As some are having difficulty accessing the site I posted here is the text
from the relevant page which I cut and pasted into notepad to make the edits
easier. I hope that's OK and there is no copyright issue, if so I plead
guilty.
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FS9 Tips and Tweaks for better performance and graphics.
MS Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) is probably the most demanding program that
you will run on your computer. FS9 is truly a program that will run better
on a high end machine, the higher end the better but that doesn't mean that
you can't run and enjoy FS9 on a lower end machine!
One of the files we will play with the most is the "FS9.cfg".
I will state now and this can not be overstated! CREATE A BACK-UP OF ANY
FILES YOU MAY BE ALTERING!! It takes just a second and you'll be glad you
did if something may go wrong.
Also all these tips and tweaks I have done with no bad outcomes, this may
not be the case with you so use these at your own risk and remember MAKE A
BACK-UP!!
Ok lets get started!
You ask, this FS9.cfg? Where is it?
The FS9.cfg is located in your "application data" folder:
Windows 2000/XP:
C:Documents and settings\[user name]\Application data\Microsoft\FS9\FS9.cfg
Windows 9(x)
C:Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9\FS9.cfg
NOTE: The Application Data folder is a hidden file!, you will need to enable
"view hidden files/folders" under the folders option in Explorer.
Now that you found this all important file MAKE A BACK-UP NOW! (you may want
to lable it "FS9ORG.cfg", or similar so you know this is the original) it
doesn't hurt to make a back-up after each tweak that way if you perform a
tweak that doesn't work you don't have to revert to the original and start
all over from the begining.
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HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE FRAMERATES?
Open your FS9.cfg file and find the header [GRAPHICS]:
Look for "TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=X"
Change the current number "X" to one of the following:
1024- high texture detail (low fps)
512-high texture detail (low fps)
256- medium texture details (mediun fps)
128- low texture details (high fps)
Save your file and exit
The lower the number the uglier the textures but higher the frame rates, I
use 256 for a decent balance of texture quaility and frame rates. Play with
the numbers to find the best balance for you.
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HOW CAN I IMPROVE THE LOOK OF GROUND TEXTURES?
Open your "FS9.cfg" file and modify the following lines:
TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.800000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4.800000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1242456
Save file and exit
This works great for clear extended ground textures!
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HOW CAN I GET GOOD LOOKING CLOUDS AND REDUCE 2D CLOUD IMPOSTERS?
Use MS ultra high default setup:
Set your cloud draw distance to 40Mi, cloud precentage to 90-100% or with
the slider at the bottom set cloud density to MAX
Higher system, cloud draw distant more than to 40Mi, cloud precentage to
90/100
% cloud density to the max.
(with all grapical improvement frame rate may suffer, bare this in mind it
is all give and take)
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HOW TO DISABLE THE AGP TEXTURE ACCELERATION WITHOUT DISABLING IT FROM
DIRECT-X?
Make this change to the "FS9.cfg":
Under your display graphics card( ex. DISPLAY.Device NVIDIA GeForce 5200)
Mode=1024X768X32
TriLinear=1
TextureAGP=0 (Add this line!)
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WHEN I SWITCH VIEWS, I GET COLORED "POPPING" TEXTURES, HOW CAN I FIX THIS?
In the "FS9.cfg" under the [DISPLAY] header
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40 (change 40 to a higher number ex.400)
This setting controls the rate at which textures get transfered to the video
card. Higher numbers will result in the textures getting to the video card
faster and avoid "popping" textures when switching views BUT may increase
"stutters" and require more physical memory on the video card so this is not
recomended for cards with lower than 128Mb.
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PERFORMANCE BOOST?
Enable T&L (transform and lighting)
This should increase your frames near 4fps
Antialasing
Antialasing from within FS9 will reduce your performance greatly. Uncheck AA
in your display settings within FS9 and ONLY us AA froma external tweaker or
from your video card settings.
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BETTER PERFORMANCE IN 2D PANEL MODE AND OTHER AREAS
By disabling the AGP Texture Acceleration your performance will increase
especially with 2d panels and other areas. (you do not need to turn this off
under DirectX it is the same function as inside the FS9.cfg)
In the "FS9.cfg" under "DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce.blah blah"
Mode=1024X768X32
TriLinear=1
TextureAGP=0 (add this line)
PanelAsTexture=0 (add this line)
By adding the panel as texture line your performance will increase
especially with 2d panels and 3rd party aircraft, but it may cause 2d panels
to "blank-out" if you have AA enabled inside FS9, so make certain you have
AA disabled from within the game and enable it from your video card
settings.
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HOW CAN I TURN OFF FLYING TIPS?
This is a option located under "Realism" settings on the primary settings
screen, open the "realism" window and you'll see a check box in the upper
right.
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WHERE ARE MY FLIGHTS SAVED?
