Config file tweak question

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
Shortly before my HD/OS decided to get stupid and forget where everything on my HD was...I came across a tweak for this part of the config file

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=0.000000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=0.000000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=0

I can not remember where I found it or who it was by, but changing these three lines really made a huge difference in my sim.

Anyone have any tips on what these lines should be changed to. I know they were changed to a small number, 4, 4.5, something like that...but don't want to go changing things and messing something up.

OBIO
 
harleyman said:
Is this for a high end system Dogknot ? Thanks
Click to expand...

Not that I know of. It's part of a set of cfg tweaks to get FS9 to run better, smoother, less blurries, etc.
Make a safe copy of the fs9.cfg and then give it a try....unless you are already running fast and smooth. If you are, why mess with a good thing. :icon_lol:
 
There are many "recommended" values...

For what it is worth, this is what I use:

TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=2.50
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=6.0
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=6
 
Holger S posted this on the Fsgenesis forum: (http://portal.fsgenesis.net/index.php?n ... 51&start=0)
"In order to maximize the detail/sharpness of ground textures it's a good idea to use terrain extended textures. Below is a summary of what these parameters mean and what values are possible. However, if you're using photoreal scenery (such as MegaScenery) you should turn off extended textures and reduce visibility to 30 miles or so. That is because without extended textures FS needs to load about 5000 texture tiles but with extended textures the number jumps to about 20,000!
There's still a lot of debate what exactly those parameters mean and what units they have but here's what I compiled from various sources and, IMO (!), makes sense:
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1
* that's easy: ON/OFF switch to load higher res textures beyond the initial "ring", which extends to about 40 miles
TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.500000
* apparently, values can range from 0 to 9.99 and higher settings will be ignored
* extends the use of the highest detailed mips (sharper textures) within the inner circle; lower settings means less than 40 miles and higher settings up to the 40-mile max.
* changing this value doesn't seem to make much of a visible difference
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4.500000
* same range of values as above
* extends the use of higher maps for the outer circle(s). Supposedly, "1.5" reaches to ~70mi and "9.9" to about 100mi
* careful!!! A setting higher than 3.9 can lead to "texture tearing" (blue slivers) in the mid- to far distance when high-res mesh is used. Some add-on mesh files - like some of mine - provide additional "buffer" mesh files, which prevent those blue slivers even at settings >3.9
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=4
* range from 0 to 8
* is tied to TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS and defines the max. mip level to be used for the outer ring(s), that is the sharpness of the outer ring textures
* I never noticed much difference between 0 and 4; no changes at all when >4
In summary, the TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS parameter appears to be the one with the biggest visual influence.
Oh, and TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT apparently determines the speed or priority with which ground textures are sent for processing to the graphics card. "
 
Thanks gents...that made my scenery load so much smoother and look better out to the edge of the visual distance.

OBIO
 
The settings in the post by *****..the ones posted originally by Hoger S. Will experiment with other settings to see if I get any noticable gains.

OBIO

That's odd...the forum won't let me type the name of the person who did post number 6 in this thread.
 
Been working CFS/CFS2 for years, but I'm a relative Newb to FS9. Where is the FS9.cfg file located? I have my install in the stock location... ran a search for the file on my system, but no joy. I always figured there was a cfg file for FS9 somewhere, like there is for CFS/CFS2, but never could locate one. DOAH! Can someone please lead the way, for me? :faint:

THANX in advance, AER_DaddyO.
 
If you are running XP, turn on View Hidden Files. GO to C:\Documents and Settings\NAME (what ever you have your computer named)\Application Data\Microsoft\FS2004 or Flight Simulator 2004 or something like that.

I do not currently have FS2004 installed as I messed up my install to the point that half my scenery was nothing but brown squares, winter textures would not show at all.

Be careful messing with the config file...and make a back up copy of the stock file before you make any changes. I did not make a back up and now have to start over from scratch.

OBIO
 
AER, assuming a default installation, the folder containing the fs9.cfg is C:\Documents and Settings\(user)\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9, but you have to enable viewing hidden files/folders to see the app data folder.

Obio, check PMs.
 
BTW OBIO, if you start FS2004 without the FS9.cfg file in your appropriate directory (see above), then FS2004 will automatically generate an FS9.cfg file with the default values.

This feature has the nice advantage that it allows you to regenerate the default values if you have messed them up in some way. YOu don't have to reinstall the program.

Simply take your recently mangled FS9.cfg and rename it. Please do this to save a copy of your previous changes that you do want to keep. Then restart FS2004 and you will now have a "FS9.cfg" with the default values. You can now edit your new one to suit your tastes...perhaps by going back to your old file and re-entering your previous changes.
 
MM

Thanks for the tip on the config file regenerating....will be useful for future screw ups...and YES there will be future screw ups!

It was good that I uninstalled FS9 totally....I had a buggy install of Real Evironment Pro due to not having the .Net framework updated on my system, I had a lot of planes installed that, really, I didn't want after I installed them.

When I reinstall, I will be more focused on the planes I do install...mainly pre-50s General and Commercial aviation, mostly radial engined aircraft, some early military aircraft...but there will be a special hangar reserved for planes out side on that genre...like Lionheart's Epic, a few 60s and 70s jet fighters (F-4, F-8, A-7, A-4, etc.) that I like.

I have spent the last day downloading aircraft...and have almost 2.5 gig of compressed aircraft ready to burn to CD for archiving. Just spent the last couple hours downloading some scenery addons for the sim...mostly Holgar Sandmann stuff..but with some other stuff in the mix.

OBIO
 
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