Combat Flight Simulator 2: How to Optimize Performance (278246)

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To optimize performance in Combat Flight Simulator 2, find the best balance for your computer between game performance and sound and video quality.

Performance in Combat Flight Simulator 2 depends on both the features that you select and the configuration of your computer. A set of features that you select on one computer may not result in the same level of performance as an identical set of features on a different computer.

A computer with a fast Pentium processor, a large amount of memory, a 3-D accelerator video adapter, and updated device drivers can maintain a higher level of performance than a computer that barely meets the minimum system requirements.

To optimize performance in Combat Flight Simulator 2, use the following methods.

Quit Unnecessary Programs

To increase the amount of available system resources, quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer before you start Combat Flight Simulator 2.

To quit all unnecessary programs, use the appropriate method for your version of Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
2. In the Close Program dialog box, click any program except Explorer or Systray (which are components of Microsoft Windows), and then click End Task.
   
   If you receive a message stating that the program is busy or not responding, click End Task again.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer.

Microsoft Windows 2000

1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
2. On the Applications tab, click any program, and then click End Task.
   
   Repeat this step to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer.
3. Quit Windows Task Manager.

NOTE: Some programs start automatically every time you restart your computer. For information about how to disable these programs, see the printed or online documentation for the program.

Optimize Your Hardware Configuration

To optimize your hardware configuration:

1. Contact the manufacturer of your video adapter to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest video driver for your video adapter.
2. Contact the manufacturer of your sound card to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest sound driver for your sound card.

For information about how to contact the manufacturers of your video adapter and your sound card, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Configure the Program for Optimal Performance

To configure Combat Flight Simulator 2 for optimal performance, reduce scenery complexity and display preferences in Combat Flight Simulator 2 to their minimum settings. To do this:

1. On the Combat Flight Simulator 2 startup screen, click Settings.
2. Click Scenery library.
3. Move the Scenery object density slider to the left to change the setting to Sparse.
4. In the Areas list box, click a line under the Scenery area column, and then click Move Up or Move Down to change the Priority level for that scenery area.
5. Click OK.
6. Under Display, click Advanced Settings.
7. Click the Hardware tab.
8. Make sure that the Enable hardware acceleration check box is selected, if it is available.
   
   If the Enable Hardware Acceleration check box is not available, your video adapter may not support 3-D hardware acceleration. Contact your hardware manufacturer for more information.
   
   NOTE: Hardware acceleration may affect performance in different ways, depending on the video adapter that is installed in the computer. If you disable hardware acceleration in Combat Flight Simulator 2, performance may improve with some video adapters, and performance may decline with other video adapters.
9. Click No filtering.
10. Click to clear the following check boxes:
    • MIP mapping
    • Anti-alias
    • T and L
    
    
11. In the Resolution box, click a lower resolution setting.
12. Click the Image quality tab.
13. Click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Aircraft shadows
    • Ground scenery shadows
    • Detail texturing
    • High detail virtual cockpit
    
    
14. Move the following sliders to the left to reduce the corresponding settings:
    • DEM density level
    • Max terrain texture size
    • Terrain complexity level
    • Max object texture size
    • Maximum visibility level
    • Effects quality
    
    
15. Move the LOD target frame rate slider to the right to increase the setting to 24 FPS or higher.
16. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Enable Features or Increase Settings in the Program

To complete optimizing performance in Combat Flight Simulator 2, monitor the frame rate in the game as you increase one graphic quality setting or enable one graphic feature at a time. For information about how to change graphic settings, please see the "Configure the Program for Optimal Performance" method in this article. Start with your favorite features, and stop before the minimum frame rate decreases to a level that you consider unacceptable.

The frame rate is the speed at which images or frames are drawn on the screen, and is measured in frames per second (fps). As the frame rate increases, so does the realism and smoothness of motion in the game.

