Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
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VonS
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Hi BuckeyeBob,
Invaluable information - and thank you for letting me know about that.
I've just completed some tests with image quality increased (not density) for the outer rings and, while it doesn't really affect my fps by much - it does produce occasional and noticeable stuttering, especially when flying closer to ground level. Have also experimented with other tweaks to image quality and tile frequency/numbers in the compositescenery and compositetexturebudgets files but no noticeable improvements were seen. If anything, minor stuttering was re-introduced. I will therefore go back to my previous conclusion that ver. 1.1 of the GPU Tuner Patch will most likely be the final/definitive version of the patch - since it strikes the best balance between visual quality and smooth, high fps - and I'm glad to hear that it works well on nVidia cards too, not only on AMD.
Further combat missions coming up, and will also tinker with JJJ's mission editor and BuckeyeBob's clouds soon.
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 02/08/2008:15 AM. Reason: Added info.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
I've Been Testing 1.1 patch this afternoon, it was very good! I was flying Verdun Feb 1917 on Heavy regional air activity and the frame rate was great and the stutters non-existent. Here are some screen shots ....
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
VonS
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Hi Seb,
Glad to read that ver. 1.1 of the GPU Tuner is working well too, excellent news and great screenshots.
Have now installed the BuckeyeBob clouds ver. 2.9.x so will go a' flying soon in mission no. 7 - and see how well they work in the PE ed. of WOFF. I've tinkered a bit with JJJ's nice mission editor too but will most likely not install it now (maybe later) - since I like the element of surprise in stock WOFF and not knowing what types of enemy aircraft, or how many, are around. Also, instead of changing mission waypoints, I usually just "veer off" a bit to where our brave flying gentlemen in the sim might want to go for better spotting, etc. I might on occasion use the "split" command to separate from my flight if necessary - haven't tried that one so far. JJJ's multimod is in the meantime working beautifully with the selections posted on the first page of this thread - I particularly like the winds set to moderate for horizontal and turbulence, and to low for vertical - still provides very realistic variety based on winds/cloud patterns. My compliments to OBD for managing to code real, changing weather patterns into the campaigns in WOFF - great stuff.
(Note: currently tinkering a bit more with the GPU Tuner Patch but hope to fly a new mission soon.)
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 06/02/2212:12 AM. Reason: Edited post.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Nice to see another modder working on WOFF. Cudos Sir!
I just tried your patch flying out of Roucourt QC free flight (This area is very heavy with facilities so it generally has a big impact on FPS while loading). I compared the performance of your patch against "WOFF PE - (3) Scenery Improvement (High Quality) by Panama Red" and what I discovered is that Panama's mod gives me consistently higher FPS by a difference of 5 to 8. This test of course was a quick run. I haven't compared any other aspects.
Just thought I would report in on that for what it is worth.
Best Regards
(System_Specs)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper PSU: Ultra X3,1000-Watt MB: Asus Maximus VI Extreme Mem: Corsair Vengeance (2x 8GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, Unbuffered CPU: Intel i7-4770K, OC to 4.427Ghz CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M Liquid CPU Cooler Vid Card: ASUS GTX 980Ti STRIX 6GB OS and Games on separate: Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD Monitor: Primary ASUS PG27AQ 4k; Secondary Samsung SyncMaster BX2450L Periphs: MS Sidewinder FFB2 Pro, TrackIR 4
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
VonS
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Hi Rob,
Thank you for the feedback - that would make sense generally that the PR level-3 mod has higher fps - what I've done in my mod is combined my tweaks from the WOFF on a Mac thread with the level-4, highest-quality PR patch for WOFF. The level-4 PR patch should give similar fps as my patch, with my patch probably using slightly less gpu resources - but I will still tinker further with the patch and will see if I can shave off some more gpu usage and increase the fps a bit more.
I have the strange feeling that there are still more things/mysteries to discover in the compositescenerybudgets and compositetexturebudgets files.
I'm testing the patch on Windows 10 (pro ed.) by the way - for those who are interested in the technicalities. Perhaps Windows 7 gives better fps with the PR patch instead of mine. Also it's possible that the fps vary depending on AMD, nVidia, as well as crossfire setups (if anyone is running multiple cards).
It's possible that my patch won't be a one-size-fits-all solution but if it's of help to anyone to give as smooth as possible an experience with flight in WOFF - all the better.
Von S
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Your comparison explanation sheds a new light on my experience. I will tey comparion of your patch to level 4 of Panama's mods on my system to see what results I get.
