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FM Tweaks for WoFFue/pe/bh&h2/WoTR1&2 (Consolidated)


Hello fellow fliers of W0FFue/pe/bh&h2/WoTR1&2,

Please find included in this FM tweaks "consolidated" package various folders that contain more than 50 FM mods in total for the UE/PE-era of WoFF, as well as an upgraded package for the BH&H2 ver. of WoFF, and a few FM modifications for Phases One and Two of WoTR. Check over the included Read Me files for more details and info.

Cheers,

Von S :buba:

 

DISCLAIMER: All Von S mods, for FE2, SF2, also WoFFue/pe/bh&h2/WoTR, and RoF United, are subject to the CombatAce "freeware" terms of agreement. Mods may be shared with others, included on other media devices, also modded further, providing that original documentation and/or credit is included, and providing that the mods remain free to use. Von S mods shall not be sold, resold, etc., and Von S takes no responsibility for injuries or fixations that may result from flying heavily tweaked FMs or from attempts to enjoy real flying without aid or instruction from a qualified flight instructor. :smile:


 

Edited by VonS
Made title of thread more relevant.

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Great idea

It makes me want to go back to WoFF !

 

Hoping for more !

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Spad 7 150 hp will good for late 1916 early 1917

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Sept. 17, 2022 Update: Several missions and other modifications included below the pic. that follows, as a JSGME-friendly mod. variant on RAF_Louvert's original Italy mod. for WOFF (read directions in the pic. for more info. regarding the mod.).

Happy flying,

:smile:

 

LouItalyModVer2.thumb.jpg.c66dd182c63dfcb34d2fa55ac08178e9.jpg

LouItalyModVer2VonS_Addons_AlwaysLoadLast.zip (missions compatible with the UE/PE and BH&H2 vers. of the WoFF series)

Edited by VonS
Edited post.
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Those who enjoy reading WW1 aerial reports and other (mis)-adventures from that period might be interested in checking over Lady Harbury's Burlesque Studio - A Novel.

It's a bit of an eccentric, but entertaining, novel inspired by some campaign episodes in the wonderfully immersive WW1 flight simulator by OBD Software, Wings Over Flanders Fields, and written in the style of the 1910s.

Lady Harbury's Burlesque Studio will be published in installments, as a serialized novel, in Rundelania: the digital literary journal, beginning in the fall of 2022.

Happy flying (and reading),

Von S :buba:

Edited by VonS
Edited post.
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Fellow WOFFers and WOTRers may now download, below, my various Enhancement Packages, GPU Tuners, etc., for the WoFF/WoTR series of sims. "Read Me" files are included in the bigger zipped packages. All packages are JSGME-friendly.

This post now includes my small FrankenBHAH Enhancement Hardcore Addon (Ver. 1.15) and that is an optional addon for the main FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1 linked to in a separate post below, in this thread. For detailed info. regarding the Hardcore Addon, please see the included "Read Me" file in the relevant, zipped file. In short, the Hardcore Addon makes for more challenging regular flying and dogfights in BH&H2. The Hardcore Addon should always be loaded after - not before - the main FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1. The Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15 is not compatible with the WOTR Enhancement Package.

Also included here is my FrankenMiniTuner Ver. 1.2 and that is a compatible add-on to the WOTR Enhancement and FrankenBHAH Enhancement Packages (to install the FrankenMiniTuner, unzip it and place the relevant folder located inside "FrankenMiniTunersVer1.2inside_VonS" - and that is labeled either for BHAH2 or WOTR - into your MODS directory for BH&H2 or WOTR, and make sure to load it only after - not before - the relevant Enhancement Package, allowing the Tuner to replace identical files in that package). The FrankenMiniTuner squeezes out just a bit more FPS than is possible with the base Enhancement Package installs.

WOFF (Platinum Ed./BH&H2-compatible) GPU Tuner Patch

VonS_WOFFgpuTunerPatchFolderInside.zip

WOTR (Phase One) Enhancement Package Ver. 1.0

WOTRenhancementPackageVer1.0_VonS.zip

WOTR (Phase Two) Enhancement Package (compatible only with Phase Two of WOTR, the BoF Expansion; see "Read Me" included in Phase One Enhancement for details)

WOTRphase2enhancementPackage_VonS.zip

WOTR (Phase One) GPU Tuner Patch (obsolete - recommended instead are the WOTR Enhancement Packages located above, for Phase One or Two of WOTR)

VonS_WOTRgpuTunerPatchFolderInside.zip

FrankenBHAH Enhancement Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15 (compatible only with the FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1, and should be loaded only after that package)

FrankenBHAHenhancementHardcoreAddonVer1.15_VonS.zip

FrankenMiniTuner Ver. 1.2 (compatible with the WOTR Phase One/Two and FrankenBHAH Ver. 1.1 Enhancement Packages, and should be loaded only after those packages)

FrankenMiniTunersVer1.2inside_VonS.zip

Performance tips/info. on the stock Hurricane and Spitfire, MK.I, available at the following links:

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4501461/re-ai-have-better-engines#Post4501461

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4501695/re-ai-have-better-engines#Post4501695

