RAF_Louvert

. INTO THE EASTERN SUN A Brisfit of Number 1 Squadron AFC, battling a desert sandstorm to reach it's dawn target. Many thanks to chrispdmt for his fine F2b "Egypt" skin. Cheers! Lou .

. Thanks for the clarification VP, clock speed is for sure more important to CFS3 than multiple cores. I simply put this info out there as it may be yet another solution for some folks. In my case I am running a dual core E8400 3.0 which I have OC'd to 3.8, and that gives my system more than enough juice to push OFF quite well on a single CPU. So by assigning OFF to one of the CPU's and TIR to the other I am giving both all they want and more in terms of proprietary processing power, (how's that for an alliteration). This will likely not work for most, but it may work for some, and, as it's become blatantly clear in this discussion, there is no one magic bullet that will kill all the OFF/TIR ills. Cheers! Lou .

. Welcome to the OFF skies Dan, you're the third fellow I've welcomed this morning, I'm starting to feel like a greeter at church. To answer your question: Yes, it can be done, but you will have to do a bit of cut-and-paste in your Pilot"x"Dossier file, (where "x" is the number of the active pilot you which to transfer). If you want to try that I'm sure we can walk you through it. However, if you're at all skittish about digging into the game files, you may be more comfortable continuing on in your present squad for the time being. BTW, new lads buy the drinks, (third time I've said that this morning too...good thing it's a holiday). Cheers! Lou .

. Hi Ya DonL, Lucky dog. You can likely get those to flatten out again through a rehumidification process, (assuming they were printed with a colorfast ink), which is a fairly simple affair you can do at home. BTW, welcome to the OFF skies. New lads buy the drinks. Cheers! Lou .

. (posted this in the other related thread and thought it best to drop it in here as well) I discovered another tweak this AM in regards to the tearing and/or stuttering issues associated with TrackIR and OFF. Since CFS3 was not designed to support multi-core technology it runs as good, if not better, on a single core as it does on two or more. I remembered an article many moons ago that touched on this very issue and the solution at that time was to go into your program processes via Task Manager and set CFS3's affinity for only one of the CPU's, as this would cure the stutters and shakes numerous flyers were experiencing at that time. So, I decided to give this a try myself with my OFF/TIR set-up. I launched TIR and OFF, then brought up Task Manager and set program priorities to "high" for each, then set TIR affinity for "CPU 0" and OFF affinity for "CPU 1", (so that basically they each have their own CPU to work with). Lo and behold I got even smoother performance from my TrackIR. I encourage others to test this out and see if they gain an advantage in their situation as well. Good luck. Cheers! Lou .

. I discovered another tweak this AM in regards to the tearing and/or stuttering issues associated with TrackIR and OFF. Since CFS3 was not designed to support multi-core technology it runs as good, if not better, on a single core as it does on two or more. I remembered an article many moons ago that touched on this very issue and the solution at that time was to go into your program processes via Task Manager and set CFS3's affinity for only one of the CPU's, as this would cure the stutters and shakes numerous flyers were experiencing at that time. So, I decided to give this a try myself with my OFF/TIR set-up. I launched TIR and OFF, then brought up Task Manager and set program priorities to "high" for each, then set TIR affinity for "CPU 0" and OFF affinity for "CPU 1", (so that basically they each have their own CPU to work with). Lo and behold I got even smoother performance from my TrackIR. I encourage others to test this out and see if they gain an advantage in their situation as well. Good luck. Cheers! Lou .

. I believe you'll find them in the "shared" folder inside the "aircraft" folder vonOben. And welcome to the OFF skies Sir. New lads buy the drinks. Cheers! Lou .

