My 1.5 is good 2.2 problems?

[Fakum]

So I have versions 1.5 and 2.2 installed, I primarily only use 1.5. I have had 2.0 installed for a long time, just to keep it current up to present day. I dont use 2.2 because it has always been crap for frame rates and the graphics (for me) are horrible. I figured this would have improved for me by now with the updates, but it has not. with the impending 2.5 relaes soon, I wanted to make sure all was well. 1.5 works just fine for me and looks very good. 2.2 looks like awfull for me and the frame rates are horrible?

 

I have all the graphics settings in 2.2 mimic 1.5 settings. I have my FPS set to max of 30 for both versions via config/autoexe file.

 

1.5 runs at a solid 30, 2.2 runs at a max of 21?

 

I have been trying to figure out why 1.5 is just fine and 2.2 is horrible (For me)? I have to be overlooking something? All MODS=Disabled

[razo+r]

You have to disable either AA or MSAA in the settings and HDR due to defered shading. Don't know which of the two it is.

 

You then have to set the AA or MSAA value with the Nvidia control panel.

[Vitormouraa]

Completely the opposite here - and your machine is much better than mine. ;) 2.2 is more stable to me, tho the FPS don't reach a very high number sometimes (compared to 1.5), it stays where it is, it's more stable and 10x more beautiful. Stuttering is a problem though, but I'm planning on buying an SSD to run decently. MP is a bit different, however.

Edited January 14, 2018 by Vitormouraa

[Fakum]

Interesting, I have read many times about setting NVIDIA to "Application Controlled" I will have to tinker with that now

[Fakum]

Ok, so in my options, I sett Aa & MSAA to off (they were set pretty high), HDR was already off. Did a quick test and FPS looked very good. Graphics are still crap. I dont know what setting in Nvidia to adjust to compensate for AA & MSAA being off in DCS Options?

 

Good start! Thanks,,

[twistking]

what do mean with graphics being "crap"?

your screenshot doesn't look particularly bad. if you could be more precise about what you dislike with the graphics, it would be easier to guide you to fixing it...

 

also from your control panel screenshot it looks, like you are forcing x4 MSAA, which is quite heavy. try resetting the nvidia settings to default/standard settings before you start tweaking. otherwise you might loose track of the effects of each specific setting...

Edited January 14, 2018 by twistking

[Fakum]

Well, I could post up a screen shot of how nice 1.5 looks if need be, but cant you tell how washed out the entire field is?

[twistking]

Well, I could post up a screen shot of how nice 1.5 looks if need be, but cant you tell how washed out the entire field is?

 

well, being "washed out" in graphics is quite subjective, as it is greatly dependant on your monitors color response f.e.

but i do agree, that your screenshot lacks a bit of contrast...

 

but you can easily tune that to your liking with the gamma option within dcs, as far as i know. it should not even come with a hit in performance, as it basically just changes how the engine maps the brightness values of the pyhsics based renderer to your monitors limited contrast range.

try a lower gamma setting for a look with deeper shadows and overall higher contrast.

i'm still on 1.5 so i don't know where that setting is located, but you should find it in the dcs options, NOT int he nvidia control panel.

Edited January 14, 2018 by twistking

[Fakum]

Ok, I will see about that, but just for comparison, I have attached a 1.5 screen shot. I realize it is not the same terrain but if represents the differences in richness if you wiil. Unfortunately, I am not expert in describing graphic effects, thats why I posted pictures for comparison. What a difference!

[Fakum]

Ok, set Gamma to 0, just for starters to see result. Much better indeed! Not quite there yet though. I suspect all the jagged edges etc are caused by turning off AA & MSAA in DCS and not knowing what to adjust in Nvidia?

[twistking]

yes!

you see, now with PBR rendering in dcs 2.x the engine calculates the lighting in real life magnitudes, but of course our monitors can only display a very limited range of brightness.

So the image has to get tonemapped down to a range that can be handled by our monitors.

 

So, try resetting nvidia control settings (just to have a "clean" starting point), in dcs enable "PBR" or "deferred shading" (don't know how it is called, as i'm still on 1.5).

 

Disable MSAA within DCS (as from ym understanding the built in MSAA does not work well in 2.2, but will hopefully work in 2.5).

You could then use the nvidia control panel to "force" some MSAA on, but this will only reduce the jagged lines, creating a smoother picture, but will in no way affect colors or "richness".

If MSAA is too big a hit on performance you could try FXAA instead (also in nvidia panel). FXAA is less affective in cleaning up the jaggies, but costs way less performance.

Edited January 14, 2018 by twistking

[Fakum]

Ok,, tinkering I go! I dont understand some of the stuff you mentioned, but I get the point of some of it. For someone like myself, i just needed to know what I should focus on for tinkering. There are SO many options regarding what to mess with between Nvidia & DCS options alone. Those of us who do not dabble much in such things would have to spend alot of time time trying to figure out what all these settings do and how they impact or oppose each other, Id have to quit one of my jobs to educate myself LOL,,, many thanks sir!

[twistking]

so to get rid of the jaggies, as a start:

reset nvidia to default.

AntiAliasing mode: Override application (force)

AntiAliasing setting: x2 or x4 (x2, may be enough, x4 being better obviously)

 

when 2.5 hits, you can hopefully reset your nvidia settigns again and use ingame MSAA. from my understanding it is just a momentarily problem with the new engine...

i mean, there is nothing wrong with using the nvidia controls, but if you are not familiar with all the graphics setting, it is "safer" to have them on default and use the ingame settings.

 

you are welcome!