For a revised ver. of Lou's excellent "Italy Mod" for the WoFF series, please see the relevant post above in this thread. For other WoFF UE/PE (and BH&H2)-related mods., such as custom shader/preset files, also the FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package, etc., please see the next several posts below. ** For my FM tweaks for the WoFF/WoTR series, please see the main download page that links to this support thread (scroll to the first post in this thread for more info.) - also take note that you need to have an account on CombatAce in order to download the FM tweaks package. WoFF/WoTR-related mods. available under this support thread, on the other hand, do not require an account and may be downloaded by clicking on relevant download links. **

IMPORTANT NOTE: all of my WOFF-related mods. were tested across various patches of WOFF UE (4.18 in particular), PE (5.03 in particular), and also BH&H2 up to the "Recon. Wars" patch 1.36. I will no longer be providing public service information updates regarding my mod.-compatibility and/or WOFF-patch version compatibility on Intel Macs, so tweak/patch as per taste since the mods. are from now on provided "as is," with no further support beyond any Read Me files included with the mods. My WOTR-related mods. have been tested up to "Phase Two" of WOTR, patch 1.02 - so, again, tweak/patch as per taste if you will be upgrading beyond the patch nos. indicated in this note. ** For compatibility info. regarding my various (older) WOTR GPU Tuners and Phase Two of WOTR, see the following post. Also relevant is this post. And further recommended is this follow-up post. ** This note was originally included in this particular post on Apr. 1, 2022, and modified on May 10, 2023. Good WOFFing/WOTRing to all!

Happy flying,

Von S :smile:

 

Edited by VonS
Edited post.
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One more update to this hopefully convenient thread for all.

Please find included, below the pics. that follow, a zipped package that contains my ReShade "presets" files for WOFFue/pe and also WOTR (phase one). As well look over the included "Read Me" file for more specific info. and directions. The presets are imitations of the SweetFX modifications that I run in FrankenWOFF 4.18 (a backport of PE textures/aircraft into WOFF ver. 4.18). The ReShade presets give the highest-possible FPS variant that I could come up with via ReShade, but that still imitate the look of my 4.18 install.

IMPORTANT INFO.: The initial download included JSGME-friendly packages, but I have instead now provided only my preset files, since it is easy enough to install ReShade and the necessary filters mentioned in the included "Read Me."

Happy flying,

Von S :smile:

 

FrankenWOFF 4.18 Scene With Subtle Bloom, etc. (SweetFX 1.5.1 Bucksnort Modified Mod.)

FrankenWOFF1.thumb.jpg.28e70e64bcddc3a965c6bc9529c5ebe5.jpg

 

FrankenWOFF 4.18 Scene with Bloom Imitation, etc., also AMD-vid. Friendly, and Possibly Compatible with BH&H 2 (ReShade 4.9.1)

FrankenShade.thumb.jpg.02790ebf3d922f6b4bab85185d6e0584.jpg

WOFFWOTRshadersVonS.zip

Edited by VonS
Uploaded ReShade presets instead of JSGME-friendly packages.

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FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1 (link to package located below pic.; for the relevant ReShade preset file, also the WOTR preset file that works well in WOFF BH&H 2, see the link in the post above this one; more info. regarding the enhancement package may be found in the included "Read Me" file, etc.)

In short, the "FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package" contains several tweaks to shader files, to improve in-cockpit and glass reflections, and scenery lighting. Also interspersed in relevant folders of the package are files that constitute my FrankenMiniTuner - the MiniTuner was initially tested in FrankenWOFF 4.18 (a backport of PE textures/aircraft into WOFF UE 4.18) - and provides a subtle improvement in texture quality over my WOFF GPU TUNER for the PE addon, while at the same time maintaining improved FPS and eliminating blue triangles in the terrain when flying at lower alts.

This enhancement package is fully compatible with and recommended for WOFF BH&H 2, particularly if running BH&H 2 on Macs and/or computers with AMD-vid. cards. It is JSGME-friendly, as are all of my modification packs for the WOFF/WOTR series of sims. The latest version of the FrankenBHAH Enhancement package is 1.1 - since it now includes my improved FrankenMiniTuner 1.1 terrain/FPS tweaks.

To find the separate FrankenMiniTuner 1.2, which is a compatible add-on to the FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1 (and should be installed after that package) - please see the following post located above, in this thread. Also included in that post is the optional FrankenBHAH Enhancement Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15 and that is best installed after the main FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package but before the optional FrankenMiniTuner 1.2.

Cheers all,

Von S :smile:

 

FrankenBHAH1.thumb.jpg.5b7de96c8e9dac0f4f9e88e6267b9684.jpg

FrankenBHAHenhancementPackageVer1.1_VonS.zip

Edited by VonS
Added info./link regarding the FrankenMiniTuner Ver. 1.2 and Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15 add-ons to the FrankenBHAH Ver. 1.1 Enhancement Package.

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Different winds/turbulence simulation.xml files (JSGME-friendly) available for WOFF UE/PE, at the link below the included pic. These simulation.xml files provide different winds and turbulence settings that work in conjunction with similar settings available in JJJ's MultiMod for WOFF. Set choices first in the MultiMod, before loading the relevant, complementary simulation.xml file, via JSGME - for all effects to be implemented properly. The relevant simulation.xml files provide several other tweaks too, including greater chance of random engine failure, greater chance of flamers, more varied gradations of AI (particularly for veteran and novice AI, etc.). Detailed info. and installation instructions are included in the "Read Me" document that is in the package.