. Well uncleal, I'm not so sure about the "no sweat", but yes, it would appear to be somewhat timeline. That being said, it's best to remember that Willy was a daredevil, (some would say a maniac), when it came to balloon attacks, and he was the only Hanriot flyer in the Belgian Air Service to shoot down a gas bag, (34 to be exact). In fact, he was nearly the only pilot in all the air services of the War to use this set up, with there being but a handful of Italian flyers to claim a balloon kill with the Hanriot/cowl mount Vickers/incendeary rounds combination, (Silvio Scaroni and Flavio Baracchini to name two). So it's quite possible that it was less related to ammo load improvements and more due to Willy's inclination towards risk-taking to get the job done. BTW, as an another little interesting aside, when he was knighted he became Sir Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst, in honor of his aerial achievements over the Houthulst Woods. rabu, I just went through the entire gallery of prints at the link you posted. Merv Corning had quite a prolific career as an aviation artist. Thanks for sharing. Cheers! Lou

. Asking for trouble or not, that is exactly how Willy did it. Le Prieur rockets were considered far more dangerous then incendiary ammo as, stated by Coppens himself, they literally enveloped the aeroplane in flame when they were lit. In his very first balloon attack at Bovekerke on March 18th of 1918, he fired more than 80 incendiary rounds from his Vickers, but was unable to get the balloon to catch fire. Also, all 37 of his victories were between April and October of 1918, so I imagine they had made some improvements in ammo loads by then as compared to the early war years. .

. Yuppers HS, looks like you have it all pretty well dialed in. Dej, I just saw your post and link, and downloaded your video so I could watch it again. Hadn't seen it for quite a spell so it was just like viewing it for the first time. It is still a beautiful piece of work Sir. Very, very well done. Cheers! Lou .

. It's great to see you back in the OFF skies Ras, and practice is something none of us can ever get too much of. And what a spiffing kite you've got there too. Cheers! Lou .

. BTW, for those interested, I have transcribed Willy's own account of the pictured incident, from his book, "Days On The Wing", which I just pulled off the shelf to check my facts about the guns. "On the 14th, the weather cleared and I did a patrol. On the 15th, I attacked the Houthulst balloon at a height of 3,900 feet. It was at 8.07 a.m. Although I fired three times at point-blank range, it did not catch fire. To make more certain, I slowed down, flying horizontally, and approached -- firing at the last half-second. Then, as though relieved of a weight, it suddenly shot up and I collided with it. My wheels struck the gas-bag, which gave under the shock, although it capsized my machine and my tail rose up into the air. My right wing also touched the envelope and for a second I pivoted on my nose, while the balloon sagged and sank under the weight. I had the presence of mind to switch the engine off with the control-lever switch, and my aircsrew, which had been turning over slowly, stopped dead. At this moment, I said to myself (in the following actual words): "That's the end! It is bound to happen to those who risk too much." The next instant my machine began to slide across the spongy thing that gave way beneath me as we advanced, until it plunged over the "side" nose-first, gathering speed as it fell. The propeller started spinning, like wings of a windmill in a puff of wind; I took my thumb off the button switch on the control-lever, opened the throttle, and -- my machine scarcely any the worse for its experience -- took to my heels for our lines, while the balloon, torn and leaking, fell to the ground, where it luckily burst into flames, to such good pupose that the conflagration was seen from our lines and the victory could be credited to me." .

. Sorry uncleal but I'm going to have to correct you Sir. Willy's first Hanriot had a 7mm Vickers mounted right square in front of him, and his second had a modified, cowl-mounted 11mm Vickers that was given to him to use due to his balloon busting successes. Cheers! Lou .

. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863 A safe, happy, and blessed Memorial Day to everyone. Lou .

. OK Gents, I tested out the max FPS solution with my rig and here is what I've discovered. I normally run at "0" max FPS and it works very well. Began bumping up by increments of 20 and noticed no difference until I hit 80, at which point I began to get some very minor edge tearing with very rapid head turns. Same at 100. One other thing I noticed at the 80 and 100 settings is that things moved a tad more "fluid", albeit very minor. Since my TIR is very smooth already the trade-off is not worth it. I will be leaving my Max FPS at "0". Hope this info is useful. Cheers! Lou .

