BirdDogICT

My experience is that edge detect works fine with clouds, but I seem to have a big drop in FPS in heavily overcast, stormy weather. Not entirely sure why. Probably has something to do with the extra demands of rendering lots of transparent clouds at once.

Very nice. The 4870 is an excellent card, actuallly a little faster than the 5770 I upgraded to.

Ouch! The truth hurts!!

Here's a good graphic that shows how each of these filters work: http://www.rage3d.com/articles/AA_AF/index.php?p=2

When at altitude, it doesn't make much difference at all, in fact, Box AA requires the fewest resources and looks great. (This is also true for most other sims or FPS games). However, when sitting on the airfield, there are noticeable jaggies in the landscape with Box AA. They are most noticeable in dark ground textures. Those jaggies start to disappear at an altitude of about 2000 feet. If I'm sitting on the airfield while using Narrow Tent or Wide Tent or Super-sample AA the jaggies are gone, but at a higher FPS cost (don't use Super-sample at all unless you have Crossfire). I use tent rendering because I like the way it blurs the landscape slightly. It's a subtle difference noticeable only when flying low. I only offered a discussion about the differences because some new users were having problems with stuttering or low FPS by setting AA too high, and asked for an explanation. For all practical purposes, Box AA is the way to go, especially since 99% of the time you're at altitude. BHaH already looks great at high resolutions with AA completely turned off, so it only takes a little AA to make the sim shine.

Doesn't make much difference except when flying the Model T or bicycle through town.

The AA settings can be confusing, especially when you consider the almost 40 possible menu choices for AA in Catalyst: SMOOTHVISION HD Anti-Aliasing: Box 2X (2X Samples), 4X (4X Samples), 8X (8X Samples) Narrow Tent 2X (4X Samples), 4X (6X Samples), 8X (12X Samples) Wide Tent 2X (6X Samples), 4X (8X Samples), 8X (16X Samples) Edge Detect 4X (12X Samples), 8X (24X Samples) Anti-Aliasing Mode: Multi-sample Mode (Performance) Adaptive Multi-sample Mode Super-sample Mode (Quality) There are a couple of brief articles that explain the differences: http://windows7forums.com/hardware/36340-ati-antialiasing.html or http://hardocp.com/article/2008/07/20/amds_ati_radeon_hd_4800_series_custom_filtering_aa Generally speaking, if you're running at a high screen resolution, Box AA is usually enough, and requires the least horsepower. But my personal choice is wide or narrow tent. These use post-processing shaders, so will reduce FPS somewhat, but the slightly blurry effect make Winder's landscapes look great. Edge Detect won't improve the look of landscapes, but will give planes sharp outlines without using a lot of resources.

It should be in the FAQ here: http://www.overflandersfields.com/Tips.htm

It looks like 10.9 offers support for newer games if your card supports DirectX 11. Your 4870 doesn't, so probably no real reason to upgrade...won't improve BHaH performance.

Not having any issues with 10.9 in Win 7 64 bit. The only advantage in versions after 10.6 would be improved OpenGL support for IL-2.

That makes sense. Adaptive Multi-sample AA is designed to improve AA of transparent textures, something you would expect in Winder's clouds. Glad you got it sorted.

Works great with BHaH. Some nice features, including CPU affinity.

There are a lot of useful tools out there, and from what I've seen, radeonpro looks good. Think I'll try it tonight, now that you mention it.

Von Paulus is right on, as usual. I also have a 5770, with CPU running at 3.6. With sliders at 54455, my best performance under demanding conditions (i.e., heavy clouds, on the runway, in giant furrballs, over the front) uses setttings that are very similar to Olham and VonPaulus. Olham's settings are with a 4870, which is slightly faster than then 5770. - SMOOTHVISION HD AA: 2x (Box Filter - 2 samples) - SMOOTHVISION HD Anisotropic Filtering: 4x - Catalyst AI: Standard - Mipmap Detail Level: Quality - Wait for vertical refresh: Always On - Adaptive Anti-Aliasing: Quality - OpenGL Settings: Triple buffering (clicked on) I also use D3DOverrider to control VSync and OpenGL Triple Buffering. Catalyst drivers stil don't allow Vsync or Triple Buffering with all versions of Windows/DirectX. If I reduce scenery and terrain sliders, I can bump up the level of AA, but not by much. At a resolution of 1920X1200, you don't need very much AA at all. BTW, Super-sample AA is typically only used in Crossfire.

