Ok here we go again

Drivers I recommend ATI 4.12 Beta w/4.11 CCC and NVIDIA 66.81 or latest Whql

These are general settings for ATI and NVIDIA cards


If using anisotropic filtering in your driver control panel disable in il2setup.exe under custom settings on video tab:

Texture anisotropic extension

For a quick boost in frames set filtering to bilinear. Your drivers will try and force Trilinear so no need to enable a high filtering value.

I do not use S3TC texture compression on any card with over 128mb of ram.



In the main IL2/PF folder find your conf.ini file, open in notepad

Look for this line:

Effects=1

Setting effects to 0 removes shadows under flak bursts etc to improve performance slightly.

DO NOT USE EFFECTS 2 this is not designed for current hardware but for future use.

In this line:

Forest=3

Forest can be set to 1 on older cards, low memory system, or slower CPU’s. 2 will work fine for most. Newer cards with 256MB should be able to use 3.

In this line:

Water=1

Setting water to 1 will increase performance on most cards in perfect mode, water 2 uses more CPU and memory, water 3 currently only works with NVIDIA 6800 series cards supporting Pixel Shader 3.0. Water 0, 1, and 2 all use PS 2.0 the more common Pixel Shader available.

Some users with older cards should set this line:

ForceShaders1x=0

To 1. This will force the use of older Pixel Shader 1.0 technology and increase performance again

If you experience flickering textures locate this line:

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

And set to as listed above.


Sound:

44100 uses the most memory and should only be used on Audigy cards for best performance.

22050 should work best for most.

Set to minimal for fastest play, higher settings should be used on newer Audigy sound cards and not onboard sound. Balanced is probably as high as you would want to go with an onboard system.

I use 44100 and 32 channels on the audigy 2...

On board sound users make sure to select EAX1 in the sound properties. If you select higher values there is a good risk of timeouts in online play. These are usually displayed as not being able to join a server or being booted (removed) shortly after joining.



Minimum and recommended system specs

Supported OS: Windowsâ© 98 / Me / XP / 2000
Processor:
Minimum: Pentiumâ® III or AMD Athlon â"ž¢ 1 GHz
Recommended: P4 3 GHz or above
RAM:
Minimum: 512 Mb
Recommended: 1 GB or more
Video Card:
Minimum: DirectX â® 9 compatible, 64 Mb
Recommended: 128 Mb or more
Sound Card:
Minimum: DirectX â® 9 compatible
Recommended: Audigy series
Free HD space after install: 1.1+ GB
Network Play: high speed internet connection with minimum delay is highly recommended


OK once again IMO the min specs are understated for ‘real’ game play on the processor side and video side.

I would say 2 GHz min on CPU and 128 Min on video card. DX 9 compatible again being key. Older cards and even new GF MX version are not DX 9 compatible.

OK with that said if you are doing an upgrade to AEP install:

My personal preference is a clean install.

Most older missions/campaigns will not be compatible due to pointer changes in PF.

Skins can be backed up.

On your user settings and conf.ini. Backing them up is OK but newer values are being written also so a clean start is best.

Yes I know I’ll hear slot of crying about that and some experts will say boo but that’s my opinion on the install.

Install Forgotten Battles reboot. Install Aces Expansion Pack reboot. Install Pacific Fighters reboot. Set to taste.

You have many new key assignments in PF and many new values in the conf.ini once again I prefer a clean slate.

If you choose to do an install over AEP patched version you may see stutter or some crashes. This is what I have seen in my testing of the installs. This may not happen to all but those who do experience it do a clean install.

Pacific Fighters stand alone install will not be compatible online with Pacific fighters add on.


If you wish to change the max number of speech subtitle lines displayed on the screen at any given time, open the conf.ini file with notepad, and locate the SubTitlesLines setting under the [game] section. Then set the setting to the desired number of lines. For example, to set it to a maximum of two lines at any time, you should have this:
[game]
SubTitlesLines=2

If the lines are not present you can copy/paste this SubTitlesLines=2 portion and add under the game section to limit the lines. Less chat in game uses fewer resources

Logging
Make sure logging is off. If you are not running a program that needs it… Logging eats up memory and CPU cycles continuously writing to the file and creates stutter. This is especially important for online play and servers.

