Desperate for higher Quality

Flight Simulator 2002. Questions, suggestions, problems or solutions... aim here!

Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 9:41 am

Hello All,

This will be by far the most "suggestion-Wanted" post I have done to date...

I have tried all sorts of things to get a better picture quality in FS2002 but it just is not working... I have attached a picture of what I am seeing and I think I should be getting better quality visuals...

Lets start with my pc specs:

Dell Dimension 4500
P4 2.0GHz processor
256mb DDR SDRam at 266Mhz
40GB ATA-100 7200 RPM HD
SB Live! 1024 Digital Sound Card
64MB Geforce4 MX Video Card
Dell 17" Monitor
Windows XP Home Edition

And here is what I have tried so far:

- All Settings are pretty well maxed
- I have tried Tri-linear and Bi-linear filtering (no obvious difference there)
-Tried Anti-Aliasing in FS2002 and in Windows but I lost alot of frame rates
- Downloaded the latest Nvidia drivers
- Downloaded Direct X 9 (which I tested and is working ok)
- I have "Application Controlled" and "Enable Texture Sharpening" setup in the Windows Settings
-My screen size is 1024X768 (in FS2002 and in Windows)

On average I am getting about 20-30 FPS, but it just seems that the quality of the image is not what it should be...
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
(and if the moderators feel it necessary to move this post then thats fine but I look around and was not sure where to post it)

Thanks everyone...

This is what I am talking about...Check out the edges of the plane and as well there is line on the ground that constantly moves along that divides the clear ground from the blurry ground...
Image
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Fly2e » Thu May 08, 2003 9:42 am

Cherokee, YOU NEE TO CONTACT RAMSA at  www.ramsa329@msn.com

HE will work wonders. I do alot of graphic posts and I though they were OK, but he is on a whole other level, all those specs go right out the window!!  But wait your turn,.... I am working with him right now!!!  LOL
Dave  8)
COMING SOON!
User avatar
Fly2e
Colonel
Colonel
 
Posts: 198020
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2002 5:29 pm
Location: KFRG

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 9:51 am

You should realize that going mach one 3 thousand feet off the ground is going to do that to the ground textures. You computer just can't keep up.

Try flying along in a cessna instead


Thanks, I thought of that and I have tried in a Cessna and it still happens...(not as bad but it still happens..)
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

graphics

Postby Sky_Shark » Thu May 08, 2003 10:12 am

"there is line on the ground that constantly moves along that divides the clear ground from the blurry ground"

I think that's just the way the game graphics are. However if the details are really high this 'limit' will be far away. Downloading real weather condicions normaly reduces visibility under "infinite" so the border clear-blurry ground isnt' visible.

About the aircraft, maybe it's got something to do with it being an add on... and by the way... pardon my ignorance..

WHAT IS THAT THING?? WHERE DO I GET IT?? IT LOOKS GREAT!!!  :D
Sky_Shark
2nd Lieutenant
2nd Lieutenant
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue May 06, 2003 12:59 pm

Re: graphics

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 10:24 am

About the aircraft, maybe it's got something to do with it being an add on

At first I thought it was due to the aircraft but the same thing happens with all aircraft...Check out this pic of the default Baron...check out the edges of the wings and the lines on the edge of the runway...
Image
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Rifleman » Thu May 08, 2003 11:39 am

I had very similar results as you and played in the advanced settings of the vid card....I also have a MX 440 and XP 1800, so we are close on hardware.....I had the same jagged edges as you when I ran in 1024x768 on my 19" monitor so I decided to see what would happen if I flew in 1600x1200 and guess what ?.....look at this.....its a reduction of my screen, to post here at 800x600.........you be the judge.

Image
I'm not saying that this is up to Ramsa's standard, but for now, 'til I can get in touch with him, it is an improvment for the jaggies.........
Last edited by Rifleman on Thu May 08, 2003 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Image
User avatar
Rifleman
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 5684
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2002 4:44 pm
Location: Tropical island in the Pacific

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 11:43 am

I had very similar results as you and played in the advanced settings of the vid card....I also have a MX 440 and XP 1800, so we are close on hardware.....I had the same jagged edges as you when I ran in 1024x768 on my 19" monitor so I decided to see what would happen if I flew in 1600x1200 and guess what ?.....look at this.....its a reduction of my screen, to post here at 800x600.........you be the judge.


