±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: cgsimpson
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6645

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 762
Total: 762
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Downloads
02: Community Forums
03: Community Forums
04: Downloads
05: Community Forums
06: Photo Gallery
07: Community Forums
08: Home
09: Community Forums
10: Your Account
11: CPGlang
12: Member Screenshots
13: Community Forums
14: Photo Gallery
15: Photo Gallery
16: Downloads
17: Community Forums
18: Photo Gallery
19: Downloads
20: Community Forums
21: Community Forums
22: Home
23: Community Forums
24: Community Forums
25: Community Forums
26: Downloads
27: Community Forums
28: Community Forums
29: Community Forums
30: Community Forums
31: Community Forums
32: Home
33: Community Forums
34: Community Forums
35: Home
36: Community Forums
37: Community Forums
38: Community Forums
39: Photo Gallery
40: Community Forums
41: Community Forums
42: Downloads
43: Community Forums
44: Community Forums
45: Community Forums
46: Downloads
47: Photo Gallery
48: Home
49: Community Forums
50: Community Forums
51: Community Forums
52: Downloads
53: Community Forums
54: Photo Gallery
55: Community Forums
56: Community Forums
57: Community Forums
58: Community Forums
59: Community Forums
60: Community Forums
61: Community Forums
62: Home
63: Community Forums
64: Community Forums
65: Community Forums
66: Community Forums
67: Community Forums
68: Community Forums
69: Community Forums
70: Community Forums
71: Photo Gallery
72: Community Forums
73: Community Forums
74: Community Forums
75: Community Forums
76: Community Forums
77: Photo Gallery
78: Community Forums
79: Downloads
80: Photo Gallery
81: Community Forums
82: Photo Gallery
83: Community Forums
84: Community Forums
85: Home
86: Community Forums
87: Community Forums
88: Community Forums
89: Community Forums
90: Community Forums
91: Photo Gallery
92: Your Account
93: News Archive
94: Community Forums
95: Community Forums
96: Community Forums
97: Community Forums
98: Photo Gallery
99: Community Forums
100: Home
101: Downloads
102: Community Forums
103: Community Forums
104: Community Forums
105: Community Forums
106: Photo Gallery
107: Photo Gallery
108: Community Forums
109: Home
110: Home
111: Community Forums
112: Community Forums
113: Community Forums
114: Community Forums
115: Community Forums
116: Community Forums
117: Community Forums
118: Community Forums
119: Community Forums
120: Community Forums
121: Community Forums
122: Community Forums
123: Downloads
124: Community Forums
125: Community Forums
126: Photo Gallery
127: Photo Gallery
128: Community Forums
129: Community Forums
130: Photo Gallery
131: Community Forums
132: Community Forums
133: Community Forums
134: Community Forums
135: Home
136: Community Forums
137: Community Forums
138: Statistics
139: Home
140: Photo Gallery
141: Community Forums
142: Community Forums
143: CPGlang
144: News
145: Photo Gallery
146: Community Forums
147: Community Forums
148: Community Forums
149: Community Forums
150: Photo Gallery
151: Community Forums
152: Your Account
153: Community Forums
154: Community Forums
155: Community Forums
156: Photo Gallery
157: Community Forums
158: Photo Gallery
159: Home
160: Community Forums
161: Community Forums
162: Photo Gallery
163: Community Forums
164: Community Forums
165: Downloads
166: Community Forums
167: Community Forums
168: Your Account
169: Community Forums
170: Community Forums
171: Home
172: Statistics
173: Community Forums
174: Community Forums
175: Community Forums
176: Photo Gallery
177: Your Account
178: Community Forums
179: Home
180: Community Forums
181: Photo Gallery
182: Photo Gallery
183: Photo Gallery
184: Photo Gallery
185: News Archive
186: Community Forums
187: Community Forums
188: Community Forums
189: Community Forums
190: Photo Gallery
191: Community Forums
192: CPGlang
193: Community Forums
194: Community Forums
195: Community Forums
196: Home
197: Photo Gallery
198: Community Forums
199: Community Forums
200: Community Forums
201: Community Forums
202: Downloads
203: Downloads
204: Community Forums
205: Downloads
206: Community Forums
207: Photo Gallery
208: Community Forums
209: Community Forums
210: Community Forums
211: Community Forums
212: Community Forums
213: Home
214: Community Forums
215: Community Forums
216: Photo Gallery
217: Community Forums
218: Community Forums
219: Member Screenshots
220: Home
221: Community Forums
222: Community Forums
223: Community Forums
224: Community Forums
225: Photo Gallery
226: Community Forums
227: Home
228: Downloads
229: Photo Gallery
230: Photo Gallery
231: Community Forums
232: Home
233: Community Forums
234: Community Forums
235: Community Forums
236: Community Forums
237: Community Forums
238: Community Forums
239: Community Forums
240: Community Forums
241: Photo Gallery
242: Community Forums
243: Home
244: Community Forums
245: Community Forums
