DCS 2.5 Optimisation Guide

[Goa]

the only proper ANTI-ALIASING is the one in game, everything else is pure fantasy.

 

 

MSAA is the way to go, period.

[Duster]

the only proper ANTI-ALIASING is the one in game, everything else is pure fantasy.

 

 

MSAA is the way to go, period.

 

Then it is better not to use them AA filters, since they are not optimized and never will be ... It is inconceivable that a 2x MSAA filter drops 20 / 30fps to give a bad graphic result, the trees are obscene, they seem to have come out of a cartoon and shine in the distance ... Doh! :(

[Goa]

Then it is better not to use them AA filters, since they are not optimized and never will be ... It is inconceivable that a 2x MSAA filter drops 20 / 30fps to give a bad graphic result, the trees are obscene, they seem to have come out of a cartoon and shine in the distance ... Doh! :(

 

 

I fully agree....untill we have a new rendering engine there is no better solution.

:cry:

[Bagpipe]

DCS accepts NVidia MSAA. Period. Setting MSAA in game to x2 and then selecting enhance application and x2/x4 gives a completely different result at the cost of FPS.

 

I prefer to use SSAA but it is down the pan at the moment due to performance being so low in comparison to how it was when 2.5.6 first launched to OB.

 

Currently i am running 1440p with MSAAx4 in game and enhanced mode at x4 from NV and it gives a decent result but it's just not popping like x2 SSAA that i was used to previously :(

[lipas70]

As Goa wrote above. It is pure fantasy.

Tested multiple times. No exterior settings do not improve flicker of distant objects with reduced AA in the game.

[Duster]

It's nice to see super promotional videos with a lot of post production and then find yourself in game inside a cartoon.

There is no setup that supports such a poorly optimized simulator.

[Duster]

My best trade-off DCS graphics settings so far for my system:

 

 

My configuration is this, I was hoping that my 1070Ti would give me some more FPS and instead with the A10c screens turned on (TGP/TAD/MAV) I get 60FPS and even less in 1920 * 1080 ...

I no longer know which setting to lower to not make the sim really ugly.

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by Duster

[Bagpipe]

As Goa wrote above. It is pure fantasy.

Tested multiple times. No exterior settings do not improve flicker of distant objects with reduced AA in the game.

 

Run SSAA x2 and MSAA x2 in game. You will struggle to find flickering. Better still, add Bokeh DoF to the mix and external views look amazing. If your rig can't handle all of that then the problem isn't strictly the sim though it does need optimizing again

[lipas70]

You did not understand me. I do not have a problem. I set 4 x MSAA in the game and it's great. The setting of 1.5 SSAA and 2 x MSAA I also tested and it is also OK. I'm just writing that the AA settings in the NVidia control panel do not work in the game.

[Duster]

You did not understand me. I do not have a problem. I set 4 x MSAA in the game and it's great. The setting of 1.5 SSAA and 2 x MSAA I also tested and it is also OK. I'm just writing that the AA settings in the NVidia control panel do not work in the game.

 

Just for my curiosity, what performance do you have with 4x msaa or 2x ssaa in MP?

[lipas70]

I don't use 2 x SSAA because it causes too big drops in fps. At 4 x MSAA and very high settings, it's practically a constant 60fps. No difference, SP or MP.

Edited August 4, 2020 by lipas70

[Goose1]

You did not understand me. I do not have a problem. I set 4 x MSAA in the game and it's great. The setting of 1.5 SSAA and 2 x MSAA I also tested and it is also OK. I'm just writing that the AA settings in the NVidia control panel do not work in the game.

 

I had this problem to, delete your schaders after you change anything in the nividia control panel, before you start the game.

And the setting will work !!!

I run everything on my card, in game settings off!

Better picture, More FPS !

 

SavedGames/DCS/fxo --> delete everything inside

SavedGames/DCS/metashaders2 --> Delete everything inside

 

 

Greetz

Edited August 8, 2020 by Goose1

[YSIAD_RIP]

@DUSTER and All,

I am currently nursing my Vega56 (flashed & undervolted to a Vega64 bios) for another year until I can justify a full upgrade.

Suggestions for those with less than Ideal CPU and GPU power:

Take before and after screenshots if you need and see if the difference in quality is acceptable vs FPS gains and losses.

 

1. Water and Visib Range: High >> Medium

2. Shadows and Terrain Object Shadows: >>Medium >> Flat

3. Clutter/Grass: 1000 >> 500, or even 300. ( just compare them )

3. Preload Radius: 75500 >> 150000 (If you have 32 GB of RAM there should be no FPS penalty)

4. Cockpit Global illumination: On >> Off (just see if the difference is acceptable)

5. I recently started experimenting with ReShade. I disabled DCS MSAAx2 and replaced it with ReShade SMAA or FXAA. For my system, SMAA was a slight improvement over FXAA

 

• There is a lot of videos and content on ReShade, so if you like to tweak and experiment, you now have a new hobby... LoL
  

 

• Example of simple ReShade Profile in DCS User Files Download: increase FPS with Reshade preset
  

Edited September 17, 2020 by YSIAD_RIP

[Olmba]

Yes it does. You have to enable MSAA in game first but enabling MFAA and choosing enhance application AA setting in Nvidia control panel will keep AA yet improve performance. Even in VR.

 

Hereby confirm that this method work, much better graphics and increased fps 15-20 on my Samsung UHD 28"

 

Its like night and day..

[fab.13]

Hereby confirm that this method work, much better graphics and increased fps 15-20 on my Samsung UHD 28"

Its like night and day..

 

Hello,

 

Thanks for this thread

 

I tried many test in order to get better FPS and good visual as some people said.

