237: P3D v2.2 Part 2 – Video Preview

| Tom Tsui

Regarding the autogen and texture problems reported in last post, the issues actually had been solved.   I was just splitting the story into 2 or 3 episodes to arouse sharings and suggestions, from which I might possible push the result further for the sweet spot.

Unexpectedly, I have some priorities to deal with in the next few weeks.   So I made the following movie clip as a Preview to Part 2 (or to be Part 2 itself).

It is also my first attempt to include video in FSX Times.  The clip was taken by iPhone over Vancouver with most autogens Continue reading →

236: P3D v2.2 Part 1 – Still No Good ?!

| Tom Tsui

With the launch of the P3D v2.2 on Monday, I did a clean install with the hope that it would bring better performance to the LM platform while solving many of its earlier reported issues, especially the three ghosts that had been haunting my system since the beginning — namely, stutters, Saitek Flight Instrument Panel (FIP) sluggishness and texture blurriness.
P3Dv22-Blurry00

Actually, over the last few weeks, the first ghost, stutters, was in general removed through the increase of the BufferPool to 900 millions as described in Post 234.

The FIP smoothness was also enhanced by assigning the first 2 CPU cores via Set Affinity option under Windows Task Manager.  Similarly, the texture blurriness was improved with the AffinityMask set to 252, which dedicated the last 6 CPU cores for the simulator.

Although it still couldn’t be said ideal, P3D v2.1 at that moment was pretty close to what FSX was performing on my rig.  Continue reading →

235: No More Basic Scheme

| Tom Tsui

Found this free utitlity, FSX Scheme Fix, at Flightsim Estonia where I purchased a copy of its FSX to P3D Migration Tool recently.

Don’t know about you, I am quite annoyed by the Windows switching to Basic Scheme while FSX is loaded.   This freeware eases my pain.

Regarding the company’s FSX to P3D Migration Tool, a bit disappointed so far.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the tool is bad.   It does greatly simplify the process of installing FSX addons onto P3D V1 or V2.   However, Continue reading →

234: Prepar3D.cfg – BufferPools

| Tom Tsui

As explained in Post 90, BufferPools could effectively reduce stutters on some systems.    Actually I was quite happy with its value set to 4,000 for a long time, until recently I upgraded to my current hardware on which FSX seems no longer benefited from it.

My Prepar3D V2 platform, on the other hand, reacts drastically different under the new 3-monitor setup.    Stutters are virtually removed when Continue reading →

233: GPS Key Mappings

| Tom Tsui

Standalone GPS panel has always been on top of my simulation gear purchasing list.   Yet, with the three monitors in place, the on-screen GPS now looks a lot more promising than ever before.

Click me to see the full size.
Click photo to see the spread-across view of the GPS on my screen

To eliminate mouse-clicking actions associated with it, keypads on my keyboard are re-mapped according to my personal preference as shown below:
Continue reading →

Cockpit: Sam Jay (CAP3, Canada)

| Tom Tsui

The cockpit of Sam Jay (Sambo71) is put in a confined fuselage with a wing-shape cover on top of it.

Builder: Sam Jay
Location: Gibson, BC, Canada
ICAO: CAP3, Sechelt Aerodrome


Continue reading →

232: Finally I am Multi-LCDs

| Tom Tsui

I’ve been talking about moving to multi-monitor setup for nearly 2 years.    Finally, here it comes my new multi-monitor setup:

3-MonitorsS
My New Multi-Monitor Setup

One major obstacle that’s been preventing me from upgrading in the past was the 30-inch monitor I’ve used for over 5 years.  It was (is) still in good condition that I couldn’t make up my mind to replace it without finding a good outlet for it.   Also, the price for getting another two 30-inch monitors was also a big concern.

Continue reading →