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Hi, Folks!, Let me just start out by saying the next update will give all of you some considerable FPS improvements. Read on! I wanted to give you an idea of where we're at for the forthcoming update. There's quite a bit going into this, and I'm not sure exactly when we'll get it out, but I would really like it to be within the next few days. Some of you have had concerns with performance, the combination of HDR, and comparing the Saab to other aircraft in these situations. I'm going to touch on that below, but first, here's a quick list of things you can expect to be included in the 1.1 update: • Fixed typo on GUI walkaround checklist • Added GPU sound • Fixed bug in Condition Lever joystick assignment • Desensitized joystick assignment • Changed animation of flap handle for joystick users • Fixed bug causing an error when CTOT was on and engines overheated. • Fixed bug in Anti-Skid system causing no CWP annunciation • Reverted to default sounds on Dot-Dash radio code • Fixed bug in window anti-ice system • Fixed bug in wing anti-ice system• Fixed bug in volume control GUI on "RESET ALL"• Fixed "pop" in prop sound• Adjusted generator cut-out parameter• Fixed avionics blackout when making abrupt moves with the throttle • Memory leak plugged - fixed There's a bit more included as well, but that's the main list of things to expect. We'll be sure to detail every little thing in your update e-mails when they go out and the update is available! Okay, so lets talk about performance. I know this has been a hot subject for some of you, and while majority of our customers are very happy, we really do want to work towards making everyone happy. The Saab 340A was a 3.5 year long endeavour and we set out to accomplish three things in the process: Create the most detailed and accurate 3D model for X-PlaneCreate a true study level simulation that mimics the real aircraft in essentially every aspect (really, the first aircraft to do this for X-Plane)Make the texture detail and sounds as accurate as possibleNow, I believe we successfully checked off all three of these tasks, however, with it came some consequences. The first had to do with HDR. The Saab simulates so many systems and has so much number crunching going on behind the scenes that the CPU is always working for you to run this. Adding in HDR places more burden on the CPU, and not just the GPU. Believe it or not, majority of your FPS hit is coming from the actual system simulation and NOT the geometry or textures in use. In fact, X-Plane can chew through quite a number of 3D geometry without a lot of consequence. Because of these two factors at play, HDR has been taking a pretty tough hit with the Saab. We also look forward to improvements in the future with Laminar working on HDR as the version 10 series continues to develop. There were also reports of a memory leak which we are happy to say we have fixed. This doesn't necessarily improve performance from the start, but it WILL solve the out of memory errors and the sudden slow downs later into a flight, so we're definitely happy to report that! With all the above said, and now that the Saab has been out, we have had a little breather, and gained our lost sleep back, we've been back at working on optimizing the Saab. By this I mean that we are going over every aspect of the Saab 340A code and looking at ways we can improve the time it takes the CPU to munch on our code and spit out results. With programming there can be 10 different ways to get the same result, but one of those ways can be much more efficient. Think of it like a highway vs. city streets. In most cases, the highway is always going to be the most efficient route to your destination, even if there's 10 different ways to get there through city streets! With the help of Ben Russell's new profiler we have been able to analyze every aspect of the code and have begun the work of cutting down heavy hitting code to run more efficiently on everyone's machines. So far the results have turned out to be quite promising. I don't know how far we'll get with this optimization before 1.1 is released, but rest assured 1.1 will contain some pretty nice optimizations none-the-less. You WILL see FPS increases in the forthcoming update, and over time I'm sure we'll continue to refine and optimize till we have squeezed every last ounce of optimizations out. For now, I'd like to show you test results of the current 1.0 build of the Saab that you all have, vs our 1.1 optimized code of the Saab as it stands now. I have ran various tests and setting changes in X-Plane across three different computers to give you an idea of what to expect. At this time I'm just posting one machine but will followup with the next two machines soon after. I will say that in EVERY instance, on EVERY system tested thus far (Mac and Windows) we are seeing considerable FPS increases. Keep in mind that everyone runs different settings. Higher resolutions require more VRAM, etc. I have tried to give you a relatively wide array of examples to get an idea: Computer Specs - Windows Desktop Machine CPU = i5 2500k @ stock speed RAM = 8GB GPU = GTX 680 4GB @ stock speed (2GB version will get similar performance. VRAM only helps on big monitors) X-Plane Settings Screen Resolution = Full-screen @ 2560 x 1440Texture Resolution = ExtremeTrees = PopulatedNumber of objects = TonsNumber of roads = Tons Number of cars = Kansas ResidentialWorld detail distance = MediumAirport detail = DefaultAnti Aliasing = 16xAnisotropic Filter = 8xPer Pixel Lighting = OnWhen HDR is shown, the following settings are applied Atmospheric Scattering = OnHDR Anti Aliasing = 4x SSAA+FXAAAnisotropic Filter = 8xThe following test was conducted sitting at the default runway location at KIAH. You will see that best case scenario with these settings we have gained 11 fps in the 1.1 update. In the next example rendering settings have been toned down as indicated below: X-Plane Settings Screen Resolution = Full-screen @ 2560 x 1440Texture Resolution = ExtremeTrees = SparseNumber of objects = DefaultNumber of roads = Default Number of cars = Siberian WinterWorld detail distance = MediumAirport detail = LowAnti Aliasing = 16xAnisotropic Filter = 8xPer Pixel Lighting = OnWhen HDR is shown, the following settings are applied Atmospheric Scattering = OnHDR Anti Aliasing = 4x SSAA+FXAAAnisotropic Filter = 8xThe following test was conducted sitting at the default runway location at KIAH. You will see that best case scenario with these settings we have gained 16 fps in the 1.1 update. All FPS listed are from f-act (actual FPS), and not the often higher number from f-sim. The other guys on the team are reporting roughly a 14 fps increase with version 1.1. The biggest point being here that there will be quite a bit of room for you guys to work, tweak, adjust and see improvements over 1.0. One other thing to note...these stats are taken at the airport. It is my experience that once off the ground and flying, X-Plane's FPS tend to increase, so these stats would be slightly higher in such scenarios. I'll be back soon with more stats from the Mac side!

