87 Days of Cactus 2022 Campaign - Page 2
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Thread: 87 Days of Cactus 2022 Campaign

  1. #26

    2nd reply

    Quote Originally Posted by UncleTgt View Post
    Dirtman,

    Henderson makes use of Wolfis forest & palm trees

    I found that the textures used by these objects, in anything other than DXT1 format, lower framerates.

    The other "new" objects were the open-sided hangars I made. These objects also, by their nature, make extensive use of alpha channel transparency.

    I saved the texture bitmaps as 555-1 format. Maybe you'll see an improvement if you save them as dxt1 ( with alpha) format?
    If they are also used on the left side (when sitting on the runway) of "Fighter 1" .. then Wolfi's trees would seem to be the problem.
    - front, right & rear views are all 30-70+ fps
    - left side is 1.8 fps ... a tad on low-side eh?

    Am I the only one with this problem?
    Maybe .. I'm pretty sure Gawd hates me...
    Maybe I've missed sumething stoopid?



    I have a couple of questions for those who are flying Cactus:

    1) I wonder what kind of fps you guys are getting @ Henderson & Fighter 1?
    Specifically:
    when sitting on the runway; front & left side

    2) What video card do you have? How many GB's of VRAM?

    Dunno howta check yer fps?
    Hit: Shift + Z twice & Bob's yer Uncle!

    This is my Henderson:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  2. #27
    Dirtman
    I forgot how to get a screen shot and post it but my FPS is .010 +1 Gs. A little lower than some of my other installs at same point. Some others are.20.. One was 58.

  3. #28
    @ Kurt
    Great job on the installer for '87 Days'. An easy 'slamdunk' on a vanilla CFS2 install.
    Don't have a PTO Rhumba Basic, went with what you put in the package and
    Very Happy about it.
    No problems with the Mission Builder.
    Thanks for all the hard work.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    @ Dirtman
    Henderson & Fighter 1
    Views:
    front, left, right, rear.
    FPS:
    50-60+ +1.0 Gs
    Code:
    ------------------
    System Information
    ------------------
                 Machine name: DESKTOP-E0LFLEU
             Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 19044) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
                 System Model: HP ProDesk 400 G2.5 SFF
                    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590S CPU @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
                       Memory: 8192MB RAM
          Available OS Memory: 8138MB RAM
                    Page File: 4503MB used, 4915MB available
                  Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
              DirectX Version: DirectX 12
    ---------------
    Display Devices
    ---------------
               Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 710
               Chip type: GeForce GT 710
                DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
             Device Type: Full Device
          Display Memory: 6076 MB
        Dedicated Memory: 2007 MB
           Shared Memory: 4069 MB


    'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.
    - Gen. Douglas MacArthur -

  4. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Worthless View Post
    No problems with CFS2, but Mission Bldr. crashes. I get to the main screen and as soon as the box opens showing scenery generation, I get CTD.
    Worthless,

    Pinning this down is problematic, as my install & mission builder work fine.

    Feedback suggests it's a problem with the Solomons_UT scenery excludes.

    Workaround 1: Remove the scenery excludes when you do any work in mission builder

    Possible solution: I re-jigged the exclude are boundaries & recompiled them. Try these, let them overwrite what's there.

    Load the sim - check it out first

    Then try loading Mission Builder

    Let me know if it works for you.
    Attached Files Attached Files

  5. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Bwf. View Post
    @ Kurt
    Great job on the installer for '87 Days'. An easy 'slamdunk' on a vanilla CFS2 install.
    Don't have a PTO Rhumba Basic, went with what you put in the package and
    Very Happy about it.
    No problems with the Mission Builder.
    Thanks for all the hard work.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    @ Dirtman
    Henderson & Fighter 1
    Views:
    front, left, right, rear.
    FPS:
    50-60+ +1.0 Gs
    Code:
    ------------------
    System Information
    ------------------
                 Machine name: DESKTOP-E0LFLEU
             Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 19044) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
                 System Model: HP ProDesk 400 G2.5 SFF
                    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590S CPU @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
                       Memory: 8192MB RAM
          Available OS Memory: 8138MB RAM
                    Page File: 4503MB used, 4915MB available
                  Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
              DirectX Version: DirectX 12
    ---------------
    Display Devices
    ---------------
               Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 710
               Chip type: GeForce GT 710
                DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
             Device Type: Full Device
          Display Memory: 6076 MB
        Dedicated Memory: 2007 MB
           Shared Memory: 4069 MB

    Dirtman.

