±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: 876
Total: 876
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Home
02: Member Screenshots
03: Statistics
04: Community Forums
05: Home
06: Photo Gallery
07: Photo Gallery
08: Community Forums
09: Community Forums
10: Member Screenshots
11: Home
12: Home
13: News Archive
14: Photo Gallery
15: Photo Gallery
16: Photo Gallery
17: Home
18: Photo Gallery
19: Home
20: Home
21: Home
22: Community Forums
23: Home
24: Home
25: Home
26: Home
27: Community Forums
28: Home
29: Home
30: Community Forums
31: Home
32: Home
33: Home
34: Home
35: Home
36: Home
37: Community Forums
38: Community Forums
39: Home
40: Home
41: Home
42: Home
43: Home
44: Home
45: Home
46: Home
47: Home
48: Home
49: Community Forums
50: Home
51: Home
52: Home
53: Home
54: Home
55: Your Account
56: Home
57: Home
58: Home
59: Home
60: Home
61: Home
62: Home
63: Community Forums
64: Community Forums
65: Home
66: Community Forums
67: Home
68: Home
69: Home
70: Home
71: Home
72: Home
73: Home
74: Home
75: Home
76: Home
77: Home
78: Home
79: Home
80: Home
81: Home
82: Home
83: Community Forums
84: Community Forums
85: Contact
86: Home
87: Photo Gallery
88: Home
89: Community Forums
90: Community Forums
91: Home
92: Home
93: Downloads
94: Community Forums
95: Community Forums
96: Home
97: Home
98: Home
99: Home
100: News Archive
101: Community Forums
102: Community Forums
103: Tell a Friend
104: Statistics
105: Community Forums
106: Downloads
107: Member Screenshots
108: Community Forums
109: Community Forums
110: Photo Gallery
111: Home
112: Community Forums
113: Home
114: Community Forums
115: Home
116: Community Forums
117: Home
118: Home
119: Member Screenshots
120: Community Forums
121: Home
122: Home
123: Home
124: Community Forums
125: Home
126: Member Screenshots
127: Home
128: Community Forums
129: Community Forums
130: Downloads
131: Community Forums
132: Home
133: Community Forums
134: Home
135: Home
136: Downloads
137: Community Forums
138: Community Forums
139: Community Forums
140: Community Forums
141: Home
142: Home
143: Home
144: Photo Gallery
145: Home
146: Home
147: Home
148: Community Forums
149: Home
150: Community Forums
151: Home
152: Home
153: Home
154: Home
155: Members List
156: Community Forums
157: Community Forums
158: Community Forums
159: Home
160: Home
161: Home
162: Community Forums
163: Home
164: Home
165: Member Screenshots
166: Home
167: Home
168: Home
169: Home
170: Home
171: Home
172: Community Forums
173: Home
174: Home
175: Home
176: Community Forums
177: Home
178: Community Forums
179: Home
180: Home
181: Home
182: Home
183: Photo Gallery
184: Home
185: Community Forums
186: Home
187: Home
188: Member Screenshots
189: Home
190: Photo Gallery
191: Home
192: Home
193: Community Forums
194: Community Forums
195: Home
196: Photo Gallery
197: Member Screenshots
198: Community Forums
199: Community Forums
200: Community Forums
201: Photo Gallery
202: Member Screenshots
203: Home
204: Home
205: Photo Gallery
206: Home
207: Home
208: Home
209: Home
210: Home
211: Home
212: Home
213: Community Forums
214: Home
215: Community Forums
216: Home
217: Member Screenshots
218: Home
219: Home
220: Home
221: Home
222: Home
223: Community Forums
224: Home
225: Home
226: Home
227: Home
228: Home
229: Home
230: Home
231: Home
232: Home
233: Home
234: Home
235: Home
236: Home
237: Community Forums
238: Home
239: Community Forums
240: Home
241: Photo Gallery
242: Home
243: Community Forums
244: Home
245: Home
246: Home
247: Community Forums
248: Home
249: Home
250: Community Forums
251: Home
252: Community Forums
253: Community Forums
254: Home
255: Community Forums
256: Home
257: Home
258: Home
259: Home
260: Home
261: Home
262: Community Forums
263: Home
264: Community Forums
265: Photo Gallery
266: Downloads
267: Home
268: Community Forums
269: Community Forums
270: Community Forums
271: Photo Gallery
272: Community Forums
273: Community Forums
274: Community Forums
275: Home
276: Community Forums
277: Community Forums
278: Community Forums
279: Community Forums
280: Community Forums
281: Photo Gallery
282: Home
283: Community Forums
284: Community Forums
285: Community Forums
286: Community Forums
287: Community Forums
288: Home
289: Home
290: Photo Gallery
291: Home
292: Home
293: Community Forums
294: Member Screenshots
295: Home
296: Home
297: Community Forums