LOG=0
LOGTIME=0
LOGFILE=log.lst
LOGKEEP=0

Yes I understand people wish to log details at times but overall it is a problem more than an answer.

Overclocking.

If you are overclocking and experience issues. Set your system back to default and test. IL2 AEP and more so PF are very demanding and can error out much easier than your average. Prime 95, memtest, and programs of the like are great but cannot determine absolute stability and should not be considered as a 'true' test of a stable system.... Many will not agree with that statement but hey... I'm not here for a popularity contest


Installation issues:

If using clonecd or alchohol disable the virtual drive...it may require you to uninstall these to work.

Installshield errors (usually 1628) delete the contents of the windows temp file and attempt install again.

auto run errors.... right click on the cd and select explore. Click on setup.exe and execute program...this has been an ongoing problem with the installer since FB.

General system issues....

make sure to have DX 9.0C installed, if you are installing DX 9.0C make sure to reinstall your motherboard drivers after. It is always best to uninstall vido carddrivers prior to a DX upgrade then install mobo drivers then install video drivers...this should resolve a AGP acceleration unavailable issue.

HEAT... if you are experiencing frequent crashes while playing .... humor me and remove the side cover from your case, if you have a small house fan present place it so it blows on your system...if you experience no more crashes then you can narrow down the issue as heat related.

NOTE: If you install the new PF exe and are using a 'no cd' dll this will not work. The rts.dll from the disc is needed and disc 2 used to launch game

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hunter82,

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Drivers I recommend ATI 4.10 and NVIDIA 66.81

These are general settings for ATI and NVIDIA cards

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One question, is your recommendation for GF FX 5600Ultra 256mb card the 66.81 drivers? Just asking before I switch pcs so I can make sure I have it on hand. Thanks Hunter.

THANK You Hunter
I did get an increase using some of those.
Do you think Kamikaze02.ntrk would be a good benchmark for PF?
I've only had PF installed for a couple of hours so I'm still playing with it, one thing I noticed is that with ansio disabled, I increased the res to 16x12, looks MUCH BETTER and didn't take as much of an fps drop as I did at 1024x768 with ansio enabled.

Yep....can't judge results right now as I do not have a card of that type to test on.

quote:

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Originally posted by GT182:

quote:

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Drivers I recommend ATI 4.10 and NVIDIA 66.81

These are general settings for ATI and NVIDIA cards

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One question, is your recommendation for GF FX 5600Ultra 256mb card the 66.81 drivers? Just asking before I switch pcs so I can make sure I have it on hand. Thanks Hunter.

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Yep I'm running in 1600X1200 also. The kamikaze track is a good bench but like the black death track it has a stutter point that is in the track

quote:

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Originally posted by ednew:
THANK You Hunter
I did get an increase using some of those.
Do you think Kamikaze02.ntrk would be a good benchmark for PF?
I've only had PF installed for a couple of hours so I'm still playing with it, one thing I noticed is that with ansio disabled, I increased the res to 16x12, looks MUCH BETTER and didn't take as much of an fps drop as I did at 1024x768 with ansio enabled.

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Good stuff. Thanks B.

I still plan on leaving my PF as a stand-alone until the patch comes out (and hopefully the dedicated server), but once it does, I'll do a clean install of the lot.

To make sure I understand...If I want the combination FB+AEP+PF, I do NOT need to install any of the AEP patches? (i.e. 2.01 and 2.04)

TB

No need to install patches Thunderbolt.

Also, if you want to install the combination, just copy your fb-aep folder and name it differently. Then install PF over the original one. You can still play all three!

While still somewhat on subject Hunter or Coastie, I notice still that I take a small hit in fps when using mirrors, including when flying planes that do not use them (i.e., say I'm flying a Yak and toggle mirrors off my fps jumps up a little).

