One from today

[Paul K]

I've had a great day with P3D v2.3, Opus weather engine, REX cloud textures and Orbx Global scenery...plus the latest Nvidia driver, a rebuilt Shader cache, and the barest minimum of Nvidia Inspector settings. All too often, I end up tweaking, reinstalling and generally fighting the software. Not so today; the hours have flown past ( arf ! ).

[Airspeed]

Glad you enjoyed the flight.
Where were you going with that US registration, Paul?

[Paul K]

Just touring the area around Langley AFB near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, Mike. I'd spent a lot of the day doing a repaint of A2A's Piper Cherokee, and took a break by practicing my skills in their equally superb Cessna Skyhawk. Along with the Cub, they're the only add-on aircraft I have installed at the moment. The latest Nvidia driver ( 344.11 ) seems to have improved performance a little, but it was all pretty smooth even before that. P3DV2.3 is excellent, and there is talk of v2.4 before very much longer. That's why I'm not installing too many extra aircraft right now - well, maybe one or two more.

[Garry Russell]

Mind you Mike, US can be anywhere. There are hundreds based in Eruope

[DaveB]

I'm not struck on the P3D sea at all (though the rest looks fine)

I installed the latest nvidia driver a few days ago with mixed results in FSX. Didn't clear the shaders mind you.. something I meant to do but never got around to it. The latest driver optimises the 900 series so probably does nowt for my 560 I upgraded as the last driver wasn't too hot.. the hope is this one will be better

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Yep Dave, I agree, the sea is pretty unconvincing in P3D. Since installing Global, Vector and Pilots FTX mesh, I've explored some out-of-the-way areas including Tierra del Fuego, and while the aforementioned add-ons do a wonderful job, the impression is marred by the poor water representation. It needs sorting out and I think LM are acutely aware of it, given the feedback on the forum.

[DaveB]

Rgr that Paul

I wonder why they chose to fiddle with the FSX water.. ok, it's a frame killer but it looks good for the most part and I'm a difficult customer to convince Thinking about it.. is the P3D water more dynamic? Can't remember now

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Dave, with the water detail slider set towards the right, yes, there is movement, but just how convincing it is ..is probably down to the beholder ( it wouldn't pass muster with rufty-tufty old sea dogs like me and thee ).

The only way I can describe the movement is that it looks like a piece of rippled frosted glass, like that fitted in a bathroom window, but coloured dark blue, and being moved around beneath another piece of flat normal glass. At low wind speeds, there are small waves near the point of view and then at a certain distance away, it goes from small waves to rollers, as you can see in this picture taken from the A2A Cub. Not very good, really.




Once the wind gets up, it becomes a little more convincing, because the difference between waves close to the view point and those rollers further away is less marked, as you can see in this picture. Its still not right, but it is better.




People say that whitecaps are modeled, but I rather think they are mistaking the reflection of sunlight for white caps, as you can see in the picture above at lower left centre. I've never seen anything very convincing in that regard in P3D - IL2 Cliffs of Dover does whitecaps in the English Channel superbly well.

What you definitely don't have in P3D is the waves rapidly breaking against the shore that you have in FSX - which is a relief.

PS. By the way, if you haven't got A2A's Piper Cub, I do recommend it. I only got it recently, and am rather impressed.

[DaveB]

Hi Paul

Yes.. I'm inclined to agree that those whitecaps are more reflection than whitecap As for the A2A Cub.. I've so many things that fly slow, I don't really need anymore.. not of the payware variety anyway. Having recently bought Ant's T28 Trojan B/C (I wanted the C for carrier ops) and just a few moments ago, the FSAddons Anson.. I'm a bit spent out which is a relief The verdict is out on the Anson BTW. I've just taken the 19 up for a few ccts of Alderney and all I can say for now is that I expected more from this. It's almost like Simon Smeiman is different people I tend to use his Storch as a benchmark and for me, the Gladiator and Anson don't compare. Anyway.. that's another story for another thread.

Noticing your avatar btw.. I received my dad's Arctic Star in the week. He'd have been thrilled to bits

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

I'm going to be rather disappointed if there are major problems with the Anson.

Leaving that aside, and more importantly...the Arctic Star, Dave. Was your father R.N. or Merchant Navy , or in another service up there beyond the qualifying latitude?