    I know from my PNG work that CFS 2 doesn't like lots of tree objects in the field of view (of any variety). But Wolfi's palm trees, although the nicest, are frame rate hogs.

    I just think it's the sheer number of them in use.

    I got much smoother results by increasing the size of the scenery cache (at the top of the scenery.cfg)

    As shipped, this is set at 10M. Setting from within the sim the limit is 200M, but by using Notepad to edit I currently have it at 400M (if you have the free disk space, why not?).

    My specs:

    Intel i5-2500K CPU@3.30GHz 3.70GHz
    8GB RAM
    Nvidia GTX1650 4GB
    Win 7 Home Premium (offline)

    I see

    300 fps+ clear sky
    150-200 fps land/sea/cloud mixture
    70-125 fps collection of objects
    50-75 fps Wolfis forests, or mixed MR/LW trees
    30-35 fps large numbers of Wolfis palmtrees

    This was flying in QC, heading 120 to cross the coast. When I look left down the line of Wolfis palmtrees at the NE corner of Henderson I get the lowest FRs.

    Ideas:

    gsl that uses less trees
    increase the number of LODs that Wolfis Palmtrees use?
    Develop a simpler palmtree object that's better on FRs, without looking stupid (easy, right?)

  6. #31

    Icon12 Yo HP

    Quote Originally Posted by highpockets View Post
    Dirtman
    I forgot how to get a screen shot and post it but my FPS is .010 +1 Gs. A little lower than some of my other installs at same point. Some others are.20.. One was 58.
    Thanks for the info Brother, it's much appreciated.
    Congrats on being part of Cactus!

    Don't feel bad ... I'm 65 and working thru "CRS" too! LOL!!!

    Screenshot:
    1) hit the "Prt Sc" keyboard key (right side of top row)
    2) open MS Paint
    3) hit "paste"
    4) alter or crop pic as you wish
    5) hit "Save As" .jpg or whatever you'd like
    6) save to desktop or where ever the mood strikes you

    Upload image:
    1)from the buttons above - right below the "smilie" is a square, hover your mouse over it: "Insert Image" & click
    2) locate the pic on yer PC & hit "upload"
    3) then "insert"

    Hope this helps ya Bro ... we all have our "bears to cross" ... or sumthing like that?


    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  7. #32

    Aaaha!!!

    Many Thanks for the detailed specs - the problem is coming into focus - looks like I've got a "video ponies" problem.

    BFF - GT710 (I got one in an i5) 2 GB DDR3 VRAM + 4 GB shared RAM = 6GB NICE setup & fr's!

    UT - Nvidia GTX1650 4GB .. NICE! - Gonna use this a standard spec & maybe go up to 6-8 GB (for future expansion)
    - if it runs on yers then it'll run on mine


    Poor Durtman only got 2 GB - ya don't need to be Bert Einstein to figger this one out! V = $$$ squared



    Kinda lookin' like a trip to the "Toy Store" (Canada Computers is a "big box" store up here) & get me a new card to fix this poo.

    They recently opened a new location right down my street.
    This place is HUGE - about the size of 3 NFL fields .. I get "aroused" every time I walk thru the door!
    Like the size of a Walmart Super - but only sells computer stuff.

    Definitely NOT THE PLACE TO BE if you are a computer junkie and have a VISA card with a high limit!!!!




    Thanx again;
    - Durt
    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  8. #33
    Dirtman
    Thanks for the instruction on screen shots. I had been using Fraps free version for a long time and now it appears that I need to purchase to convert to .jpg which is what the attachments section will accept in the forum..
    Glad you figured out your problem on the FPS. Much of what was discussed was a bit "Greek" to me!

  9. #34

    Icon12 Back at cha

    Quote Originally Posted by highpockets View Post
    Dirtman
    Thanks for the instruction on screen shots.
    You are very welcome Sir


    Quote Originally Posted by highpockets View Post
    I had been using Fraps free version for a long time and now it appears that I need to purchase to convert to .jpg which is what the attachments section will accept in the forum..
    MS Paint will allow you to change the format of any picture file.
    It is already in your PC Just look in the main menu

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Are ya good to go now?



