FSX FAQ (Part 1)

FSX FAQ (Part 1) Article has been posted.

Torgo 3000 — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:16:25 GMT

Well, since we're just a week away from the official release of Flightsim in most of the world (sorry

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Ken Stallings — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 23:40:40 GMT

That's one of the finest descriptions of the macro issues in the Flight Simulator series as I have read. And based on the experience with the Demo's, I'd say it's right on target also.

Thanks, but tell the devs to get some multi-threaded code going!

Eddie — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 05:41:52 GMT

Thank you for writing this up - it's great insight to read such details.

I am sad to hear about the AMD cpus, but oh well. What I am actually more worried about, frankly, is the apparent lack of multi-threading during gameplay - my G15 lcd monitor in the game shows my AMD 3200+ dual core pegged on one cpu and the other virtually idle :-(

I definitely know that making things multi-threaded is no easy task, but I hope the devs have been thinking about this and can get us something!

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

deltanovember — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:34:25 GMT

Thanks for starting this Adrian it will help

a great deal.

Good to see you back posting again.

Regards

Denny

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

William Jibby — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:12:39 GMT

Very good explanation. This is needed to understand FSX.

Thanks

William Jibby Jib01/02

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Thad — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 03:24:57 GMT

Thanks for the detailed info on FSX. This should be required reading on all the flight sim sites. I've got FSX's sliders set to medium/medium-high and it certainly looks better than FS9 maxed IMO with good FPS(~20).

re: FSX FAQ

Barry Geller — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:41:36 GMT

Please add me to your list.

Thanks

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Scott — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 03:40:31 GMT

Thanks for a common sense explanation. I'm looking forward to my copy of FSX and will no doubt enjoy it more armed with your information

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Mikeee — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:44:57 GMT

yeah thanx for the indepth explanation about frame rate hits and display tweaking etc. i am happy with fsx but i do get some weired graphical glitches like at night as i am flying towards or reletive to the airport my whole screen gets washed out with white until i point the nose of the aircraft away and then everything goes back to normal. i was wondering if this had anything to do with the light bloom effect. ?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:30:56 GMT

What kind of video card are you running? What drivers? I suspect that the problem lies somewhere in that combination of hardware / software. We've found a few instances where different video card manufacturers approach different effects in different ways. We tried to solve for the most cards with the most recent drivers, so updating might help out a bit.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Daviator — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:41:51 GMT

It really bothers me to see MS design a game for hardware two years out. I want to play the game today (when I bought and PAID for it), not two years from now.

Do users complain that with their latest hardware that FS2004 runs too smoothly, frame rates are too fast and and it just looks too good?

You don't see console game designers selling games for the next generation of consoles and when the performance stinks telling the users "Just wait for the next console and it will look great".

David E.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Christopher N. Dittmar — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 04:12:13 GMT

For the 70 USD FSX Deluxe cost me I still think it has a lot of potential. The only issue I have with it is the type of placement on the textures and their sizes. Fortunately i saved some performance by downloading some reduced size autogen and cloud textures, but does Colorado have to look like the Sahara desert? I mean - wow - it can't be an "FS" or landclass limitation because it looked bloody awesome in FS 2004.

Just out of curiosity, though, you say that the line FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33 exists in the final release version of the product -- in the FSX.cfg file? I have this file curently open and doing a search for even the word "FIBER" brings nothing up. I searched the entire string and all of the words individually and this entry is not in the config. Bear in mind, yes, I have the final release DVD in the deluxe package (shouldn't make a difference what package I have though -- the only difference between standard and deluxe is a few aircraft). This looks like a good tweak, but I do not want to add something into the file that is not supposed to be there. Did MS take it out of this version?

Oh -- BTW -- I am using the US version if that matters.

Dual Core CPUs?

Sven Ohrberg — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:09:34 GMT

Thanks for the info, but what about multi-core CPUs? I have an AMD 4800+ but FSX only make use of one core, with the other core just idle. Can this be fixed in a future patch, or are we not going to use our multi-core CPUs before Flight Simulator 11?

Citat:

If so, when will dual core programming "catch up" to our hardware?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Glenn Larsson — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 03:16:52 GMT

I for one is very happy to see that some work have been spent on making it take advantage of future hardware.

However, that is not why i posted. Could you add something about product activation?

According to this:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/927007

As i read it, we will only be able to migrate to ONE new hardware configuration - or - do ONE hardware upgrade, then our 2 activations are - *poff* - gone.

Why didnt you just bind the activation key to one specific Windows licensenumber instead of mixing it into something that changes at times like the hardware configuration of a computer?

I mean, i dont even dare to install my new Logitech mouse drivers for fearing that FSX will notice a change in the DX config and say "Hold it mate, i smell a change!"