298: Community Forums
299: Member Screenshots
300: Community Forums
301: Community Forums
302: Home
303: Downloads
304: Home
305: Community Forums
306: Home
307: Home
308: Home
309: Downloads
310: Home
311: Community Forums
312: Photo Gallery
313: Photo Gallery
314: Photo Gallery
315: Community Forums
316: Home
317: Community Forums
318: Community Forums
319: Community Forums
320: Photo Gallery
321: Home
322: Community Forums
323: Community Forums
324: Home
325: Home
326: Home
327: Community Forums
328: Community Forums
329: Home
330: Community Forums
331: Home
332: Community Forums
333: Community Forums
334: Community Forums
335: Photo Gallery
336: Home
337: Home
338: Home
339: Home
340: Home
341: Community Forums
342: Home
343: Community Forums
344: Community Forums
345: Community Forums
346: Community Forums
347: Photo Gallery
348: Home
349: Community Forums
350: Photo Gallery
351: Home
352: Community Forums
353: Photo Gallery
354: Community Forums
355: Photo Gallery
356: Community Forums
357: Community Forums
358: Downloads
359: Home
360: Downloads
361: Downloads
362: Photo Gallery
363: Home
364: Community Forums
365: Community Forums
366: Home
367: Photo Gallery
368: Community Forums
369: Home
370: Community Forums
371: Home
372: Home
373: Home
374: Home
375: Home
376: Home
377: Home
378: Home
379: Home
380: Home
381: Home
382: Member Screenshots
383: Home
384: Home
385: Home
386: Downloads
387: Community Forums
388: Home
389: Home
390: Photo Gallery
391: Community Forums
392: Home
393: News Archive
394: Home
395: Home
396: Community Forums
397: Community Forums
398: Community Forums
399: Photo Gallery
400: Home
401: Home
402: Home
403: Home
404: Home
405: Photo Gallery
406: Home
407: Member Screenshots
408: Home
409: Home
410: Home
411: Home
412: Community Forums
413: Home
414: Member Screenshots
415: Home
416: Downloads
417: Community Forums
418: Home
419: Home
420: Home
421: Photo Gallery
422: Home
423: Home
424: Community Forums
425: Community Forums
426: Home
427: Home
428: Photo Gallery
429: Home
430: Home
431: Photo Gallery
432: Home
433: Search
434: Home
435: Photo Gallery
436: Home
437: Home
438: Home
439: Photo Gallery
440: Home
441: Home
442: Home
443: Home
444: Home
445: Community Forums
446: Home
447: Home
448: Home
449: Home
450: Community Forums
451: Home
452: Home
453: Home
454: Community Forums
455: Home
456: Community Forums
457: Community Forums
458: Home
459: Home
460: Home
461: Home
462: Community Forums
463: Home
464: Home
465: Home
466: Home
467: Home
468: Home
469: Home
470: Home
471: Community Forums
472: Home
473: Community Forums
474: Home
475: Community Forums
476: Home
477: Community Forums
478: Community Forums
479: Home
480: Home
481: Community Forums
482: Home
483: Community Forums
484: Photo Gallery
485: Photo Gallery
486: Home
487: Photo Gallery
488: Community Forums
489: Home
490: Community Forums
491: Community Forums
492: Community Forums
493: Community Forums
494: Community Forums
495: Home
496: Community Forums
497: Community Forums
498: Home
499: Community Forums
500: Community Forums
501: Community Forums
502: Home
503: Home
504: News Archive
505: Community Forums
506: Home
507: Home
508: Home
509: Community Forums
510: Home
511: Downloads
512: Home
513: Community Forums
514: Home
515: Photo Gallery
516: Home
517: Home
518: Home
519: Home
520: Member Screenshots
521: Home
522: Home
523: Home
524: Home
525: Home
526: Community Forums
527: Home
528: Home
529: Home
530: Home
531: Photo Gallery
532: Member Screenshots
533: Home
534: Community Forums
535: Home
536: Photo Gallery
537: Home
538: Home
539: Community Forums
540: Statistics
541: Home
542: Community Forums
543: Community Forums
544: Home
545: Home
546: Member Screenshots
547: Home
548: Home
549: Home
550: Home
551: Home
552: Home
553: Home
554: Community Forums
555: Community Forums
556: Home
557: Home
558: Home
559: Home
560: Home
561: Community Forums
562: Community Forums
563: Home
564: Community Forums
565: Home
566: Community Forums
567: Home
568: Home
569: Home
570: Home
571: News Archive
572: Home
573: Community Forums
574: Community Forums
575: Community Forums
576: Community Forums
577: Home
578: Home
579: Home
580: Home
581: Community Forums
582: Home
583: Home
584: Photo Gallery
585: Community Forums
586: Community Forums
587: Home
588: Home
589: Home
590: Home
