A technical interlude below after further tinkering (hopefully the info. will be helpful to those trying to squeeze out maximal realism and graphics in WOFFue/pe).

In terms of graphics, was experimenting with patch pixel dim and float texture sizes and ratios - and I'm getting smoothest and best fps results by having the floating size slightly bigger than the pixel dim size (on the order of about 1.5 times bigger). Numbers that work well are as follows:


For excellent performance // excellent graphics, use ----->

In shaders30/terrain

const static float fTextureSize = 650;

In terrains/compositetexturebudgets

<Budgets PatchPixelDim="400" MinPatchDimUseThumb="4096">


For very good performance // fantastic graphics, use ----->

In shaders30/terrain

const static float fTextureSize = 1050;

terrains/compositetexturebudgets

<Budgets PatchPixelDim="700" MinPatchDimUseThumb="4096">


Other ratios and sizes tested either aren't worth repeating here or didn't give me great results.

Do not use float and pixel dim sizes above about 1150 for the entries above, otherwise horrible stuttering is present; values above about 1200-1250 often freeze/crash the sim. Also, float and pixel dim sizes below about 300 offer no benefits, performance or graphics-wise. Float size should be bigger than the pixel dim size for this visual "trick" to work well - also recommended is that these settings be used with the "slighty thinned out trees" compositescenerybudgets numbers available under my long "WOFF on a Mac" thread, as well as with the crisper "ring values" indicated there too, for the compositetexturebudgets file.

The level-4 "high quality" graphics patch by Panama Red also gives similar quality results and is worth a try if the recommendations included here don't work for you. Panama Red's patch eliminates blue triangles entirely - mine very rarely show blue triangles if flying at very low altitudes but I'm getting smooth frame rates with the settings tweaked to the info. indicated above.

Representative pic. included here (with float size of 650 and pixel dim of 400).




In terms of overall realism, I'm very pleased with stock values in WOFF but further tweaks using Jara's excellent "MultiMod" are what I'm currently using, after a few days of testing, and I recommend them for those looking for very realistic flight settings (see included pic.). Observers are still excellent shots with the numbers I've selected but are not "sniper quality" to a kilometer out. You are still in for a world of hurt if you get too close, for example, to a Parasol. Further experimentation with winds has also resulted in the settings I have for what I think is "best realism" in the sim (vertical low, horizontal and turbulence moderate) - but feel free to experiment to get the results you like.




Now to get ready again for some hardcore flying in the "casual campaigns."

Von S