P3D Performance Tweaks and Tunes

[Lionheart]

Hey all,

If you have any good tweaks and performance tunes that you would like to share with fellow P3D flyers, please post them here.

:salute:


Bill

[Naismith]

Hey all,

If you have any good tweaks and performance tunes that you would like to share with fellow P3D flyers, please post them here.

:salute:


Bill

The only one I can think of and which is already known elsewhere is the Bojote tweak at http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html which is as valid for P3D as it was for FSX. By employing some simple edits, after making sure original files are saved, copy the P3D.cfg to FSX, rename it FSX.cfg employ the Bojote tweak then reverse the process back to P3D. Works a treat. Just be sure and back up Original FSX and P3D files before doing this to avoid disappointment.
Of course once the v3 P3D comes out this may no longer be the case, but there is a while to wait for that. :jump:

[ZEUS67]

Remember to turn off Bathymetry. Bathymetry is only needed if you are going to use submarines.

[Bruce Thompson]

Thanks for the HU Naismith, it worked a treat.:guinness::guinness::icon_lol:

[Lionheart]

Converting your planes textures from BMP to DDS will also enhance performance. At least 2 FPS are gained with cross over planes that have older Bitmaps that are converted to DDS format.

Every little bit counts.

Bill

[Lionheart]

I turned down water reflectives from 75% to 25%, I still have clouds reflections, and performance went up a tad. I usually do not use this, but I was flying over lots of water and in a plane that maxed out the resources, so flying over the water at 25% water detail slider really helped out.


Bill

[FSVKenny]

Does anyone know it TrackIR will work with Perpar?

[Dangerous Beans]

Not directly but if you have EZdok it will work through that

[vgbaron]

Just to stay current, TIR now works natively with P3D using their latest driver. No need for Ezdok or the language.dll hack.

Vic

[Naismith]

Converting your planes textures from BMP to DDS will also enhance performance. At least 2 FPS are gained
Every little bit counts.

Bill

Or to use my old moms saying, "Ev'ry mickle makes a muckle"

[fxsttcb]

I've found that most of the FSX tweaks we have used are just as valid for P3D. YMMV!

Srdan "Kosta" Kostic has put his revised FSX/P3D guide up at his blog site. http://kostasfsworld.wordpress.com/fsx-software-and-hardware-guide/
He also has other FSX/P3D info available there.

That guide is more oriented toward Sandy and Ivy Bridge rigs, so, the Jesus Altuve(venetubo) auto tweaker may be better suited to older equipment...Don

[Phantom88]

Thank You for the link to Kosta's guide.I'm trying to figure out what my Affinity Mask would be on a intel i7 with HD Enabled?

P.S. Did you know Kosta is now Banned at Avsim?Not sure what happened there.

[Lionheart]

I did the Kosta tweek and it works nicely.

[falcon409]

In reference to the "Bojote Tweak". . . .I notice that the Affinity Mask is not included. Is that something that should also be added manually, or is there something in the way this particular tweak is done that eliminates the need for the "AffinityMask=14" line?

[n4gix]

According to the P3D programmers (the actual code monkeys themselves!), v2.0 is automatically set to allow the OS exclusive use of core 0, and spreads P3D itself across the remaining physical cores available...

On the other hand, there are reports that AffinityMask=14 "tweak" somehow smooths things out better...

I suspect it is a placebo effect myself. L-M invested a lot of effort into expanding the UI configuration menu specifically to make hand editing the p3d.cfg file totally unnecessary... :02.47-tranquillity:

[falcon409]

According to the P3D programmers (the actual code monkeys themselves!), v2.0 is automatically set to allow the OS exclusive use of core 0, and spreads P3D itself across the remaining physical cores available...
On the other hand, there are reports that AffinityMask=14 "tweak" somehow smooths things out better...
I suspect it is a placebo effect myself. L-M invested a lot of effort into expanding the UI configuration menu specifically to make hand editing the p3d.cfg file totally unnecessary... :02.47-tranquillity:
Thanks Bill!

[Dangerous Beans]

I had bad blurries but after adding the AffinityMask=14 tweak the blurries have completely gone.
So far that's the only tweak I done to the cfg in P2Dv2

[Phantom88]

Hello,Are The "High Memory Fix" and "Affinity Mask" tweaks still valid in P3D V2.2?
Thanks

[roger-wilco-66]

If anyone has problems with clouds and performance in P3D V.2.3, there is a official workaround by LM which incorporates changing a value in the clouds.fx and deleting the shader cache.
See

http://www.prepar3d.com/forum-5/?min...ewtopic&t=7984

Thanks, Ed (falcon409), for the head up. I tested it on my systems and it worked wonders. It seems like LM changed something in the math of rendering the clouds which led to oversized cloud sprites that drag down the performance. The workaround reduces the size by one half, problem is gone. LM stated to adress this in the service pack / hotfix for the v2.3 version.


Cheers,
Mark

[n4gix]

Hello,Are The "High Memory Fix" and "Affinity Mask" tweaks still valid in P3D V2.2?
Thanks

Neither are necessary in v2.2 or v2.3.

[Firekitten]

Stupid question... UIAutomationCore.dll... still a thing?

[Daube]

No, this is not necessary anymore. :) (also valid for version 2.x)

[ejoiner]

If anyone has problems with clouds and performance in P3D V.2.3, there is a official workaround by LM which incorporates changing a value in the clouds.fx and deleting the shader cache.
See

http://www.prepar3d.com/forum-5/?min...ewtopic&t=7984

Thanks, Ed (falcon409), for the head up. I tested it on my systems and it worked wonders. It seems like LM changed something in the math of rendering the clouds which led to oversized cloud sprites that drag down the performance. The workaround reduces the size by one half, problem is gone. LM stated to adress this in the service pack / hotfix for the v2.3 version.