I am very eager to hear about what the effects are since i am going to reinstall my gaming PC in the near future and add additional hardware like a joystick or a new gfx card, and one activation is already gone...

Btw, the game (Deluxe, European) runs somewhat smoothly on a Athlon 3200, 1 gig memory, 6600GT/256, DX9, but at times it runs very slowly, mainly when entering larger cities like London and Paris.

Oh, and maby a note on where we can report bugs would be nice.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

FSX_Knocker — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:18:54 GMT

Dear Christopher N. Dittmar ,

I believe you have to add that line manully ..

I have read it somewhere in the net...

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Peter Tikoian — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:54:21 GMT

I have tried many many combinations to get my frame rate and performance the same as fs9 and I did not succeed. I have a Dell Dimension 8300 with a 3.4ghz processer,2000 memory and a 256 mb ATI video card. All my sliders were maxed out and I enjoyed fs6 to the max. Now with FSX my fram rate is between 8.0 and 12.0 with the maximun slider on "Medium Low". I am 86 years old and I guess I will never get to enjoy FSX. You developers were looking far into in the future and feft us old gotes out to pasture. I still have FS 1.0.

Pete- not a happy camper

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

mo — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 09:16:15 GMT

For Pete

has some updates, info on improving framerate etc

Also defintely good tweak ideas for fsx

http://fsxmission.com/live/modules.php?name=Show&show=tweaks#general

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 01:11:24 GMT

I'm having a lot of trouble reinstalling FSX. I wasn't aware of the consequences when I removed FSX from Add/Remove Programs and the uninstall did not finish, leaving me with a partially installed FSX. Now, when I try to reinstall, it loads for about 60 seconds and then gives me an Error 1722 message.

Microsoft has a solution to the Error 1722 message, but it's too complicated for me to follow. One of the stumbling blocks is the last instruction in which one must open the Command Prompt and type in some MS directions which are always rejected as being incorrect. Can anyone help me solve my reinstallation problem or am I stuck with this $70 useless beast?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Dan — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:13:12 GMT

I can not find the fsx.cfg file any where on my computer. I just put together a fairly good computer, but with AMD. I have 512 mg on the video card, 2 mg of Ram and a 4200 amd processor and still can not get close to 20 fps. Anybody have any ideas. I also have a SATA drive.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:39:54 GMT

It depends a lot on your settings. You can't crank everything up and autogen is a real killer at high levels. Also, bloom can be a perf hog as can anything that requires a full screen second rendering pass. Try adjusting. I have basically the same setup as you and I run with autogen at a low-mid setting (which is still more dense than FS2004) and everything else cranked up pretty high and I get 20 fps pretty regularly. What's your graphics card? I currently have a GeForce 6800 with only 256 Mb of memory and that seems to do the trick okay.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Pat Davies — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:29:33 GMT

Why does my screen keep freezing when flying any ideas

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:47:34 GMT

I would be willing to bet it has to do with your graphics card drivers. That's often the cause of that kind of thing. Do you have the latest drivers for your card?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

... — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:23:48 GMT

Very nice site! Good work.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Scott — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:41:53 GMT

FSX and Vista

What is going on? Every time I start FSX under Vista I get a message that the display is going out of Aero mode due to an incompatibility problem, performance is also less than stellar. My FSX box has Vista listed under the supported systems.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

... — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:57:06 GMT

Du musst ein Fachmann sein - wirklich guter Aufstellungsort, den du hast!

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

... — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 22:42:22 GMT

pagine piuttosto informative, piacevoli =)

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

... — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:07:02 GMT

Great site! Good luck to it's owner!

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

wilderbeast — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:05:41 GMT

After flying fsx for over sixty hours the log book has stopped adding any new entries. When flying missions it still adds trophies, have any fellow pilots had the same problem

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

... — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:42:46 GMT

Mine has just stopped on 45 hours....HEEELLLPPPP Only thing I've done to FSX lately is install SP1........

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:48:43 GMT

I'll look into this. Thanks for the post.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Midhir — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:39:06 GMT

I have had this exact problem. The posted solution I've seen is to rename or remove your My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files\Logbook.bin

As to the missing fsx.cfg file, I don't think it's accessible outside of the resource file it is contained in, but you can create your own fsx.cfg with just the entries you need and drop it right into your main fsx folder.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Jim Sims — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:12:08 GMT

I am retired (77) and have been enjoying FSX. I am new at this and have down loaded several airliner. I braved downloading the XB-70. It is a beautiful plane but unlike others, the autopilot has a terrible time with proposing up and down not finding or stopping at the assigned altitude. It is most annoying and must be a glitch in the programming. Other friends who have the plane find the same problem. I hate to be long winded but I cant fine a solution anywhere. IS THERE ONE? AND CAN YOU HELP IN ANYWAY? Thank you for any comment you may have.

cdmlmc@cox.net

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

skinnypete — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:11:02 GMT

how do you open engine panels/covers?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

skinnypete — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:22:15 GMT

sry jim i dont have that plane.

by the way does anyone know how to open the engine covers/panels in fsx?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Robert Adams — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:46:59 GMT

Been reading all the forums regarding Video problems with FSX...

