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graphics question for the bdg

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rhinomonkey

Post subject: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:03 am

Senior Airman

Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am
Posts: 232

The recent update is fantastic i'm loving the trees and new objects and whatever you've done to reduce the impact of the new objects on FPS really works and even on my modest machine i can have lots of ground objects without taking too much of a hit on my FPS. before the latest fix i could not really fly low as was getting average fps of under 15.

I was wondering, would there be a similar fix for the weather? At the moment it has a massive impact of fps and i can't really use it.

I have a p4 based system and with a bit of juggling i can get average fps between 20 and 30 even with autogen on! which is fine for me (iv'e read that the human brain cant see the difference in frame rate once it gets above 30 anyway!). but i have to have weather low as when i change it to high it knocks of at least 10-15 fps.

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Mraah

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:19 am

Airman First Class

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:08 am
Posts: 82
Location: Memphis, TN

rhinomonkey wrote:

I was wondering, would there be a similar fix for the weather? At the moment it has a massive impact of fps and i can't really use it.

I have a p4 based system and with a bit of juggling i can get average fps between 20 and 30 even with autogen on! which is fine for me (iv'e read that the human brain cant see the difference in frame rate once it gets above 30 anyway!). but i have to have weather low as when i change it to high it knocks of at least 10-15 fps.

rhinomonkey,

I'm with you on that !! I hate to run the weather detail low, and the high detail looks so much better, albeit the fps hit.

If it's any help, I did my own mod where I resized the clouds to a texture memory friendly size of 128x128 and 256x256. (cirrus.dds and the nimbus.dds)
The games original size are 512x512 at ~ 257kb, DXT5.
My new sizes are :
1. 128x128 ~ 22kb, DXT5.
2. 256x256 ~ 86kb, DXT5.

I've shown a remarkable increase in FPS and the clouds look the same, IMO.

If you're interested you can d/l here ;
http://files.filefront.com/bob2+128+256 ... einfo.html

Install instructions ;
1. Backup your WEATHER folder (or just the two files named CIRRUS.DDS and NIMBUS.DDS)
2. Open the zip file and you'll see two folders ... 128 and 256.
3. Pick the folder containing the size you want and unzip the two DDS files to your weather folder.

Of course, use at your own risk ... I've tested them and have no problem.
Frankly, I think for the sake of the older system's, perhaps they could resize more DDS's ... but these days the older system are far and few between.

Let me, us, or whomever know if these help at all.

Rob

NOTE : Screenshot attachment is viewing the 128x128 dds. My screen res is 1920x1200 but the image is reduced and optimized to fit here.
NOTE #2 : I'm running the following detail options ;
- wx detail=high
- object quality=max
- texture quality=max
- ground object density=full
- horizon distance=medium
NOTE #3 : I'll post this on the "Subscribers Modifications" thread too.

Attachments:

shot_004.jpg [ 225.43 KiB | Viewed 1037 times ]

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Buddye

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:25 am

BDG

Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2005 12:59 pm
Posts: 12262
Location: South East Texas, USA

Hi Mraah,

Thanks for sharing your work. I hope it is a particial solution to the weather hit on FPS for some of our players.

The game keeps growing in performance requirements with each update. Maybe it is a cost of progress but it is really good to have options for lower FPS.

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Buddye

Intel I7 920 processor (2.66GHz, 8MB cache), 6GB DDR3 Triple Channel @1333MHz, 1.8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295, Sound Blaster X-Fi PCI Sound Card, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit , CH Fighter Stick & Pedals ,TrackIR4 Pro thanks to BobII crew.

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Bader

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 3:07 pm

BDG

Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:10 pm
Posts: 9662
Location: Bletchingley, Surrey, UK.

What a tremendous idea! High Weather, Inclement stresses my system too, so anything to reduce that is very welcome.

Now I would have guessed that texture size isn't the bottleneck, but having tried the smallest files, I do detect a difference and as you say, any visual difference there may be is minimal. Great stuff.

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"Ah yes, Michael (Parkinson)," Bader replied, "But these particular Fockers were Messerschmitts..."

