Fiber Accelerator by FSPS

For those still wanting to try Fiber Accelerator, version 1.1 is out. Also the Fiber Accelerator thread at Avsim has some good discussions of settings and conditions that agree with all my testing. Specifically how the sliders and FSX starting conditions affect your experience. Skip to last 3 pages or so of the discussion for the most succinct posts.
 
henrystreet said:
The developer, while simultaneously trying to protect his proprietary information and marketing the product, has given several very specific hints as to how the program works. You may be that one user who understands the concept, but most folks that are trying the demo are not even reading what the developer has said about the product. The software in no way modifies or even references fsx.cfg. I have confirmed this. The factors that it changes dynamically can however be influenced by the initial settings of FSX startup which is determined by the fsx.cfg. The software does not appear to use a wide range of tweaks, only a few.
Click to expand...
That was very well put, Henry. The fact is that the fsx.cfg file is read precisely once during the initial load of FSX. The parameters in that configuration file are loaded into memory locations.

Any old-school BASIC programmer will remember how one might peek and poke specific volatile memory addresses to read and modify the contents. These days of course such brute force methods won't work, but there are plethora methods one might use (or possibly abuse?) various APIs to accomplish the same results...

In any case the critical take-away from the above is that the memory is volatile, meaning that once unloaded the changes made while running vanish like a poof of smoke.
 
n4gix said:
That was very well put, Henry. The fact is that the fsx.cfg file is read precisely once during the initial load of FSX.
Click to expand...


Yes Bill thanks for the correction. My filemon logs for FA do show reading fsx.cfg at the first launch...but only one log entry.
 
As a frequent contributor to that thread myself, I'm appalled (but not surprised) at the average level of comprehension. Even allowing for native English language difficulties, people just don't seem to be READ what's there and *digesting it* before adding still more blather. The total confusion about .NET is a case in point.

From numerous questions aimed directly at the devs (who finally responded) - it appears that F/A doesn't write back to fsx.cfg itself (indeed it simply doesn't use it) - BUT - FSX itself will write/set the target framerate to "UNLIMITED" if you hit the performance buffers. I got the impression that if you quit F/A before FSX, then your original fsx.cfg value is retained.

The problem is people just aren't testing/comparing it properly. My procedure would be:

1) Back up your original fsx.cfg and NVI profile.
2) Create a sample flight (with a variety of scenery areas flown over) and SAVE it. Maybe even use FSRecorder.
3) Install/try F/A with that saved flight (or recording) and compare.
4) Don't just quit FA and see what happens with FSX still running - it will be left in limbo, with a possibly totally inappropriate [temporary] configuration.
5) Quit BOTH and restart FSX and compare.**
6) Start FA and compare.

** You may want to rebuild the textures cache before this step (using a new/random value for SHADER_CACHE_VERSION in fsx.cfg).

Note that DX10 users will need to disable/re-enable their NVI-set framerate limiter (if enabled) and check their vsync settings.

If uninstalling FA, do it properly from the Control Panel and then use a regcleaner to spot any leftovers. I found it uninstalled cleanly.

My gut feeling is that the program "mimics" the way FSX behaves according to your various fsx.cfg settings (and your target framerate in FSX) - almost as if it were creating a new fsx.cfg in memory "on the fly" and using that. Considering the HUGE variation of results obtained by users tweaking fsx.cfg, it's not surprising that there's a similar variation in what FA may (or may not achieve) in any particular FSX setup. Also - I don't think it achieves anything that careful tweaking of fsx.cfg will produce - but how many people have the knowledge to do that (or put in the hours)?

On my quite mediochre system, I found FA didn't improve overall performance much (if at all), but it did allow my to fly at high settings for when I wanted good scenery and then allowed me to knock it back for when approaching a busy airport for landing. Previous to that, I used to have to load one of two fsx.cfg's I have and restart FSX.

It *is* possible (just) to be able to test FA in the limited time available - but you really need to prepare your FSX properly in advance, so as to not blow any FA sessions.

Adam.
 
henrystreet said:
Yes Bill thanks for the correction. My filemon logs for FA do show reading fsx.cfg at the first launch...but only one log entry.
Click to expand...
Um, that wasn't a correction so much as a confirmation. When I re-read my previous remarks just now, it seems that I was not clear enough.

It is FSX that reads the fsx.cfg file once. Fiber Accelerator neither reads nor writes to the fsx.cfg file according to the programmer(s). FA won't work with P3Dv2 for the same reason that Pete has to compile a specific version of FSUIPC for it; the memory offsets are different. :bump:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top