Computer Aspire L5100 Bios Phoenix Award Bios v6.00pg

Processor AMD 64x2 Dual Core 4200+ 2cup's at 2.2gh Memory 2814mb ram page file 1101 mb's 4720 mb available...Direct X version Direct X10..690 chipset with ATI Radeon X1250 video 1407mb running screen at 1680x1050 direct drawn acceleration on...Direct 3D acceleration on...AGP Texture acceleration ON...

Same problem as others...Accessing FSX the AERO video is switch to ACER visual basic...

I have attempted various settings to solve this particular problem...I haven't seen a solution as of this writing...While flying the aircraft, If I move the mouse around on the various knobs and switches to make changes in the aircraft settings, then the screen will change to all white, black back to white and after about 2 or 3 seconds will reset back to normal...

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

elstavd — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:12:33 GMT

Hi, if i record a clip during a free flight, and review it afterwards, the movements of the aircrafts are not the same as the actual movements I made with the aircrafts. How do i fix this problem? It seems as if the pc filters out the movements i make

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:07:32 GMT

We can't record an infinite number of data points during flight, so you may be seeing artifacting due to compression. If it is very severe, then it may be another bug. I'll try to look into it.

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Klaus Dahlem — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:07:14 GMT

Hi, I want to build a specified FSX-PC to use it on my own. Perhaps I even want to distribute it later if it works contentedly. But in matter of fact I asked 10 people about and got 10 different answers. So I want to show you what I have choosen and ask you if you could give me an advice to improve my selection.

Mainboard: Gigabite X38-DQ6, CPU: Intel Core2 Quad

Q 9450, RAM DDR2, 4GB, Grafic: Gainward 8800GT, 1024 MB, Bliss Golden Selection, Chip G92. FSX with SP1 and Accel.Kit. The result should be at least 30 fps with all contoller on Ultra, and with some Add-Ons over a capitel. Short said, a PC as strong as it is needed. And what is the best operation system for FSX. Windows XP, Vista 32, or Vista 64?

Can you help me with your advise? I am coming from germany and my english ist not so good anymore. So if you find some mistakes, you can keep them ;-). Best regards Klaus Dahlem

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

torgo3000 — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:53:36 GMT

Hello Klaus,

The system you are planning sounds great! It is better than both my home and work machines, so it should do the trick. As for the Vista / XP debate, Vista will be the only operating system with DX10, which we are currently optimizing for. However, FSX wasn't really a DX10 product (although SP2 does have some DX10-only features), so in that case either would work fine. However, if you want to move forward with the times and with DX10, then Vista would have to be it.

By the way, you're english is fine. Probably better than most of us here in the States. ; )

-Adrian

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

angelos — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:49:13 GMT

how can i make a fs2004 file play on fsx?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

algeggi — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:24:57 GMT

Hi,

I have a new Pc with Vista and FSX installed. I would like to know if I need to install SP1 and SP2.

Thanks Algeggi

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

gmes300 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:53:54 GMT

lololololololololololololololololololol

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

mustafa sazak — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:24:03 GMT

whatever you recommend, it doesnt work. Because my graphic card is onboard :D:D:D:D

yay yay yay yuppy

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

CAN — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:23:15 GMT

Hello everyone!

I ve built a machine for FSX, trusting the graphic card Zotac GeForce 9800GTX + AMP!

Gigabyte P45 Motherboard

Intel Q9400 QuadCore

4 GB RAM

Windows XP Home

FSX Service Pack 2

But the result is not satisfying.

In ultra high setting (light bloom off and some of the texture specifications are not on full), while the stormy weather selected the frame rate dumps to 8, even 6.

I'm getting mad of this, what can I do to improve the performance?

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

saveloy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:11:28 GMT

Hello there,

recently i purchased a quad core with Vista purely to run fsx better! I have fsx installed on a slave drive with XP (from my old pc). My question is how do i get my vista to accept accessing the XP hard drive without an error mentioning activation!!

re: FSX FAQ (Part 1)

Umper — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:40:14 GMT

"Plus, you're not getting "the blurries" like you were in FS2004"

Lol, I didn't get blurries in 2004, but I sure do now, and that's with a AMD quad core, 7 gigs of ram, and a radeon 4870 with another gig. Face it, blurries galore forever....rofl