±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: HighestAce
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6648

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 271
Total: 271
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Downloads
02: Community Forums
03: Community Forums
04: Home
05: Home
06: Treasury
07: Community Forums
08: Photo Gallery
09: Home
10: Your Account
11: Home
12: Community Forums
13: Community Forums
14: Community Forums
15: Home
16: Member Screenshots
17: Home
18: Community Forums
19: News Archive
20: Home
21: Home
22: Community Forums
23: Photo Gallery
24: Community Forums
25: Home
26: Community Forums
27: News Archive
28: News Archive
29: Community Forums
30: Community Forums
31: Photo Gallery
32: Community Forums
33: Community Forums
34: News
35: News Archive
36: Community Forums
37: Community Forums
38: Photo Gallery
39: Member Screenshots
40: Member Screenshots
41: Photo Gallery
42: Your Account
43: Home
44: Community Forums
45: Community Forums
46: Supporters
47: Downloads
48: Community Forums
49: Community Forums
50: Community Forums
51: Community Forums
52: Downloads
53: Community Forums
54: Photo Gallery
55: Member Screenshots
56: Community Forums
57: Your Account
58: Photo Gallery
59: Downloads
60: Community Forums
61: Home
62: Community Forums
63: Home
64: Home
65: Contact
66: Home
67: Member Screenshots
68: Community Forums
69: News
70: Photo Gallery
71: Home
72: Photo Gallery
73: Downloads
74: Home
75: Community Forums
76: Downloads
77: Search
78: Home
79: Home
80: Community Forums
81: Photo Gallery
82: Member Screenshots
83: Home
84: Your Account
85: Downloads
86: Home
87: Home
88: Home
89: Home
90: Home
91: Community Forums
92: Community Forums
93: Your Account
94: News Archive
95: Community Forums
96: News Archive
97: Home
98: Member Screenshots
99: Member Screenshots
100: Your Account
101: Home
102: Community Forums
103: Community Forums
104: Home
105: Community Forums
106: Member Screenshots
107: Home
108: Photo Gallery
109: Home
110: News Archive
111: Community Forums
112: Downloads
113: News Archive
114: Tell a Friend
115: Community Forums
116: Home
117: Community Forums
118: Downloads
119: Home
120: Home
121: Home
122: Downloads
123: Community Forums
124: News Archive
125: Community Forums
126: Home
127: Home
128: Community Forums
129: Photo Gallery
130: Community Forums
131: Your Account
132: Downloads
133: News
134: Community Forums
135: Photo Gallery
136: Home
137: Home
138: Community Forums
139: Photo Gallery
140: Statistics
141: News Archive
142: Search
143: Home
144: Community Forums
145: News Archive
146: Community Forums
147: Community Forums
148: Community Forums
149: Photo Gallery
150: Community Forums
151: Community Forums
152: Community Forums
153: Community Forums
154: Home
155: Downloads
156: Community Forums
157: Community Forums
158: Home
159: Community Forums
160: Home
161: Community Forums
162: Community Forums
163: Community Forums
164: Home
165: Home
166: Member Screenshots
167: Photo Gallery
168: News
169: Photo Gallery
170: Home
171: Downloads
172: Home
173: Home
174: Home
175: Photo Gallery
176: Community Forums
177: Home
178: Community Forums
179: Home
180: Your Account
181: Community Forums
182: Member Screenshots
183: Photo Gallery
184: Downloads
185: Community Forums
186: Community Forums
187: Home
188: News Archive
189: News Archive
190: Home
191: Community Forums
192: Home
193: Community Forums
194: Community Forums
195: Community Forums
196: Treasury
197: Community Forums
198: Community Forums
199: Community Forums
200: Community Forums
201: Photo Gallery
202: Community Forums
203: Your Account
204: Home
205: Community Forums
206: Community Forums
207: Community Forums
208: News Archive
209: Photo Gallery
210: Home
211: Home
212: Photo Gallery
213: Community Forums
214: News
215: Downloads
216: News Archive
217: Community Forums
218: News Archive
219: News Archive
220: Home
221: Photo Gallery
222: Your Account
223: Community Forums
224: News
225: News Archive
226: Home
227: Home
228: Community Forums
229: Home
230: Community Forums
231: Home
232: Member Screenshots
233: Community Forums
234: Photo Gallery
235: Home
236: Photo Gallery
237: Home
238: Home
239: Home
240: Community Forums
241: Downloads
242: Home
243: Photo Gallery
244: Member Screenshots
245: Member Screenshots
246: Community Forums
247: Home
248: Community Forums
249: Community Forums
250: Community Forums
251: Downloads
252: Home
253: Photo Gallery
254: Community Forums
255: Member Screenshots
256: Home
257: Community Forums
258: Community Forums
259: Community Forums
260: News Archive
261: Home
262: Search
263: Photo Gallery
264: Home
265: Home
266: Home
267: News
268: Community Forums
269: Community Forums
270: Treasury
271: Community Forums

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
SP2 Update is available :: Archived
A forum for Microsoft's Flight Simulator X
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  FSX

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 Dec 14, 2007 11:30 pm
Post subject: SP2 Update is available

OK, the day is here......the second service update for SP2 is now live and available for download.

