How do I measure performance (fps)?

[Graycat8524]

Heya Drumlineramos,

What I was explaining in previous posts it really depends on your PC system's capabilities.  Fly2e posted a great way to check your FS 2004 performance.  My PC's performance is not too hot compared to Fly2e's or Mad Robster's.  What it really boils down to is your perception.

Do like what Fly2e posted.  Take a default aircraft and fly the route he suggested at about 2500 ft.  Look at the landscape while flying.  If the landscape VFR scenery looks crisp and vivid with your FS 2004 locked at 35 FPS then you are OK.  If not, try lowering your FPS to 20 or 25 then fly it again and check your scenery eye candy.

[legoalex2000]

well, i got a dell 2400, std sound and graphics, only thing is a gig of ram.

[Graycat8524]

Heya Drumlineramos,


Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.  I just got home from work.  Evening shift really bites.

Having a Gig of RAM is good, however, from what I understand FS 2004 primarily uses CPU processor power to run its engine.  Having a super system with state-of-the-art (256 MB) graphics card and one Gig of RAM (or more) does help, but CPU speed is the key thing.

On higher-end systems like Fly2e's or Mad Robster's you can lock your FS 2004 on 35-50 FPS with no sweat.  You can still get proper motion and see nice, crisp VFR scenery graphics.  On my system (as is) my best FS 2004 performance is achieved (all of my sliders are maxxed except for Sound) with my framerates locked at 18 FPS.

Myself, I can't see a difference in the motion of aircraft in FS 2004 with my framerates locked over 18 FPS.  Some people may be able to.  I don't know.  If I lock up my FPS to 30-40 then I will notice that my VFR landscape scenery doesn't look as sharp.

As I've said before though what it really boils down to is your perception.

[Pegase]

You can also use this software
http://www.fraps.com/

Which has a video capture function working with any program.

About how high should be the "right" fps rate, take the question by the other hand:
Fly over an highly detailed area like a big town or airport, encrease details, quality and resolution until you have the feeling of flickering motion.
You have found the "right" fps...

[Tom.]

i couldnt care less about frame rates on fs unless you use mulitplayer and that becomes a different story

[JBaymore]

Framerates tend to get used in order to measure performance of the program because they are the ONLY quantifiable measurement available to the user that can be looked at in a concrete fashion.

[Mozz]

Also, remember movies (at least videos) have a certain amount of built in blur to add to the effect of motion. With fs, I think anything over 16 is ok and I try to average out around 20.

Just go for the compromise between detail and frames that you are willing to use. You can also download smaller textures (eg, 128x128 cloud textures, instead of the 512x512 default ones) to speed things up. Ai are another issue and using PAI will bring your frames down very heavily, AIA tend to work well though.