Edited January 14, 2018 by twistking

[Fakum]

By the way, here is a peak at 2.2 Graphics Options

[twistking]

By the way, here is a peak at 2.2 Graphics Options

 

oh. interesting. thx. i suspect i won't be able to run it at that settings though;)

 

my last tipp: put on some anisotropics filtering. it prevents textures from looking blurry when viewed from a shallow angle (prime example being runways). it's not always very obvious, but on modern cards this should have virtually no performance impact. nothing to loose there.

[Fakum]

Thank you

[Lao Fei Mao]

Just disable deferred shading,you gonna get the same visual effect of 1.5X. Not everyone like the deferred shading. But new explosion effects needs it on.

[mr_mojo97]

You’ll prob get a couple of fps if you knock down that Resolution of cockpit displays to 512 as well. I can’ hardly even tell the difference!

[Vitormouraa]

Agreed. I haven't been able to feel any difference. (Except the TGP display when using TGP obviously).

[twistking]

Just disable deferred shading,you gonna get the same visual effect of 1.5X. Not everyone like the deferred shading. But new explosion effects needs it on.

 

fakum has a decent computer. i would see no reason to advise him against using deferred shading. i can't see, how the old shading can look better in any situation...

only downside being the impact on performance and that - depending on your monitor and preference - you may want to tweak "gamma" to overcome the subjectively washed out look, that fakum complained about...

Edited January 15, 2018 by twistking

[Fakum]

I will certainly disable the "Differed Shading" and check the results. I ran into an unusual situation last night, and that is, as my post # 5

 

"Ok, so in my options, I sett Aa & MSAA to off (they were set pretty high), HDR was already off. Did a quick test and FPS looked very good."

 

I found that after I did that initial test, I then went and changed all my Nvidia settings back to DEFAULT. I ran the test again and found my FPS were back to crap again (Max 21). Fortunately I do alot of Incremental Backups before I tinker, so i restored back to prior to setting Nvidia back to DEFAULT, expecting my FPS to come back to 30,, and it did not? Thats as far as I have gone at this point.

 

regarding the cockpit display setting. I use Helios as well, and a couple of years ago, it seemed to make a difference, so that is where i set it,,, and its just fine in 1.5 so I have it set in 2.2 like that as well. Once I get this figured out, I will then check that as well,,,, thanks guys!

[twistking]

that is weird indeed.

 

some ideas, that might help:

 

just to be sure, check that you have newest nvidia driver installed, make sure to either not install the "nvidia experience", or if you choose to install it, make sure that it does not change settings without you noticing. (it's a tool that can "optimize" graphics settings for you for a given game. i personally would not use it.)

 

after changing settings in nvidia panel, restart dcs to evaluate the effects.

 

be very analytical in what you change and for testing find a mission, or scene that gives you completely reproducable results. for example just a cold start while looking in a specific direction.

 

for testing also deactivate everything that could potentially have an impact on performance, like helios or other programms running in the background (web-browser etc.)

 

do your testing in "true" full screen mode. dcs (at least 1.5) starts in "borderless windowed" even, if i choose "full screen" in options. use alt-enter to change window-modes.

[Art-J]

2.2 update messed up colours, saturations and contrasts for Deferred Shading mode (especially in cockpits), while gamma slider alone is not enough to "fix" them back to 2.1.1 levels. You can only live with it, experiment with gamma and hope that 2.5 will bring some improvements.

 

If MSAA is disabled completely in the game, while Defrred Shading is on, no NVidia panel AA methods work with exception of FXAA, so don't bother with overriding.

[Fakum]

Im probably going to wait then till 2.5 is released. would be a huge waste of time to try and dial this in and 2.5 improves things that I didnt have to waste time on? STANDING BY for tonight anyway LOL

[DirkLarien]

By the way, here is a peak at 2.2 Graphics Options

Hi there

Here are some very basic tweaking advices:

 

ALL Textures = Max - this does not affect fps and you have more then enough Ram and 6 Gb Vram, is ok i would say.

(if you are not experiencing hiccups, max it)

 

Visibility range = biggest culprit when it comes to GPU performance.

If you are bold enough you can edit files for each preset (make a backup ! In dcs world/config/terrain/files - low,med,high,ultra,extreme )

I would love to have separate menu for this because it encompasses so many things.

But anyway if you have bad frames try Medium.

You wont see the difference.

All the presets are overdone anyway. Even low.

 

Resolution = It is kinda big you know 3 monitor setup or some ultra wide, right? This is the big one.

 

Water = water is known to be bit of a frame eater... so at least one step down.

 

Shadows = i would go with medium. But it is not such a difference in fps. This is coupled with setting on the right.

 

Resolution of cockpit displays = if you are using mirrors or some mfd display for skval or some such ? Experiment with different presets, but lower settings are perfectly fine for both and you should see some difference in frames. When i turn on mirror or mfd camera in 1.5 my frames are cut in half. Strangely not in 2.2

 

Antialiasing - You should be better of using nvidia drivers if i am not mistaken.

 

HDR/Deffered shading = if you like the look of 1.5, switch to hdr (needs restart) but get used to it its the main thing of the engine switch no point in getting used to something that will go away i would guess. (but you should see a boost in frames

 

Grass = Dont worry max it i doubt you will notice difference in frame rate

 

Trees = i find it funny that you have visibility set to extreme but trees to 15Km :-D

 

Gamma = if you need to adjust brightness this is the one.

 

Anisotropc filtering = Why on earth do you have that turned off ?:doh:

It has ZERO impact on performance ....it used to have in like year 98..... it doesn't these days, not anymore.

This is what it does:

 

Fullscreen = go for full screen, I remeber people posting this to be the issue for them.

 

V-sync = Try disabling it ...if the tearing is tolerable, it should give you some boost.

Edited January 15, 2018 by DirkLarien