what I've seen the other issues that used to bug me have all been fixed. Please correct me if I'm wrong but the flashing/z-fighting taxiways, missing progressive taxi markers, rain and snow 'umbrellas' and opaque mesh fences are now all a thing of the past, right? Are these items now fixed 100% or do some problems still remain? Also are there any oddities running DX10 with certain add-on aircraft or is there anything else that I should be aware of with the default sim? Scenery: I'm not using any additional 3rd party airports right now, does all of the default scenery work fine under DX10? Am I likely to see any issues with: FS Global Ultimate FS Global Real Weather FS Flight Keeper I don't imagine that I would, but just thought I'd ask! Freeware: If I install the freeware will it give me a good indication of what I can expect from the payware package, particularly in regard to VC shadows? Also, is it easy to completely remove the freeware and return to the default settings? I did read the 'readme' but it mentions a script not being included to rebuild the DX10 shaders - Prob something simple, but again I wanted to check as my FSX is running well and I need to know I can completely revert any changes. Finally: Any other positive points of using DX10 over DX9 would also be appreciated (things that come to mind are better performance/FPS, better water effects and bloom that doesn't kill your framerate). Thanks in advance for the help. Robert

Hi guys, I asked earlier but no reply - Could someone please upload some high res shots of the VC shadowing, or alternatively point me in the direction of some as I couldn't find any? Thanks, Robert

Hi guys, Would someone mind uploading some high res cockpit shots showing the VC shadows? What I've seen from the jet cockpit images on Steve's site looks very impressive, but I'm not sure if that was just a WIP (+ the images are fairly low res). Thanks in advance.

@Gregg - Nope, I tried positioning it over to the right corner (both top and bottom) but it simply pushes it out to fit the size. I'm fairly confident that there is a solution here which will allow us to save the ATC window position and scale anywhere we like, it's just understanding how the program works so as to avoid the issues I'm having right now. The fact that I was able to open a flight which did call the horizontal scale, plus John's successes gives me hope any way .

Thanks a lot for the help with this guys. @Gregg - Yes I have tried entering the values manually. It stores them, they are the correct values, but the last two coords are not used. If I only have one flight in my folder (set with the correct coords), load it, open ATC (which displays the size incorrectly) and then save it I can confirm that the new flight will have the adjusted last two coords to what I saw on screen. Where FSX pulls these from I don't know. @John - I think something like this is probably going on, but I'm not quite sure what... With nothing in my FSX Flights folder but the 3 files needed for the one flight and this flight set as the default (Start Up) it still fails to load the second coords. It makes no difference even though this is my only flight; I can click 'FLY NOW' or 'Load Flight,' either way same result: The top left corner will be in the correct position but the scale will be incorrect. Sometimes I seem to be able to load a flight in FS (after loading the 'Start Up') which will remember the width, but not the height. I haven't discovered the pattern for reproducing this yet though...

Ok, sounds like we're making progress, but I'm still having some issues and suspect that it's due to naming + some data being saved somewhere else... Here goes: I create a new flight. Position the ATC window. Save the flight. Quit FSX. Load FSX and just click 'Fly' - My flight is loaded (but with the current real world time of day applied as expected), however the only part of the ATC window in the correct position is the top left corner! It did seem to semi work at one point and I have a feeling that it's down to the naming as suggested above, but it's almost as though you can't even call the flight a similar name, or even that of a deleted flight. Not only that, but renaming the flight files manually outside of FSX (with FSX not running) seems to sometimes create duplicate flights - i.e. When overwriting the re-named flight from within FSX the old (original name) flight appears again! It seems as though FSX is writing data elsewhere and this needs to be flushed out. Going back in for some further testing... EDIT: Ok, so FSX is ignoring the last set of coords as suspected. It's getting the data for those from somewhere else entirely. It does write them correctly to the FLT file, but just doesn't call for them when reloading. Any thoughts?

@ Gregg Would you mind confirming for sure that you managed to save the size, even if it was through placing it in the corner? I've tried that myself, but it only saves the position and each time I open FSX it'll be a large window no matter where I place it in the default flight. I'm not sure why it defaults to such a large window (roughly 1/2 of my 30 inch screen space) when the amount of text displayed is only ever relatively small. Thanks, Robert

Thanks for replying guys. So everyone can move it and save the position, but no joy in saving the size?