Thanks for your response
Best Regards
(System_Specs)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper PSU: Ultra X3,1000-Watt MB: Asus Maximus VI Extreme Mem: Corsair Vengeance (2x 8GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, Unbuffered CPU: Intel i7-4770K, OC to 4.427Ghz CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M Liquid CPU Cooler Vid Card: ASUS GTX 980Ti STRIX 6GB OS and Games on separate: Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD Monitor: Primary ASUS PG27AQ 4k; Secondary Samsung SyncMaster BX2450L Periphs: MS Sidewinder FFB2 Pro, TrackIR 4
Please see the relevant "Ver. 1.2" section there for more info. - in short, an alternative "addon patch" is now provided that strips away further unnecessary ring levels from the five budget entries in the compositescenerybudgets file, while slightly improving graphics at great distances - thus the name "4RingDim" since it gives four rings per budget level.
The main ver. 1.1 patch must be installed first, with the ver. 1.2 addon installed on top of ver. 1.1, via JSGME - for the latest patch to work. I encourage fellow WOFFers to try both patches and choose the one that suits your rig best. Representative pics. below - I'm sometimes getting over 220 fps with the "4RingDim" patch installed, with blue skies, while ver. 1.1 tops out at around 170-180 fps with blue skies. Low-level flight seems to give similar fps with both patches - no stutters, blue triangles, or other oddities observed from my end. (Representative pics. included below.)
My next post will be a return to the campaigns - I promise not to tweak the GPU Tuner Patch anymore.
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 02/09/2007:43 AM. Reason: Added representative pics.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Now, in your latest update, you have float fTextureSize = 650 and PatchPixelDim = "400". Do you still recommend using the higher values for "very good performance // fantastic graphics" (fTextureSize = 1050, PatchPixelDim="700"? Also, what is the approximate difference in frame rates/visual quality in the two versions? Thanks.
“With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. With me it is merely good manners. You may judge which motive is the more reliable.”
Please see the relevant "Ver. 1.2" section there for more info. - in short, an alternative "addon patch" is now provided that strips away further unnecessary ring levels from the five budget entries in the compositescenerybudgets file, while slightly improving graphics at great distances - thus the name "4RingDim" since it gives four rings per budget level.
Interesting approach here, VonS. With this version, it looks like you are removing the innermost ring. Usually, the innermost ring provides the highest visual quality for objects closet to your aircraft. It appears you have compensated for this by increasing the LOD value for the "256" ring to compensate for the lack of the "128" ring. Also, unless you are flying very close to the ground, most people will not notice the slight loss in visual quality between the 128 and 256 rings.
I might also suggest increasing the RingDim values for each ring ever so slightly. I don't think this will have much of an impact on fps, and should extend the distance for detailed objects slightly.
“With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. With me it is merely good manners. You may judge which motive is the more reliable.”
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
VonS
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Originally Posted by BuckeyeBob
One more question. Does your d3d8.dll conflict with Robert Wiggins' custom d3d8.dll mod?
I recommend, as per my instructions under the "ver. 1.1" section of the post that contains a link to the GPU Tuner Patch - not installing my two d3d8.ini files if you prefer your own custom settings in those files and/or are using the Rob Wiggins d3d8 patch. I do however recommend changing the pixel dim size in both d3d8 files (the one in the main WOFF directory and the one in WOFFScenery), if you are using my GPU Tuner Patch - from the stock value of 256 to 100. (I might eventually experiment with different pixel dim sizes there - but for now a value of 100 works best, from what I've been able to test - for smooth fps and absence of stutters.) In fact I might just tinker with different dim sizes there tonight. Although I will try not to release a new ver. of the GPU Tuner Patch anytime soon - I think "ver. 1.2" is about as good as I can get it going.
Von S
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Now, in your latest update, you have float fTextureSize = 650 and PatchPixelDim = "400". Do you still recommend using the higher values for "very good performance // fantastic graphics" (fTextureSize = 1050, PatchPixelDim="700"? Also, what is the approximate difference in frame rates/visual quality in the two versions? Thanks.
Only saw these posts now - nothing wrong with using values of 1050/700 either - visual quality may be ever-so-slightly better with those numbers but, from testing on my rig - it wasn't worth the tradeoff in lower fps (on the order of 20 fps lower, on average - at least on my rig). If you are running the float size at 1050 and pixel dim at 700, I recommend testing with a dim size, in the d3d8 ini files - of 175 (instead of the 100 implemented in the GPU Tuner Patch for the 650/400 values).