the texturing of the cockpit is 90% complete! that includes all the little text that needs to light up at night. once that's done, I think i'll re-do some parts to minimize object numbers.

Sounds great. FPS are already good for me but having more is always better. I'm running an i7 extreme over clocked to 4.5 GHz, 12 gigs of RAM and two Titans in Sli. I have 3 x 27 inch monitors running in 3d surround. Oops - fixed bad spelling (was using a cellphone)

Forest's mom always said, life is like a box of chocolade, you never know what you gonna get.... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free

This aircraft should be in the movie "Cars" and Cars II". It just looks like a Disney animation movie pic to me. Great shot, great aircraft for screenshots. I don't know about flying it tho. Thanks for this Carlos. A slight departure from your usual aircraft, but not a departure from your usual excellence.

Just a one time thing. We switched how license files are read in preparation for the Saab so that people didn't have to activate all three variants separately and be annoyed. The code is supposed to just work without issue on the CRJ, but some have reported the same as you and this simply updates the CRJ to the new licensing scheme. One-time deal and you're good.

OK 2 more.....

You're going to have to fight tooth and nail with Leen on that one.

MORE GRIT!

Some instruments I've been working on recently...

Yes, in that the new urban textures still take the way of "no ortho when close to the ground" ... so, for those who like your interpretation, will still be happy with it. And for those, who like the LR interpretation will be delighted by the new "improvements", which will make cities definitely look like cities when flying at higher altitudes.

Hi John ... here I have a first teaser for you from Seattle (disclaimer: it might look like this later or not) ... the magic with the new urban textures is especially tweaked for the "distant view" which now looks much better than before.

Not really X-Plane, but the reason why I use it as a training material ;-) Alone in my lovely DR400-140B, cruising high at FL070, nice weather and amazing clouds ;-) ( JohnMAXX hint hint )

Beautiful paint by Benedikt Samson, who's also got some new stuff coming down the pipe

Yes, this will be a complete replacement .... (and after it, you will - I think - not want to go back )

I have always been a fan of alpilotx's work. @alpioltx - will I need to delete the your old mesh's?

Thanks Cameron! I really appreciate this. The Saab is absolutely amazing and the FPS-impact was the only reason why i had problems with it (as you know). So I am really looking forward to the V1.1!