Awesome Idea! Thanks I will try that tonight when I get home from work...
And great pic!
Last edited by Cherokee_6 on Thu May 08, 2003 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Rifleman » Thu May 08, 2003 11:46 am

Also on this note, I have all my sliders maxed out, and when I fly, I try to ensure that I have done a defrag and fresh restart with my resources above 97% free....that also helps on my machine.
Last edited by Rifleman on Thu May 08, 2003 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Image
User avatar
Rifleman
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 5684
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2002 4:44 pm
Location: Tropical island in the Pacific

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby TJ_Gumby » Thu May 08, 2003 11:58 am

GF 4 MX? There's you're problem. You won't get nearly the same quality with the MX cards as you would with the TI series. You have a very good system, but nothing will make up for having a poor GC.
Image
User avatar
TJ_Gumby
Captain
Captain
 
Posts: 744
Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2002 3:03 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 12:13 pm

Also on this note, I have all my sliders maxed out, and when I fly, I try to ensure that I have done a defrag and fresh restart with my resources above 97% free....that also helps on my machine.

Good point. I ran a defrag not too long ago but it may be time for another...

GF 4 MX? There's you're problem. You won't get nearly the same quality with the MX cards as you would with the TI series. You have a very good system, but nothing will make up for having a poor GC.

Thats not what I wanted to hear!
Last edited by Cherokee_6 on Thu May 08, 2003 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby RIC_BARKER » Thu May 08, 2003 12:43 pm

Cherokee_6,

The jaggies you see around the edge of the aircraft and the runway lines are products of the way computers draw lines on a screen. Using pixels (the screen elements) a computer can only draw straight lines, it cannot represent curves, to draw a curve, the computer must draw a series of "stepped" straight lines that give the appearance of a curve.

One way in which your computer can cut down on these jagged edges, or "Jaggies", is to use Anti-Aliasing.

I notice from your post that in the control settings, you have "Aplication controlled" set. Try setting this to 4x AA, and turning Anti-Aliasing OFF in the FS2002 menu.

I did some test on this just recently as part of a guide I'm putting together, and I found that the "in-house" FS2002 AA causes a bigger hit on frame rates than the 4xAA thats on board the card itself. I alos think the end result looks better.

Here are two screenshots, see for yourself:

1st, no AA
Image

And 4x AA controlled outside the aplication
Image

If you want some more help, email me and I'll forward what I know.

Ric B.
Last edited by RIC_BARKER on Thu May 08, 2003 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
RIC_BARKER
Captain
Captain
 
Posts: 802
Joined: Mon May 13, 2002 6:17 pm

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby Cherokee_6 » Thu May 08, 2003 12:47 pm

One way in which your computer can cut down on these jagged edges, or "Jaggies", is to use Anti-Aliasing.

I notice from your post that in the control settings, you have "Aplication controlled" set. Try setting this to 4x AA, and turning Anti-Aliasing OFF in the FS2002 menu.

I did some test on this just recently as part of a guide I'm putting together, and I found that the "in-house" FS2002 AA causes a bigger hit on frame rates than the 4xAA thats on board the card itself. I alos think the end result looks better.

Sweet! I will try that to. PLEASE send me whatever info you have to wmu316@hotmail.com

Thanks for the suggestion!
Last edited by Cherokee_6 on Thu May 08, 2003 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
P4 2.6 Ghz w/ 800Mhz FSB & HT Technology, XP Home, 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333 Mhz, 128MB GeForce FX 5200 Video Card, 80GB Ultra ATA/100 HD, Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 w/ Dolby Digital Sound Card.
User avatar
Cherokee_6
Major
Major
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 1:06 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby BFMF » Thu May 08, 2003 1:05 pm

Thanks Ric, I disabled anti-aliasing in FS2002 and enabled the 4x anit-aliasing in the nvidia settings and it's an improvement!
BFMF
Colonel
Colonel
 
Posts: 16266
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2002 6:06 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby ysteinbuch » Thu May 08, 2003 3:35 pm

Here's a silly question ...

How do you disable anti-aliasing in FS2002 and enable the 4x anti-aliasing in the nvidia settings?

I see the "jaggies" and have not been particularly bothered. But now that you guys are talking tweaks, well...  :)
User avatar
ysteinbuch
Captain
Captain
 
Posts: 716
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2002 11:11 pm
Location: Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Re: Desperate for higher Quality

Postby RIC_BARKER » Thu May 08, 2003 4:02 pm

Hi,

To do this you must open up FS2002 and go to "Settings"

Under the "Hardware" tab, you'll find this:

Image

Uncheck anti-aliasing here and then....

Right-click on the desktop, select "Properties" and go to "Settings".

Under there, go to Advanced, and click on the tab that shows the name of your video card.

Once in there, you will find a sub-menu for the AA controls (If your card supports them). Depending on your card, it may or may not look like this.

Image

Just try a few settings and see which gives you the best trade-off between looks and performance. To make sure FS2002 registers the change, hit ALT+ENTER twice to switch between full screen and windowed mode and back, whichever you use.

Hope this helps,

Ric B.
User avatar
RIC_BARKER
Captain
Captain
 
Posts: 802
Joined: Mon May 13, 2002 6:17 pm

Next

Return to FS 2002

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 442 guests