FS FORCE

Hi All,

Well I've been trying out FS Force and love everything about it so far- except the hit it seems to make on performance for even my high-end machine (Alienware Area 51).

Pre-FSforce I got steady (I mean steady) 27-30 FPS (locked at 30) at all but heaviest airports, but since loading FS force I see consistent drops to 10-22 whenever initiating activity that the program needs to crunch through (ie most anything but straight and level flight, but elevator changes seem to have less impact than aileron).

Anyone else seeing a performance hit like this? Mind you its not a steady hit, but causes my FPS to fluctuate constantly. And I have turned off the trim indicator (which actually didn't seem to bother my FPS at all).

Look forward to hearing if I'm doing something wrong or if this is common to the program, thanks.

Best,

Joel

The only hit I have ever seen with FSF is the trim indicator. Once that
was turned off I barely see a frame rate drop of more than 1 or 2.


CK

HI Joel

Without the trim window option my FPS hit is less than 3 %.

What Joystick /OS are you using?
What drivers are you using for your FF stick?.

Something you could try, If you fly full screen try switching to window mode ,any change?, then revert back to full screen and see if this makes any difference.

From the sounds of it , your FPS problem could be Joystick driver related.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers
John

Hi Joel,

Joel wrote:I see consistent drops to 10-22 whenever initiating activity that the program needs to crunch through (ie most anything but straight and level flight, but elevator changes seem to have less impact than aileron).

Can you explain more about this? Are you saying you see a drop in FPS when you bank the aircraft, for instance? How long does the drop last?

I have my doubts this has anything to do with FS Force. Generally speaking you should see a bigger drop in FPS when you're on the ground then when you're in the air. The only thing FS Force is doing when you're in the air is checking your airspeed 3 or 4 times a second and making any necessary adjustments to the centering force.

Here are a couple of things I can recommend about making FPS measurements. First, set the frame rate limit to "unlimited". You can't really make any meaningful comparisons when you have an artificial cap on FPS. Second, I would recommend putting the line "AVE_FRAME_RATE_DISPLAY=1" in the [Main] section of your FS9.CFG file. That will give you an average frame rate that gets reset every 30 seconds. Third, do all your comparisons with saved flights in clear weather. The idea is to control things as much as possible. There are so many variables that can affect frame rates ... simply flying around and doing this or that isn't going to give you any reliable numbers.

Let us know what you find.

Hi,

thanks for the replies so far. I'm running XP home with Microsoft FF2, and installed the software that Russell offered a link for.

Essentially I see a quick, temporary drop in FPS while banking the aircraft, but then FPS returns to normal when the stick is centered. I also see a slowdown to 19-21 from normal 28-30 while on the ground, especially while running up and taking off.

I run only full screen mode, don't like to fly windowed but I will try it to see if there's a difference.

While I do understand the numerous variables that can affect FPS, I'm doing all my testing from a saved flight / home airport that I always fly with- ie no weather change, etc. Just for kicks I did clear all the weather and saw no difference in performance, I don't fly with tons of clouds and my PC has generally been able to handle without a hitch.

I'll do some further testing over the weekend and update this post, but I'm definitely seeing something, at least on my system. And the fact that the FPS drop only occurs while making control inputs via the stick (ie banking) or while ground effects are happening (ie takeoff) really makes me think that its got to be FS force- as nothing else has changed on the computer...

Best,

Joel

JohnP....do you lock your frame rate?

FaxCap

No I run unlimited.

Makes a HUGE difference to the UKVFR scenery.

John

Thanks, I'll switch back.

FaxCap

Joel wrote:I'm running XP home with Microsoft FF2

What video card and which drivers for it, Joel?
Something in the back of my mind is screaming, "driver problem!"

I am running an ATI 9600XT and until I switched to the Omega tweaked
ATI 3.10's I wasn't happy. Runs great now.

FaxCap

No, not a driver problem- running the ATI 3.8 Cats (I believe) on an ATI 9700. again, I got beautiful smooth, steady 28-30 FPS pre installation of FS Force, and still get those FPS- so long as I don't bank left or right:-)

Best,

Joel

I think I misunderstood what the FPS problem related to the trim window is, please confirm for me...

I originally thought you only saw a momentary FPS slowdown when the window appears if your system suffered from this. But after re-reading the comment in the instructions, I think my FPS slowdown is in fact the one caused by the trim window after all.

So am I to understand that, if you have the box checked to show the trim window, the slowdown occurs on some systems when run in full screen, and that it is kind of a constant slowdown in FPS?

I have been able to trace a direct relationship to what I'm experiencing and the trim window checkbox- when unchecked performance is fine, back to normal. If I check it to see the window when trim changes are made I get the slowdown, but it does not correlate to when I make trim changes and the window appears.

The solution, though not a good one, is to not see the trim window. But then how does one know what the state of trim is other than by "feel"?

Best,

Joel

Yes, Joel, you've got the right idea now. If your system is affected by the FPS issue, you will see a FPS drop at all times, not just when the window pops into view. The only solution is to completely disable the trim window, or run in windowed mode.

Well, I guess that's my problem after all- sorry to have not realized it sooner.

I guess my only question, and perhaps I should put this on the "wish list" forum, is whether there's a fix in the works? I do love the program, but to me it really is necessary to have some visual indication of my trim setting. Since others also experience the problem, I would want to put this on top of the list of future "features"

Best,

Joel