NOTE: These modified simulation.xml files are only for WOFF UE/PE. For tweaked simulation.xml files for BH&H2 instead, please see the FrankenBHAH Enhancement (and Addon) Packages included in relevant posts in this thread.

Happy flying,

Von S :buba:

 

01.thumb.jpg.3b83dd34cd8503a9f591a76118095357.jpg

WOFFuepe_TweakedSimulationFilesVer1.0_VonS.zip

Edited by VonS
Edited post with important info.

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Wow, super VonS. Looking forward to trying this (after I finish my cloud mod revisions).

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A good reason to buy BHAH

(additionnally to the fact I have now 32 GB of RAM instead of 8)

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FaceTrackNoir (Ver. 2.x.x) "Subtle Settings" located at the link provided below the pic. Settings files provided both for BH&H2/WOTR and WOFF UE (to ver. 4.18). Please look over the included "Read Me" file for more thorough details regarding the two settings files. In short, they are subtle and complement well the padlock view provided in the WOFF/WOTR series.

Cheers all and happy tracking & padlocking in WOFF/BH&H2/WOTR,

Von S :smile:

 

FaceTrackNoirSettingsVonS.thumb.jpg.38ea4d634fb4b6c5fa5917ea061d33ff.jpg

FaceTrackNoirWOFFnWOTRsettingsVer1.0_VonS.zip

Edited by VonS
Added info.

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FrankenBHAH Hardcore "Compensatory-For-WoFFue-AI" Addon Ver. 1.16 located at the link below the illustrative pic. Should be loaded after the main FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package Ver. 1.1 but before the FrankenMiniTuner Ver. 1.2. To be used alternatively to the FrankenBHAH Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15 (see relevant posts above, in this thread, for the main FrankenBHAH package and the Hardcore Addon Ver. 1.15). The Compensatory AI Addon, as well as all other addons with "FrankenBHAH" in the name, are compatible only with the BH&H2 generation of the WoFF series - and should not be used in WoFF UE/PE. For further info., please see the "Read Me" file included with the package.

Fellow WoFFers might also wish to peruse this helpful, informal report compiled by me and in consultation with OrbyxP, regarding air density settings, flight paths, forced encounters toggles, and other similar topics, in BH&H2 - the info. is intended for the hardcore WoFFer who enjoys maximally tweaking their WoFF install. In short, the report suggests that for maximal historical flying best is to leave forced encounters always "off"; also recommended, for BH&H2, is freely to fly at "medium" congestion settings for most of the war, since BH&H2 is more frugal with total no. of aircraft in the air, thereby allowing for healthier FPS even at higher congestion settings when compared to the WoFF UE/PE generation. Thank you OBD for an excellent series of sims.

On this note I also hang up my modding hat - it has been an exciting several years modding, both for FE2 and WoFF, and with a few mods. eventually included for RoF as well. I will continue to fly WoFF regularly since it is one of my favorite WWI sims., but with less tinkering and more pure enjoyment of what the virtual skies offer.

Cheers all and challenging dogfighting to you in BH&H2,

Von S :smile:

 

CompensatoryAI_Addon_VonS.thumb.jpg.b4abc526440d9fd50c9b0c3993bb9f42.jpg

FrankenBHAHenhancementHardcoreCompensatoryForWoFFueAI_AddonVer1.16_VonS.zip

NOTE: if running BH&H2 patch 1.33 or later, test BH&H2 first with stock AI before applying my compensatory AI patch 1.16, since several AI tweaks were included in stock BH&H2 patch 1.33. My AI patch 1.16 was tested heavily in the "Recon. Wars" series of patches for BH&H2 up to patch 1.30. If you are satisfied with stock AI behavior in BH&H2 patch 1.33 and later, recommended is to run only my main FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package, as well as, if you like, the "hardcore" patch 1.15 and/or tuner patch 1.2. "Compensatory AI" patch 1.16 was/is largely a stop-gap feature, but may of course continue to be run if you prefer the broader, and more extreme maneuvers, offered in said compensatory AI patch.

Edited by VonS
Added note regarding the "compensatory AI" patch 1.16.
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BHaH-Two WoFFing on a Dilwe Dual-CPU-Socket X79 Motherboard with Dual Overclocked AMD RX 580s, for Kicks and Giggles

Recently, on a lazy winter's afternoon, I had the good fortune of finding two new/unopened Intel Xeon E5 2690 v.2 processors (3.0 GHz; 3.6 GHz TurboBoost; 10-core) on Ebay and decided that, for 37-38 USD a piece, they were a wholesome buy.

My original intention was to "upgrade" the single Intel Xeon E5 1650 v.2 (3.5 Ghz; 3.9 GHz TurboBoost; 6-core) sitting in my 2013 Mac Pro (my standard WoFFing machine), but I then decided that it was better to "build" a computer around the two Xeons that I found, for kicks and technical handiwork. The general idea was to create an office server/work computer setup - which would also fit well with WoFF BH&H2, considering that flying an Eindecker in WoFF is hardly leisure but instead very rewarding and hard work. :smile:

Armed with such ideas, I then picked my way through various components, deciding that I wasn't interested in exceeding about 800-900 USD for the entire build. Various parts included the Corsair computer case (4000 D) with good ventilation, a Corsair 850 Watt PSU, etc. (No tacky LED lights for me or brown/beige Noctua fans.) For the computer and video graphics themselves, I decided on a dual-CPU X79 board and happily found mounds of rather cheap, single-CPU Chinese ones being offered on Amazon. Not to be maximally cheap, I decided on the ever-so-slightly higher-tiered (?) Dilwe brand (X79 dual LGA 2011 socket; EATX-sized motherboard). And, at any rate, the dual-CPU-socket offerings were not as plentiful as single-CPU mobos.