To monitor the frame rate in Combat Flight Simulator 2, press SHIFT+Z twice. The frame rate is displayed as a number in the upper left corner of the screen. When you press SHIFT+Z, Combat Flight Simulator 2 cycles through the following displays:

• Coordinate data, heading, and speed
• Frame rate
• Coordinate data, heading, speed, and frame rate
• Turn off the coordinate and frame rate display

Games such as Combat Flight Simulator 2 create the illusion of motion by drawing a sequence of still images on the screen so rapidly that the human eye sees only one continuous moving picture. The illusion of motion (also known as persistance of vision) begins at around 15 fps. Below 15 fps, the illusion of motion breaks down, and the game begins to resemble a fast slide show. Most silent movies run at 18 fps, theatrical movies run at 24 fps, and television runs at 30 fps.

NOTE: The fastest frame rate that you can achieve is determined by the refresh rate of your monitor. If your monitor's refresh rate is set to 72 Hz, your maximum viewable frame rate is 72 fps. If the calculated frame rate on your screen is higher than the refresh rate of your monitor, take advantage of that extra computing power by increasing your graphic quality settings until the calculated frame rate matches or falls below the refresh rate for your monitor.

To determine the graphic settings that you want to increase and the graphic features that you want to enable, refer to the following list of graphic settings and features, which are sorted by their effect on performance.

Settings and features that can increase performance

• Full Screen mode:
  • Description: To increase performance in Combat Flight Simulator 2, run the game in Full Screen mode instead of Window mode.
  • To switch screen modes: Press ALT+ENTER.
  
  
• 3D acceleration (if available):
  • Description: Uses the acceleration hardware on your 3D video adapter or 3-D accelerator card to increase the speed and graphic quality of the 3-D graphics in the game.
  • Possible issues: With some 3-D video adapters, the game may quit unexpectedly or stop responding (hang) when 3D acceleration is enabled.
  • Video support: All Direct3D-compatible video adapters and 3D accelerator cards.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  
  
• T and L:
  • Description: Hardware Accelerated Transform and Lighting (T and L) is an advanced hardware option that uses the 3-D accelerator chip on the video adapter instead of the main processor in your computer to calculate 3-D transformations and lighting effects.
  • Possible issues: With some 3-D video adapters, the game may quit unexpectedly or stop responding (hang) when the T and L feature is enabled.
  • Video support: Supported only by 3-D video adapters based on the 3Dfx Voodoo5 or later chip set, the ATI Radeon or later chip set, or the nVidia GeForce2 or later chip set.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.

Settings and features that may not affect performance, or that may slightly affect performance

• No filtering:
  • Description: The game does not use any 3-D filtering when it maps textures to objects in the game. Textures in the game may appear jagged or blocky.
  • Possible issues: None.
  • Video support: All video adapters.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: You can only select one 3-D filtering option at a time. If you the No filtering option, the Bilinear filtering and Trilinear filtering options are automatically disabled.
  
  
• Bilinear filtering:
  • Description: Softens texture edges and reduces jagged or blocky appearance of textures in the game.
  • Possible issues: With certain video adapters, you may notice flashing lines in the distant background or in the borders between textures.
  • Video support: Most 3-D video adapters and 3D accelerator cards.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: You can only select one 3-D filtering option at a time. If you enable the Bilinear filtering option, the No filtering and Trilinear filtering options are automatically disabled.
  
  
• Trilinear filtering:
  • Description: Softens texture edges and reduces jagged or blocky appearance of textures in the game, and reduces the occurrence of flashing lines in the background or in borders between textures.
  • Possible issues: With certain video adapters, the frame rate may decrease significantly when you enable Trilinear filtering.
  • Video support: Most 3-D video adapters and 3-D accelerator cards, but not as many as for Bilinear filtering.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: You can only select one 3-D filtering option at a time. If you enable the Trilinear filtering option, the No filtering and Bilinear filtering options are automatically disabled.
  
  
• MIP mapping:
  • Description: Improves image quality without reducing performance by using textures with different levels of detail. Nearby objects are rendered with large, detailed textures, and remote objects are rendered with small, sketchy textures.
  • Possible issues: With some 3-D video adapters, textures and screen text in the game may be missing, distorted, discolored, or blurred when MIP mapping is enabled.
  • Video support: Most 3-D video adapters and 3-D accelerator cards.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  
  
• Aircraft shadows:
  • Description: Enable this feature to make the aircraft in the game cast their shadows on the terrain.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: For best appearance when you enable Aircraft shadows, select a Resolution setting that uses a 32-bit color palette.
  