246: Photo Gallery
247: CPGlang
248: CPGlang
249: Community Forums
250: Photo Gallery
251: Community Forums
252: Community Forums
253: Photo Gallery
254: Home
255: Community Forums
256: Downloads
257: Member Screenshots
258: Community Forums
259: Home
260: Community Forums
261: Home
262: Community Forums
263: Community Forums
264: Home
265: Photo Gallery
266: Community Forums
267: News
268: Photo Gallery
269: Community Forums
270: Community Forums
271: Community Forums
272: Photo Gallery
273: Community Forums
274: Photo Gallery
275: Community Forums
276: Community Forums
277: Home
278: Community Forums
279: Community Forums
280: Community Forums
281: Downloads
282: Downloads
283: Search
284: News Archive
285: Downloads
286: Community Forums
287: Home
288: Downloads
289: Downloads
290: Downloads
291: Community Forums
292: Community Forums
293: Community Forums
294: Community Forums
295: Photo Gallery
296: Community Forums
297: Downloads
298: Community Forums
299: Home
300: Photo Gallery
301: Community Forums
302: Community Forums
303: Home
304: Community Forums
305: Member Screenshots
306: Community Forums
307: Community Forums
308: Community Forums
309: Member Screenshots
310: Community Forums
311: Community Forums
312: Downloads
313: Community Forums
314: Community Forums
315: Community Forums
316: Community Forums
317: Photo Gallery
318: Community Forums
319: Community Forums
320: Community Forums
321: Community Forums
322: Community Forums
323: Community Forums
324: Community Forums
325: Community Forums
326: Community Forums
327: Downloads
328: Community Forums
329: Home
330: Downloads
331: Community Forums
332: Photo Gallery
333: Home
334: Community Forums
335: Community Forums
336: Community Forums
337: Community Forums
338: Photo Gallery
339: Photo Gallery
340: Home
341: Community Forums
342: Community Forums
343: Community Forums
344: Community Forums
345: CPGlang
346: Home
347: Home
348: Community Forums
349: Community Forums
350: Community Forums
351: Community Forums
352: Community Forums
353: Your Account
354: Home
355: Community Forums
356: Community Forums
357: Photo Gallery
358: Photo Gallery
359: Community Forums
360: Community Forums
361: Community Forums
362: Home
363: Community Forums
364: Photo Gallery
365: Community Forums
366: Community Forums
367: Community Forums
368: Home
369: Downloads
370: News Archive
371: Downloads
372: Community Forums
373: Downloads
374: Home
375: Community Forums
376: Community Forums
377: Photo Gallery
378: Community Forums
379: Photo Gallery
380: Community Forums
381: Your Account
382: Community Forums
383: Your Account
384: Photo Gallery
385: Community Forums
386: Community Forums
387: Community Forums
388: Downloads
389: Home
390: Community Forums
391: Community Forums
392: Community Forums
393: Community Forums
394: Community Forums
395: Member Screenshots
396: Community Forums
397: Community Forums
398: Community Forums
399: Downloads
400: Community Forums
401: Community Forums
402: Community Forums
403: Community Forums
404: Community Forums
405: Photo Gallery
406: Community Forums
407: Community Forums
408: Community Forums
409: Community Forums
410: Community Forums
411: Community Forums
412: Photo Gallery
413: Community Forums
414: Community Forums
415: Downloads
416: Community Forums
417: Community Forums
418: Downloads
419: Community Forums
420: Downloads
421: Community Forums
422: Community Forums
423: Home
424: Downloads
425: Community Forums
426: Downloads
427: Community Forums
428: Community Forums
429: Community Forums
430: Downloads
431: Community Forums
432: Community Forums
433: Community Forums
434: Community Forums
435: Community Forums
436: Home
437: Community Forums
438: Community Forums
439: Photo Gallery
440: Community Forums
441: News Archive
442: Community Forums
443: Community Forums
444: Statistics
445: Downloads
446: Search
447: Community Forums
448: Downloads
449: Photo Gallery
450: News
451: Community Forums
452: Photo Gallery
453: Community Forums
454: Community Forums
455: Photo Gallery
456: CPGlang
457: Community Forums
458: Community Forums
459: News
460: Photo Gallery
461: Home
462: Photo Gallery
463: Community Forums
464: Photo Gallery
465: Community Forums
466: Photo Gallery
467: Home
468: News
469: Community Forums
470: Community Forums
471: Photo Gallery
472: Photo Gallery
473: Community Forums
474: Community Forums
475: News
476: Photo Gallery
477: CPGlang
478: Community Forums
479: Home
480: Photo Gallery
481: Community Forums
482: Home
483: Community Forums
484: Community Forums
485: Community Forums
486: Community Forums
487: Home
488: Photo Gallery
489: Your Account
490: Downloads
491: CPGlang
492: Community Forums
493: Photo Gallery
494: Photo Gallery
495: Community Forums
496: Member Screenshots
497: Community Forums
498: Community Forums
499: Community Forums
500: Community Forums
501: Home
502: Member Screenshots
503: Photo Gallery
504: Community Forums
505: Community Forums
506: Photo Gallery
