Where's Lawn Dart? Here...with a tweaking question! :-)

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

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Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi,

I'm really enjoying the flight simming on this new and improved
machine! I'm still fine tuning the tweaking though, as there are a
few things I have yet to experiment with. Overall, I'm very pleased
with the improved performance!

Even though I can get a nearly constant 30 FPS (haven't even tried
anything above that yet), I've limited the FPS to 25, as that seems
very smooth already, and hopefully, more resources will then be used
for scenery.

I do have one question for the moment. I've got the anti-alias set
to 4x, and anisotropic filtering at 8x, and in general, everything
looks very good, including the planes. However, on several planes
there are narrow stripes painted along the fuselage, and those types
of lines seem to be "stepped" in their own peculiar way, though
curved lines are now looking very smooth. Here's a screen shot:

http://tinyurl.com/49lsy

Does anyone know of a setting that could help with this small yet
noticeable issue?

Oh, and the video card in question is an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/128 mb
memory. Screen resolution is set at 1152x864/32 (same setting as the
rest of the desktop), with the refresh rate currently set at 75 hz (I
could change it to 85 hz is that would help).

Thanks!

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

You will have to play with your AA and Anisotropic settings. Do you have temporal antialiasing set?

--
....Carl Frisk
Anger is a brief madness.
- Horace, 20 B.C.
http://www.carlfrisk.com


"Lawn Dart" <willkayakforfoodREMOVE_THIS@gmx.net> wrote in message news:1tyhktjbtxur8$.dlg@uni-berlin.de...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: RIPEMD160
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm really enjoying the flight simming on this new and improved
> machine! I'm still fine tuning the tweaking though, as there are a
> few things I have yet to experiment with. Overall, I'm very pleased
> with the improved performance!
>
> Even though I can get a nearly constant 30 FPS (haven't even tried
> anything above that yet), I've limited the FPS to 25, as that seems
> very smooth already, and hopefully, more resources will then be used
> for scenery.
>
> I do have one question for the moment. I've got the anti-alias set
> to 4x, and anisotropic filtering at 8x, and in general, everything
> looks very good, including the planes. However, on several planes
> there are narrow stripes painted along the fuselage, and those types
> of lines seem to be "stepped" in their own peculiar way, though
> curved lines are now looking very smooth. Here's a screen shot:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/49lsy
>
> Does anyone know of a setting that could help with this small yet
> noticeable issue?
>
> Oh, and the video card in question is an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/128 mb
> memory. Screen resolution is set at 1152x864/32 (same setting as the
> rest of the desktop), with the refresh rate currently set at 75 hz (I
> could change it to 85 hz is that would help).
>
> Thanks!
>
> - --
> Melissa
>
> PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/
>
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> ASs/vxvth176YE4tm22ETGinl7DNsrdhtdZDbsSwtX2W78FzUfTQm2UvunnPD/zx
> bSYuxgdirWk=
> =Eosk
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Carl,

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 05:18:16 GMT, you wrote:

> You will have to play with your AA and Anisotropic settings. Do you
> have temporal antialiasing set?

After you mentioned it, I looked up "temporal antialiasing" and did a
bit of reading. Some claimed that it slowed things down for them,
but I decided to try it anyway. I'm happy to say that there's no
noticeable slow down (still maintaining a solid 25 FPS, with the
limit set at 25). There may even be some improvement with those
narrow stripes, though I should have described the issue more
accurately than calling the effect "steps", as it's not really that.

Anyway, it's not a major problem, and I'm so pleased with how the sim
is working overall that it seems silly to even worry about this very
minor issue.

Thanks for your help!

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Those "steps" in the narrow lines with your video card can only be
fixed by increasing the monitor resolution (I, too, have a 9800 Pro).
Increasing the AA to 6X will help some but they will still be there at lower
resolutions. Try 1600x1200 and see if that doesn't help. Here, the "steps"
look pretty good at 1280x960 and they are virtually gone at 1600x1200 (and
the gauges really look good at that resolution) Also, you might want to try
setting the framerate limiter to unlimited. FS2004, unlike prior versions,
doesn't scale the scenery well based on the FPS lock and most all the study
data I've seen shows a slight (and in some cases significant) FPS gain with
the lock off. If you start to have the "micro-stutters" putting the FPS lock
back on may help some but it's not effective in all cases. All mileage is,
of course, variable .