Thank you, you have made a very nice plane! A nice improvement would be in being able to change charts during flight (those displayed on the yoke): now it's possible to prepare only those needed for a departure or an arrival and, flying with real weather, it could happens than at destination airport the active runway could change, so the arrival procedure.

Cameron, thank you for the informations.

I am planning to release it all at once (more or less ... I hope more) .... at least thats my current plan. But neither is this a small/easy thing - as you can imagine - which includes many hundred hours of computation time and also managing the roll out itself is not simple (bringing 60-80 Gbytes on the net is still not a trivial task).

Hi Cameron, I have listed it some time ago here http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/5341-x-plane-10-hd-mesh-v2-preview/ Effectively (to bring it up to date), I expect to cover this: USA (complete)Canada (I think everything south of 60N ... the rest I will decide on case-by-case basis)AlaskaEurope (complete)And this will bring us already somewhere around 60-80 GBytes I think ....

This is fantastic news. Looking much forward to the update. Thanks a lot for for all the work and dedication you have put into this wonderfull aircraft.

Thanks Cameron, Sometimes for even better performance I'll cut down to one screen with Trackir. PS: Oops I fixed spelling errors

Thanks! Fantastic news! I really admire your dedication on this project, no money can buy that!

Splendid news! Thanks to all the team for your efforts and dedication! I'm a ver happy customer! Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 4

Your sky and cloud plugin will certainly help popularize XPX. I'm looking forward to further developments.

Hi, Go into the CRJ-200 aircraft folder, delete the xa_license.txt file and simply re-load the aircraft.

very good news! thank you very much to all of you for working time.

I hate to do this to a kid but the plot thickens, back when we were talking he had told me he was 20 something and in college studying politics. Just a bit ago in a PM here he said he was 17 back then..... The basic idea of the PM was he was trying to do better, but he failed to remember what lies he spurted out in our previous conversations...... Additionally he told me he didn't contact Sun-Dog in regards to X-Plane but for FSX a few years ago, I know this to be untrue since me and Sun-Dog had talked about it...... I have no idea if Im talking to a kid, college student or a mother with 6 kids. This is very disturbing, almost pathological..........

I have a pet theory that we are approaching a limit to how much of a modern airliner we can realistically model on a 'study sim' level with justifiable efforts and that in the future, we will mostly be flying ridiculously detailed models of old aircraft. This is because the aircraft industry is quickly closing the gap (or already closed it) between the amount of software development that goes into the real aircraft versus the simulator models provided for entertainment. Coding up a model of the 733 systems (like we are in IXEG) or even the NG is one thing because the real aircrafts are still very much based on 1980-1990's hardware and computing power (think 386 CPU's...) and this severly limits the range of functionality. And this still takes years and years! If you look at something like the Gulfstream PlaneView cockpit or, I assume, the latest gen Boeings and Airbuses, you have probably 10-50 times the software functionality to reproduce if you want a near-complete simulation. And if you manage to code it all, I doubt that our Macs and PCs are equipped to run the simulated cockpit software in parallell with X-Plane at acceptable framerate since the real aircraft probably has similar computing power to run the avionics software ONLY. I may be underestimating the capability of tomorrows simulator modellers a bit but I still think those of us who are into 'classics' with steam gauge or CRT/steam combo avionics are going to be way more satisfied in the future than those who crave latest gen cockpits. Now back to topic.

KC-10 arriving at KEDW.

At least an honest effort went into it, and that it's appropriately priced for what otherwise would have been a bland airfield. No need to knock it. Thread closed.

Just for fun: What a wonderful aircraft......

guess who's back back again michael's back tell a friend PROJECT 787 HAS RESUMED! AS OF NOW, I'M ONLY ON BLENDER AND PHOTOSHOP, SO ALL YOU'LL SEE FROM ME ARE RENDERS, MY FRIENDS EPORT AND MATTHEW WILL WORK IN THE X-PLANE REALM. 787-9 series work has also begun, the third image is of a 787-8 vs the -9

I haven't posted in a while but this is definitely worth it. Recently the XPA forums opened. It was first a facebook group but quickly grew to big for facebook and now want to flourish in he X-Plane community so all are welcome to join the XPA forums. http://forums.xp-aviators.com/index.php