SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

First of all, DX10 looks amazing in FSX. Shadows actually appear inside the virtual cockpit. But I notice the shadows are hard and jagged. Is this normal?

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 860

What is your AA set to?

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

None. That must be the problem. I'll try that out. Should I use the sim's AA or ATI's AA?

mel wilson · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:54 pm Post subject:

I've heard that ATI's AA is better set, than FS9's AA ......... But I cant see the difference...

Mel.

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

I think this is just a limitation within FSX itself. Even after turning on AA, I noticed every single shadow present in the game is jagged.

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 860

FS's AA is miserable, it slows down your performance quite a bit.

When you turn on ATi's AA, do you notice the effects elsewhere, like on the aircraft or buildings?

harkonnen · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:57 am Post subject:

Don't know if it actually applies to FSX, but I've read repeatedly not to use FS9's Anti Aliasing, to always go with the video card.
Anything on this at the FSInsider site?

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 860

It's because FS's AA reduces performance dramatically.

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

On the contrary, my friends, I find FSX's AA a lot more efficient. I always use the application's AA filter rather than the video driver's since it is always optimized for the game itself. (I've only shunned from FS9's filter. I've had bad experiences with it.)

But anyways, turning on either the video driver's or the game's AA filter yields the same result, jagged shadows everywhere (only when viewed up close, however). I guess FSX uses the same method to draw shadows inside the cockpit as it does when drawing shadows cast by buildings and other external objects. Since shadows inside the cockpit are always viewed up close, they appear jagged. So I bet this is just a limitation of the software.

But that doesn't matter! The shadows inside the cockpit really add to the realism. I'm still very impressed with this "DX10 preview." I can't wait for the final version!

rd · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:08 am Post subject:

Ya know, a pic would be nice.

Otherwise, I don't have that problem. I checked into it last night, and the shadow lines were smooth. So the problem could be in the settings in FSX, or for your system.

RD

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

I think videos speak more than pics do.

http://hyperfileshare.com/d/a6554a53

The zip file I uploaded contains four mp4 videos, all compressed with the H.264 codec. They are at 1280x1024 resolution and at a bitrate of about 2000 kb/s. Notice the hard, jagged shadows, both in the cockpit and outside. FSX's AA filter has been turned on. Somehow, the DX10 preview renders the driver's AA useless.

rd · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:08 am Post subject:

I don't have anything that will play mp4 formatted video's.

Got a link, so that I can???

RD

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Quicktime can.

If that doesn't work, try this awesome open-source player that virtually plays anything!! It's called VLC player
http://www.videolan.org

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

So? Any ideas? Is my problem unique or something?

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 833 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Nope. It's not unique. I checked other ppl's screenshots of the virtual cockpit in DX10. The jagged shadows are just a limitation of the game itself.