txnetcop
May 2nd, 2016, 12:52
Hello there!There are a lot of exciting things going on at X-Plane and in the community, and we've got your monthly bulletin about the news and products that make X-Plane great. Check out new scenery buildings, ways to maximize scenery & frame rate, and a modern airliner for your collection.
Cities Get a FaceliftX-Plane 10's automatically generated scenery ("autogen") is unique among simulators. It uses the road grid and builds up scenery around it instead of randomly arranging static scenery tiles. The 10.50 update will add a lot of new buildings, including tall skyscrapers, to this system. FAA height data encoded in the underlying scenery will be used to make the buildings roughly match real-world heights. Many of the buildings will also include night lighting textures, so large U.S. cities will look better than ever before at any time, day or night.
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/aK1HBnlXHMmt6_QHCXplLkTafjfKwFWfzU_sj8UTb_faydHeeT IVQylFDJcqs014jXQynNkxU2mLXb3c57PRuythedR1Y5jNvHK-uf92JUf-QRdHoxH1paFBxL6FxpYzRmF5gcj_Wm7cCFgimd-LMa0vPzfw=s0-d-e1-ft#http://d3evlmvcos4wf7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/gallery/klal-dlc-screenshots-9/city_streets.jpg
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/D6gT7xYCtTiKUoBqKluylhs4LioRK3RahvD8ksc_r0J3g0HjUu ChbWOCIYWWXCxyriss-sMNMusIvhp71hXt1w6N9SyzalQyOHEQ=s0-d-e1-ft#https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/Mz4CwwXQEi2wu6RfJ9E7
Check out more screenshots on the X-Plane site (http://www.x-plane.com/2016/05/new-buildings-coming-10-50/).
View more screenshots (http://www.x-plane.com/2016/05/new-buildings-coming-10-50/)
Tips and TricksFinding the balance between having a lot of scenery detail while keeping your frame rate up is a source of confusion for many X-Plane simmers. Here are some tips on how to get a lot of buildings while maintaining a decent frame rate.
Don't overload VRAM. Turn texture resolution way down, then continue with the other steps.
Start with the graphics card underloaded – small window, no clouds, low FSAA. You can turn those up afterwards. (If the graphics card is bogged down you can’t even see what you are doing.)
Turn off AI aircraft and turn the cars way, way down as these settings chew up CPU. If you use a payware aircraft that eats CPU (and many of them do), keep it so you can see what your “real” performance will be; saving 10 fps by throwing out the aircraft isn’t great if you actually want to fly it.
Turn down settings that amplify the cost of autogen, such as shadows and water reflection. This might be the most important step; when those settings go up, every building is drawn for shadows and reflections, not just those in the scene, making the scenery many times more expensive. Try shadows on the aircraft in 3-d and the second lowest reflection setting.
Finally, increase texture resolution until frame rate suffers, then turn it down one notch. Remember to restart each time to get accurate texture use.
Featured FreewareAdd a jet airliner to your fleet with this Airbus A380-800 (http://email.x-plane.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6Ik1UUTFOVG9XQTBNQ1pBQUNjd0FYQVJsVE dnRkpUMUlxeVJVOEdGY25hM0FCYlRvek1qQTJOVEFBIiwicG9z aXRpb24iOjAsImhyZWYiOiJodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLngtcGxhbm Uub3JnL2luZGV4LnBocD8vZmlsZXMvZmlsZS8yMDE0MS1haXJi dXMtYTM4MC04MDAvIiwibGlua19pZCI6MTMzMjEwMTJ9/14d48c8824a28f621a2614fb9b33fcc0382471c867fccb91fe 6aa952fa98890b). The A380 is a wide-body, double-deck aircraft that made its maiden voyage in 2005. This version includes 3D modeled upper and lower decks, a 3D panel, and 10 liveries.
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Tdusj5qkkHA8wgQY-zmIxr0k5fJ8TbELW6CHk74tpnFody_2V1p2FThfsneAPz6r5n1 vEVoGfQ6vn-qn_H-ZLLWznPdje0P2oewhvkbru8Ih2clowHjwgZw=s0-d-e1-ft#http://www.x-plane.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/A380_freeware.png (http://email.x-plane.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6Ik1UUTFOVG9XQTBNQ1pBQUNjd0FYQVJsVE dnRkpUMUlxeVJVOEdGY25hM0FCYlRvek1qQTJOVEFBIiwicG9z aXRpb24iOjEsImhyZWYiOiJodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLngtcGxhbm Uub3JnL2luZGV4LnBocD8vZmlsZXMvZmlsZS8yMDE0MS1haXJi dXMtYTM4MC04MDAvIiwibGlua19pZCI6MTMzMjEwMTJ9/4e79922fb6a9aa0f9daec42f3bb8d9aa9362341c551a980ec8 f47135cbbdfa39)
Happy flying!