Thanks for the "peek under the tent", you have a great life. Seriously, ich bin weinerlich, it brought back a lot of great memories from the births of my two sons. Now that they're happy, successful young men, I miss the days when they were Raphael's age. Make every minute count. Best wishes, Bird Dog

Check out Parky's post (#36) at this thread: http://combatace.com/topic/58349-recommend-some-pedals-for-off/page__st__20 Simple, eh?

Being an obsessive compulsive kind of guy, I can't resist the temptation to beat a dead horse within an inch of it's life. I decided to do more testing...and it confirms that the level of AA and AF makes a big difference in heavy clouds. I set CFS3config AA to 8X, and tested a number of AA combinations in Catalyst 10.8 using Adaptive Multi-sample AA (I havent found much difference between Multi-sample and Adaptive Multi-sample AA. Super-sample AA is typically used only with dual GPU systems). I aso left Catalyst AI to Standard My test was the Balloon Busting with Camels Quick Scenario, which has very heavy overcast weather over the front lines. AA Level---Samples----AA Level-------AF-----Avg FPS ---8X------------24-----------Edge---------16----------20 ---8X------------16--------Wide Tent-----16----------22 ---8X------------12-------Narrow Tent---16----------22 ---8X-------------8------------Box----------16----------22 Not much difference...my 5770 graphics card is maxed out. What about the effect of AF? ---8X------------24-----------Edge--------Off----------22 ---8X------------12------Narrow Tent----Off---------22 ---8X-------------8------------Box----------Off---------29 ---2X-------------2------------Box----------Off---------32 So I now have a firm grasp of the obvious. Turning AF off and reducing the amount of AA samples definitely helps, without any significant loss in appearance.

I let my enthusiasm get away with me. I'm now seeing the problem you mentioned. Backing off the sliders doesn't help...the only solution I've found to better framerates in heavy clouds is to lower the amount and type of AA. Looks like I'm back to my old settings. Nothing wrong with them...still looks great.

Greg, THIS IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!! I tried your override and for the first time can fly the quick scenario "Balloon Busting with Camels" with Super-sample AA. Multi-sample or Adaptive Multi-sample AA work fine, but don't get rid of minor jaggies in the landscape when on the runway. IF I use Super-sample AA, the jaggies disappear, but it kills my framerate in heavy clouds. FWIW, here are my settings with an ATI 5770, Catalyst 10.8 in Windows 7 64 bit: Sliders 54455, Resolution 1920X1080, AA Off in CFSConfig, set Overrides as per the FAQ, including Virtual Cockpit Fog Catalyst Control Settings: 2X AA (6 Samples, Wide Tent), AF off, Catalyst AI off, Mipmap Detail Level on Quality, Wait for Vertical Refresh Always On, AA Mode set to Super-sample, OpenGL Triple Buffering On. I also run D3D Overrider in the background to allow VSync with ATI drivers. In furballs (6 planes) over the airfield, FPS ranges from 40-60, heavy clouds averages 35, sometimes dropping to 25. Game looks absolutely fantastic. BIG, BIG IMPROVEMENT with your override. THANKS!!

Same here. Praised their recognition of BHaH, and mentioned other sources for screenshots. Awaiting acceptance by the moderators.

BHaH usually runs better at higher resolutions. The type of AA you set in Catalyst Control Center matters a lot when it comes to clouds...Super-sample AA brings my machine to a crawl, but Multi-sample AA works fine.

Not to mention Flaming Cliffs 2, BOBII update 2.11, and new study sims from smaller shops like A2A and VRS. I try to support them all, despite never having enough time to fly their products.

I DO have the IL games, and am looking forward to Canvas Knights release, but like most BHaH/HiTR users, am not enamored with the poor AI and poor mission development of the IL products, despite the ability to play online. I have supported Oleg from the beginning by buying his products, and admit that it is one of the best WW2 games in town, CFS3 included, but don't care a hoot for inline play. If new mods can add value to my WWI experience beyond what BHaH/HitR can offer, WooHoo!! Everyone wins.

It's been moved to here: http://allaircraftsi...forum/index.php EDIT: Sorry, looks like Lou beat me to the punch

That vague rumour sounds something like this: