DX10 possible flickering runways and taxiways 'fix'

[DB93]

Hi all,

I don't usually run FSX in DirectX 10 mode because of the flickering runway/taxiway issues, but it's looking like james_2k over at the avsim forums has found a way to fix this on an airport-by-airport basis. The information may be useful to the airport designers we have around here, so I thought I'd pass on a link to the thread in case they didn't know about this workaround as I figured it may be helpful for their current and future projects.

The op of the topic said that he'd be putting together a quick guide for how to fix airports with the problem, so hopefully those of us with no knowledge/experience with working with airports will be able to figure it out to start fixing airports ourselves. I'm really excited about the thought of finally being able to run DX10, and figured the info in the link was definitely worth passing on. :)

Link:
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=267998

[MCDesigns]

Thanks for the link George, very informative. I'll have to check out DX10 again, love the cockpit shadows and the water looks so much better.

[dswo]

Anyone find a way to get better antialiasing? With Nvidia cards, at least, we seem to be stuck with the in-game settings -- compared with what's available with DX9 and Nhancer. See http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=265909.

[moore1018]

Thanks much for the heads up. This is HUGE news for the DX10 community!!!!
:ernae:

[noddy]

That sounds like good news, funny thing is with the VFR Airfields for the Horizon UK scenery there is no problem at all with any flicker.

[DB93]

I don't have the VFR Airfields, but from the sounds of the 'fix', as long as there's a concrete taxiway somewhere on the airport, then the flickering doesn't occur, so if those airfields have any concrete taxiways, then (according to the 'fix',) they shouldn't display the flickering behavior. This seems to be an issue (primarily) with default airports, though the information could easily apply to developers that may be working on an airport or airports that don't use concrete anywhere.

That said, at least I now know that in the future, if I do look into the Horizon UK VFR Airfields, that it'll be 100% DX10 compatible from the get-go. But at least we now seem to have a way to try and fix the default airports that display the flickering issue, and developers on future airport sceneries will know how to 'fix' the issue should it rear its ugly head while they're working on their projects. :)

[moore1018]

This is more a question for the developers...any chance of writing a script that creates a very small concrete taxiway under the windsock or some other omnipresent feature at all the airports in FSX? Or is this impossible because each has to be compiled afterward? Seems like uncovering this fix would lead to a possible permanent solution to all airports. Great stuff...thanks!

[DB93]

As I've been following this over at avsim, it seems that airports with concrete taxiways/aprons needs an asphalt one added, while the airports with asphalt taxiways/aprons need a concrete one. I've tried it on a few airports, and it worked great on the first three I tried (KGIF, KLAL, KEYW), but I'm having a problem getting it to work on the fourth one I'm working on (KAAF), so hopefully it's just me missing something obvious on that airport. Overall though, it seems to be working on most airports it's been tried on so far. Definitely seems like they're taking steps in the right direction to let us actually make use of DX10. :)

[GBrutus]

Anyone find a way to get better antialiasing? With Nvidia cards, at least, we seem to be stuck with the in-game settings -- compared with what's available with DX9 and Nhancer. See http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=265909.

I tried DX10 for the first time recently with Windows 7 and found that FSX ran far more smoothly. The anti-aliasing problem is the only reason I switched back to DX9. Would be great if there was a work-around for this.

[Roger]

I don't think it's that bad. I ran Dx10 for 6 months in anticipation of FsXI but when it was cancelled I went back to Dx9 so I could use my port-overs again. I now have nhancer set up to improve Dx9 but I just tried Dx10 again and it ain't that bad:engel016:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/rogera/lanc-dx10.jpg

[DB93]

Just wanted to post back that I got some help to fix the KAAF issue, so that airport no longer flickers. It seems some airports need a taxiway added (a concrete one for asphalt airports, or an asphalt one for concrete airports) while others need an apron added (again, concrete for asphalt airports and asphalt for concrete airports). In either case, the taxiway and/or apron can just be stuffed under a building or whatever on the airport grounds, so it doesn't mess with the appearance of the airport. :)

[GBrutus]

I don't think it's that bad. I ran Dx10 for 6 months in anticipation of FsXI but when it was cancelled I went back to Dx9 so I could use my port-overs again. I now have nhancer set up to improve Dx9 but I just tried Dx10 again and it ain't that bad:engel016:

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the annoying shimmering effect on the trees that I get with anything less than 8xAA.

[DB93]

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the annoying shimmering effect on the trees that I get with anything less than 8xAA.

If you're running an nvidia card, have you tried setting Negative LOD Bias to 'Clamp' instead of 'Allow' in the driver? I've had horrible shimmering in DX9 or DX10 without that setting. Your mileage may vary, but I just thought I'd throw that out there as something for you to try to eliminate the shimmering, if you haven't already tried that previously.

Good luck. :)

-George

[GBrutus]

If you're running an nvidia card, have you tried setting Negative LOD Bias to 'Clamp' instead of 'Allow' in the driver? I've had horrible shimmering in DX9 or DX10 without that setting. Your mileage may vary, but I just thought I'd throw that out there as something for you to try to eliminate the shimmering, if you haven't already tried that previously.

Good luck. :)

-George

Yep, got it set to 'Clamp' through nHancer. I have no problem with the shimmering in DX9 as I run with 8xAA. Thanks anyway.

[italoc]

If you're running an nvidia card, have you tried setting Negative LOD Bias to 'Clamp' instead of 'Allow' in the driver? I've had horrible shimmering in DX9 or DX10 without that setting. Your mileage may vary, but I just thought I'd throw that out there as something for you to try to eliminate the shimmering, if you haven't already tried that previously.

Good luck. :)

-George

Thanks George, it worked for me (on a few default airports, at least)
my sys is Vista 32Bits with Nvidia Ge 8500 GT and FSX+Accel+DX10 allowed :applause::applause::applause:

Some shimmering still on Addons, though http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon9.gif

Italo

[DB93]

Hi Italo,

I'm glad that using the clamp setting helped at least some of your shimmering (and wish that could've helped GBrutus as well), but that setting mostly affects objects like buildings and trees. That's a bit different than the DX10 flickering airports issue that I originally posted about, which (so far) has required actually editing the airports with the flickering to fix them. Over at the thread linked to in my original post, you can see that some of us are trying to fix airports that display this behavior on an airport-by-airport basis, and so far, I'd say the results are looking pretty promising. If you read through it, you'll be able to figure out what we're doing to fix them, so you could try a few yourself if you'd like, if for no other reason than to get your own favorite airports fixed. :) I'm personally working my way through the entire state of Florida (since that's where I live and fly the most), and plan on making it available if/when I'm certain that all the airports I've flagged as needing to be fixed can be verified that they actually are fixed.

Good luck! :)

[italoc]

Hi Italo,

I'm glad that using the clamp setting helped at least some of your shimmering (and wish that could've helped GBrutus as well), but that setting mostly affects objects like buildings and trees. That's a bit different than the DX10 flickering airports issue that I originally posted about, which (so far) has required actually editing the airports with the flickering to fix them. Over at the thread linked to in my original post, you can see that some of us are trying to fix airports that display this behavior on an airport-by-airport basis, and so far, I'd say the results are looking pretty promising. If you read through it, you'll be able to figure out what we're doing to fix them, so you could try a few yourself if you'd like, if for no other reason than to get your own favorite airports fixed. :) I'm personally working my way through the entire state of Florida (since that's where I live and fly the most), and plan on making it available if/when I'm certain that all the airports I've flagged as needing to be fixed can be verified that they actually are fixed.

Good luck! :)

Thank you
I'll try something myself and report on findings
Italo