Posts by madpat

  • Time skip for FS2

    With FS4 now being the leading desktop Aerofly version, FS2 is certainly feature complete. For various reasons, I can't upgrade to FS4.

    Nevertheless I'd like to ask if it would be possible to adapt the time skip feature for FS2 as well?

    Patrick

  • Controller Support

    If you are on the desktop platform, I would suggest considering a Microsoft Xbox Wireless Elite Series 2. It's not cheap, but one of the main advantages is four additional paddles at the bottom of the controller. By default, they double the four buttons on top, but with a 3rd party software called reWASD, you can map any keyboard key to them. I have aileron and elevator trim on these paddles and its great! There are a lot of other options, too.

    Apart from that, the controller has a premium touch and feel to it, changable sticks and you can even adjust the sensitivity/strength of the stick (within limits).

    Strongly recommended for Aerofly, if you don't want or can't the more realistic hardware.

    Patrick

  • PS5 Game Controller Support

    Regarding controllers, I can recommend the Xbox Wireless Elite 2, albeit with dongle (with bluetooth, I experienced occasional connection losses, maybe due to BT headphones connected at the same time). The Elite 2 features four additional paddles on the lower side of the controller. Using software like reWASD, you can assign any button to these paddles (by default, they are just duplicates of standard controller buttons).

    I have aileron and elevator trimming on those paddles, and its great!

    The Elite2 has some other cool features as well, like adjustable stick force, and interchangable sticks.

    I have no clue what the PS5 controller features, but I doubt Aerofly can make use of the touchpad and the gyro, or does it?

  • Negative Discussions

    Well, I haven't read the Steam forum, but who tells you that these voices represent the entire customer base? Maybe the majority waits until FS4 is published and judge it then?

    I'm always surprised with how much negative energy these discussions take place, also in some threads here. No one is forced to buy or play Aerofly, no one's life is depending on it (probably and hopefully). I trust in the developers and that they make the best of their possibilities, and most certainly there will be things that miss or dislike. But this won't change my life into worse, so I relax.

    I almost feel pity for the poor guys at IPACS, I would have stopped developing games entirely because I would have taken some arrogance and ignorance in forums very personally. But they are professionals I hope and can stand it.

  • "Low" priced gaming laptops execute FS2 very well

    While "preparing" for FS4 by installing the latest AMD Radeon driver where Vulkan actually works with Aerofly (fingers crossed), I used the provided AMD software to find out why the frame rate after a fresh start is almost double to what it becomes after a couple of minutes into flying.

    I noticed that the VRAM memory clock speed drops quite a bit, but even more so did the GPU speed itself. Obviously this was temperature related - above 60 degrees the GPU is throttled a lot. My zenbook is pretty slim, and Asus certainly tried to avoid users getting burnt legs from a too hot notebook underside. I did some research and found the tool Ryzen Controller where I could change some parameters that allowed the CPU to boost the GPU for a longer time. GPU speed and VRAM speeds now stayed quite high, and Aerofly stayed between around 55 fps, and didn`t drop to 20 or something.

    In order to keep the temperatures in check I bought a notebook rack with integrated fans, and I keep a close look at the core and GPU temperatures, but with the cooling rack core temp stays below 75.

    This still doesn`t make my Zenbook a gaming device, but Aerofly runs sufficiently now. I bought the FS2022 for the iPad, but even with low settings Aerofly looks so much better on PC, let alone having a bigger screen, much more comfort in cockpit interaction with the mouse and the ability to assign trimming to my additional buttons/paddels on the Xbox Elite 2 controller.

    Looking forward to Aerofly FS4 now!

    Cheers,

    Patrick

  • AMD vs Vulkan: How did I solve my instability issues

    Hi

    I more or less regularly try to install newer drivers to see whether they work with Vulkan. Good news on my end: The AMD Radeon 21.12.1 Optional from early December 2021 works fine on my notebook! No CTDs so far! Can`t say the same for OEM drivers from Asus for my notebook - Vulkan won`t run here, just OpenGL.

    BTW: While trying OpenGL vs Vulkan I figured that cockpit textures look so much better with Vulkan. When I flew with the EC135 in OpenGL, I couldn`t read some switches (e.g. the lights), and I was sure I was able to read them before, since I new their meanings (texture quality set to low). But when I switched back to Vulkan, they were crisp and sharp, and I was still on the low quality settings! And still had higher FPS. Amazing.


    Patrick

  • Vukan API causes Radeon driver timeout on RX 5700 Xt

    On my end, I`m pretty sure it`s the 2GB VRAM of my integrated GPU that causes the Vulkan issues, as you suggested.

    Nevertheless, with the old drivers it runs well, with newer or current ones, Vulkan crashes. I limit myself to the stock sceneries or official paid ones, but not Orbx, since I have the impressum that the stock sceneries are more optimized.

    I`m currently flying in the Colorado region, and with the newest drivers, I can fly to and from airports, but not from others.

    Like, I managed to fly in Vulkan from Aspen to Gunnison Crested a couple of days ago. Today, I can`t spawn at Gunnison with Vulkan (CTD), OpenGL runs. Sometimes it helps to load the setting in OpenGL, go back to the menu and switch to Vulkan, but this did not work today.

    Settings:

    • 1600x900 60Hz, frame rate limit off (I get around 40-50 best anyway)
    • no HQ anti-aliasing
    • texture, terrain mesh and terrain image quality set to medium, rest to low
    • Asus ZenBook UM433 / 16 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD / AMD Ryzen 7 3700U / 2.3 GhZ / AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 integrated GPU

    Again, with the OEM drivers that came with the NB, Vulkan worked, and also with 20.9.2 AMD drivers. Unfortunately, with an updated OEM driver and newer drivers from AMD directly, Vulkan crashes randomly.

  • Vukan API causes Radeon driver timeout on RX 5700 Xt

    Yes, I do. Although I have an ASUS notebook with integrated AMD RX Vega Chip, so I was always thinking this might be a special configuration almost below minimum system requirements. Nevertheless, iPacs managed to iron out some issues I had.

    But still, with newer graphics drivers, Vulkan crashes. This is especially annoying since Asus published new OEM graphics drivers which I cannot seem to prevent from reinstalling. So, every week I have to install an older driver from AMD directly (the mentioned 20.9.2) to enjoy Aerofly under Vulkan. But every week the new OEM driver is downloaded again, and I have to reinstall an older driver. Quite annoying.

    Now that you have the same issue with a standalone Radeon graphics card, which should be far more common than my setup, maybe iPacs can have a look at that and solve the Radeon/Vulkan issue.

  • AMD vs Vulkan: How did I solve my instability issues

    I have similar issues with this, on my Asus notebook with integrated GPU. AF ran best with the OEM drivers, any newer version from AMD itself created issues. Recently, Asus provided newer Radeon drivers for my notebook, which I installed. Most of the time it works, but CTD happens from time to time. I was also thinking of going back to the OEM drivers from last year.

  • Why are my threads trashed

    Wow, I have to admit I wasn't really sure this was a bot, so I was curious how it would react to "irony". Impressive, I have to admit. Good you deleted all of it, I promise I won't feed (reply to) any suspected bots in the future.

    Cheers,

    Patrick