507: Community Forums
508: Community Forums
509: Downloads
510: Photo Gallery
511: Community Forums
512: Community Forums
513: Community Forums
514: Community Forums
515: Community Forums
516: Community Forums
517: Home
518: Community Forums
519: Photo Gallery
520: Downloads
521: Community Forums
522: Community Forums
523: Community Forums
524: Community Forums
525: Home
526: Statistics
527: Community Forums
528: Photo Gallery
529: Photo Gallery
530: Community Forums
531: Statistics
532: Home
533: Community Forums
534: Community Forums
535: Community Forums
536: Community Forums
537: Photo Gallery
538: Community Forums
539: Community Forums
540: Community Forums
541: Downloads
542: Downloads
543: Community Forums
544: Community Forums
545: Photo Gallery
546: Community Forums
547: Photo Gallery
548: Community Forums
549: Community Forums
550: Home
551: Downloads
552: Community Forums
553: Photo Gallery
554: Photo Gallery
555: Community Forums
556: Community Forums
557: Community Forums
558: Community Forums
559: Community Forums
560: Community Forums
561: Community Forums
562: Member Screenshots
563: Community Forums
564: Community Forums
565: Photo Gallery
566: Community Forums
567: Downloads
568: Community Forums
569: Photo Gallery
570: Community Forums
571: Community Forums
572: Member Screenshots
573: Photo Gallery
574: Community Forums
575: Community Forums
576: Community Forums
577: Community Forums
578: Community Forums
579: Search
580: Community Forums
581: Photo Gallery
582: Community Forums
583: Community Forums
584: Community Forums
585: Community Forums
586: Your Account
587: Photo Gallery
588: CPGlang
589: Community Forums
590: Community Forums
591: Community Forums
592: Photo Gallery
593: Member Screenshots
594: Community Forums
595: Community Forums
596: Community Forums
597: Community Forums
598: Community Forums
599: Home
600: Photo Gallery
601: Downloads
602: Community Forums
603: Community Forums
604: Community Forums
605: Community Forums
606: Community Forums
607: Home
608: Community Forums
609: Home
610: Downloads
611: Community Forums
612: Photo Gallery
613: Community Forums
614: Home
615: Community Forums
616: Home
617: Downloads
618: Community Forums
619: Community Forums
620: Community Forums
621: Your Account
622: Photo Gallery
623: Photo Gallery
624: Home
625: Community Forums
626: Community Forums
627: Community Forums
628: Community Forums
629: Downloads
630: Community Forums
631: Community Forums
632: Community Forums
633: Downloads
634: Community Forums
635: Photo Gallery
636: Community Forums
637: Community Forums
638: CPGlang
639: Downloads
640: Home
641: Community Forums
642: Community Forums
643: Statistics
644: Downloads
645: Photo Gallery
646: Photo Gallery
647: CPGlang
648: Photo Gallery
649: Community Forums
650: Community Forums
651: Community Forums
652: Community Forums
653: CPGlang
654: Community Forums
655: Community Forums
656: Community Forums
657: Community Forums
658: Community Forums
659: Community Forums
660: Photo Gallery
661: Community Forums
662: Community Forums
663: Community Forums
664: Home
665: Home
666: Community Forums
667: Home
668: Community Forums
669: Your Account
670: Photo Gallery
671: Photo Gallery
672: Downloads
673: Home
674: Photo Gallery
675: Photo Gallery
676: Home
677: Photo Gallery
678: News
679: Community Forums
680: Community Forums
681: Home
682: Photo Gallery
683: Community Forums
684: Community Forums
685: Photo Gallery
686: Community Forums
687: Community Forums
688: Community Forums
689: Community Forums
690: Community Forums
691: Community Forums
692: Community Forums
693: Community Forums
694: Photo Gallery
695: Community Forums
696: Photo Gallery
697: Community Forums
698: Community Forums
699: Community Forums
700: Community Forums
701: Home
702: Photo Gallery
703: Community Forums
704: Community Forums
705: Community Forums
706: Community Forums
707: Photo Gallery
708: Community Forums
709: Community Forums
710: Community Forums
711: Community Forums
712: Home
713: Downloads
714: Community Forums
715: Community Forums
716: Downloads
717: Community Forums
718: Community Forums
719: Community Forums
720: Community Forums
721: News Archive
722: Community Forums
723: Community Forums
724: Downloads
725: Downloads
726: Community Forums
727: Photo Gallery
728: Photo Gallery
729: Community Forums
730: Community Forums
731: Photo Gallery
732: Downloads
733: Community Forums
734: Community Forums
735: Downloads
736: Community Forums
737: Statistics
738: Photo Gallery
739: Photo Gallery
740: Community Forums
741: Downloads
742: Statistics
743: Community Forums
744: Community Forums
745: Community Forums
746: Your Account
747: Photo Gallery
748: Community Forums
749: Community Forums
750: Home
751: Community Forums
752: Community Forums
753: Community Forums
754: Your Account
755: Community Forums
756: Community Forums
757: CPGlang
758: Community Forums
759: Community Forums
760: News Archive
761: Community Forums
762: Photo Gallery