The dual-CPU board I picked supports a maximum of 128 GB of DDR3 RAM at 1866 MHz but I went instead with a modest 32 GB (1600 MHz) of budget RAM (TeamGroup rebranded Micron chips) and a 1 TB NVMe M.2 (Kingston) SSD, also with two passive Supermicro heatsinks, and so on and so forth. For the video cards, being pleased with a dual team red (AMD) setup in the 2013 Mac Pro (two 6 GB FirePro D700s), I chose again a dual AMD setup (two 8 GB RX 580s this time around) for the custom build, even though it is generally suggested that WoFFing is safer on the team green side of the fence (nVidia). Luckily, the RX 580s were also Dilwe brand (making for a good fit with the Dilwe motherboard). And I found the Dilwe name attractive for some reason, possibly reminiscent of fridges and other gadgets from the 1950s.

Several cables, fans and modifications later, over the span of a few days, I found myself in a position finally to test the Dilwe Dual-Xeon monstrosity couched in an elegant Corsair case. Installing Windows was no problem; neither was tweaking the somewhat limited options in the BIOS, but a few tips follow below (and no, I did not flash/upgrade the BIOS nor will I do so - not interested at all in bricking this strange build).

Suggestions:

- switch to legacy BIOS and format your drive to MBR (not GPT), for maximal smoothness of installation (of Windows); UEFI does work but I preferred the legacy/MBR route (if installing Linux, the latter will do its own formatting prior to installation)

- disable such options as extended synchronization, pci-e clock/power management, and precision clock timers in the BIOS (helps to give a more responsive system and apparently minimizes GPU throttling)

- set latency timers at least to 64, possibly 128, in the BIOS (default is 32); I went with 160 and haven't noticed any peculiarities so far

x791.png.a5694b75808814077d2b01d767a2e26d.png

Pic 1 - Initial Five-Fan and Mostly Passive Heatsink Setup

The only other main area of concern, after having installed Windows and organized/tweaked settings, was how to keep the dual Xeons cool at idle. Initially I went with a five-fan setup (three intake on the front; two outtake, with one at the back and one at the top). The setup was perfectly sufficient to keep the two GPUs cool that way for most tasks - you could even turn off the GPU fans with no risk (with the fine program Fan Control) - but CPUs still remained quite hot at idle. The worst idle temperatures were with thermal paste applied between the passive heatsinks and processors (around 70 degrees Celsius).

Better idle temperatures (of 55 to 60 degrees Celsius) were attained by placing thermal pads between the passive heatsinks and processors (never mind the general consensus that paste is better than thermal pads) - and by going to a six 120 mm fan setup (by adding an extra intake fan at the top of the case).

I also oriented some of the fans differently, with the bottom two fans up front working as intake fans, also the two fans at the top of the case. The back fan remained an outtake fan; and the top side fan on the front was also reversed to function as an outtake fan - giving two nice exhausts on the top sides (front and back) of the case.

x793.png.ba6147ab36ecb95e6b8db03ce220bfb1.png

Pic 2 - Final Eight-Fan Setup and Orientation for Improved Cooling

I could have left things alone at that point but then decided to custom-install two small, unassuming (and gray) Noctua fans (1600 RPM, 92 mm) to each of the passive heatsinks, through the miracle of some zip ties and wire clips. This finally gave me splendid results (with idle CPU temperatures in the 30s Celsius - see included pic., overview of temp. nos. via the excellent program HWiNFO). The eight fans in total, surprisingly, are not that noisy, especially with the case fully closed and the included dust filters attached. Also helpful was that I had - before the final arrangement of fans - sandwiched two 1mm copper plates between each of the Xeon CPUs and their heatsinks, also "framing" the copper plates with four strips of thermal pad for good measure.

TempNos.png.13cbc7a562afe996a39bfc2d5e25d4ab.png

Pic 3 - HWinNFO Allows for a Quick Overview of Temps. in the Taskbar (Details are Temps. for CPUs 1 and 2, Packages 1 and 2, Top and Bottom of Mobo, SSD, and GPUs 1 and 2; Choose Heads-Up Colors as per Taste in HWiNFO)

The two RX 580 GPUs were easily overclocked via MSI-Afterburner from stock numbers of clock 1284/memory 1750 MHz to clock 1415/memory 2095 MHz. Numbers of 1420/2100 MHz and higher give the occasional crash and are not worth the risk. CPU overclocking is not possible with locked multipliers on this generation of Xeons; furthermore, it is also not possible to BCLK overclock the system bus on the Dilwe X79 mobo (or most such mobos).

GPUoc.png.161e8d02d5b0371c5be41b8be7a8c7a0.png

Pic 4 - Nice and Stable OC on the RX 580s

Aside: I did in the meantime manage to overclock the bus to 103 MHz on the 2013 Mac Pro for a small performance boost and it runs well with no higher temperatures noted (to OC slightly your bus on a 2013 Mac Pro, download the obscure and outdated program called "setfsb.exe," choose as clock generator the profile called "ICS932S421BGLF," etc. - do track down other details regarding the program via Google before attempting the tweak, and also worth remembering is to download ver. 2.2 of the program, not 2.3, since 2.3 doesn't allow for the bus to be changed on a 2013 Mac Pro).