But I couldn't succeed to manage AA with nvidia control panel

 

Here what i have done after reading this thread, could you please correct me if i made a mistake ?

- Enable MSAA in game ( x 2 )

- Close Game

- Set Nvidia CP with FXAA + Enhance Application Parameter + x 8 ( DCS program and default settings )

- Delete FXO and Metashader ( as when a patch come out )

- Start DCS

 

=> it seems it's only MSAA x 2

 

- Change MSAA in game x 4

 

=> it's better

 

So where i missed something ?

 

Thanks

Edited September 14, 2020 by fab.13

[Svsmokey]

Hello,

 

Thanks for this thread

 

I tried many test in order to get better FPS and good visual as some people said.

But I couldn't succeed to manage AA with nvidia control panel

 

Here what i have done after reading this thread, could you please correct me if i made a mistake ?

- Enable MSAA in game ( x 2 )

- Close Game

- Set Nvidia CP with FXAA + Enhance Application Parameter + x 8 ( DCS program and default settings )

- Delete FXO and Metashader ( as when a patch come out )

- Start DCS

 

=> it seems it's only MSAA x 2

 

- Change MSAA in game x 4

 

=> it's better

 

So where i missed something ?

 

Thanks

 

The post suggested mfaa , not fxaa .

I have no opinion as to whether it works or not .

[fab.13]

Thanks,

 

Good eyes !

 

I will try to find how to enable mfaa in nvidia cp and retry

[Taz1004]

Here are some comparison shots from Fantasyland. I recommend downloading these images and compare by flipping with image viewer.

 

Shots are taken with Nvidia overlay because DCS screenshot was changing the frame rate at the moment of capture. And DCS screenshot doesn't capture FXAA because it's post.

Shots are taken at 1920x1080 and then cropped. Not resized. Maximum JPEG compression to minimize compression artifacts. Edge of the vertical pillar shows the AA quality best.

 

FPS obviously fluctuates and there was about +/- 5 fps with each shot. I took 10 shots for each configuration and chose the average shot.

 

NOAA

 

DCS MSAA 2x only

 

DCS MSAA 2x and Nvidia MFAA On with Enhance the application setting.

 

DCS MSAA 4x only

 

DCS MSAA 2x and Nvidia FXAA On

 

 

Actual quality of MFAA is somewhere in the middle of 2x and 4x MSAA. But the quality is closer to 4x and performance is closer to 2x.

 

FXAA is not as good as MFAA or MSAA 4x of course but I took it to show that it's almost free. You can even use both MFAA and FXAA.

 

Of course your mileage may vary and what setting you choose is up to you. I did this comparison just to illustrate that it's not "Fantasy". Nvidia settings actually work. If it doesn't do anything for you, you should figure out what's wrong with your system.

 

 

And not sure if this made any difference but after you choose MFAA and Enhance mode, Antialiasing Setting will automatically be set to 2x. Click it and choose Application-controlled. Then it would grey out. This is correct because there's no 2x, 4x, or 8x with MFAA. It's just ON or OFF. Same with FXAA.

Below is Nvidia setting used for MFAA shot above.

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Taz1004

[fab.13]

@Taz1004 : many thanks for your last post !

@SvsMokey : thanks too !

 

It's now working,

i now enabled MFAA in NCP, FXAA is off.

 

DCS MSAA x2 now looks nearly as DCS MSAA x4 !

 

I continue my test with VR cockpit read ;-)

Edited September 15, 2020 by fab.13

[lipas70]

Ok. Just note that reducing AA in the game causes very ugly flickering of various distant objects, and no other action will eliminate it.

[Taz1004]

Ok. Just note that reducing AA in the game causes very ugly flickering of various distant objects, and no other action will eliminate it.

 

Reducing AA or using MFAA and FXAA? For me shimmer in distance still exist with 4x MSAA. It's no worse with MFAA. Actually MFAA and FXAA used together is blurrier.

 

Edit: Here's quick comparison in motion. Comparing on YouTube video is always not perfect as videos are always compressed but still shows that shimmer exists in both. Actually slightly more shimmer in 4x MSAA.

 

Second part of the video is zoomed in 400x and I honestly couldn't tell the difference while editing. Give away for me was that MFAA + FXAA is actually slightly blurrier than 4x MSAA. That's why I don't use FXAA but the FPS gain is definitely worth it for me.

 

If you're not getting these results, I suspect that your MFAA is not working and could try to troubleshoot. Or again, what you use is up to you. I was only trying to prove that Nvidia settings actually work.

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Taz1004

[lipas70]

There is another problem with MFAA that I discovered a few days ago. If you use fog in a mission, even a very rare one, ugly white flickering pixels appear on it. At first, I didn't know where it came from, and by elimination I came to the point that it was MFAA.

[Taz1004]

I just tried bunch of fog settings and don't see any difference between MFAA and MSAA 4x. But then it could depend on the system and module. Again, you don't have to use MFAA.

I don't use fog anyway as it looks horrible, is buggy, and AI wingman can't see anything with it on.

[Rick50]

Gonna have to try this

[Glide]

I have found that a little shimmering in the distance is a small price for smooth frame rates. I started out thinking Nvidia could improve how DCS looks, but now I try to have Nvidia do only as little as possible. I use a slight variation on Taz's approach that I though you might like to try. I run Syria in 4K with these settings smooth as silk. Also, do not select "Use Nvidia Settings" under Adjust Desktop Color Settings. Use your monitor (or vr) color saturation presets to get the highest color saturation you can. This reduces banding in the sky and makes sunsets and sunrises glorious.

 

Just added a quick update. I turned off AA completely since I run at 4K. The jaggies are minimal, but the performance is greatly improved.