591: Community Forums
592: Community Forums
593: Home
594: Community Forums
595: Home
596: Community Forums
597: Community Forums
598: Photo Gallery
599: Home
600: Community Forums
601: Community Forums
602: Member Screenshots
603: Community Forums
604: Home
605: Home
606: Home
607: Community Forums
608: Home
609: Community Forums
610: Community Forums
611: Community Forums
612: Photo Gallery
613: Community Forums
614: Home
615: Downloads
616: Home
617: Member Screenshots
618: Downloads
619: Community Forums
620: Community Forums
621: Community Forums
622: Photo Gallery
623: Community Forums
624: Downloads
625: Home
626: Community Forums
627: Community Forums
628: Home
629: Home
630: Home
631: Community Forums
632: Home
633: Community Forums
634: Community Forums
635: Community Forums
636: Community Forums
637: Community Forums
638: Home
639: Home
640: Home
641: Your Account
642: Community Forums
643: Home
644: Photo Gallery
645: Downloads
646: Photo Gallery
647: Home
648: Home
649: Photo Gallery
650: Community Forums
651: Community Forums
652: Member Screenshots
653: Community Forums
654: Community Forums
655: Photo Gallery
656: Downloads
657: Community Forums
658: Home
659: Photo Gallery
660: Home
661: Statistics
662: Home
663: Home
664: Home
665: Home
666: Community Forums
667: Home
668: Home
669: Home
670: Community Forums
671: Photo Gallery
672: Home
673: Home
674: Community Forums
675: Home
676: Home
677: Home
678: Home
679: Home
680: Photo Gallery
681: Search
682: Community Forums
683: Home
684: Community Forums
685: Community Forums
686: Community Forums
687: Home
688: Downloads
689: Community Forums
690: Home
691: Home
692: Home
693: Home
694: Community Forums
695: Home
696: Home
697: Home
698: Home
699: Home
700: Home
701: Photo Gallery
702: Downloads
703: Community Forums
704: Community Forums
705: Home
706: Home
707: Home
708: Home
709: Home
710: Photo Gallery
711: Downloads
712: Home
713: Home
714: Home
715: Community Forums
716: Home
717: Photo Gallery
718: Photo Gallery
719: Home
720: Home
721: Home
722: Community Forums
723: Community Forums
724: Community Forums
725: Home
726: Home
727: Home
728: Home
729: Community Forums
730: Community Forums
731: Community Forums
732: Home
733: Community Forums
734: Home
735: Photo Gallery
736: Home
737: Community Forums
738: Home
739: Home
740: Home
741: Community Forums
742: Community Forums
743: Community Forums
744: Community Forums
745: Home
746: Statistics
747: Home
748: Home
749: Home
750: Home
751: Home
752: Home
753: Home
754: Home
755: Community Forums
756: Home
757: Community Forums
758: Home
759: Home
760: Home
761: Home
762: Downloads
763: Home
764: Photo Gallery
765: Photo Gallery
766: Home
767: Community Forums
768: Home
769: Home
770: Community Forums
771: Home
772: Home
773: Home
774: Home
775: Home
776: Home
777: Home
778: Community Forums
779: Home
780: Home
781: Community Forums
782: Home
783: Home
784: Home
785: Home
786: Home
787: Home
788: Home
789: Photo Gallery
790: Community Forums
791: Downloads
792: Community Forums
793: Community Forums
794: Home
795: Home
796: Community Forums
797: Community Forums
798: Photo Gallery
799: Community Forums
800: Community Forums
801: Photo Gallery
802: Community Forums
803: Community Forums
804: Community Forums
805: Home
806: Photo Gallery
807: Statistics
808: Photo Gallery
809: Home
810: Home
811: Home
812: Community Forums
813: Home
814: Community Forums
815: Home
816: Community Forums
817: Home
818: Home
819: Home
820: Home
821: Home
822: Member Screenshots
823: Community Forums
824: Community Forums
825: Photo Gallery
826: News
827: Home
828: Home
829: Community Forums
830: Home
831: Community Forums
832: Community Forums
833: Home
834: Home
835: Photo Gallery
836: Home
837: Home
838: Downloads
839: Home
840: Your Account
841: Home
842: Community Forums
843: Community Forums
844: Community Forums
845: Community Forums
846: Downloads
847: Home
848: Home
849: Home
850: Home
851: Home
852: Home
853: Home
854: Home
855: Home
856: Community Forums
857: Home
858: Home
859: Home
860: Home
861: Home
862: Community Forums
863: Home
864: Community Forums
865: Home
866: Community Forums
867: Community Forums
868: Downloads
869: Community Forums
870: Home
871: Home
872: Home
873: Community Forums
874: Community Forums
875: Home
876: Home

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.