-- The X-Plane Team
Enjoy,
Ted
Cities Get a FaceliftX-Plane 10's automatically generated scenery ("autogen") is unique among simulators. It uses the road grid and builds up scenery around it instead of randomly arranging static scenery tiles. The 10.50 update will add a lot of new buildings, including tall skyscrapers, to this system. FAA height data encoded in the underlying scenery will be used to make the buildings roughly match real-world heights. Many of the buildings will also include night lighting textures, so large U.S. cities will look better than ever before at any time, day or night.
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/aK1HBnlXHMmt6_QHCXplLkTafjfKwFWfzU_sj8UTb_faydHeeT IVQylFDJcqs014jXQynNkxU2mLXb3c57PRuythedR1Y5jNvHK-uf92JUf-QRdHoxH1paFBxL6FxpYzRmF5gcj_Wm7cCFgimd-LMa0vPzfw=s0-d-e1-ft#http://d3evlmvcos4wf7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/gallery/klal-dlc-screenshots-9/city_streets.jpg
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/D6gT7xYCtTiKUoBqKluylhs4LioRK3RahvD8ksc_r0J3g0HjUu ChbWOCIYWWXCxyriss-sMNMusIvhp71hXt1w6N9SyzalQyOHEQ=s0-d-e1-ft#https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/Mz4CwwXQEi2wu6RfJ9E7
Check out more screenshots on the X-Plane site (http://www.x-plane.com/2016/05/new-buildings-coming-10-50/).
View more screenshots (http://www.x-plane.com/2016/05/new-buildings-coming-10-50/)
Tips and TricksFinding the balance between having a lot of scenery detail while keeping your frame rate up is a source of confusion for many X-Plane simmers. Here are some tips on how to get a lot of buildings while maintaining a decent frame rate.
Don't overload VRAM. Turn texture resolution way down, then continue with the other steps.
Start with the graphics card underloaded – small window, no clouds, low FSAA. You can turn those up afterwards. (If the graphics card is bogged down you can’t even see what you are doing.)
Turn off AI aircraft and turn the cars way, way down as these settings chew up CPU. If you use a payware aircraft that eats CPU (and many of them do), keep it so you can see what your “real” performance will be; saving 10 fps by throwing out the aircraft isn’t great if you actually want to fly it.
Turn down settings that amplify the cost of autogen, such as shadows and water reflection. This might be the most important step; when those settings go up, every building is drawn for shadows and reflections, not just those in the scene, making the scenery many times more expensive. Try shadows on the aircraft in 3-d and the second lowest reflection setting.
Finally, increase texture resolution until frame rate suffers, then turn it down one notch. Remember to restart each time to get accurate texture use.
Featured FreewareAdd a jet airliner to your fleet with this Airbus A380-800 (http://email.x-plane.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6Ik1UUTFOVG9XQTBNQ1pBQUNjd0FYQVJsVE dnRkpUMUlxeVJVOEdGY25hM0FCYlRvek1qQTJOVEFBIiwicG9z aXRpb24iOjAsImhyZWYiOiJodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLngtcGxhbm Uub3JnL2luZGV4LnBocD8vZmlsZXMvZmlsZS8yMDE0MS1haXJi dXMtYTM4MC04MDAvIiwibGlua19pZCI6MTMzMjEwMTJ9/14d48c8824a28f621a2614fb9b33fcc0382471c867fccb91fe 6aa952fa98890b). The A380 is a wide-body, double-deck aircraft that made its maiden voyage in 2005. This version includes 3D modeled upper and lower decks, a 3D panel, and 10 liveries.
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Tdusj5qkkHA8wgQY-zmIxr0k5fJ8TbELW6CHk74tpnFody_2V1p2FThfsneAPz6r5n1 vEVoGfQ6vn-qn_H-ZLLWznPdje0P2oewhvkbru8Ih2clowHjwgZw=s0-d-e1-ft#http://www.x-plane.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/A380_freeware.png (http://email.x-plane.com/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6Ik1UUTFOVG9XQTBNQ1pBQUNjd0FYQVJsVE dnRkpUMUlxeVJVOEdGY25hM0FCYlRvek1qQTJOVEFBIiwicG9z aXRpb24iOjEsImhyZWYiOiJodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLngtcGxhbm Uub3JnL2luZGV4LnBocD8vZmlsZXMvZmlsZS8yMDE0MS1haXJi dXMtYTM4MC04MDAvIiwibGlua19pZCI6MTMzMjEwMTJ9/4e79922fb6a9aa0f9daec42f3bb8d9aa9362341c551a980ec8 f47135cbbdfa39)
Happy flying!
-- The X-Plane Team
Enjoy,
Ted