    Quote Originally Posted by highpockets View Post
    Glad you figured out your problem on the FPS. Much of what was discussed was a bit "Greek" to me!
    Still a bit shocked my GTX 750 TI isn't up to the job of Cactus ... oh well I guess time (& tech) keep moving forward.
    On the other hand - CFS2 will look BETTER THAN EVER

    I've located a $500 solution & will pick it up in a day or 2
    Have a look: https://www.canadacomputers.com/prod...item_id=204651

    I'm (long & happily) divorced .. so I don't need to ask for permission. LOL!!!

    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  10. #35
    Dirtman
    Whoa! $500 for video card!!
    My system:

    Dell system
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.10 GHz
    8.00 GB installed ram
    AMD Radeon HD 5450

  11. #36

    Get MGrab

    Quote Originally Posted by highpockets View Post
    Dirtman
    Thanks for the instruction on screen shots. I had been using Fraps free version for a long time and now it appears that I need to purchase to convert to .jpg which is what the attachments section will accept in the forum..
    Glad you figured out your problem on the FPS. Much of what was discussed was a bit "Greek" to me!
    Hey HP:

    Try: GrabClipSave for your screen shots, it's free too. http://www.etrusoft.com/screen-capture-software-reviews/GrabClipSave.htm

    PS:

    Oh, no!
    I meant MGrab from our old friend Martin Wright. (my CRS is working overtime today )

    Anyway, I'm gonna transfer a virgin install to this comp (Win 10) and see if I can duplicate Dirtman's problem either here or on my win7 system.
    Last edited by Shadow Wolf 07; March 28th, 2022 at 19:19.
    "De Oppresso Liber"

  12. #37

    Lightbulb MultiGrab by Martin Wright

    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow Wolf 07 View Post
    I meant MGrab from our old friend Martin Wright.
    Yo Wolfman & HP;

    I think you mean: MultiGrab by Martin Wright (Screen Grab Utility)

    Since CFS2 -day1, I've always done screenshots 1 at a time thru Paint.
    I've heard of MGrab or MultiGrab for many years but never tried it. (old habits die hard? .. old dog - new trick?)
    Thanks to Wolfman & HP ... I tracked it down this morning.

    Find it here: http://www.mwgfx.co.uk/programs/mgrab.htm

    ALSO a 2nd d/l at the bottom of the page




    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow Wolf 07 View Post
    Anyway, I'm gonna transfer a virgin install to this comp (Win 10) and see if I can duplicate Dirtman's problem either here or on my win7 system.

    Why not wait & do it on the Win8.1 LT when it comes back from "the PC hospital" ?
    Your Win10 is running so hot this might overheat the crap outta it.
    What if it caught on fire? ... then set Max on fire? ... he wouldn't appreciate that at all!

    I am as certain as I can be, (without personally testing it) that Cactus will load & run properly on any of your laptops.


    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


    For me? ... this entire issue is MY problem.
    It should not reflect negatively upon the Cactus Team's work as they've done a excellent job bringing Cactus into 2022.

    I deeply appreciate the time taken by all of you to assist me.
    Thank You ALL VERY MUCH,

    When I bought the GTX750 TI it was more than capable of handling anything I could throw at it.
    But that was 7 years ago and time & tech have constantly moved forward ... so it's time to update my vid. Pure & simple.

    Thanks Again to the Cactus team - sorry to be a bother to yous.
    Your campaign looks GREAT & I'm dying to start flying it ... with FULL ON graphics!

    - And only my new friend HP knows why!

    - Durt
    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  13. #38
    Thanks, Captain Kurt
    UncleTgt
    Skylane &
    Highpockets


    Cheers mav

  14. #39
    SOH-CM-2024
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Mc Dowall, Brisbane,Australia
    Age
    74
    Posts
    182

    Icon26 87 Days of Cactus

    Hi All ,
    I just wanted to say to all those people who developed 87 Days of Cactus; how much I am enjoying flying it !!!

    Thanks to all who put so much time & effort into it.

    Regards to all the develpoers,
    Thanks,
    1150.

    PS. I never realized the Bell P-400 was such a tired worn out dog to fly. Hell I just want a chance now to fly a Grummam F4F Wildcat !!!!