File Name: Hellshade's Tripehound File Submitter: RAF_Louvert File Submitted: 29 May 2010 File Category: Aircraft Skins . Strike fear into the hearts of the Hun when you comest in this unquestionable shape. There will be no wondering whether thou art a spirit of health or goblin damned, or if thou bringest with airs from Heaven or blasts from Hell. Your intents will be most assuredly wicked. (apologies to Shakey Bill fans everywhere for my paraphrasing of his Hamlet's diatribe) Enjoy! Lou . Click here to download this file

. Ras, I understand your frustration. I wish I could offer some assistance myself, but what I know of Windows 7 wouldn't fill a thimble. Hope you can get it sorted out soon and climb back into the OFF skies. Best of luck Sir. .

. You are more than welcome Hellshade, and glad to see you're already putting your new kite to the test. May she serve you well. Cheers! Lou .

. Hey, I'm nothing if not thorough Tamper, some might even say anal. And no slight perceived at all about my system. I built my flying box a couple of years ago with two goals in mind. 1: To put together a system that would run OFF very well. And 2: To keep the total cost at or below $800. I came very close to achieving both, (final cost actually ended up closer to $900). Also, I too believe that access times to the mass media storage facilities is crucial in this. All the water volume and pressure in the world does you no good if you are trying to push it all through a 3/4" garden hose, when what you need is a 4" fire hose to get the job done right. Cheers! Lou .

. Tamper wrote: Hi Tamper, Let’s see if I can answer your questions clearly for you Sir. First of all, yes, I have had numerous occasions in the past when video tearing was very much an issue, and I have whittled away at the problem pretty much along the following course: 1. Set display properties to 1600 x1200 x32 and bumped refresh rate of monitor to 85hz. Very noticeable reduction of tearing and stutter. 2. Updated nVidia card drivers and set AA to 16x. Further noticeable reduction of tearing and stutter though much less so than in #1. 3. Manually set limits of paging file and changed Windows visual settings to performance rather than quality. Very, very minor reduction of tearing and stutter. 4. Overclocked the CPU to 3.8 via ASUS tweaker. Stuttering gone completely, but some minor tearing still present in normal flight when moving head quickly. 5. Overclocked memory to 890mhz via ASUS tweaker. Very minor reduction of tearing. 6. Set program priorities for OFF and TIR to “high”. Tearing gone except for small amount when turning head quickly during very large furballs or over dense terrain, (i.e. the Alsace). 7. Moved sliders from 5-4-4-5-5 to 5-3-3-3-3. Tearing gone during all situations. 8. Installed nHancer program and tweaked video card to settings as listed in cited post, and pushed sliders to 5-4-4-4-4. Tearing gone during all situations, (but would come back a bit if I set sliders higher). 9. Old Seagate 500 GB HD crashed. Installed dual Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA's and new 900 watt power supply. Reinstalled everything, updated all drivers, and got settings backed to those outlined. Set up second HD for paging file only. Set sliders to 5-4-4-5-5. No tearing or stuttering of any kind no matter what the situation in the sim. I can and do have tearing issues if I do not defrag the HD’s regularly, if I do not set the noted program priorities to high, and if I do not regularly clean my case filters and CPU cooling fins, (BTW, I run three very large case fans in addition to the fans in the PS, which keeps the operating temps in the 75F to 85F range under full load). I can also make the tearing return if I lower my screen resolution and/or AA settings, and I can initiate stuttering issues by changing the profile in TrackIR to something quicker and more “aggressive”. So far the “Smooth” profile seems to give me the best results in this regard. Hope this outline is useful Tamper. Cheers! Lou .