Trip

----------------------------------------------------------

"Lawn Dart" <willkayakforfoodREMOVE_THIS@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:htnm7u0l663y.dlg@uni-berlin.de...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: RIPEMD160
>
> Hi Carl,
>
> On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 05:18:16 GMT, you wrote:
>
>> You will have to play with your AA and Anisotropic settings. Do you
>> have temporal antialiasing set?
>
> After you mentioned it, I looked up "temporal antialiasing" and did a
> bit of reading. Some claimed that it slowed things down for them,
> but I decided to try it anyway. I'm happy to say that there's no
> noticeable slow down (still maintaining a solid 25 FPS, with the
> limit set at 25). There may even be some improvement with those
> narrow stripes, though I should have described the issue more
> accurately than calling the effect "steps", as it's not really that.
>
> Anyway, it's not a major problem, and I'm so pleased with how the sim
> is working overall that it seems silly to even worry about this very
> minor issue.
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> - --
> Melissa
>
> PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/
>
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[crash]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Trip Lane wrote:
>(I, too, have a 9800 Pro).
Me too..

>Try 1600x1200
Me too...

Also, you might want to try setting the framerate limiter
> to unlimited.
Ditto... Seems to work the best overall


>>
>> Anyway, it's not a major problem, and I'm so pleased with how the sim
>> is working overall that it seems silly to even worry about this very
>> minor issue.

Hey LD - great picture!! Now you see what you've been missing...... d:->))

Cheers'n Beers.. [_])
Don

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

"Lawn Dart" <willkayakforfoodREMOVE_THIS@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:htnm7u0l663y.dlg@uni-berlin.de...

> limit set at 25). There may even be some improvement with those
> narrow stripes, though I should have described the issue more
> accurately than calling the effect "steps", as it's not really that.

Anti-aliasing only works for the edges of "objects" (top edge of Panel,
edges of the plane's exterior, etc.). The stripes within the paint job are
not objects and it will have no effect on them. That is controlled by the
resolution of the Texture BMP file. I don't believe that can be altered to
a higher resolution BMP without going back to the original Model in GMax (or
whatever it was created with) and re-mapping a higher resolution Texture to
the Model then re-exporting it out to a new model *.mdl file.

--

Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Trip,

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 07:41:04 -0400, you wrote:

> Those "steps" in the narrow lines with your video card can only be
> fixed by increasing the monitor resolution (I, too, have a 9800
> Pro). Increasing the AA to 6X will help some but they will still be
> there at lower resolutions. Try 1600x1200 and see if that doesn't
> help. Here, the "steps" look pretty good at 1280x960 and they are
> virtually gone at 1600x1200 (and the gauges really look good at
> that resolution)

I currently have the screen resolution set at 1152x864 in both the
sim and the computer in general (17 inch monitor). This seems a
comfortable screen resolution for me in terms of all my non-sim
programs, and when I go into the sim at this resolution, the entire
monitor screen space is nicely filled. If I go into the sim and
change it to a higher resolution, it looks like I'd have to re-adjust
the screen display size in order to fill the monitor's screen space
again. If I do this from within the sim, will this also affect the
non-sim screen space usage at the 1152x864 resolution?

There also seems to be a limit imposed by my monitor itself, and this
is also apparently reflected in the ATI Catalyst Control Center,
which offers me a maximum resolution of only 1152x864 (my current
setting for everything). I *can* go into the regular "Display"
options of the WinXP Control Panel and increase the resolution beyond
that, but then, when I try to expand both the horizontal and vertical
display of the monitor, I can't get the image to use up the entire
monitor screen space.