I'm pretty sure all you had to do was set them up as you like, then save the flight and set it as default. For me it's saving the position, but not the size/scale.

Hi PIC007, Full screen mode I'm afraid...

Hi guys, just a quick one: I'm having problems saving the position and size of the ATC window. I move it to where I want, re-size it and then save the flight, ticking the box as 'set as default.' When I re-load the flight the top left corner of the ATC window is in the correct position, but the size isn't saved. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, Robert

Thanks for all the info guys.KInd of surprised at the negative feedback after the glowing reviews. FS Genesis does seem like a good deal (especially @ $30 for lot - Wow!) but I'm still tempted by Global Ultimate - I like the simplicity of 3 packs for complete coverage (got to be pretty decent res too at ~40GB/pack) and the AFM is useful to at least fix issues as I find them (AFAIK it's included for free with Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania).Will have a think on it. Any more feedback greatly appreciated.

What makes you say that Glenn?(I am looking for a global solution BTW)

Hi guys,Looking for a quick bit of advice.I'm pretty tempted to pick this up, going with Europe/Africa first, then The Americas + Asia/Oceania. Before I get the first pack though I was wondering if someone who has used the product a fair bit could clarify a few points for me.This is my first mesh scenery and I'm concerned I'm going to find that *most* of the airports are now plateaued or bath tubbed, as opposed to the minority. Whilst this is less of a problem if you tend to just fly around the same area (as you can use the AFM to fix specific aerodromes), I imagine it might become pretty annoying if you move around more, potentially leading to a 'I hope today's destination isn't messed up...' situation. Also, am I correct in saying that you use the AFM tool on a per airport basis or can it be broader than that?Bit of an obvious one really but I take it having all three packs installed with deliver full global coverage?Anyway, I've read the official reviews here, both of which are overwhelmingly positive - Just hoping to get a bit more info before taking the plunge. These will be sitting on top of a default FSX install, so not going to have any incompatibility probs.If there are any other issues you've encountered please say so.Cheers,Robert

Well I used Maya for three years and IMO it didn't stand up to Max for modelling at all. I hear it's much better now, but then that's from guys who liked it to begin with...As I say, it's just my opinion.

Well as long as they stick with Max I'll be happy as I think it's a really great modelling tool (have not tried Blender but am wary of other *supposedly* good modelling packages since having to use Maya a couple of years back, but that's just my opinion).Maybe a separate compiling program would be possible where you just bring in fbx files (for e.g.) allowing you to use your 3D package and version of choice? Not sure how feasible that'd be technically though.I really hope that they will offer exporters for older versions, though I suppose at some point in the not too distant future I'm going to have to bite the bullet and update to Max 2011 with subscription.

This is also my biggest concern.Firstly I really hope that they stick with Max (I *really* don't like Maya at all!).Secondly I hope that they will release tools and exporters for older versions of Max, especially 2008 which is what I use for FSX but also versions 7, 8 and 9 which other devs have been using for FSX (and I believe are mostly compatible).As you're all no doubt aware this software is *extremely* expensive (even worse for us UK users) and to *have* to upgrade to the latest version purely for exporters would be very painful indeed.It'd be great to see some form of new GMax for freeware devs (and/or to fix the eport issue), but I won't hold my breath.(whilst I have my concerns as a dev I think operators of flight sim stores such as 'SimMarket' and many others might have the most to be worried about if MS decides to run 'Flight' in an 'app-store' way through Live...)