Other information worth sharing, regarding WoFFing on dual AMD setups, is to point, in your AMD profile, to the WoFF.exe, not to the CFS3.exe run-time  (even though it sounds counter-productive). On older versions of WoFF, and also on single AMD video-card setups, feel free in most cases to point to the CFS3 run-time instead.

AMDsettings1.thumb.png.48863f19ab85f82eeb88d60b7eb1516d.png

Pic 5 - Point BH&H2 to the WoFF.exe (not to CFS3.exe) if on a Dual AMD Setup

Further, if enabling crossfire in your WoFF profile in the AMD settings, make sure to disable crossfire in the "global settings" profile in the AMD settings program - having crossfire enabled in both global and individual program profiles will cause random black tiles/textures in WoFF (a common complaint regarding AMD vid. and WoFF, and that has appeared on the WoFF SimHQ threads, occasionally, over the years).

AMDsettings2.thumb.png.ed7816d2a620c91ebad9048841240e8d.png

Pic 6 - It's Important to Disable Crossfire in your "Global" AMD Settings Profile (To Minimize Risk of Texture Corruption)

By making sure to enable crossfire per program, but not globally - if you have multiple AMD cards installed - you will get rid of any texture corruption effects. Last, it doesn't hurt to experiment with various versions of the AMD DLLs (drivers) that you install. For example, the latest AMD DLLs (as of this writing) work fine on the Windows 10 22H2 install that I have on the Dilwe X79, but crossfire is not present (and hasn't been present) as an option since about the ver. 20.x days of the AMD DLLs. To be on the safe side, I have installed  the Radeon Pro Software for Enterprise (version 19Q3) and it works fine, with no noticeable drop in FPS in WoFF BH&H2, and also supports the crossfire option (version 19Q4, for example, does not). On a broader note, if you are having any other troubles with the Adrenalin/consumer versions of the AMD DLLs and your WoFFing - go with the Pro DLLs instead.

AMDsettings3.thumb.png.89b90330420f2a6555034996d284b64f.png

Pic 7 - Detailed BH&H2 AMD Settings for Your Convenience

I happily recommend the AMD Pro DLLs 19Q3 for your WoFF/AMD combinations on later iterations of Windows 10, such as 22H2 - just as good, if not better, than the venerable ver. 17.x.x DLLs that go well with Win10 ver. 1809.

The link to the correct drivers is: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-pro-win-19-q3

Overall, while I am not terribly interested in dipping further into the hobby of custom-building PCs for myself, I am quite pleased with the outcome of the Dilwe X79 (one-off) project. A few quick bench tests in CPU-Z (see included pic.) indicate that, on average, the Dilwe is giving me the multi-threading power of three 2013 Mac Pros - but will most likely also use three times as much electricity as the Mac Pro (e.g., the Dual-Xeon Dilwe X79 idles at around 93-94 Watts, at best, while the 2013 Mac Pro idles at around 46-47 Watts).

CPUbench.png.42c17e7b85e0661c1e8d2f213dec3e6b.png

Pic 8 - Quick Benchmark Results

The experiment was a nice way to put two Xeon processors to good use, with the end result being a stable server/work computer as well as the occasional hosting hardware for a campaign or two (or three) of power-WoFFing. BH&H2 1.37 therefore moves to my Dilwe Dual-Socket X79 with its pair of OC-ed RX 580s, while I will keep my FrankenWoFF install (PE terrains and aircraft backported to WoFF UE 4.18) on the 2013 Mac Pro.

bh21.thumb.jpg.b3ecdf6afaa02f3f5131ca92c6439e75.jpg

bh22.thumb.jpg.ea11d2fe521d4740933b2c3fc4b331ce.jpg

bh23.thumb.jpg.aaf53a0dc821b8f424c302e873982e78.jpg

Pics 9, 10, 11 - BH&H2 1.37 on the Dilwe Dual-Xeon X79 (LOD set to -1 via the Program ATISetLod; Pics also Include a Variation on Xjouve's Ver. 1.1 Water Mod, etc.)

Finally, worth considering for these DIY obscure computer builds are any bottlenecking issues that might emerge; easiest to avoid those problems is by choosing processors, motherboards, and video cards of roughly the same, or similar, generations. From what I could research the best choice of GPU, for example, for the X79 server mobo that I picked up, as well as for the ver. 2 generation of E5 Xeons I found, was either the AMD RX 580 8GB or nVidia's GTX 1060 6GB card. Minimizing of possible bottlenecks should help, theoretically, to minimize any FPS drops and stuttering nuisances in your WoFF install.

Good current and retro WoFFing to all (on single or dual-socket CPU mobos; obscure, well-known, and everything in between),

:buba:

Edited by VonS
Added info.

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That is certainly a very unusual PC configuration. Never considered dual-CPUs before.

I have a question regarding the use of AMD GPUs with WOFF.

I have bought the simulation yesterday and I´m enjoying it a lot so far. The only issue that I noticed is that I have strange black textures in cities. Rivers look a bit weird as well.

Mark from OBD pointed me towards this thread.

