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how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:04 am
by thebrelon
how to get rid off blurries?

this has probably been dealt already but I can't find any informations, except going through FS-GS...
The thing is I have a rather high end computer, not the latest but still very good I think, with lot's of RAM, 4gigs, and I still have the blurries. I tried some tweaks I found on the net to enhance FS9 graphics when using megascenery, which I don't use, but even if my computer seems faster the graphics are not really better.

for info, I run all sliders to the max, mip mapping 6, hardware rendered lights 7, bilinear flitering and AA on, global max texture size massive, target framerate 25.
my comp's spec are in my sig.


here are some example, it's a basic flight from seattle tacoma, with silverwing nice wheather theme, nothing more

here, the blurries start in front of the engines intakes
Image      

here, in the middle of the radar
Image      

the big black squares disapear usually after 1-2secs
Image

as you can see the frame rate is very good but the quality is not the best...


any help welcome, thanks

vince

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:59 pm
by PisTon
To get rid of them, do the following:

Go into the game, and turn MIP mapping quality to 4 in display settings, exit, and then go:

Start----->run---->type "%appdata%\Microsoft\FS9" without quotes----> press enter--->backup a file called fs9.cfg---> Open up fs9.CFG with notepad or wordpad.

Ok, now you need to find the following lines, and change them to the same ones as I display here.

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=20

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=900

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1

Since you are were flying in a fast jet, and changing areas quickly, you can try changing the Extended level value to 5.

I have noticed no slowdown when using this tweak, and my system is almost identical as yours, only my video card is faster.

Don't forget to tell us if it worked ;)

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:37 pm
by thebrelon
thanks for your reply pisTon.
I did exactly what you wrote and have to admit it's better. still not as good as I would like but it has already improved. thanks.
I'll post some screenshot tomorrow to show the difference

edit: here are the pics. I used the same flight except the weather theme which is FS9 default fair weather

Image      Image      Image

you can see the difference, despite it's still quite blurred, it's better. thanks pisTon!

If anybody knows some more tweaks... you're welcome

vince

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:28 pm
by NicksFXHouse
90% of blurries are caused by the system being overtaxed and all resources going to the model and direct area around it. FS9 focuses on that part first, then, and resources left over goes to the extended visual radius. The rest of the problem can lie in the textures you are using not being correctly designed and taxing the system.

Speed also plays a role in that. With a slower video card and flying Mach 1-2, the velocity creates another problem for the hardware to deal with...

Assuming the ground textures were designed correctly, start thinking in terms of reducing the resource killers but keep in mind your hardware does have limits you may not be able to overcome in all situations.

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=20 <- Raise to 22

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=900 <--Bulls****, no such number, maximum setting is 400... Set this to 400

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000 <---Also try 4.5 (no zero's)

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1 (5 does not exist on this setting and it cannot be any higher than 1 unless you have full buffer mesh installed from FSGenesis)

PAN_RATE=900 <---try 900

The TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT and the PAN_RATE must be set to balance each other. If you reduce the PAN_RATE you must reduce the TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT... a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio between those numbers is a good rule of thumb however those settings in combination with the TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS helps quite a bit with resource distribution and therefore helps clear up blurriness.

Also, ALWAYS set to TRILINEAR filtering. Mip to 4 and hardware lights 8. Global Texture to MASSIVE.

AA=OFF, never ON in the sim... set AA in you video drivers, generally a setting of 4 is fine.. Bump AF in you video drivers up to 16x. you can also try 2xAA and 8xAF ot 4xAA and 8xAF

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:33 pm
by thebrelon
wow!!!!
that's a lot of informations. thank you nick.

I'll try these tweaks in the following days when I'll have some free time to properly set the sim and do the comparison.

I'll keep you informed anyway.

thanks again
vince

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:06 am
by Jakemaster
90% of blurries are caused by the system being overtaxed and all resources going to the model and direct area around it. FS9 focuses on that part first, then, and resources left over goes to the extended visual radius. The rest of the problem can lie in the textures you are using not being correctly designed and taxing the system.

Speed also plays a role in that. With a slower video card and flying Mach 1-2, the velocity creates another problem for the hardware to deal with...