Intel Core I7 920 @3.57GHz
GA-EX58-UD3R Mobo
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600MHz)
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Buddye

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:22 pm

BDG

Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2005 12:59 pm
Posts: 12262
Location: South East Texas, USA

I am running with the small files (128) as well and it does make a difference in the FPS (lower). I see no big hit to the weather quality (but I usually watch the AI). I will use this mod and save my FPS for the action, trees, and new objects.

Hopefully some other players will give this mod a try and report.

New blood and new ideas (and it was so very simple, simple ideas always seem to be the best ideas, IMHO), super work, Mraah. Thanks again for your contribution to BOBII.

BTW, we always try to thank our contributors, as that is all the pay the BDG gets around here.

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xero.luck

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:08 pm

Airman

Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:25 am
Posts: 15

Thanks for this, appreciate any thing that helps my old system get a little more 'umph'.

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Doodledoo

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:27 am

Senior Airman

Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:40 am
Posts: 159

Could this weather mod be included in the 2.09 self installer when it comes out?

Doodle

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rhinomonkey

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:53 am

Senior Airman

Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am
Posts: 232

Thanks for the cloud update! it does lower my fps with high weather but still not enough to warrant having the weather on all the time unfortunately! (im now getting fps in the high teens with poor weather as a pose to low teens) i need a better system really.

thanks anyway though! great Mod!

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Mraah

Post subject: Re: graphics question for the bdg

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 4:03 am

Airman First Class

Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:08 am
Posts: 82
Location: Memphis, TN

Quite welcome everyone ... It's not a whopping FPS increase but can help ... a little.

rhinomonkey,

I forgot to mention .... regarding the BDG .... look at the PDF manual in the docs folder ... around p.268-269, in the appendix ... it describes the cloud entries and it's effects (when known).
Basically, you can tone done inclement to match poor ... but with rain showers and fog.
Fiddle around with it ... I've done some fiddlin' over the past few days ... it helps a little on FPS, varies.

Rob

BOBII WOV Manual ... Appendix A wrote:

NOTE REGARDING THE FOLLOWING CLOUD PARAMETERS: Not all of the following have been fully tested and explained as of this writing. Poor and Inclement weather are only available if weather has been set to HIGH in the in-game GFX menu. Higher values will mean fuller, thicker clouds but a corresponding hit on frame rates. The thick nimbus cloud values seem to have a much larger impact on frames per second than the higher-level cumulus clouds. As you experiment with changes, compare the values from one weather setting to the next (i.e. Fair clod cover compared to Poor Cloud cover).

Cloud_Fair_CloudCover= 140.000
Cloud_Fair_CloudDensity= 160.000
Cloud_Fair_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000
Cloud_Poor_CloudCover= 160.000
Cloud_Poor_CloudDensity= 160.000
Cloud_Poor_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000
Cloud_Poor_NimbusCover= 170.000
Cloud_Inclement_CloudCover= 220.000
Cloud_Inclement_CloudDensity= 254.000
Cloud_Inclement_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000
Cloud_Inclement_NimbusCover= 200.000
Cloud_Inclement_RainStrength= 1.000
Cloud_Inclement_FogDensity= 1.000
Cloud_Inclement_FogEndMult= 0.400

NOTE regarding Cloud Slice Height values: These are “like a pancake stacked on top of each other to build a cloud. The default is 3048 (FT_100 in the table below). Some users have reported better-looking clouds at 1500 (FT_50). The degree of impact on FPS is not yet clear with the cloud slice height.

FT_0 = 0
FT_1 = 30
FT_2 = 60
FT_3 = 92
FT_5 = 150
FT_6 = 183
FT_10 = 305
FT_20 = 609
FT_25 = 750
FT_30 = 900
FT_40 = 1219
FT_50 = 1500
FT_60 = 1829
FT_63 = 1920
FT_65 = 1981
FT_70 = 2134
FT_75 = 2286
FT_80 = 2438
FT_90 = 2743
FT_94 = 2865
FT_95 = 2895
FT_96 = 2926
FT_100 = 3048
FT_105 = 3200
FT_110 = 3350
FT_120 = 3658

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