Simviation Forum - Better weather?

Oct 30^th, 2009 at 4:13pm

DaveSims Offline
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Clear Lake, Iowa

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Is there a cloud replacement that gives better FPS. I have a high end computer running FS9. The sim runs great until clouds show up, then I can get frames under 10.

Dave

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Reply #1 - Oct 30^th, 2009 at 4:47pm

N. Chapman Offline
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Well what are the specs of your high end computer? What AA level are you running? Are you currently using the default clouds?

More details please Wink

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Reply #2 - Oct 30^th, 2009 at 7:25pm

DaveSims Offline
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Clear Lake, Iowa

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I am using the default cloud textures. I have discovered through a few tweaks of my graphics card I can get slightly better performance. I am just wondering if there is something better than default.

Dave

www.flymcw.com

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Reply #3 - Oct 30^th, 2009 at 8:00pm

dave3cu Offline
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Google for FS Sky World for FS2004. Amongst it's options are 2 frame rate friendly (cumulus) cloud sets that may help.

Also, if you haven't done so already, in Settings>Display>Weather tab: Reduce 'Sight Distance' and 'Cloud Draw Distance to the minimums. It can also help to create user-defined weather with Visibility set to 20 mi.

Dave

At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation. Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good. Steven Wright

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Reply #4 - Oct 30^th, 2009 at 8:26pm

Groundbound1 Offline
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You might try (after backing up the originals first, of course) using DXTBmp to convert your cloud textures to DXT1 format. The visual quality of the textures will be reduced a bit, but they should load much faster.

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Reply #5 - Nov 2^nd, 2009 at 5:54pm

GGaulin Offline
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If you have or should have (IMHO) ActiveSky 6.5, under the Options setting select Limit Cloud Layers and set the number to 5.
This will provide you with great cloud visuals and keep the frames moving.
Also checkout the new clouds “High Definition Clouds by Pablo Diaz”; he also includes very nice frame friendly versions.

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Reply #6 - Nov 3^rd, 2009 at 11:33pm

Capt.Propwash Offline
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Groundbound1 wrote on Oct 30^th, 2009 at 8:26pm:

You might try (after backing up the originals first, of course) using DXTBmp to convert your cloud textures to DXT1 format. The visual quality of the textures will be reduced a bit, but they should load much faster.

Would that be ACE DXT1 Texture ??

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Reply #7 - Nov 4^th, 2009 at 10:03am

Groundbound1 Offline
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Capt.Propwash wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2009 at 11:33pm:

Groundbound1 wrote on Oct 30^th, 2009 at 8:26pm:

You might try (after backing up the originals first, of course) using DXTBmp to convert your cloud textures to DXT1 format. The visual quality of the textures will be reduced a bit, but they should load much faster.

Would that be ACE DXT1 Texture ??

Nope. Under "save as" from the file menu, select "extended bitmap". Then you can select DXT1 from the "save as type" menu.

Like I said, you will see a decrease in cloud detail from this method, but your clouds will render much faster. Wink

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Reply #8 - Nov 5^th, 2009 at 3:01am

mondeoman Offline
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Hi davysims, have you tried HDE - High Definition Environment by Pablo Diaz Clouds are far superior than default. I still get up 75fps (I am locked at 75fps) on my old dell p4 3.0ghz.
The file can be downloaded from Simviation.

Give it a try.

Barry

« Last Edit: Nov 5^th, 2009 at 7:54am by ShaneG »

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Reply #9 - Nov 5^th, 2009 at 7:56am

ShaneG Offline
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I highly recommend the HDE package. It comes with different quality levels for the cloud textures, so you can use the one that gives you the best performance for your set up.

Third file from the bottom here: http://www.simviation.com/simviation/index.php?type=item&ID=85&page=23

Quote:

HDE - High Definition Environment v1.0 for FS2004
12.21Mb (2528 downloads)
Photo-realistic texture pack that will change the aspect of your Clouds(cumulus, stratus, cirrus), sky color, aircraft reflections and ground detail. Cloud Textures WILL work in FSX, but not the sky colors. This package was created by Pablo Diaz.

Posted 2009-09-24 07:18:08 by ShaneG

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Reply #10 - Nov 5^th, 2009 at 9:12am

JBaymore Offline
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mondeoman wrote on Nov 5^th, 2009 at 3:01am:

I still get up 75fps (I am locked at 75fps) on my old dell p4 3.0ghz.

Hunh? 75 fps on a P4 3.0? Is that a typo?

best,

.................john

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Reply #11 - Nov 5^th, 2009 at 9:53am

mondeoman Offline
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Hi John, No its not a typo. Most of the time the fps are between 50-75 large airports egll 25-30 I did set my (locked) position to unlimited, but I found that generally speaking, the textures loaded better at 75.

Barry

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Reply #12 - Nov 6^th, 2009 at 7:43am

gwillmot Offline
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JBaymore wrote on Nov 5^th, 2009 at 9:12am:

mondeoman wrote on Nov 5^th, 2009 at 3:01am:

I still get up 75fps (I am locked at 75fps) on my old dell p4 3.0ghz.

Hunh? 75 fps on a P4 3.0? Is that a typo?

best,

.................john

I agree John, it sounds too good to be true. My computer specs are close to being identical to yours (except I have a P4 3.4 and can't come close to consistent 25 fps much less 75 fps!

gwillmot

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Reply #13 - Nov 8^th, 2009 at 11:40am

olderndirt Offline
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Flying is PFM
Rochester, WA

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Do as I'm doing, wait for the release of REX for FS2004 (very soon, they say

). Of course with my current FS9 TU, waiting isn't that big a problem for me.

THIS IS NOT A PANAM CLIPPER

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Reply #14 - Nov 8^th, 2009 at 1:00pm

microlight Offline
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Southern UK

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I did what Groundbound1 suggested last year (converting the cloud textures to DXT3) and there was a significant improvement.

If you want to try it, I'd suggest using ConvlmX (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Image-Convertors/ConvImX.shtml) for batch conversion - much quicker than editing individual files.

Can't emphasise this enough, though - identify the files you want to change and then back them up and put them somewhere safe before you do anything. That way, you can put them back if the conversion doesn't work for you.

Wink

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