Since the recent patches (as of last night p-38&39). I experienced a drop in my frame rates. I was averaging around 75 fps everywhere but in clouds but , last night I was getting about 45 as I took off. I no longer got the stutter in my screen as I engaged nme a/c though, so thats an improvement.
Also, at one point, when an nme a/c was shot down in front of me, I saw him smoke and break up but, as the attacking a/c broke off, his plane appeared unaffected; stopped smoking and appeared to fly normally; I opened up on him and saw hit sprites but then he disappeared as I passed.
Also, as I was hit myself later on, my screen froze and I wound up in the tower. The latter isn't a surprise but the frozen screen is.
System Specs:
P-4 3Ghz 800FSB w/HT
1024x768 screen res 32 bit
512 MB texture
FRsetting: unlimited
Vid Card: GEForce FX5200 128 MB