Clouds destroying FPS

[theultimat 5]

Hi guys, it's me again. :)

I was really looking forward to getting back into OFF since I updated my computer, but I've been having a few problems - the most annoying of which is how the clouds seem to slice apart my frame rate. I can have a solid fps of about 60 on a clear day at 2,500 feet, but in stormy weather it get cut to below 10. I have no idea what's causing this, so if anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it!

Thanks again.

[Olham 164]

I don't know your system specs, Ulti, but I came to the conclusion, that it may take the system

more performance to down-calculate qualities, than it would take performing them.

 

What I mean is: try "Clouds" settings on 4 or even 5 - and see if it gets better.

A fps-killer is rather "Scenery detail" (put that on 2), or "Ground object density" in "Workshops".

 

I have good results with my not so modern graphic card (ATI HD 4870) with these settings:

 

Aircraft: 5

Terrain detail: 3

Scenery detail: 2

Effects quality: 4

Clouds: 5

 

Give it a try.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Olham

[theultimat 5]

Hi Olham, thanks for the quick reply.

My current sliders are...

Aircraft: 5

Terrain Detail: 2

Scenery: 2

Effects: 5

Clouds: 5

 

Also, I just tried it on a cloudy day in Quick Combat (Snow Clouds) and recieved no fps hit. It looks like whatever is killing the fps is in the OFFMediumWeatherDynamic option, as on that setting I get the cut in fps.

Thanks again!

[Olham 164]

I believe to have made the observation, that very thin veils / layers of mist can make it tricky for the graphic card.

Not sure though.

[theultimat 5]

Hmm. Is there any way to prevent OFF rendering these clouds in the game? Thanks again.

[Hasse Wind 46]

I've also experienced the drop in FPS in cloudy weather. It's much more marked in OFF than in RoF. Despite the drop OFF stays quite playable for me, but if my rig was any less powerful, I'm sure I'd be in trouble.

[Olham 164]

Don't know much about that, Ultimat - I see a lot of weather setting options in "Workshops".

When you move your cursor over the tick-boxes, it will tell you what the setting does.

Perhaps you need to experiment with those?

[Olham 164]

PS: for "QuickCombat", you have a brilliant choice for weather and landscapes, when you fly QC from "Workshops".

Down at the bottom there, you should find "CFS3 QC" or similar.

If you use that, you only select your desired aircraft and skin in the first window.

Then, when you go to the field, you will receive another red menue at the left.

Open that and check, what you get for each line.

Airfield (and thereby the area + landscape) can be chosen there as well as the weather type (and there are tons!).

Also enemy aircraft, number and pilots quality etc.

Very good for QC flyers!

Edited January 28, 2012 by Olham

[theultimat 5]

Thanks guys.

I've been messing around with my settings for a while now, but I can't get it to improve at all. I have a question though - in CFSConfig, under the "Texture Info" window, what does the Cloud Scale slider do? Thanks again.

[Olham 164]

No, I don't know what it is exactly, but I think it is better to leave that untouched.

Maybe it says something about the resolution of the cloud bitmaps - I guess you would

only make it look less good, if you moved a slider there.

 

Did you ever check and try my "Graphics Settings" (see: Sticky Threads) ?

 

http://combatace.com/topic/60374-graphics-setup-an-easy-pictorial-guide/page__view__findpost__p__452080

 

Click on the stamp-size little picture; then click on the larger one again to receive the full size.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Olham

[DukeIronHand 8]

Not sure if this helps but I use the config settings recommended here by others - mainly from friend Olham.

 

My system is old (but quite serviceable) and, with clouds set at "5", I find the clouds have almost no impact on my FPS.

 

Biggest FR hog for me is ground object density.

Edited January 29, 2012 by DukeIronHand

[theultimat 5]

Hello everyone.

I have just checked, and I am already on the settings that you have both recommended. I also tried changing the Cloud Scale slider, but nothing happened so I have no idea what that's for. I'm completely out of ideas, especially seeing as my old machine had no problems with clouds at all.

Thanks for all your help so far!