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide! :: Archived
This is for General Discussions about the CFS3 game.
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  CFS3

Topic Archived View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:02 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Defrag your Hard Drive...Again!

Yup it's that time- good to do this on a regular basis, especially for CFS3!

CFS3 benefits greatly from a nice clean file system, and back during the Pre-Installation checklist, it was recommended that the hard drive be cleaned up and defragged - well, a number of files have been added and/or moved since then, so it's now that time - Go run Defrag again and keep your machine running well.

And remember, the more often you run Defrag, the less time it takes to finish. Some folks defrag weekly. Goes quick that way.

Generally this is always a good idea after installing and setting up ANY large program too - and also after Uninstalling.

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:03 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Decrease Sound Acceleration

As FOE_Pappy pointed out this needs to be covered..S! and thank you, Pappy!

DirectX seems to allocate a lot of resources toward game sound that really doesn't need to be there, and with Hardware Sound Acceleration enabled or set to full, this will have a negative effect on CFS3. Commonly, noticeable gains are experienced when moving this setting to a lower value, with no noticeable impact on sounds.

This setting is found in the DirectX diagnostics utility, "dxdiag" which you can launch by going to your "Start" menu, select the "Run...." otion, and enter "dxdiag" as shown:



Once DxDiag is up, it takes a few seconds to gather system information, Click on the "Sound1" tab and set your Hardware Sound Acceleration level to "Basic" as shown:




How good is it? Well the test mule was already running with this tweak, so the tweak was backed out by moving the option up to Full, and the test flight reports that we would have been getting:

DxDiag Sound Accelleration to "Full"
Frames: 2239 - Time: 94266ms - Avg: 23.751 - Min: 11 - Max: 32

With DxDiag Sound Accelleration back to "Basic", the test flight gives this improvement:

Frames: 2306 - Time: 89500ms - Avg: 25.765 - Min: 18 - Max: 32

...a very significant improvement for such little time spent!