  
• Detail texturing:
  • Description: Enable this feature to improve the depth and continuity of ground textures in the game.
  • Possible issues: With some video adapters, ground textures may flash or blink when this feature is enabled, and you may see texture seams or square patterns on the ground.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: Some 3-D video adapters work better when this feature is enabled.
  
  
• Effects quality:
  • Description: Adjusts the level of special effects detail in the game. Increase this setting to increase the detail and duration of special effects such as smoke, aircraft damage, and explosions.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.

Settings and features that may moderately affect performance

• Resolution:
  • Description: Changes the resolution and color palette of the game screen.
  • Performance: Moderate affect on performance when you select a different screen resolution. Slight affect on performance when you select a different color palette.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Click a different screen resolution setting in the Resolution box.
  • Notes: Cockpit instruments look best at a resolution of 800 x 600 x 16 or higher, and the terrain always looks better as you increase the resolution. If you experience significant performance problems, reduce the resolution to 640 x 480 x 16.
  
  
• DEM density level:
  • Description: Determines the maximum level of detail for terrain elevation data in the game. Increasing this setting improves terrain elevation accuracy.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.
  
  
• Max terrain texture size:
  • Description: Determines the maximum size of the terrain textures in the game. Increase this setting to improve terrain appearance.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.
  
  
• Max object texture size:
  • Description: Determines the maximum size of the object textures in the game. Increase this setting to improve the appearance of aircraft in the game.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.
  
  
• Maximum visibility level:
  • Description: Adjusts the maximum visibility distance in the game.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.
  
  
• Ground scenery shadows:
  • Description: Enable this feature to make ground objects in the game cast their shadows on the terrain.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  
  
• High detail virtual cockpit:
  • Description: Increases the level of cockpit detail and improves the readability of your aircraft's instruments when you use the Virtual Cockpit view.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.

Settings and features that may severely affect performance

• Anti-alias:
  • Description: Smooths the edges of objects in the game by rendering the screen at a higher resolution than the actual screen resolution setting, and then reducing the rendered image to the actual screen resolution before displaying the image on the screen.
  • Possible issues: With some 3-D video adapters, the game may quit unexpectedly or stop responding (hang) when the Anti-alias feature is enabled.
    In addition, you may see color banding in the sky with some video adapters. To resolve this issue, change the Resolution setting in the game to use a 32-bit color mode. For example, click 800 x 600 x 32 in the Resolution box.
  • Video support: Supported only by 3-D video adapters based on the 3Dfx Voodoo5 or later chip set, the ATI Radeon or later chip set, or the nVidia GeForce2 or later chip set.
  • Location: On the Hardware tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To enable: Click to select.
  • Notes: This feature can severely decrease performance.
  
  
• Terrain complexity level:
  • Description: Adjusts the complexity of the terrain on the screen. When you decrease terrain complexity, you increase the probability that the terrain displayed on the screen may not match the terrain elevation data. When you increase terrain complexity, you increase the detail of the the terrain displayed on the screen, and improve the accuracy of the match between the terrain displayed on the screen and the terrain elevation data.
  • Possible issues: When you set terrain complexity to a low level, you may notice that the terrain shifts and pops more often as the program attempts to make the terrain match the terrain elevation data. To resolve this issue, increase the Terrain complexity level setting.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the slider to the right to increase the setting, or to the left to decrease the setting.
  • Notes: When you increase this setting, do so in small increments. This setting can have a drastic effect on performance.

Settings and features that you can use to acheive a specific level of performance

• LOD target frame rate:
  • Description: This setting automatically adjusts the LOD for the textures and objects on the screen to maintain the selected frame rate. When you increase this setting, the game decreases the LOD for the textures and objects on the screen to increase performance to the selected frame rate. When you decrease this setting, the game increases the LOD for the textures and objects on the screen to reduce performance to the selected frame rate. Combat Flight Simulator 2 determines the default LOD target frame rate setting automatically, based on your configuration.
  • Location: On the Image Quality tab of the Display Settings screen.
  • To adjust: Move the LOD target frame rate slider to the frame rate that you want to use.
  • Notes: To use this setting, you must select the Auto-performance adjustment (affects graphics) check box on the main Settings screen in Combat Flight Simulator 2.