Clouds in FSO

[Scotch]

My fr's drop from 60 to around 12 in the heavy clouds we had last night. Even with everything disabled.

[captain1ma]

i checked it out, i'm pretty good. no problems that i noticed. you can see what i'm running below.

and in case it comes up, yes I'm running 18 GIGS of ram.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/2/2013, 23:11:49
       Machine name: GAME-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.120830-0334)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
             Memory: 18432MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 18422MB RAM
          Page File: 4052MB used, 32789MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series           
       Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x9460)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9460&SUBSYS_19401462&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1766 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 1002 MB
      Shared Memory: 763 MB
       Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (75Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: Acer AL2216W
         Monitor Id: ACRAD74
        Native Mode: 1680 x 1050(p) (59.954Hz)
        Output Type: DVI
        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1077 (English)

[ink]

i checked it out, i'm pretty good. no problems that i noticed. you can see what i'm running below.

and in case it comes up, yes I'm running 18 GIGS of ram.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/2/2013, 23:11:49
       Machine name: GAME-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.120830-0334)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
             Memory: 18432MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 18422MB RAM
          Page File: 4052MB used, 32789MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series           
       Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x9460)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9460&SUBSYS_19401462&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1766 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 1002 MB
      Shared Memory: 763 MB
       Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (75Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: Acer AL2216W
         Monitor Id: ACRAD74
        Native Mode: 1680 x 1050(p) (59.954Hz)
        Output Type: DVI
        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1077 (English)

that system with a 4800

which one you got? mine is the 4830 MSI 1 gig...old but good...very low power draw

wish the hell I could get 18 gigs.... my blender use would love it.

[Harpi]

Love the clouds - Atmospherics like these add greatly to the feel of the game environment, so my congrats to the designers (Slardibarfast award perhaps .
I would not like to see players with low spec'd machines have a poor experience but hope that any changes if needed can be minor.
Perhaps retaining the same cloud structures but being able to switch them to lower res (as per the previous 2D cloud slices) if this were possible. This could retain the loss of visibility, but be less drain on maxed out CPUs.
Stress and excitement levels really go up in 5/10 or more cloud with the potential enemy obscured, fleets harder to find etc. Flying around them definitely enhances the 'lofty halls' experience.

<S> Skewer

[Pand]

clouds equals awesome... game play last night was sweet where a pair of 205s got the jump on us coming out of the clouds... was like something out of a movie.

Keep up the great work!

[Viper61]

I  love the look and the play of the clouds.  Since the new clouds have been added not a FSO frame goes by where the squad doesn't comment on the realism of the look.  In fact some comments have been to take it further and add more weather effects.

That aside however.  I took a pretty hard hit in the frame rate with my system which is a stock d
Dell desktop of 2 years in age.  Not understanding or watching closely during those first frames I did die twice due a game lock up on my side and 2 other Disco's when the acction was conjested like during a fight or during some takoff's.  These were my first ever Disco's during an FSO.

Having ImADot in our squad is big plus and he assisted many including myself to turn off most of the graphics as he discribed earlier and now my game play frames at back to normal at around 59.  But this came at a cost in what I see.  Clouds are all but gone.  Islands are sometimes not vi sable making it appear the building are floating on the water.  But no effect to the game play in how I engage aircraft.  Just ground objects and clouds.

Bottomline:  In my opinion.  Keep the improvements coming as they really make this game one of a kind and that's really what we all want.  But keep the personnel (at my end) controls available to me so that I can turn things on and off as need be.  It is up to the computer operators (us) to twik our own machines so that we can match what we want in visibility to ones own computers capability's.

[bc21]

I took a huge frame hit so much so that it made the game unplayable. (down to 6 or less from a normal of high 40's and 50's) they do look cool though.

[jd]

I run an OLD e-machine with upgraded memory stick, 2g and a radeon hd 5450 vid card and went from 10 fps to consistent 75 fps most arenas.

[USRanger]

Clouds are needed simply for the immersion they bring to the game.  Clear, sunny skies all the time would get old really fast like it did in the MA.

[pghMAC]

My fr's drop from 60 to around 12 in the heavy clouds we had last night. Even with everything disabled.

Same for me, I agree the clouds do look great. However with framerates below 20 its just not playable. 

[blazer65]

Same for me, I agree the clouds do look great. However with framerates below 20 its just not playable. 

This is my fear with the awesome clouds.  Yes they are very cool.  However, it's seems to me that it's unlikely that havin the clouds turned on will really increase attendance in any significant way.  I think it's unlikely many more people will decide to play the FSOs because of the clouds.  However, with a significant number of the players who already commit to playing the FSOs having frame rates of 20 or below with the clouds, it does seems that we may lose a significant number of players due to the clouds. 

It's a risk/reward thing.  IMO, the clouds being turned on like that risk us losing way more players than we'd gain.

[captain1ma]

that system with a 4800

which one you got? mine is the 4830 MSI 1 gig...old but good...very low power draw

wish the hell I could get 18 gigs.... my blender use would love it.

ink i got the 4890! i want to upgrade, but im not sure what to upgrade to.

[Devil 505]

This is my fear with the awesome clouds.  Yes they are very cool.  However, it's seems to me that it's unlikely that havin the clouds turned on will really increase attendance in any significant way.  I think it's unlikely many more people will decide to play the FSOs because of the clouds.  However, with a significant number of the players who already commit to playing the FSOs having frame rates of 20 or below with the clouds, it does seems that we may lose a significant number of players due to the clouds. 

It's a risk/reward thing.  IMO, the clouds being turned on like that risk us losing way more players than we'd gain.

Right now there are exactly 100 votes in the poll. 40% are having issues because of the clouds. I would say that you're correct. I hope the powers that be stop using the new clouds for the sake of the bottom 40%.

[jd]

there must be a compromise with clouds that are playable. the latest ones are great but I would rather have SOME clouds than absolutely none, if for nothing but added realism.keep in mind i know nothing about coding or programing so keep up the good work.

[Drano]

The problem with the clouds isn't so much with them alone. Coupled with a ton of planes, say a dozen bomber formations with fighters, it'll really kill the frame rates of all but a top end machine.

I have a fairly high end machine (2500K, 6950, 16gb ram) and it knocks mine down a bit in situations like this. One of the frames this past month I was in a Zero and we engaged a gigantic attack of B-25s, Hurris and P-40s in cloulds. My machine was choking on that. I can imagine it being unplayable with less.

Even so I love the look of them. In the MA with less going on I have no problems.