Official download links for each language version are here at Phil Taylor's blogsite:

blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor...nload.aspx

Details on specifically what's changed in SP2 are here:
jonpatch.wordpress.com...n-fsx-sp2/

Is it worth it? Should you get it? Well........since it's also built into the Accelleration add-on, some of us have had it for a while and I think the best answer to that question is a cautious "yes". If your installation, system and experience is typical, you'll get improved performance. Of course, since this was also included in the "Accelleration" add-on, if you have Accelleration you don't need to download this (it won't install anyway since it checks).

However, some things do not change for the better, specifically backward-compatability with FS9 stuff. It's worse than it was due to reducing the number of draw calls to properly handle FS9-style transparency layers and other items. This reduction in "attention" to backward-compatability is where some of the performance increase comes from - can't get something for nothing. As discussed in other threads here, some planes will have non-transparent prop disks and dark or black windows. That's fixable, on a case-by-case basis as needed, in my own experience. And osme FS9 planes are still OK, just depends on details of how the author did the original work.

What I've painfully found out that *isn't* fixable is old FS9 scenery. Crashes FSX hard (crashes to desktop) when starting a flight in *any* area even remotely close to areas where I've installed some old FS9 scenery. Case in point is the JG300 Pigsty at KORS, which used to work, and now makes FSX exit to the desktop when the flight starts, even as far away as Seattle KSEA. Yes, I'm a grown man, and I wept when I finally confirmed this after troubleshooting it.

Many of the 'hardcore fans' have been urging the FSX team to drop backward-compatability for increased performance (without regard to those who enjoy that kind of backward-compatability) and it seems that the developers have taken them at their word. So......like it or not I guess we're at the dawn of another new era in the FS lifecycle (not the first time this has happened but, man, far more great legacy stuff than ever before that gets tossed).....

Here's an annoucement post at AvSim where some of the harshest critics hang out (as well as some knowledgable folks including ACES FSX program manager Phil Taylor himself) , so it's probably not going to be pretty to read or watch, but if you're hedging then maybe it's worth a look.....however, as they point out, you can uninstall it if it looks like a negative impact.

forums.avsim.net/dcboa...;mode=full

_________________
"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: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:41 am
Post subject: Re: SP2 Update is available

Some of this is a repeat of other stuff in recent posts but just to make clear, here's a bit more info on what kind of side-effects were noted with the installation of Accelleration (which included SP2 and is a pretty safe bet the same thing will happen with the freebie SP2-only patch).

First I'll say there WAS a notable performance gain, for me. Now here's the "But...."

Some planes weren't affected at all......thank god......the beloved Airhead Super Decathlon, which I treasure more than any other simulated thing, is still wonderful. Note that if you look at the lower part of the prop disc you'll see it isn't displaying the clouds behind the prop. I'm pretty sure it was doing that before and was already an "FSX thing".



On the other hand, some planes (in this case Milton's Aero Commander and the Super Connie) suddenly had transparent wheels and/or non-transparent prop discs..these are fixable items usually (by editing the texture files). Same with the Ju-52 as far as the windows go:






Fixed by manually editing the textures for props, windows, whatever as needed:





Here's how the JG300 Pigsty and other FS9 scenery looks like in FSX now - in short, it *doesn't*. That's my Windows desktop becuase FSX just dies when trying to start a flight there. Mad



Not that it's quite an upside, but, it's here for what it's worth...there are some nice new scenery design tools available and to help deal and cope with this change I've been checking them out. Not that I'm much of a scenery designer. But, after disabling my Pigsty scenery so FSX wouldn't crash when I start a flight in the area, I did make a little trial "outpost" scenery at the dirt-strip airfield on the island adjacent to KORS.....not much but it's a start even if it's nowhere near as classy........


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

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 21, 2005
Posts: 7019
Location: Central Illinois, USA
PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:16 pm
Post subject: Re: SP2 Update is available

Thanks for the "heads up" Stoopy! If it wasn't for change, we would still be slippin' in 3 1/2 in floppies and using the keyboard to guide our pixel planes...lol
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: Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:22 pm
Post subject: Re: SP2 Update is available

I agree fully!

'Zactly why I've been tearing into the texture issues and checking out the scenery situation. The future is actually pretty bright, but only as long as we know what we're stepping into.... Wink

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  FSX
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 6 Hours

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.