Would it be correct to assume that the only way for me to reasonably
increase the screen resolution beyond the current 1152x864 would be
to get a different monitor? I've been thinking about the possibility
of moving to a 19 inch monitor if I can find a good one at a
reasonable price.

> Also, you might want to try setting the framerate limiter to
> unlimited. FS2004, unlike prior versions, doesn't scale the scenery
> well based on the FPS lock and most all the study data I've seen
> shows a slight (and in some cases significant) FPS gain with the
> lock off.

Okay, I'll give this a try tonight. There has been quite a bit of
discussion about this in the past, and I just assumed that by
limiting the FPS to the minimal limit that still allowed for smooth
movement, the rest of the resources would be used to render the
scenery in a better way. I'll see what happens tonight when I try it
with the target FPS set to "unlimited".

> If you start to have the "micro-stutters" putting the FPS lock back
> on may help some but it's not effective in all cases. All mileage
> is, of course, variable

Thanks again for your suggestions!

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Phillip,

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:03:51 -0500, you wrote:

> Anti-aliasing only works for the edges of "objects" (top edge of
> Panel, edges of the plane's exterior, etc.). The stripes within the
> paint job are not objects and it will have no effect on them. That
> is controlled by the resolution of the Texture BMP file.

Thanks for the clarification. This is something I've been thinking
about as well, and it makes sense with respect to what I've been
seeing. Trip mentioned the idea of increasing the screen resolution
as a way of minimizing this issue, but it seems that I've already
come up against the reasonable resolution limit of my monitor. Now I
may have to think about upgrading my monitor! Eek!

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi CRaSH,

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:42:47 -0500, you wrote:

>>> Anyway, it's not a major problem, and I'm so pleased with how the
>>> sim is working overall that it seems silly to even worry about
>>> this very minor issue.

> Hey LD - great picture!! Now you see what you've been missing......
> d:->))

Indeed! I'm really happy with all the improvements I'm seeing,
and being able to use the better water textures is something I've
been looking forward to for a very long time.

There are still some limits to what can be done because of my current
motherboard and monitor, but just the change of the CPU, RAM, and
video card have made quite a nice difference already!

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

"Lawn Dart" <willkayakforfoodREMOVE_THIS@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:nfj1fgvy74k9.dlg@uni-berlin.de...
> Thanks for the clarification. This is something I've been thinking
> about as well, and it makes sense with respect to what I've been
> seeing. Trip mentioned the idea of increasing the screen resolution
> as a way of minimizing this issue, but it seems that I've already
> come up against the reasonable resolution limit of my monitor. Now I
> may have to think about upgrading my monitor! Eek!

That might make it worse. If you stretch a low resolution image on a higer
resolution monitor setting if may get more jagged. Experiment with
different resolution setting on the monitor. 1024x768 may be the bets size
for the Sim. This would be in the Sim's Display settings,...you don't need
to mess with the regular Windows Resolution. Just experiment and see what
you get.

--

Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Good morning Melissa;