Windows 2000/XP systems:
C:\Documents and settings\[user name]\My Documents\Flight Simulator files
Windows 9(x):
C:\My Documents\Flight Simulator files
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HOW CAN I CHANGE RUNWAY LIGHT SETTINGS?
Change this in the "FS9.cfg"
under the [DISPLAY] header
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=1.0 (scales edge,center,end,touchdown,runways)
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_VASI_SCALAR=1.0 (scales VASI lights)
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_APPROACH_SCALAR=1.0 (scales approach lights)
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_STROBE_SCALAR=1.0 (scales RAILs and ODALs)
NOTE: The more you lower the numbers, the more the light will decrease in
size. 0.5, 0.005 etc
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THE PANNING SPEED IS TO SLOW!! HOW CAN I SPEED IT UP?
In the "FS9.cfg" look for
PAN_RATE=400
Change the "400" to a higher number "900" for example
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CAN I BYPASS THE OPENING SCREEN?
Change this in the
FS9.cfg under the [STARTUP] header
DEMO=0
LOADSIM=1
SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=0 (change this from 1 to 0)
STARTUP_DEMO=0
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DO YOU WANT TO SEE HIGH/LOW/AVERAGE FPS?
In the FS9.cfg under the header [MAIN]
Location=316,222,964,756
HideMenuNormal=0
HideMenuFullscreen=1
Maximized=0
Ave_Frame_Rate_Display=1 (add this line)
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HOW CAN I PAN THE OUTSIDE VIEW WHEN IN 2D COCKPIT MODE?
Add this line in "FS9.cfg" under the [CONTROLS] header
PAN_IN_COCKPIT_MODE=1
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HOW DO I TURN OFF THE "RED" BRAKES MESSAGE?
Change this in the FS9.cfg under the [SIM] header
SHOW_BRAKE_MESSAGE=0
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WHAT ARE THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS IN THE [TERRAIN] SECTION OF THE FS9.cfg?
TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=96.000000
(this is the value from 0-100 that control the DEM radius (it is linear in
area))
TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000
(this is the lowest value used to caculate the DEM radius based upon the
TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR)
TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000
(This is the highest value used to calculate the DEM radius)
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19
This controls the DEM resolution
18=150m DEM
19=75m DEM
20=37m DEM
21=19m DEM
TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8
This controls terrain texture size. Valid values are:
8=256X256
7=128X128
6=64X64
TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=4
This controls autogen density
TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1
This turns on/off the gradient map (cliffs)
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1
This turns on/off the extended texture ring
TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS="X"
This is the default radius in textures for all rings, default is 2.5
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS="X"
This is the radius used for the inner ring when the extended texture ring is
turned on, default is 4.0
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS="X"
This is the number of rings to add when using extended texture rings,
default is 1
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HOW CAN I ADD VISUAL DAMAGE EFFECT TO AIRCRAFT?
Add the following line after the "ui_variation" line in the "aircraft.cfg"
file for each aircraft you wish to display the damage effect:
VISUAL_DAMAGE=1
You must also check "detect crash and reset situation" in the simulator
realism settings.
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HOW CAN I DISABLE THE WARNING MESSAGE ON START UP ABOUT NON COMPATIBLE
MODULES?
Add the following line to the FS9.cfg:
[OldModules]
name of dll=1
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HOW CAN I STOP THE AUTOPILOT FROM AUTOMATICALLY TURNING ON THE WING LEVELER?
Add the following line to the "Autopilot" section of the "aircraft.cfg" file
for each aircraft:
use_no_default_bank=1
use_no_default_pitch=1
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HOW DO I BACK UP FROM THE GATE?
With the push-back function:
"Shift+P" to start going back
"Shift+P then1" (1 on the main keyboard not the num pad!) to back up and
turn left
"Shift+P then2 "to back up and turn right
"Shift+P" again to stop
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HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THE PANEL LIGHTING?
Here is a setting to try I use mine on my DC3
[color]
Day=255,255,255
Night=60,21,21
Luminous=140,85,2
this setting can be found in the aircraft of your chices folder which inside
you will find a "panel" folder and inside there you will find the
"panel.cfg" .
Don't forget sometimes a aircraft may use a alias panel from another
aircraft, if so changing these values will change them to all aircraft in
which use the same panel. Try a few different conbinations, by changing
numbers you can get different brightnesses,color etc!
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Well there are a few tips and tweaks that may or may not give you some help,
but never hurts to try.
Again make certain you make a copy of any file you may modify just in case
something doesn't go as planned.
Have fun with them and don't be afraid to play with some settings who knows
you may find something I have missed! And if you do or you have something to
add to this list please let us know!
This tips and tweaks came from various sources most unknown and most came
from my own experimenting, I have probably logged more tweaking hours than
flight! LOL
Happy Landings
Doorknob