Cheers guys,It's a known issue with the ATI cards, there's a 100 page thread about it on the ATI/AMD site: http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm...p;STARTPAGE=100Have ordered an nVidia/Zotac GTX 480, will be here tomorrow morning + just filed the RMA for the 5870. I hope it all works out ok, these ATI problems have had me out of action for way too long as it is (this is my third card, first one arrived physically broken, second had this issue, was RMA'd and found faulty)...I was just wondering before buying the 480 if there were any issues with it in FSX? (too late now of course!!)I *should* be ok temperature-wise as have a full tower case with 6 fans in it, but I'd be interested to hear how people are finding the temps and noise anyway (though I'll know shortly myself I guess).I really hope it's stable, that's the main thing (I'm not worried that it'll be fast ;)).Thanks,Rob

Hi guys,I had an 8800GTX 768MB, it died and was replaced with a 5870 2GB Vapor-X card.The first ATI I received was physically broken, (bit of plastic had snapped) - RMA'd.The second was experiencing the ATI GSOD issues:http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm...p;enterthread=yand this 100 page thread here:http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm...p;keyword1=gsod(there are others)Second card RMA'd, found faulty, new card sent. New card is *much* better, yet I still occasionally experience the same issue (but MUCH less). FSX *seems* stable, 5 hrs yest, no crash. But have managed crashes with Napoleon:Total War, BioShock and Alien Breed Demo, although I have been able to play these games for hours at a time also... So it's weird. Stalker CoP will *always* crash, almost always within the hour. The last RMA'd card wouldn't ever get past the benchmark, this one will but the game itself will eventually hang it.I was about to RMA this card too (as it would appear that there is still something faulty somewhere) and go for a 480 as it seems that nVidia are better known for stability and so on. The guy at the store asked if I was sure as 'the card runs very hot and loud, in fact we've just had two returned for this very reason. The customers said it was heating up their rooms too much!' So before making that decision I'd like to know what you guys have experienced. Primarily I am concerned about stability. I need the card for work (3D modeling and 2D) so it has to be stable and FSX compatibility is absolutely vital also. When the card's working (which *appears* to be most of the time right now) it's superb - silent, cool and *extremely* fast. But I don't want to hang onto something that has problems which may or may not be hardware related. Additionally as I've had the card for over a week now if they can't find fault with it on return I stand to lose up to 25% of the price I paid (

Thanks Sam,Not sure I'm really comfortable with removing the CPU cooler etc, as to be honest (simple as it may be) I have no idea what I'm doing. When I bring up task manager what should I be looking for?Cheers,Robert(will be giving the PC manufacturer - SCAN, a call later as luckily I extended the warranty to 3 years).

Thanks Sargeski,I will try that later today. Downloaded already, however I think I may have found the root of the problem - though no idea why!I think it IS the CPU overheating as tried running a program called 'Core Temp 0.97.' It's reporting my cores are ranging at idle (typing this for e.g.) as 87*c, 83*C, 74*C, 73*C. When under stress and even when switched on from cold (idle in Windows) it can go to 125*C. And right now that's with the side of the case off too! Checked this with Speed Fan also + confirmed when checking System Monitor in the Bios on boot.From the limited research I've done so far this seems pretty bad.So it's now crashing in Windows also. Yesterday I was able to do 2D work the whole day without any issues, but after a system restart it just did it again, that's when I started monitoring the CPU temps...I've checked inside the case all fans are on, doesn't seem particularly hot... FYI I'm using a ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED cooler for the CPU. As stated before nothing's OC'd or ever has been.Any help much appreciated.Robert

UPDATE: This is now also happening in other games, seemingly at random times, i.e. frame rates are good and the system doesn't appear to be under any major stress.I don't believe it's overheating as I tried it with the side panel off the case, same thing. It seemed pretty cool inside + I have a large aluminium case (Silverstone TJ07) with lots of fans all at 100%.Any more suggestions of things I can try in an attempt to narrow down the problem very much appreciated.Thanks again for the help.Robert

Hi guys,Tried changing the memory voltage. No joy.Checked my settings against what I had before updating the bios (previously memory voltage was set to 2.2) and re set EVERYTHING as it was before. Still not joy. It's hard crashing all the time now. Mostly within 5 minutes, sometimes on loading.Have not used the sim for past couple of weeks so I don't think the changes I've made are having any impact whatsoever, i.e. I don't believe that changing the settings has made it crash quicker, just bad luck on the last few attempts...Really frustrated now. Just don't know what's going wrong with it. Don't appear to be having problems with other high end games (well I don't think so, possible once or twice - very rare) such as BioShock for e.g.Any other suggestions? Really very confused now.Cheers,Robert