Assuming the ground textures were designed correctly, start thinking in terms of reducing the resource killers but keep in mind your hardware does have limits you may not be able to overcome in all situations.

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=20 <- Raise to 22

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=900 <--Bulls****, no such number, maximum setting is 400... Set this to 400

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000 <---Also try 4.5 (no zero's)

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1 (5 does not exist on this setting and it cannot be any higher than 1 unless you have full buffer mesh installed from FSGenesis)

PAN_RATE=900 <---try 900

The TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT and the PAN_RATE must be set to balance each other. If you reduce the PAN_RATE you must reduce the TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT... a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio between those numbers is a good rule of thumb however those settings in combination with the TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS helps quite a bit with resource distribution and therefore helps clear up blurriness.

Also, ALWAYS set to TRILINEAR filtering. Mip to 4 and hardware lights 8. Global Texture to MASSIVE.

AA=OFF, never ON in the sim... set AA in you video drivers, generally a setting of 4 is fine.. Bump AF in you video drivers up to 16x. you can also try 2xAA and 8xAF ot 4xAA and 8xAF



Why did you say to raise the framerate limit to 22?  I have mine set at 33 cause the sim was averaging about 32 so I made the limit 33 to give it a little buffer and yet try to acheive that unification (which, by the way, seems to have worked.  Still nowhere NEAR fsgs quality, but better)

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:51 am
by PisTon
90% of blurries are caused by the system being overtaxed and all resources going to the model and direct area around it. FS9 focuses on that part first, then, and resources left over goes to the extended visual radius. The rest of the problem can lie in the textures you are using not being correctly designed and taxing the system.

Speed also plays a role in that. With a slower video card and flying Mach 1-2, the velocity creates another problem for the hardware to deal with...

Assuming the ground textures were designed correctly, start thinking in terms of reducing the resource killers but keep in mind your hardware does have limits you may not be able to overcome in all situations.

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=20 <- Raise to 22

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=900 <--Bulls****, no such number, maximum setting is 400... Set this to 400

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000 <---Also try 4.5 (no zero's)

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1 (5 does not exist on this setting and it cannot be any higher than 1 unless you have full buffer mesh installed from FSGenesis)

PAN_RATE=900 <---try 900

The TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT and the PAN_RATE must be set to balance each other. If you reduce the PAN_RATE you must reduce the TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT... a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio between those numbers is a good rule of thumb however those settings in combination with the TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS helps quite a bit with resource distribution and therefore helps clear up blurriness.

Also, ALWAYS set to TRILINEAR filtering. Mip to 4 and hardware lights 8. Global Texture to MASSIVE.

AA=OFF, never ON in the sim... set AA in you video drivers, generally a setting of 4 is fine.. Bump AF in you video drivers up to 16x. you can also try 2xAA and 8xAF ot 4xAA and 8xAF


Thank you for correcting me, however saying
Bulls****,
when I am trying to help someone isn't funny   :'( :-/ :( :-[

Also, why set max fps to 22?

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:39 am
by NicksFXHouse
[quote]

Why did you say to raise the framerate limit to 22?

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:42 am
by NicksFXHouse
[quote]
Thank you for correcting me, however saying
when I am trying to help someone isn't funny

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:02 pm
by NicksFXHouse
wow!!!!
that's a lot of informations. thank you nick.

I'll try these tweaks in the following days when I'll have some free time to properly set the sim and do the comparison.

I'll keep you informed anyway.

thanks again
vince



There are many, many things that cause blurries

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:54 pm
by thebrelon
hi guys,

I didn't had time yet to tweak and trial my system, I should have time during the week or at the latest next week-end.
I would like to share with you some XP tweaks I found on the net. I can't guarantee anything, I tried it and found my computer faster. but no figures to prove anything, just a feeling...
1- run NTFS system with a cluster size of 4096 bytes...
2- disable last file access stamping to save ressources
3- turn off windows indexing: increase perfs
4- increase your file system cache by changing the RAM usage priority from programs to system cache
5- increase CPU priority through REGEDIT to 38 decimal
6-defrag your disks- MFT and paging file
7- creat a paging file in addition to the existing one on your additional HD if any...