  15. #40
    I was glad to be a small part of this. Captain Kurt did the grunt work and the other two quite a bit of communication detail to the Captain for a/c tweaks, scenery,tweaks etc. I had flown test mission for Rami a few years ago after he had completed the missions. This was a work in progress and I found out it is a LOT of work communicating back and forth after test flying.
    Lots of fun though!!
    The other guys may not acknowledge so I will for them. Appreciate your appreciation.

  16. #41

    87 days questions

    Very rusty with this stuff.

    I've installed 87 days to a fresh CFS install. Inspecting the Scenery config I noted that none of Rhumba watermasks and LOD mesh are installed. I added the 87 days to an install I had with Rhumba's stuff installed and noted the shorelines of 87 days do not appear.

    Does this mean all of the Great UT addons will not work if I try to install them in the 87 days version? (Also the Maskrider (RIP) Philippines works great in the 87days but not in the Rhumba versions)

    Thanx
    PSULLYKEYS

    The only thing necessary for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.

  17. #42
    I had redrawn the Islands specifically so Rhumbas mesh could be used - its a much more immersive experience.

    The shorelines should show.

    I created some new shoreline types for this scenery. If you're not getting the green & blue squares, you probably have all the shoreline bitmaps copied to the cfs2/texture & cfs2/scenedb/world/texture folders, so I'm guessing it's something to do with the scenery.cfg order of the layers.

    Maybe you have an exclude layer too high up the list?

    Also, it should work even with Rhumbas newer watermasks active, so long as they sit below the Solomons scenery layers. If you have Rhumbas watermasks higher up than the Solomons, it will draw the Rhumba masks after the scenery - maybe this erases the shorelines?

  18. #43
    Thanks for the reply UT.

    You use the terms higher and lower. In so doing do you refer to the Scenery config or the scenery listing in setting in cfs2?

    Sorry, my age shows.

    PSULLYKEYS

    The only thing necessary for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.

  19. #44
    Yes, he's referring to the scenery.cfg. It gets confusing - to me anyway - because the scenery order as it shows in the game command window is reversed in the scenery.cfg text file.

    So higher and lower is relevant to whether you are talking about the order as it shows up in the game or in the text file.

    Here is the text of the Scenery.cfg as included in 87 Days. Copy the order the scenery files are in and it should take care of the shoreline issue for you.


    [General]
    Title=CFS2 World
    Description=CFS 2 Scenery data
    Cache_Size=10M
    Clean_on_Exit=TRUE


    [Area.001]
    Title=Default Scenery
    Local=scenery
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=2
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.002]
    Title=Terrain
    Local=Scenedb\world
    Active=TRUE
    Texture_ID=1
    Layer=1
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.003]
    Title=CFS1 Library
    Local=Scenedb\library
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=3
    Remote=
    Required=FALSE


    [Area.004]
    Title=Airport Facilities Data
    Local=Scenedb\AFDFiles
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=4
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.005]
    Title=Scenery Ships
    Local=Scenedb\Ships
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=5
    Remote=
    Required=FALSE


    [Area.006]
    Title=Aircraft Weapons
    Local=Scenedb\weapons
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=6
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.007]
    Title=Vehicles
    Local=Scenedb\veh
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=7
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.008]
    Title=Effects
    Local=Scenedb\fx
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=8
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.09]
    Title=DEM mesh LOD 8
    Local=SCENEDB\DEM mesh LOD 8
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=9


    [Area.010]
    Title=Solomons_Excludes_UT
    Local=SCENEDB\Solomons_Excludes_UT
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=10


    [Area.011]
    Title=Runways
    Local=Scenedb\runways
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=11
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.012]
    Title=Solomons_Excludes_UT
    Local=SCENEDB\Solomons_Excludes_UT
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=12


    [Area.013]
    Title=87Days_Excludes
    Local=SCENEDB\87Days_Excludes
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=13


    [Area.014]
    Title=Buildings
    Local=Scenedb\inf
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=14
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.015]
    Title=FS2000_props
    Local=Scenedb\fs2kprop
    Active=TRUE
    Layer=15
    Required=TRUE
    Remote=


    [Area.016]
    Title=87Days_Airbases
    Local=SCENEDB\87Days_Airbases
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=16


    [Area.017]
    Title=Solomon_Islands_UT
    Local=SCENEDB\Solomon_Islands_UT
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=17


    [Area.018]
    Title=Solomons_Reefs_UT
    Local=SCENEDB\Solomons_Reefs_UT
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=18


    [Area.019]
    Title=Solomons_Rivers_UT
    Local=SCENEDB\Solomons_Rivers_UT
    Remote=
    Active=TRUE
    Required=FALSE
    Layer=19
    Cheers,

    Captain Kurt
    ------------------------------------------------------
    "Fly, you fools!" Gandalf the Gray

  20. #45
    Thanks Captain!
    PSULLYKEYS

    The only thing necessary for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.