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:03 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Killing unnecessary processes.

Some users report additional gains by eliminating unnecessary background tasks in Windows prior to launching CFS3. This makes sense from the aspect of freeing up system resources. However, determining which processes to kill off can be a very complex subject and can vary widely from system to system. The example below show what works on the test mule used for this guide, but it's not likely at all to match your exact system perfectly.

As mentioned at the outset of this guide, there are much better resources on the web for a lot of the technical details on this subject, starting with the thread called ""Tweaking for smoothness" right here in the Com-Central FS2002/2004 forum:

www.com-central.net/np...php?t=6495

There are also some great websites with plenty of info such as:

www.blackviper.com

...and...

www.theeldergeek.com

With that being said, here is a BRIEF demonstration of what is used on the test mule. The excellent freeware program ENDITALL2 is launched prior to any serious CFS3 session. This software tool is designed specifically for the purpose of automatic or manual "safe" termination of background processes in Windows. Enditall2 is a successor to the earlier "Enditall" program and has specific improvements geared for Windows XP; you'll need this latest version if running that O/S.

Enditall2 can be downloaded from this site:
home.ptd.net/~don5408/.../enditall/

There is also a GREAT description of the program and a few links for other topics on it's use. READ THEM FULLY as Enditall2 is indeed a powerful program that if misused, could contribute to system instability.

Here is a snapshot of what Enditall2 looks like, and these are the processes running on the test mule before Enditall2 is invoked to slay certain ones:



In a nutshell, after the unneeded services in question are determined, they can be individually Closed or Killed by Enditall2 by creating a batch file in the Enditall2 program directory that looks as follows:

Code:
rem ** Batch file for Enditall2 3/1/03 EJP

rem ** Close:
START enditall /C:navapw32.exe

rem ** Kill:
START enditall /K:directcd.exe
START enditall /K:fxssvc.exe
START enditall /K:mmkeybd.exe
START enditall /K:msmsgs.exe
START enditall /K:saytime.exe
START enditall /K:spamkiller.exe
START enditall /K:traymon.exe
START enditall /K:webshotstray.exe
START enditall /K:nvsvc32.exe
START enditall /K:devldr32.exe
START enditall /K:tosexe.exe
START enditall /K:tgcmd.exe
START enditall /K:nkvmon.exe
START enditall /K:fxssvc.exe
START enditall /K:ctsvccda.exe
START enditall /K:osd.exe
START enditall /K:nhksrv.exe
START enditall /K:devldr32.exe



rem ** end of list
rem ** 9 tasks should be terminated

rem ** Go ahead and start the GV app

Note that enditall2 must be called once for reach process it is asked to Close or Kill. It will autodetect if a copy of itself is already running and add additional calls to it's list. This is just the syntax the developer used, even though it may look a little unusual. You'll also need to determine if Enditall2 needs a "Close" or "Kill" command for each process - generally, "Close" is a nice way to shut something down, but it has to acknowledge the Close request. "Kill" is a little more forceful. You'll see which option to use when you try to Close any processes manually when experimenting with Enditall2. If "Close" does not work, you can try a "Kill", after setting an "Allow Kill" option for the process as it shows in Enditall2's list.

Creating a batch file like the above saves a lot of time and is pretty straightforward - using Windows Explorer, navigate to the Enditall2 program directory (usually C:\Program Files\Enditall2 ) and create a new text file...add/edit the contents as you need, and when you are finished, save the file then rename the file to anything.bat...it must have a .bat at the end of the filename instead of .txt in order to be a file the system will execute. Note that the batch file can also call for other programs to be launched after Enditall2 has done it's business. In this case, the GameVoice application used to be launched but is currently remarked out.

Generally speaking tho, if you are very uncertain with things like how to create batch files, then you should really read up on this program and what it does....there is a certain level of user knowledge assumed.

Then, by going to the Start -> Run... menu in Windows, the batch file can be called and Enditall2 will process the list of services or programs in the batch file. When it's all done it will look something like this:



Some programs will not die quietly - don't be surprised if you receive some messages caused by abnormal termination. Enditall2 will take a minute or two to try to kill them quietly, but it's not an immediate process and you need to give it some time to complete - about 15-20 seconds usually.

