More Lost Fps Found...

Previously I blogged that birds, planets cars and reflections all are new to 850 and eat fps. Here are some more ways we can lose framerate:

• If you compare your upgraded-to-850 full install against a quick download of the 840 demo, the comparison isn't fair; it turns out that having full scenery installed is slower than having just one tile.
• The very nice demo KSBD layout Austin G. made us hits frame-rate a bit, with all of the lights, painted lines, and curved pavement.

What's strange is the amount that these things affect the sim. One user reported a 30% loss to extra scenery and 50% loss to the KSBD layout. By comparison Austin's layout is virtually "free" on my G5.

I am investigating ways to simplify complex airport layouts when settings are low. Regarding the fps loss when more scenery is installed, it turns out KSBD is relatively close to the edge of the DSF. So even though you can't see water in the next tile (when you have the demo) it turns out a little bit is being drawn; X-Plane doesn't know that the mountains hide this.

If you try this test while looking to the left (north into the center of the DSF) there is almost no difference between demo and full scenery.