Von S
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
VonS
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Originally Posted by BuckeyeBob
Originally Posted by VonS
Please see the relevant "Ver. 1.2" section there for more info. - in short, an alternative "addon patch" is now provided that strips away further unnecessary ring levels from the five budget entries in the compositescenerybudgets file, while slightly improving graphics at great distances - thus the name "4RingDim" since it gives four rings per budget level.
Interesting approach here, VonS. With this version, it looks like you are removing the innermost ring. Usually, the innermost ring provides the highest visual quality for objects closet to your aircraft. It appears you have compensated for this by increasing the LOD value for the "256" ring to compensate for the lack of the "128" ring. Also, unless you are flying very close to the ground, most people will not notice the slight loss in visual quality between the 128 and 256 rings.
I might also suggest increasing the RingDim values for each ring ever so slightly. I don't think this will have much of an impact on fps, and should extend the distance for detailed objects slightly.
A great technical question and post - yes these are the most irritating parts of modding the "tuner patch" .
For example, here is budget five in the compositescenerybudgets file for the ver. 1.1 patch:
Stripped out in the "4RingDim" variant, is the fifth line at a quality/size of 128 (same process of stripping applied to the fourth budget too - then again, even the budgets in my ver. 1.1. patch have slightly less rings than the stock Panama Red level-4 no blue triangles tweak).
And I agree, tweaking the ringdim values, also the lod sizes, is pesky business. For example, in my "4RingDim" experiments, cutting the level-4 ringdim size in the example above, at 256 size, to a value of about 15-16, and reducing the lod from about 90 to 70, re-introduced very subtle stuttering on occasion - almost as if something was at times "choking off" the graphics rendering, so I upped the value to 18 for the ringdim, brought the lod back up to 90 - and, voila, smooth fps again, giving similar fps numbers as the compositescenerybudgets file in the ver. 1.1. patch.
I won't tinker too much with the compositescenerybudgets files anymore since they are very finicky and hard to get "just right" - but you are of course welcome to tinker with them further on your rig if you feel that more performance and/or better visuals can be extracted.
Ah yes, almost forgot - in terms of the compsitetexturebudgets file, all sorts of variants and experiments were tested, with different ringdim numbers and detailtilecount numbers for each of the budget levels - but, again, oftentimes, some stuttering would be reintroduced into the sim. Best seem to be the Panama Red stock ringdim numbers of 5/5/5/7/7 across the budget levels, although I've increased the detailtilecount number to a value of 6 across all five budget levels - with no serious impact on performance. Values of 7 and 8 are also okay, for all of the detailtilecount numbers in the budget levels - but they do shave off some fps, with no noticeable, real visual improvement.
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 02/10/2003:16 AM. Reason: Added info.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
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Originally Posted by Beanie
VonS - Thank you for the GPU Turn Patches. I have started to use them and have found a great improvement in frame rates - Cheers
Thank you Beanie - I'm pleased that the "real world" results of the GPU Tuner Patch are higher fps and smoother graphics/flight in WOFF - that's what it's all about.
Happy flying, Von S
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Please see the relevant "Ver. 1.2" section there for more info. - in short, an alternative "addon patch" is now provided that strips away further unnecessary ring levels from the five budget entries in the compositescenerybudgets file, while slightly improving graphics at great distances - thus the name "4RingDim" since it gives four rings per budget level.
The main ver. 1.1 patch must be installed first, with the ver. 1.2 addon installed on top of ver. 1.1, via JSGME - for the latest patch to work. I encourage fellow WOFFers to try both patches and choose the one that suits your rig best. Representative pics. below - I'm sometimes getting over 220 fps with the "4RingDim" patch installed, with blue skies, while ver. 1.1 tops out at around 170-180 fps with blue skies. Low-level flight seems to give similar fps with both patches - no stutters, blue triangles, or other oddities observed from my end. (Representative pics. included below.)
My next post will be a return to the campaigns - I promise not to tweak the GPU Tuner Patch anymore.
Von S
VonS I’m looking forward to trying out this add on later. So far your works has added smoothness and high FPS ... I’m now testing with very heavy regional activity and the frame rates are staying 100+ and no micro stutters or elastic banding. You can tweak this as much as you you like from my point of view, but I do want you to have fun flying as well.
The technical details mean very little to me so I am happy to ride on your coat tails!