As far as system performance, the flight test with FRAPS logging was run both with and without Enditall2 having slayed these unneeded processes. NO difference was seen on the test mule, your results may vary, but generally if you are running extra programs during CFS3 (like Gamevoice, Teamspeak etc) it may make a difference - it did on the test mule when Gamevoice has been used in the past, which was not tried this time.

If you're going to try this, just be advised that although it can very well have benefits in terms of smoothness and stability for CFS3, it is a power-user tool so take your time and read the material available to make sure you are doing it right.

Good luck - no matter which way you decide, odds are that CFS3 should running pretty smooth and looking very good by now!

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:04 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Fix the HUD Gunsight

With all the effort to get CFS3 humming smoothly, take a few minutes and reward yourself with something that you're going to spend a lot of time of time looking at - the HUD gunsight reticule. The stock black one that comes with the game resembles something that was inspired by a shower drain more than a gunsight. And it all but disappears when looking at the ground - no good!

There are plenty of replacement gunsight reticules around, one or two on the Com-Central CFS3 downloads section; JG300 has one or two different types; and if you downloaded the full MAX tweaks package, you'll find a ZIP file called "MAXreticle.zip" that has a decent gunsight.

Like most replacement gunsights, it's color allows it to stand out against either sky or ground, and you'll notice certain aspects about it that make it more useful for lining up banked deflection shots or ranged shots:



Unzip the contents to a test directory - there is only one file called "MAXreticle.dds". Right-click on the file and select "copy".

Then open your explorer tool - at the desktop, double-click the "My Computer" icon, and navigate to the main CFS3 directory which is usually:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Combat Flight Simulator 3 and then drill down into the 'aircraft" directory and finally go into the "SHARED" directory within there.

Right click and choose "Paste" to copy the MAXreticle.dds file into this directory.

Now find the file called "reticule.dds" - right-click, choose Rename, and rename it "reticule.dds_orig".

Use the same technique to rename the MAXreticle.dds file to reticule.dds (don't forget the "u").

Find the file called "reticule.zx" and delete it - this file will rebuild the next time CFS3 is launched.

That's all there is to it...good hunting!

By the way, the Flight Of Eagles squad, both MAX_Devil and FOE_Pappy, are responsible for finding and sharing many of these tweaks as you've undoubtedly noticed - so be sure to stop by their website and forums at www.flightofeagles.com/ and give 'em a thank-you!



P.S. If you want to revert back to the stock gunsight (bleah) just go delete the retisule.dds and reticule.zx file in:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Combat Flight Simulator 3\aircraft\shared
and then rename the backup file you made, reticule.dds_orig, to reticule.dds, and you're back to stock...

That about wraps it up for this guide for now. Unless anything else rolls in this has covered all the basics of getting the game in pretty flyable shape - enjoy!

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:04 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

UPDATE: New NVidia Drivers

Having got word that version 60.72 of Nvidia's driver set was were "leaked" prematurely, the ZIP was obtained from a site carrying it (google search for "NVidia 60.72") and installed to give it a shot. The official release should be available from Nvidia's (http://www.nvidia.com) site shortly. Meanwhile, a trial run with this driver set provided very positive reults.

There was an issue found on the test rig having to do with aircraft not appearing correctly, they showed as all black instead of the proper skins. Since this was a problem with the textures, some experimentation quickly confirmed that the "NO DXT1" setting ins CFS3COnfig was the problem, and the checkmarks for No DXT1, DXT3, and DXT5 were removed as shown here:



After that, all was good. There may be an almost imperceptible compromise for speed over quality, it's hard to pinpoint exactly, but the performance improvements made up for this impression in my opinion. A positive improvement in fluidity of the sim was instantly noticed, and the rigorous and tightly-controlled FRAPS flight test shows the following results on the test rig:

60.72 Drivers
2004-04-27 14:30:16 - cfs3
Frames: 2587 - Time: 98671ms - Avg: 26.218 - Min: 16 - Max: 32

This marks the first time the test rig has been placed solidly into the 26FPS realm for this test! In addition, the test rig also had some other changes performed to it that seem to have slightly compromised performance - notably, the installation of new Norton AntiVirus and Norton SystemWorks. Background tasks are increased and although every effort is made to remove them, this system has been a little "doggy" since they were added. Your results should at least match the above, but my bet would be that you'll do better!