I'm not expert, so I can say if there is any real benefits, I did it, and didn't crash my comp, neither seen any decrease in perfs. I even find it faster...

If any experts can comments this, it would be of help to anyone...


thanks
vince

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:04 pm
by Jakemaster


He will need to experiment with the frame rate lock... It may need to come up to between 24-30

As for 33 on an x700 ATI card... that would appear too high but every system is different. I would say 28 would be a better choice for that card... but it requires calibration and testing to find out.


Everyone keeps saying that the X700 sucks and I wont get  anything out of it, but I guess Im doing something different cause I have a good sim that with framse unlocked in clear weather hits 50 or higher FPS, and if I lock at 33 I hit it no problem except in large amounts of clouds with multiple layers

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:17 pm
by NicksFXHouse
hi guys,

I didn't had time yet to tweak and trial my system, I should have time during the week or at the latest next week-end.
I would like to share with you some XP tweaks I found on the net. I can't guarantee anything, I tried it and found my computer faster. but no figures to prove anything, just a feeling...
1- run NTFS system with a cluster size of 4096 bytes...
2- disable last file access stamping to save ressources
3- turn off windows indexing: increase perfs
4- increase your file system cache by changing the RAM usage priority from programs to system cache
5- increase CPU priority through REGEDIT to 38 decimal
6-defrag your disks- MFT and paging file
7- creat a paging file in addition to the existing one on your additional HD if any...

I'm not expert, so I can say if there is any real benefits, I did it, and didn't crash my comp, neither seen any decrease in perfs. I even find it faster...

If any experts can comments this, it would be of help to anyone...


thanks
vince


#1: That should be the file system and cluster size Windows XP was installed on.

#2: That is a good tweak but make sure you do not need the time stamp. I personally do not disable it because I sometimes work with a large number of graphics files and the timestamp makes it possible for me to not get confused as to the most recent update.

#3: Another good tweak... make sure indexing is shut down correctly... from both the services AND the drives themselves.

#4: DO NOT SWITCH THE SYSTEM TO LARGE CACHE THAT IS A BULLs**** FIX WHICH WILL ACTUALLY DECREASE PERFORMANCE. KEEP THE CACHE TO NORMAL AND FOR PROGRAMS. With ATI video cards.. that tweak is known for trashing the entire OS. SET IT BACK TO NORMAL USE.

#5: I do not know where '38' came from for CPU priority but I would not screw with that unless you KNOW what you are doing. I have never heard of "38" being used for that entry. EDIT: If you meant decimal 38 and not hex 38, then I understand the setting... yes, it can help.

#6: Good advice, but make sure you use a good professional defrager such as O&O Defrag.

#7: Another hogwash tweak... it was good to move the swapfile for Windows 98 and Mill when hardware was slower but as of Windows XP, newer HDD's and assuming you have at least 768mb or physical memory, moving the swapfile is bullS***. If you have 1gig or less, set page file to "LET WINDOWS HANDLE IT" If you run 2gigs, set to a static 1.5x.. for 3 or more gigs of PM, you can shut down the page file or set to a static 1.5x.

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:51 am
by thebrelon
here we are... I did some trials today. only on FS9 setting didn't change anything to XP yet...


UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=22  

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT= 400

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000  

TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS= 4.5
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1

PAN_RATE=900
AA=OFF
trilinear filtering, mip map 4, and rendered lights 8

vid card AA 4X, AF 16x

the results is really better, I still have blurries but less and further miles forward of A/C.

I found out that mip map filtering set to bilinear on the video card settings in addition to trilinear in FS9 was better, not sure it is really, or it's a good thing to do.

tommorrow I'll change XP setting as you said and will make screenshots to show you the difference.

what about vid card setting? here are mines:
AA: 4x
AF: 16X
performance: Hi quality
vertical synchronisation: activated
mi mapping: bilinear
texture smoothing*: activated           *not sure of the translation

there are few settings I cannot control like trilinear optimisation, but I guess it may be for higher vid cards...

thanks for your help

vince

Re: how to get rid off blurries?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:58 pm
by NicksFXHouse
[quote]here we are... I did some trials today. only on FS9 setting didn't change anything to XP yet...


UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=22