CFS2 Improving Clouds Problem

[briang]

142214211420Hi,

I have been migrating through all the M$ flightSims over the years from FS5 through to the latest one FSX. Recently, I decided to re-install CFS2 as I remembered the great fun it was and seeing this forum still has a dedicated following I knew that I could hopefully get some help.

The default clouds were not too clever so I have replaced the Cld1 to 10 (backed up first!) with various replacements found on the net. The Chris Willis Cldredg1 pack was found and duly installed. However, when I am in the Sim, as you can see from the screenshots, the results are not quite what I expected....the shaded ares of the clouds have almost a 'Posterized' look with coloured cartoon type bands on them. I then tried using the clouds from FS9 with the same result.

Surely I have missed something here? The sliders are all 'Maxed out' and I have set the res to my screen size at 32 bit with Tri-linear filtering etc but I cannot improve the clouds......can anyone help?

Lastly...I set the Target FR at 30 but the display when the sim is running shows it at unlimited with FR of 190+ completely ignoring my setting....mystified.

My System:

NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512Mb
Intel Pentium Dual CPU
E2180 @ 2.00GHz
2.00 GHz, 2.00 GB RAM
Win XP SP 3

Kind Regards

Bridon (Dorset UK)

[Devildog73]

Briang,
Try Stiz's clouds here in the archive.
I have the same graphics card as you only the 1 Gig version and have nothing like what you are experiencing.

[briang]

Just tried those Stitz clouds as you mentioned Devildog but still no real improvement....the cloud graphics seem quite 'Pixelated'....very odd...the aircraft and everything else are pin sharp (as expected with these modern day specs)

Tried a reboot too but no difference plus the FR is still in 'Mega' figures...whatever I set the Target FPS to....it ignores it....very strange indeed...:icon_eek:

Regards

Bridon
(Dorset UK)

[OBIO]

briang

Give these clouds a try....they are FS2000 replacement clouds...they work great in CFS2. Lots of options to choose from.

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/syb2.cgi?section=scenery&file=rprl3cld.zip

OBIO

[Shessi]

Hi Bridon,
I think that if you have maxed out the CFS2 graphics sliders, that's it's not the cloud graphics or the sim.

I've noticed that you either have anti-aliase (AA) off or set very low (jagged graphics which show up more so on the straight lines, as can be seen in your pics), that I think it is your graphics card settings/driver (do not use in game AA settings, uncheck that and use your graphics card settings). Set AA to x4, which is the optimum for performance and quality.

If you also do a driver update as well it may do the trick both on jaggies and cloud quality!

Also have you Fs9/FsX etc etc, if so what cloud graphics and AA have you got withe those sims?

Cheers Shessi

[briang]

Hi Shessi,

Thanks for the link to those clouds....they seem to have done the trick :icon_lol:

Before installing I did try a fresh install of CFS2 but no different so I placed those new clouds into the texture folder and all clouds now work quite reasonably.

My AA is set to 4x and the other sims FS9 and FSX have no problems at all....must be a different level of software hierarchy....who knows?

The graphics in CFS2 seem a bit different somehow...the prop disc from inside the cockpit when in VC mode seems a bit 'spotty' at high rpm...similar to the aforementioned cloud problems. Ironically those clouds you pointed me too work ok...albeit a smaller file size for each one but at least they work for me now...:icon_lol:

I can only assume that the new technology with dual core etc does not display the older games to their best. The target FR that I set at 30 fps still displays at ridiculous rates...(saw 250 plus at one point :isadizzy:) it just seems to ignore the settings for that one.

Thanks once again

Bridon

(Dorset UK)

[Shessi]

Hi Briang,
The link for the clouds was from Obio so thank him!

The FPS setting was for old machines when their performance could not match even CFS2 graphics, so you could limit the frame rate to stop the dreaded stutters. Don't forget this is a 1999 and earlier programme so your pc setup is way in excess of what is needed.

If you have freshly installed CFS2 and gone through every setting to make sure it's correct then it must be how your graphics card handles the textures, which is a shame. I only use Ati/AMD and have never had any probs like that.

Cheers Shessi

[briang]

Hi Briang,
The link for the clouds was from Obio so thank him!



Will do....thank you Obio these clouds have made a big difference. :icon_lol:

Thanks to all who have helped on this one......much appreciated.

Regards

Bridon

(Dorset UK)