My GPU is an AMD 6800XT, running the 21.10.2 driver.

Is there any known way how I could fix the issue?

 

Thank you!

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Hi Tonci, have PM-ed you a message with various tips and suggestions regarding what AMD GPU DLLs to try out on your rig. Hopefully one of those versions of DLLs, at least, will resolve that textures oddity for you.

Cheers,

:smile:

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    • By VonS
      Recently I had an opportunity to re-install FlightGear (stable ver. 2020.3.19) on my 2013 Mac Pro and was pleasantly surprised - with no crashes, decent FPS for the most part, and various other improvements that were incorporated over the years. I had dabbled briefly in FlightGear a couple of times before (around 2013, and again around 2020) - but eventually removed the flight simulator from my hard drive on both of those occasions.
      Since my particular setup(s) are with dual AMD video cards, I thought I would post some (illustrative) tips below, as well as representative pics of the sim when at best, or very good, settings. I will this time around keep FlightGear on my hard drive - makes for a good, free flight simulator.
      For command line entries and tips that should be plugged into the "Additional Settings" option of FlightGear, see the info. immediately below. Make sure to remove the info. included in brackets if copying the commands into the relevant settings section.
      -----
      --prop:/sim/gui/current-style=0 (better GUI style for AMD cards)
      --prop:input/mice/mouse/mode/button[2]/binding/value=2 (gets rid of horrible mouse-as-yoke feature that sometimes automatically turns on)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/photoscenery/enabled=true (gives more photo-realistic scenery whenever possible; to be fully implemented in later FG versions)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/hdr/envmap/update-continuously=false (disables continuous siphoning and updating of terrains, to enable seconds command below)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/hdr/envmap/update-rate=5 (terrain refresh rate set in seconds; good values are 5 or 10, for minimal stuttering)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/max-paged-lod=1300 (stock max paged LOD no. is "200"; recommended is not to exceed about "1900" on AMD)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/plod-minimum-expiry-time-secs=60 (stock min expiry time is "180" secs.)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/multithreading-mode=DrawThreadPerContext (should improve multithreading capacity, at least slightly, and add a few extra FPS)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/database-pager/threads=12 (stock thread rendering no. is "4," with more threads improving ave. FPS; set as per your CPU threads no.)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/vsync-enable=false (force disables vsync to improve FPS)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/multi-sample-buffers=true (this is anti-aliasing; set to false to disable and remove entry immediately below it)
      --prop:/sim/rendering/multi-samples=2 (anti-aliasing value; lowest is 2, also good is 4; avoid 3)
      --compositor=Compositor/HDR/hdr (modern rendering pipeline for better graphics details and shaders; rarely breaks scenery; still mostly experimental on AMD vid. cards)
      --units-meters
      --disable-splash-screen
      --disable-horizon-effect
      --enable-distance-attenuation
      --enable-specular-highlight
      --enable-clouds3d
      --fog-nicest ("nicest" improves look of fog with more subtleties while "fastest" makes fog appear and disappear more quickly; no real impact on AMD FPS)
      --shading-flat ("smooth" apparently improves look or depth of shaders; preference is for "flat" since I have not noticed difference in quality on AMD)
      --texture-filtering=2 (this is anisotropic value; lowest is 1; also good is 4 or 2; avoid 3)
      --bpp=32 (can also use 24 but have not noticed an FPS improvement with 24; would say 32 is better for FPS overall)
      --terrain-engine=pagedLOD
      --lod-levels=3 2 5 3 1 (also good is 4 3 6 4 2 for best visual quality on AMD but still mostly FPS-friendly; recommended is 3 2 5 3 1 for balance between visual quality and solid FPS)
      --lod-res=2 (default is 1; also good is 3; avoid any other values besides 2)
      --lod-texturing=raster (better than "bluemarble" as far as I have been able to test, with smoother loading of textures)
      --lod-range-mult=3 (default is 2; also good is 1; avoid all other values besides 3)
      --enable-texture-cache
      -----
      On a broader note, it's important to tweak the rendering, shaders, and LOD range settings in FlightGear - to get the best experience on your AMD video rigs (be it a dual or single AMD setup).
      The frequencies, by the way, on my dual FireProD700s have been OC-ed, via MSI Afterburner, from a clock/memory of 850/1370 to 1024/1380 MHz.
      Be sensible with the rendering options - particularly with the maximum number of scenery and aircraft tiles - anything above a value of 1900 or so is both useless and an FPS hit. (The scenery/aircraft tiles no. may also be set via the relevant command line entry indicated above in this post.)
      Take note as well of cloud density and visibility values. Anything beyond a visibility of 35 km or so is questionable since it does not widen further the cloud carpet but is, once again, an FPS hit.

      Pic 1 - Sensible/Best Rendering Choices for AMD Video (in FlightGear)
      Next we look at the shader options that also require careful thinking and tweaking. Take note that "landmass," "urban," also "water" - give different visuals if they are set to the maximum level (of five). I personally prefer how the landscape/terrains look with those three settings at a value of four - with crisper graphics - but tweak according to taste. Also worth noting is that I always run the LOD value on my rig(s) at "-1," via the excellent little program "ATISetLod" that is available under the top post of this thread.