This was a noted issue a while ago, but some said it was resolved. It has always been this way for me, and continues to be in PF.

Is this the case with you guys also?

Two thumbs up for B man! Nuff said

My tech . problem is I have P4 3.4 E processor , GeForce 6800 ultra ,Audigy gamer,2 G dual chanel mem. 3200.settinng in game 1024x768x32 video NVidia GeForce 6800/6600/FX/4/3.and AA 2xQ,Anisot. Filter.4x My game runs very nice with water = 1 visual efect = 1 but with water=3 runs like . Vis. efect=2 are look (cool) nice vithout big problem ... I want to know what system can run this playble. I think my sys. schould so what is wrong with this. Seems like little scam to me. And Anisotropic fil. 8x so du u think some patch or new driver can fix this NO. ONE issue (in my opinion)????

Thanks for the great tips, Hunter. I have a couple of questions. If I do clean installs of FB, AEP and PF, do I uninstall them first or just reinstall over them? If I do uninstall, will I lose my existing campaigns and stats? Thanks.

ATT HUNTER

hello,
first of all thanks for the great help which has rendered our sim playable .I have one last problem for which i seek your help:

when playing,the sim freezes meaning that the "enemy has arrived" average 10 planes appearing in one flight,this lasts for about a full second or two and then it "unfreezes".What is the reason and solution.
regards
aminx

Mirrors are rendered on AC that do not have them in the background if left enabled IMO... you must make sure mirrors are off. No fix currently

quote:

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Originally posted by TacticalYak3:
While still somewhat on subject Hunter or Coastie, I notice still that I take a small hit in fps when using mirrors, including when flying planes that do not use them (i.e., say I'm flying a Yak and toggle mirrors off my fps jumps up a little).

This was a noted issue a while ago, but some said it was resolved. It has always been this way for me, and continues to be in PF.

Is this the case with you guys also?

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Have you downloaded the dgen beta on PF discussion page ? IF so you may need to change dgen properties to lighten intensity.

quote:

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Originally posted by aminx:
ATT HUNTER

hello,
first of all thanks for the great help which has rendered our sim playable .I have one last problem for which i seek your help:

when playing,the sim freezes meaning that the "enemy has arrived" average 10 planes appearing in one flight,this lasts for about a full second or two and then it "unfreezes".What is the reason and solution.
regards
aminx

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Uninstall. You'll need to back up your folders to save missions. I'll try and find a link with instructions shortly

quote:

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Originally posted by buffscrum:
Thanks for the great tips, Hunter. I have a couple of questions. If I do clean installs of FB, AEP and PF, do I uninstall them first or just reinstall over them? If I do uninstall, will I lose my existing campaigns and stats? Thanks.

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These settings at just great

I've got a awful 128Mb FX 5200 with only 768Mb RAM and this has made the game just that bit better.

Thanks, m8

Hot Space

Thanks for the tips, Hunter. I'll keep my eyes open for the link.

quote:

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These settings at just great
I've got a awful 128Mb FX 5200 with only 768Mb RAM and this has made the game just that bit better.

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Boy, am I glad to hear that. I've got the same card and the same amount of RAM!

Thanks Hunter. When I get my new pc with the 5600Ultra running I'll let ya know how it is. Won't be for a few days yet as I'm waiting for a new temp probe to come in from Thermaltake.

quote:

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Originally posted by buffscrum:
Thanks for the tips, Hunter. I'll keep my eyes open for the link.

quote:

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These settings at just great
I've got a awful 128Mb FX 5200 with only 768Mb RAM and this has made the game just that bit better.

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Boy, am I glad to hear that. I've got the same card and the same amount of RAM!

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Yep, it's like having a new G.C and more RAM, m8

Hot Space

I might be daydreaming but doesn't 66.81 make fogs disappear? I noticed when I was watching torpedo attack or skipbomb attack tracks. I'm back to 65.73. 6800GT here.