Keep in mind this has been a tough test to get good numbers on. Mostly becuase with the frame rate limit set to 30, the only way the AVERAGE FPS will increase is to get higher "Minimum FPS" numbers more of the time. As the Average FPS approaches the maximum allowed, improvements will be harder to see in the test results. But, even more importantly, the "feel" is great with the better numbers showing up when looking at terrain.

And now the next maxim of tweaking took effect: With better FPS numbers, what eye-candy can we turn on? The first thing that came to mind was enabling Water Reflection in order to get the most out of MAX's new water textures...remember in the section regarding these, it was kind of a let-down to ot have the reflections enabled since everything look much better. Doing so resulted in these test results:

60.72 Drivers - Water reflection turned on
2004-04-27 14:35:30 - CFS3
Frames: 2437 - Time: 97453ms - Avg: 25.006 - Min: 18 - Max: 32

Which is...about where we left off before. So the point here is that you can tweak for good numbers, or tweak for eye candy with reasonable numbers if you feel your FPS budget allows it.

Since the water reflections should allow those dad-burned SpitPests to show up a little easier down low, the choice in this case seemd obvious!

A BIG TIP 'O THE HAT to FOE_PHYXIUS FOR SPREADING THE WORD ON THESE.....S! Phyx, LOOKIN GOOD!


_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
Jens
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:44 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

I have been trying to find the exe file, but no luck. I went to Program Files, Microsoft games, CFS3, and checked every file, but no exe. I then looked at the FS9 files, and no exe. Is there somewhere else it may be?
Back to top
View user's profile
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:16 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Hi Jens.....umm....being as this is a fairly lonnnggg and detailed little thread, could you perhaps expand a bit on what EXE file you are trying to find? The CFS3.exe file, or the CFS3Config.exe file, or what?

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
IMS_Dakota
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 06, 2005
Posts: 167

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:57 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

I'm betting that you probably have "Hide extensions for known file types"
check in the view tab of folder options.
In which case cfs3.exe will show as cfs3
Back to top
View user's profile
Jens
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:17 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

I was asking about this below. I do not see a file called "cfs3.exe". I am adding a screen shot of what I see when I open the CFS3 directory. Hope it comes out. Thanks.


"You can check your exact version of CFS3 by going to "My Computer", selecting the drive volume that CFS3 is installed on, then navigate to the main CFS3 directory which is usually (on a default installation):
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Combat Flight Simulator 3

Find the file "cfs3.exe', right-click on it, choose "Properties" and then select the "Versions" tab. Version should be 3.1.0.30203 or higher"
Back to top
View user's profile
Jens
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:19 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Dakota,
Where do I find that? Thanks for the help.
Back to top
View user's profile
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:15 pm
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

In the Explorer menu, (what you're using to poke around and look at files) go to the "Tools" menu, select "Folder Options", click on the "View" tab, then it's about the 11th item down the list - "Hide Extensions for known file types" - uncheck it, if checked, which is what Dakota is thinking your issue is.

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
Jens
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:33 pm
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Thanks. I tried that, and it changed some of the files to have "exe." at the end. I still do not have one that just says CFS3.exe. I looked at the configure files,and all they say is that CFS3 is already configured. All well.
Back to top
View user's profile
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:44 pm
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Does CFS3 run for you?

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
bader40
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:55 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Are you aware that the CFS3 download section only has 3 files?,none of which are the Max clouds, terrain and water files. I'm currently trying to become a memeber of Sim House somaybe they have them there.

Great tips by the way, i better get a new printer cartridge,it's over 42 pages long!! Smile
Back to top
View user's profile
FF_StepChild
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jul 12, 2005
Posts: 174
Location: Hampton Va. US
PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:18 am
Post subject: Re: CFS3 Install, Tweak & Tune Guide!

Hey bader40 check the Flying Fogies site. Click on the EJECT button in my signature

_________________
Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of OLD LADIES running around with tattoos? (And RAP music will be the Golden Oldies!)
Back to top
View user's profile Send e-mail Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  CFS3
Page 2 of 3
All times are GMT - 6 Hours
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

Archive Revive
Username:
This is an archived topic - your reply will not be appended here.
Instead, a new topic will be generated in the active forum.
The new topic will provide a reference link to this archived topic.