"Lawn Dart" <willkayakforfoodREMOVE_THIS@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:12mxwxas6648s$.dlg@uni-berlin.de...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: RIPEMD160
>
> Hi Trip,
>
> On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 07:41:04 -0400, you wrote:
>
>> Those "steps" in the narrow lines with your video card can only be
>> fixed by increasing the monitor resolution (I, too, have a 9800
>> Pro). Increasing the AA to 6X will help some but they will still be
>> there at lower resolutions. Try 1600x1200 and see if that doesn't
>> help. Here, the "steps" look pretty good at 1280x960 and they are
>> virtually gone at 1600x1200 (and the gauges really look good at
>> that resolution)
>
> I currently have the screen resolution set at 1152x864 in both the
> sim and the computer in general (17 inch monitor). This seems a
> comfortable screen resolution for me in terms of all my non-sim
> programs, and when I go into the sim at this resolution, the entire
> monitor screen space is nicely filled. If I go into the sim and
> change it to a higher resolution, it looks like I'd have to re-adjust
> the screen display size in order to fill the monitor's screen space
> again. If I do this from within the sim, will this also affect the
> non-sim screen space usage at the 1152x864 resolution?
>
> There also seems to be a limit imposed by my monitor itself, and this
> is also apparently reflected in the ATI Catalyst Control Center,
> which offers me a maximum resolution of only 1152x864 (my current
> setting for everything). I *can* go into the regular "Display"
> options of the WinXP Control Panel and increase the resolution beyond
> that, but then, when I try to expand both the horizontal and vertical
> display of the monitor, I can't get the image to use up the entire
> monitor screen space.
>
> Would it be correct to assume that the only way for me to reasonably
> increase the screen resolution beyond the current 1152x864 would be
> to get a different monitor? I've been thinking about the possibility
> of moving to a 19 inch monitor if I can find a good one at a
> reasonable price.
>
>> Also, you might want to try setting the framerate limiter to
>> unlimited. FS2004, unlike prior versions, doesn't scale the scenery
>> well based on the FPS lock and most all the study data I've seen
>> shows a slight (and in some cases significant) FPS gain with the
>> lock off.
>
> Okay, I'll give this a try tonight. There has been quite a bit of
> discussion about this in the past, and I just assumed that by
> limiting the FPS to the minimal limit that still allowed for smooth
> movement, the rest of the resources would be used to render the
> scenery in a better way. I'll see what happens tonight when I try it
> with the target FPS set to "unlimited".
>
>> If you start to have the "micro-stutters" putting the FPS lock back
>> on may help some but it's not effective in all cases. All mileage
>> is, of course, variable
>
> Thanks again for your suggestions!
>
> - --
> Melissa
>
> PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/
>

A 17" monitor is intended for 1024x768, a 19" at 1280x960, a 21" at
1600x1200 employing the 4:3 screen ratio. I use a KDS 19" with a NVidia
Ti-4200 and they work best together at 1280x960, 85Hz. In my case, anything
less renders a jagged image. CAD programs & pictures become increasingly
deplorable as the resolution decreases. My video card & monitor will permit
me to attain 1600x1200, but things are too small.

Cheers,
John

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 07:41:04 -0400, Trip Lane wrote:
> Also, you might want to try
> setting the framerate limiter to unlimited. FS2004, unlike prior versions,
> doesn't scale the scenery well based on the FPS lock and most all the study
> data I've seen shows a slight (and in some cases significant) FPS gain with
> the lock off. If you start to have the "micro-stutters" putting the FPS lock
> back on may help some but it's not effective in all cases. All mileage is,
> of course, variable .

You know Trip, I've been reading this bit of advice since FS9 was released,
yet even the folks from the FS development team still insist that the frame
rate lock works PRECISELY the way that they programmed it to work...

Bill

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

"Bill Leaming" <n4gix@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:14yneeehziaig$.l89wc8umx2v5.dlg@40tude.net...
> On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 07:41:04 -0400, Trip Lane wrote:
>> Also, you might want to try
>> setting the framerate limiter to unlimited. FS2004, unlike prior
>> versions,
>> doesn't scale the scenery well based on the FPS lock and most all the
>> study
>> data I've seen shows a slight (and in some cases significant) FPS gain
>> with
>> the lock off. If you start to have the "micro-stutters" putting the FPS
>> lock
>> back on may help some but it's not effective in all cases. All mileage
>> is,
>> of course, variable .
>
> You know Trip, I've been reading this bit of advice since FS9 was
> released,
> yet even the folks from the FS development team still insist that the
> frame
> rate lock works PRECISELY the way that they programmed it to work...
>
> Bill

I had the frame rate locked until I installed some MegaScenery areas/city
and they strongly advise to set rates to unlimited!

Chris

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 14:05:32 +0100, Chris Curtis wrote:

> I had the frame rate locked until I installed some MegaScenery areas/city
> and they strongly advise to set rates to unlimited!

Yes, and of course the fine folks who brought you MegaScenery MUST know
more that the silly folks at Microsoft who wrote the bloody code for FS to
begin with...

Bill