Cheers,
Mark


Can somebody post this exact information because I am not sure this thread on the prepar3d.com site still exists. This tweak worked well for me before in 3.2 but I cannot find the info to apply in 3.3.

[roger-wilco-66]

Can somebody post this exact information because I am not sure this thread on the prepar3d.com site still exists. This tweak worked well for me before in 3.2 but I cannot find the info to apply in 3.3.

The thread seems to be gone, but it has to be noted that this was a work around for the old 2.3 version prior to an hotfix, which essentially made the same correction. Further, LM has constantly tuned the cloud.fx with each release iteration (also in the latest version), so I think it would be safe to say that applying this old fix would probably be counter productive.

Cheers,
Mark

[roger-wilco-66]

DAGR pointed us to a interesting tool that incorporates some tweaks and tunings, including shader mods:

http://1coder.ru/PTA/


I tried it in V 3.3 and it works quite well, as far as I can see.



Cheers,
Mark

[YoYo]

DAGR pointed us to a interesting tool that incorporates some tweaks and tunings, including shader mods:

http://1coder.ru/PTA/


I tried it in V 3.3 and it works quite well, as far as I can see.



Cheers,
Mark

Nice found ! :applause:

[TuFun]

Saw this over at Avsim...

http://www.theskylounge.tv/topic/5674-make-thunderstorms-great-again/#comment-8401

http://www.theskylounge.tv/topic/5431-make-p3dv4s-rain-great-again/

[rvn817j]

I'm a new P3D user. Last evening I installed the newly available FTX Global Vector for P3D V4. One of the first things I noticed were some "black" water textures that I didn't have prior to installation. (I fly many flights in MN, so I immediately thought cold weather.) I went into settings and turned off "ice". Seems to have worked because now I have not seen any black water textures.

It would be good to see many more tweaks and tunes relating to V4 here and maybe some graphic setups to maximize frames and detail. I now run an OC'd Ryzen 1700 and would be happy to share what I have, but as FTX updates more scenery my FPS goes down (still smooth). Any and all comments appreciated.

[YoYo]

I checked this TEXTURE_SIZE_EXPE
https://flightsimnexus.com/p3d-v4-texture_size_exp-tweak-comparison-screenshots/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avW1dJX4hS8

Looks ok for me. I setup = 10.

FPS - the same, like it was, time to loading - the same (but I have P3Dv4 on SSD disc).
No blurries when zoom it!

http://s2.ifotos.pl/img/ExPackDHC_qhpenqw.jpg

http://s5.ifotos.pl/mini/Prepar3D-_qhpeenw.jpg (http://ifotos.pl/z/qhpeenw/)

[wombat666]

YoYo,
Would you be so good as to post a screenie of your terrain cfg?
I've added "TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10" under [TERRAIN] in prepar3d.cfg but I just like to know if that is correct.
:encouragement:

[YoYo]

YoYo,
Would you be so good as to post a screenie of your terrain cfg?
I've added "TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10" under [TERRAIN] in prepar3d.cfg but I just like to know if that is correct.
:encouragement:

Yes its correct. :encouragement:
If the loading time is to high You can try =9.

[wombat666]

Thanks YoYo.
Loading time is not a problem at all.
Given my present system specs I'm tempted to take it to the limit.:encouragement:
Of course, once I start with the new ORBX scenery I might have to dial it back!

[rvn817j]

I've been working on my P3Dv4 installation for several weeks now. Installing mods the "right way" seems to be something that will save space and trouble later on. The "right way" seems to be (1) create a P3D v4 "Add ons" folder somewhere other than your P3D v4 installation (in that folder you can have sub-folders such as "Aircraft", "Scenery", etc.); (2) install Add on into a sub-folder in that folder (I have been installing aircraft like the Virtavia A-4); (3) create an ".xml" file within a folder in the folder "C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3d v4 AddOns" (so for me it was C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3d v4 AddOns\Virtavia A-4). There is guidance on the contents of the ".xml" file (https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/511794-how-to-manually-add-sceneryaddons-into-p3d-v4-the-right-way/) and once you do the first one it can be used as a template.

It is a great way to manage add ons and if a P3D v4 re-install is required, the add ons added this way do not require re-installation!

Over on the FSX forum I had a short discussion with cavaricooper (Carl) about improving display performance. Carl recommended some tips / tweaks developed and explained by Steve Waite. I implemented one for Affinity Mask and have been very pleased with it. Here is the link to the FSX forum discussion - http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/105664-Annuschka-Adventures-in-the-Orbx-World/page8.

Another "new" thing I had to figure out was how to get to the P3D v4 config file. Kind of like the FSX config file, but in the Lockheed Martin/Prepar3d location! (Old dogs learning new tricks!)

[wombat666]

As I'm taking advantage of the current ORBX sale one question has been holding me back.
Firstly, I have kept my P3D3 install fully operational using FTX Central v2, because I can and I have no desire to reload all the scenery via FTX Central v3.
I suppose I should ask the question via the ORBX forum but I'd rather show my stupidity (a known quantity) here among friends.
:biggrin-new:
So ....... will FTX Central v.3 clash with v.2?
I'm only going to use it (I hope) with P3D4, as I know it is the way ahead, but I'm not looking to replace P3D3 completely just yet.
TYIA.