  21. #46
    Library Staff
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Sydney, Australia
    Age
    70
    Posts
    1,769
    It may not affect things but Areas 10 and 12 are the same.

  22. #47
    See this post & the attachment from the original release thread, it should help

    http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...=1#post1287424

  23. #48
    Thanks all for your help. I will try shortly.
    PSULLYKEYS

    The only thing necessary for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.

  24. #49

    Icon22 My problem is finally solved

    My problem is finally solved and I'd like to share what I have found.

    I previously stated:

    AMD FX-8370 (32nm) 8 core, 125W, @ 4GHZ (came with "Wraith" cooler fan)
    16GB DDR3 1600 RAM
    GTX 750-TI 2GB GDDR5
    Win7 x64 Ultimate
    - I really don't think this is a "hardware" issue.

    Actually it was to a certain extent.
    I'd replaced the vid with a GTX 1660 Ti (6GB) and reloaded with Win10 Pro.
    Performance improved significantly, yet Win10 still did not run @ 100% due to hardware issues.
    - I took some screen-shots in April but didn't post them because I still had some problems.

    I built 2 of these "super PC's" 6 1/2 years ago.
    The AMD FX-8370 8 core was the "Big Dawg" back then.
    Booted & ran like lightning; but performance has degraded due to time, Moore's Law & CPU firmware updates for "Meltdown, Heart-bleep etc."
    - this is WHY YOUR older PC's don't run nearly as fast as they once did!



    2 weeks ago one of them suffered a CPU failure. (RIP my old silicon friend)
    Triple bummer because I can't replace the CPU as the AM3+ CPU, motherboard and RAM are obsolete.
    Nothing is currently available - made from the rarest mineral: "Un-Obtanium" I suspect.

    The only real option was to upgrade to 2022 spec:

    AMD Ryzen 5 4500 (7nm) 12 core, 65W @ 3.6 GHz ($140 CDN) (comes with "Wraith" cooler fan)
    ASUS Prime B550-PLUS mobo ($174 CDN)
    16GB G. Skill RIPJAWS V Series 3200MHz RAM ($80 CDN)
    GTX 1660 Ti (6GB GDDR6)
    WD Blue 500GB SSD (bought a couple on sale for $40 each 6 months ago)
    Win10 Pro x64

    - I reused the Corsair Obsidian 450 case, ASUS 850W Gold-PLUS p/s & DVD.

    Upgrade cost was $394 CDN + tax ($445.22 CDN)
    - I chose a higher level mobo because it has 2 mounts for M.2 SSD (future upgrade - 10x faster than a conventional SSD)



    Has been running flawlessly for 7 days.
    WOW!!!
    Boots in 26 seconds flat.
    Performance is HOLY CRAP AWESOME

    System runs "stone cold" (28C) on fans ... no need for liquid cooling.

    I took a couple screen shots today to compare f/r's old to new.
    Both are at the original UT Cactus Henderson, with the original hi-res trees.
    - I wanted to test how well the new rig will run..... I was not disappointed:

    Set a new personal frame-rate record: 504!
    Never seen it above 500 in 17 years of CFS2

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    Consider this a relatively cheap upgrade with maximum "bang for the buck".
    Downgrading the mobo to non M.2 could save $50-$75 (CDN)
    Still it's $320 CDN & maybe $270 USD

    Many Thanks to the entire CAF Team ... THIS CAMPAIGN
    IS GREAT!!!!



    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  25. #50
    Quote Originally Posted by Dirtman View Post
    My problem is finally solved and I'd like to share what I have found.
    That's one Very Nice Rig Dirtman Cogratulations!


    Bw'


    'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.
    - Gen. Douglas MacArthur -

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