. An enlightening and spirited debate I must say. I've no doubt that SSD's will improve the performance of such memory hogs as OFF. Any time you can not only speed up memory operations but also improve the volume and velocity of flow into and out of your storage facilities you will see marked improvements in overall system performance. Cheers! Lou .

. Hellshade, I just posted all my system info and settings in rabu's thread and poll about video tearing and Track IR. Hope it helps Sir. Cheers! Lou .

. Alrighty then rabu, here goes, (Lou takes deep breath) .... System specifications: CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz Wolfdale 6mb 1333fsb 45nm with Arctic Cooler Memory: 8gb DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz Mobo: ASUS P5QL Pro Hard Drive: 2 Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA's, (second HD is only for the page file) Opti Drive: LG 22X DVD+/RW Dual Layer SATA Rewrite Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512mb PS: Diablo 900 Watt Windows XP Pro 64-bit OS 19" CTR monitor set at an 85 hz refresh rate Track IR4 running IR5 software, I use the hat clip and run the "Smooth" profile All drivers are updated to the latest versions. CPU is overclocked to 3.80 with memory overclocked to 890mhz. I tweak the graphics card using nHancer, and here are my current settings in that: On the Enhancements Tab: Anti-Aliasing check "Combined" and "16xS" 2x2 SS + 4x MS check "Enhance in-game AA setting", "Gamma correction" and "Multi-" Anisotropic Filtering check "16x" Vertical Sync check "On" and "Force Open GL Triple-Buffer" Ambient Occlusion set at "000B0000: World In Conflict",and "Use Ambient Occlusion" is checked. On the Optimizations Tab: Texture filtering check "Performance" Trilinear optimization check "Off" Aniso. sample optimization check "Off" Negative LOD Bias check "Clamp" Adjust LOD Bias set at "0.000" Force DXT3 (Open GL) check "Off" Prerender Limit set at "1" Power management mode check "Max Performance" On the Compatibility Tab: Set Anti-Aliasing compatibility, Anti-Aliasing compatibility DX10, and Direct3D 9 compatibility at "00000000: general compatibility" Force mip maps check "Bilinear" High Dynamic Range (HDR) check "Disabled" Dynamic Tiling set at "0" CPU Multi Core support check "Single Core" I run OFF BHaH with HITR upgrade, and here are my CFS3 config settings for that: Sliders currently set at 5-4-4-5-5 Following boxes are checked: Disable Warning Boxes Disable Intro Movie Disable UI Animations High Resolution Z Buffer Terrian Detail Texture Disable Validate Device Disable Write-Only Vertex Buffers Disable Write-Only Index Buffers Disable Targeting Cone Disable HUD Disable Chat Disable Advisor Messages Disable Simulation Warnings Disable Water Animation Disable In Cloud Effect Texture Info: Composite Terrian Texture Pool: Default Composite Terrian Texture Usage: Render Target Composite Aircraft Texture Pool: Managed Composite Aircraft Texture Usage: Render Target Vertex Buffer Pool: Managed Index Buffer Pool: Default Fullscreen Swap Effect: Discard Display Options: 1600 x 1200 x 32 Anti-aliasing: None (controled by nHancer utility) Other items of import: I set program priorities for OFF and TrackIR at "High". I defrag HD's at least twice a week, and I turn off all unnecessary programs. With everything as outlined above I have a solid 45 to 60 FPS with no white jaggies of any kind, no matter how quickly I looked around or how large the dogfight. Even when running FRAPS I still have no graphics distortion...nada...none...nil...zero...zip. Cheers! Lou .

. Hellshade, (and all), I had some time this morning to get a start on the Tripehound you requested. Still a fair amount of tweaking, adjusting, and fine tuning, but the basic layout is coming together quite nicely, even if I do say so myself, (and I do). I will be adding some small spurts of flames to the remaining wings, and I definitely need to rework the areas bracketing the roundels on the top plane. Also need to play with some different colors for the cowling. But it should be a fine mount for you when it's completed. Cheers! Lou .