[Creaghorn 10]

i had a similar issue in the past with my GTX 260. i had also some fps hits on some (not all) cloudy days. i solved it by playing around with antialisaing settings. with some setting the clouds work better than with others. also, the newest GPU drivers are not necessarily the best. you might try some older drivers. my driver is about 2 years old. every newer one made the performance mabye little better in some aspects, but lot worse on cloudy days. maybe worth a try.

[Olham 164]

One remark to Anti-Aliasing settings:

some of you may still not know, that you should set these up in the control panel for your

graphic card; not in "Workshops".

For ATI cards, you right-click on the desktop to get the CatalystControlCenter, CCC.

Here you should deselect the tick-boxes "Use application settings".

Now you will get the Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering from your CCC.

These are usually far more advanced than the old CFS3 ones, so they look a lot better.

 

Set AA to 8x or higher, and Anisotropic Filtering to 4x or higher - if your card can handle that.

[DukeIronHand 8]

What I have always found odd for OFF is that, with my system and set-up, AA and AS have almost no impact on FPS - no matter how high I set them.

 

OFF is the only game I have (that I am aware of) that is like that. Quite strange.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Further strangeness: I have the exact opposite condition with my set-up. My FPS will drop a bit on bright, sunny, clear days. If it's cloudy, dark, rainy or snowy weather I actually gain 5 to 6 frames-per-second. Go figure. OFF, thou art a fickle mistress.

 

.

[Olham 164]

Further strangeness: I have the exact opposite condition with my set-up. My FPS will drop a bit on bright, sunny, clear days.

Your rig was built for Dakota territories' weather conditions, I guess?

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

If that were true Olham then I would be flying OFF regularly against 40 mile-per-hour winds out of the northwest, in a blizzard.

 

.

[Olham 164]

If that were true Olham then I would be flying OFF regularly against 40 mile-per-hour winds out of the northwest, in a blizzard.

You don't? I always thought you did!

[vonOben 55]

Hello everyone.

I have just checked, and I am already on the settings that you have both recommended. I also tried changing the Cloud Scale slider, but nothing happened so I have no idea what that's for. I'm completely out of ideas, especially seeing as my old machine had no problems with clouds at all.

Thanks for all your help so far!

 

 

Hi

 

Some information regarding cloud scale:

 

Insane Ring Tweak....Where is this??

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?14813-Insane-Ring-Tweak-Where-is-this/page4&highlight=Insane+Ring+Tweak....Where+this%3F%3F

 

Posted by rouge34rtw:

 

"I pulled my cloud scale slider down from 10 to 6 in the configuration utility>texture info page (cloud slider still set to 5 for image quality) and it gained me about 15 to 20 FPS"

 

I think the scale only effects the dimensions and densities of said clouds....my best damn guess anyway....but the detail quality is still determined by the quality slider at 5, and the budget .xml's settings.

 

SO...my GPU is still drawing the same gorgeous clouds....just less of them, and less time filling in the detail."

 

Cheers

 

vonOben

 

 

[+Winder 32]

Hi

 

Some information regarding cloud scale:

 

Insane Ring Tweak....Where is this??

http://www.sim-outho...here+this%3F%3F

 

Posted by rouge34rtw:

 

"I pulled my cloud scale slider down from 10 to 6 in the configuration utility>texture info page (cloud slider still set to 5 for image quality) and it gained me about 15 to 20 FPS"

 

I think the scale only effects the dimensions and densities of said clouds....my best damn guess anyway....but the detail quality is still determined by the quality slider at 5, and the budget .xml's settings.

 

SO...my GPU is still drawing the same gorgeous clouds....just less of them, and less time filling in the detail."

 

Cheers

 

vonOben

 

 

 

Hello

 

Cloud scale only affects the size not the density...

 

HTH

 

WM

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

I've found from lots of aircraft FM testing that the AI (despite what UncleAl used to say), cannot see through the clouds if the setting is 3 or higher, so you might try lowering your cloud slider to 3 instead of 5. I cannot notice any big difference in the volume or density of the clouds at the 3 setting.