      Pic 2 - Sensible/Best Shader Options for AMD Video (for crisp and fairly realistic graphics)
      Also important is to tweak the LOD range settings to get a good balance between visual quality and decent FPS, with no stuttering or crashes. Focus in particular on the maximum distances for the detailed, rough and bare scenery ranges - I decided eventually on cutoffs of 3, 17.5 and nearly 45 km. Other cutoffs worth considering are 2.5, 15, and 40 (or so) km, as well as 3.5, 20, and 50 km. Anything beyond the latter values will, again, most likely not make much of a difference with the visuals but will contribute a noticeable FPS hit. Take note also of the "high detail" and "AI/MP interior" values. I'm getting good results with values of 250 - 260 pixels for those options; also good are values of 300 (or so) pixels. Those two values may be tweaked to taste, for the most part - but, again, be sensible since they may impact on FPS.

      Pic 3 - Sensible/Best LOD Range Values for AMD Video
      Last, let's not forget to tweak our custom FlightGear profile (in our AMD settings panel) as best we can, to minimize stuttering, pausing, or crashes. Take note in particular how the shader cache is set to "On," not to "AMD Optimized," and how, even though I have enabled CrossFire mode, frame pacing is set to "Off" (which eradicates stutters on my rig in FlightGear - had tried with frame pacing "On" and was not pleased with the results). If you have only a single AMD video card, experiment with leaving the CrossFire option on (set to "AFR compatible"), or turning it off entirely. (NOTE: I have not noticed any FPS downgrade with anti-aliasing set to 4EQ and edge-detect, anisotropic value at 8, and tessellation at 16. Tweak to taste obviously.)

      Pic 4 - Good AMD Settings for a Custom FlightGear Profile
      Recommended also, if having any instability with FlightGear on AMD video, is to stick with the "Pro" variant DLLs (drivers) for AMD, instead of the consumer/Adrenalin ones. I particularly like the ver. 19.x.x Pro series of drivers, as well as the venerable ver. 17.x.x ones (the latter of which I have installed on the 2013 Mac Pro). To find links to the Pro 19.Q3 DLLs (the last version of the Pro DLLs to support CrossFire, by the way), see this page.
      Below follow several representative pics with the settings illustrated above applied - FlightGear provides a nice selection of aircraft with usually very good monoplane FMs, especially for tricycle-gear (small) civilian aircraft such as Cessnas, also for airliners like the (classic) Boeing 707. For multi-wing contraptions on the other hand and more realistic/historical FMs for biplanes, triplanes, and the odd multiplane, the gold standard(s) remain heavily-modded First Eagles 2 and RoF, as well as recent iterations (UE edition onwards) of the excellent WoFF series.







      Happy flying,
      Von S 
    • By JamesWilson
      Hi,
      after seeing the TMF F-14 has wrong and inaccurate speed and fuel indicators, i found out the default Third Wire F-14 has working and accurate ones, but i dont wanna use it cause the TMF Tomcat is better and the cockpit too more realistic too, so can you switch the speed and fuel indicators on the TMF F-14 with the default Third Wire F-14? And for fuel too? Do you need to 3D model and/or do something else other than edit some text files?
       And is it or it's not possible to do?
      Down here are 2 pictures from the correct cockpit in the default Third Wire F-14:


      And 2 from the TMF F-14 (the inaccurate one):


       
      Thanks for helping.
    • By VonS

       
      Apr. 17, 2023 Update - Please find, available at the link below, my previously released mods. for RoF United Ed. - this time as a convenient, consolidated package that has been updated with the latest tweaks. Do read the included "Read Me" files, where available, for more info., particularly the "READ_ME_ROF_General_Info" file that is located in the root folder of the package when unzipped. This package is provided "as is," with no active support beyond the included explanatory files. The "Consolidated Mods. New" Package contains the latest AI mod. (ver. 1.4) for RoF United, as well as mods. previously offered separately, such as the "M-S Type H Campaigning Tweak," the "PWCG modulations" files, etc.
      Apr. 29, 2023 Update - Included below the link to the "Consolidated Mods. New" package is Ver. 3 of the PWCG "modulations" files (to be installed manually in the PWCG ver. 16.3.1; see directions included in the larger, consolidated package). Ver. 3 of the "modulations" files increases wind and turbulence settings, as well as provides greater chance of encountering more capable AI when flying PWCG campaigns, especially if used in conjunction with my newer AI mods. for RoF (such as ver. 1.36 or 1.4, included in the big consolidated package).
      Important Note: if using the Ver. 3 PWCG "modulations" files, instead of the Ver. 2 ones included in the big consolidated package for RoF -- make sure to change settings, if you choose to change any, from within the modulations, i.e., the RofCampaignSpecific, files themselves -- otherwise, tampering with relevant settings from within the PWCG advanced menu options will automatically delete extra entries for the AI that I've included in the Ver. 3 modulations. This note does not apply to the Ver. 2 modulations since those don't contain any extra AI settings.
      Feb. 6, 2024 Update - RoF AI mods. vers. 1.36 and 1.4 have been upgraded to vers. 1.37 and 1.41, respectively. The new versions have tweaked the AI's ability to follow commands more quickly and/or properly. Ver. 1.41 also contains further tweaks to safe alts. for the AI, to minimize unnecessary crashes and very low-level dogfighting. The entire consolidated package has been renamed from "Consolidated Mods New" to "Consolidated Mods New V.2" (i.e., Version 2).
       
