ANSWERED FTX Global Blocky look at high altitudes

[matthew47]

Hello  ORDER #FSS0248622

 

I fly the Lear 45 at high altitudes and I noticed (what I think to be FTX) FTX Global not covering the earth all they way out to the horizon but instead I can see where it stops and it looks "blocky" with a straight line.  (I hope I made sense).  How do I extend FTX Global to cover greater area under where I am flying so I don't see a straight line where it stops.  I notice it does this all around my aircraft 360 degrees where FTX Global covers a certain radios around my plane but the end of it is a straight line and blocky.  This is bothering me.  Anyways, is there a way to extend the radios out further so I don't see where it ends?  

 

I hope I made sense.  I appreciate any help in this matter.

 

Matthew 

[matthew47]

Hmmm,  No response!  Perhaps my question isn't very clear. 

 

Matthew

[Alex Goff]

Hi Matthew,

 

Please wait 24 hours before bumping posts, especially given that it is already Christmas Eve in Australia.

 

If you could provide a screenshot that would help us see what the issue is but I suspect you are seeing FSX's level of detail radius at high altitudes. At a certain distance FSX stops displaying terrain and uses a set of pre-rendered textures for high altitude viewing. This is done to save memory by ensuring that on high altitude flights, miles and miles of terrain is not loaded into the memory.

 

Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it, I don't think raising the LOD radius in the fsx.cfg will alter the high altitude LOD but it may.

 

Regards,

 

Alex

[matthew47]

Hello Alex

 

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!   Thanks for your response.  Sorry for the bump!!  I think you described my issue well.  Perhaps I should fly at lower altitudes.  Perhaps I will try adjusting the LOD radius in CFG.  

 

 

Matthew 

[John Dow]

If you set visibility to 30-40km which is normal in many parts of the world the problem should be addressed I think )

[matthew47]

Hello John

 

Yes, I have resorted to doing that.  However at 51,000 one should be able to see for many, many miles on a clear day.

 

Matthew

[Ian Routley]

Matthew, I doubt this is a new problem in FSX with FTXGlobal.

 

The FSX-sim's core engine determines what is displayed at each level, based on what it is fed.  FTXGlobal is fuel for the engine, but doesn't tweak the engine itself.

 

I suspect the compromise the FSX programmers were faced with was the trade-off between memory usage / performance and visuals.  Considering the age of the engine (and the hardware available when it was released) it does a pretty good job.

If you are into retro-hardware this guide to building the ultimate PC in 2006 gives an indication of how far we have come.  In 2006, computer controversies included such topics as 'Do we really need 2Gb of RAM?'  This was the milieu into which FSX was born.

 

Worth noting that FSX default Landclass is pretty 'blocky' at moderate to high-altitudes anyway.

[matthew47]

Hello Ian

 

Thanks for your reply.  I'm always appreciative.  Yes, you bring up a good point.  I have a new gaming comp for FSX (as per Nick's Bible over at FSim Forums).  My new system is doing a poretty good job.  I also have ASN and im resorting to decreasing the visibility at high altitudes since I hate that blocky/line look. 

 

IF anyone else has a solution to extending the LOD radius out let me know.  I do Like Alex's solution but the "FSX CFG LOD Radius" usually resets itself to 4.500000 setting.  Thanks again.

 

Matthew