Yes, indeed, altering the compositescenerybudget and compositetexturebudget files is a very tricky business, with lots of tinkering and testing and little change in performance, unless you manage to get things "just right."
I have noticed that my own personal compositescenerybudget/compositetexturebudget files extends the view distance for detailed objects further than your mod, with only a slight loss of performance. I noticed this in particular while flying at 10,000 ft. over London. With your version, I could not detect any detailed objects in front of my lower wing while I can with mine. I can post my values later if you are interested.
One more suggestion, if I may: consider changing all of your RingDim values to either all even or all odd numbers. I think I read somewhere that mixing even and odd RingDim values may lead to some unspecified problems. I think MajorMagee is the expert on this issue.
Thanks again for all of your hard work!
“With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. With me it is merely good manners. You may judge which motive is the more reliable.”
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
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Originally Posted by SebToombs
VonS I’m looking forward to trying out this add on later. So far your works has added smoothness and high FPS ... I’m now testing with very heavy regional activity and the frame rates are staying 100+ and no micro stutters or elastic banding. You can tweak this as much as you you like from my point of view, but I do want you to have fun flying as well.
The technical details mean very little to me so I am happy to ride on your coat tails!
Thank you again
Excellent news - I've flown a few more missions and also experienced good, consistent fps - using the "4RingDim" patch in my case. Also pleased to have seen a smaller drop-off in fps towards the end of long missions (longer than an hr. in length) - as opposed to the ver. 1.1 patch - with fps remaining around 80 or so towards the end of a long mission, compared with around 55-60 fps with the ver. 1.1 patch.
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 06/02/2212:16 AM. Reason: Edited post.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
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Originally Posted by BuckeyeBob
Yes, indeed, altering the compositescenerybudget and compositetexturebudget files is a very tricky business, with lots of tinkering and testing and little change in performance, unless you manage to get things "just right."
I have noticed that my own personal compositescenerybudget/compositetexturebudget files extends the view distance for detailed objects further than your mod, with only a slight loss of performance. I noticed this in particular while flying at 10,000 ft. over London. With your version, I could not detect any detailed objects in front of my lower wing while I can with mine. I can post my values later if you are interested.
One more suggestion, if I may: consider changing all of your RingDim values to either all even or all odd numbers. I think I read somewhere that mixing even and odd RingDim values may lead to some unspecified problems. I think MajorMagee is the expert on this issue.
Thanks again for all of your hard work!
Thank you for the feedback - I will test out this theory of odd/even ringdim values to see/compare with my files - so far I haven't noticed any oddities or glitches with my ver. 1.1 patch, or the ver. 1.2 addon - but will be interested in testing wiith consistent dim numbers. Will also up the lod nos. to see if I can stretch out views of details. Will also pop in an extra ringdim line with a size of only 32 or 64 - to see if I can get low-alt. terrains looking super-crispy - although this may reintroduce blue triangles...will report if any great things are discovered.
(In terms of detailed objects being rarer at distances in my patch, that is probably the result of my "thinning out" trees/detail at distances, for slightly higher fps - rather than a direct result of ringdim values and lod sizes - a little trick I had to use on Intel Integrated Graphics chips, on my Mac Mini, to get more fps out of WOFF ue installed in WineSkin.)
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 02/11/2004:08 AM. Reason: Added/changed info.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 936VonS
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Please find included at the following link - https://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads....casual-campaigns-woff-thread#Post4505865 - ver. 1.3 of the GPU Tuner Patch. New info. included there for ver. 1.3, "RingDimExtravaganza" - also please check over the approximate top fps possible, with clear blue skies, indicated there (per version patch).
The ver. 1.3 addon includes several more ring dim entries per budget section in the compositescenerybudgets file. Personally I prefer ver. 1.2 for best fps - but I encourage you to try all three patches (the main one, and vers. 1.2 and 1.3) - and to use the one that works best on your rigs. Have also tested with "even only" and "odd only" ringdim values - but this reintroduced micro-stuttering on occasion so I will, at least in my patches, keep the varied mix of even/odd numbers that I have going - for smoothest fps possible.
Anyone is of course welcome to tinker further with the patches for their WOFF installs - your mileage may however vary with further and different tweaks beyond the three main patches that I've made available for download. That's it for the GPU Tuner Patch tweaks from my end. Campaign posts to follow soon.
Von S
Last edited by VonS; 02/11/2004:05 AM. Reason: Added info.
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~