      ROF_ConsolidatedModsNewV2_VonS.zip
      ForRoFpwcgModulationsVer3_VonS.zip
      Happy flying,
      Von S 
       
       
    • By VonS


      View File Tweaked Flight Models and Realism Pack for FE2
      Hello Fellow Fliers of First Eagles 2,
      Version 11.0 of the FM/Realism Package for FE2 contains approximately 220 WWI aircraft types and sub-types, for your (virtual) flying enjoyment. For detailed installation instructions, please check over the main "Read Me First" file that is included, as well as several older (pdf) files and that cover aircraft performance info., tips, etc., across all previous versions of the FM update package.
      A great many thanks go out to Peter01 and Ojcar, also TexMurphy, for making most of those flight model files to begin with. Also a great thanks goes out to Stephen1918, MontyCZ and Laton for providing lots of beautiful planes and skins that go with those great flight models, to NBell for the many hitbox improvements provided for the planes, also to VonOben, Mike Dora and Crawford for many helpful suggestions, and to the A-Team by SkunkWorks for allowing me to tweak a few of the FMs for their models too. And of course a very big thanks goes out to Geezer for several fantastic, high-quality models that were produced for FE2.
      What I've done is tinkered with the data files further. Modifications in all cases, to a greater or lesser extent, include data under the following sections:

      (a) MissionData
      (b) FlightControl
      (c) AIData
      (d) Sound
      (e) AircraftData
      (f) Engine
      (g) Crew
      (h) Internal Guns
      (i) Control Surfaces
      (j) Landing Gears
      (k) Fuselage, Nose, Tail, Vertical Tail, LeftStab, RightStab, Rudder, Left/Right/Inner/Middle/Outer/Tip Wing components
       
      Enjoy and happy flying!,
      Von S
      NOTES: For several of Geezer's latest aircraft and my FMs for those aircraft (Nieuports, Pfalzes, etc.), which are not included in this package, please see the relevant post located towards the bottom of page 25 of the "New Aircraft" thread for FE2, on CombatAce. Also see relevant posts on pages 26, 27, and 28 of that same thread for Geezer's "early beta" collection that contains the Breguet XIV, Junkers J.I, and other updates, including performance info. for some of those aircraft types.
      DISCLAIMER: All Von S mods., for FE2, SF2, also WOFFue/pe/bh&h2, as well as for RoF (United Ed.), are subject to the CombatAce "freeware" terms of agreement. Mods. may be shared with others, included on other media devices, also modded further, providing that original documentation and/or credit is included, and providing that the mods. remain free to use. Von S mods. shall not be sold, resold, etc., and Von S takes no responsibility for injuries or fixations that may result from flying heavily tweaked FMs or from attempts to enjoy real flying without aid or instruction from a qualified flight instructor.
       
      Submitter VonS Submitted 10/16/2015 Category Flight Models  
    • By VonS
      Hello Fellow Fliers of First Eagles 2,
      Version 11.0 of the FM/Realism Package for FE2 contains approximately 220 WWI aircraft types and sub-types, for your (virtual) flying enjoyment. For detailed installation instructions, please check over the main "Read Me First" file that is included, as well as several older (pdf) files and that cover aircraft performance info., tips, etc., across all previous versions of the FM update package.
      A great many thanks go out to Peter01 and Ojcar, also TexMurphy, for making most of those flight model files to begin with. Also a great thanks goes out to Stephen1918, MontyCZ and Laton for providing lots of beautiful planes and skins that go with those great flight models, to NBell for the many hitbox improvements provided for the planes, also to VonOben, Mike Dora and Crawford for many helpful suggestions, and to the A-Team by SkunkWorks for allowing me to tweak a few of the FMs for their models too. And of course a very big thanks goes out to Geezer for several fantastic, high-quality models that were produced for FE2.
      What I've done is tinkered with the data files further. Modifications in all cases, to a greater or lesser extent, include data under the following sections:

      (a) MissionData
      (b) FlightControl
      (c) AIData
      (d) Sound
      (e) AircraftData
      (f) Engine
      (g) Crew
      (h) Internal Guns
      (i) Control Surfaces
      (j) Landing Gears
      (k) Fuselage, Nose, Tail, Vertical Tail, LeftStab, RightStab, Rudder, Left/Right/Inner/Middle/Outer/Tip Wing components
       
      Enjoy and happy flying!,
      Von S
      NOTES: For several of Geezer's latest aircraft and my FMs for those aircraft (Nieuports, Pfalzes, etc.), which are not included in this package, please see the relevant post located towards the bottom of page 25 of the "New Aircraft" thread for FE2, on CombatAce. Also see relevant posts on pages 26, 27, and 28 of that same thread for Geezer's "early beta" collection that contains the Breguet XIV, Junkers J.I, and other updates, including performance info. for some of those aircraft types.
      DISCLAIMER: All Von S mods., for FE2, SF2, also WOFFue/pe/bh&h2, as well as for RoF (United Ed.), are subject to the CombatAce "freeware" terms of agreement. Mods. may be shared with others, included on other media devices, also modded further, providing that original documentation and/or credit is included, and providing that the mods. remain free to use. Von S mods. shall not be sold, resold, etc., and Von S takes no responsibility for injuries or fixations that may result from flying heavily tweaked FMs or from attempts to enjoy real flying without aid or instruction from a qualified flight instructor.
       
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