Thomas Parker Posted December 27, 2005 at 11:27 PM Posted December 27, 2005 at 11:27 PM Right up front, I ask that you please forgive me. Santa Claus brought me X-Plane 8.21 and it's a whole new world for me. I don't know my way around its file structure or options very well. I'm playing around with the Settings->Rendering Options... just to see what it can do. With texture resolution set to 'High', Forest Density at 'filled in', world detail distance at 'default', number of objects at 'default', and number of roads at 'default' everything works fine. I began walking the number of objects and number of roads up to next higher setting and X-Plane continued to work until I set them at the TOTALLY INSANE! setting. Now X-Plane won't load. It crashes on startup and I can't get back in there to lower the settings. I have two questions. 1) is there a config file that I can manually edit to lower those settings back down so that I can get X-Plane running again? Otherwise it looks like a re-install (for the 3rd time ) and 2) Why don't my TOTALLY INSANE settings work? I found the log.txt file in the root X-Plane directory and I see hundreds of messages saying "Failed to find resource 'res_brick1_lit.png' (parent = 'Resources\default scenery\820 us objects\residential\' at 'Resources\default scenery\820 us objects\residential\res_brick1_lit.png'" and Failed to find resource '//.png' (parent = 'Resources\default scenery\820 us objects placeholder\' at 'Resources\default scenery\820 us objects placeholder\custom object textures\\\.png' There's literally hundreds of them for residential, industrial, obstacle textures. Going into those directories, I see similarly named files (ie: res_brick1.png) that lack the 'xxx_lit.xxx' suffix. If I had to guess, it's puking because it can't find these files, but I really don't know. I'm using X-Plane 8.21 bought direct from Larimer Research. I've gotten myself into this corner 2 times and am now looking at install #3. Getting rather frustrated. The first install had only the X-Plane and the U.S. scenery, the 2nd install used all 7 DVDs for complete world scenery. My Computer Specs Motherboard: ASUS P5GD2 Deluxe w/ I-915 Chipset Processor: Intel P4 540 3.2GHz LGA775 1MB cache 800Mhz FSB Memory: DDR2 (533) 4200 - 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Hard Drive: 2 x 250GB Western Digital SATA, 1 x 100GB Maxtor SATA Optical Drive: Samsung TS-H552B/WRCH 16x-Dual Layer DVD Burner Video Card: eVGA GeForce 6600GT 128MB DDR3/PCI-Express/TV-out Monitor: Dual Samsung 930b 19" Flatscreens. OS: Windows XP Home Can anyone please help? Thanks, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Sanders 892576 Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:21 PM Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:21 PM Hi, Well I cannot speak for the PC, but on the Mac if I have these sorts of troubles, I trash the preferences file(s). This will get you back to the defaults. However, since it seems as if there is a problem louding resources, then I would trash my preferences and re-install the software. As regards to the "Totally insane" settings, it is just what it says I know that I would not be able to run x-plane on this setting. Why is it there? Well it is part of the culture of x-plane. Austin Meyer (the mind behind it) wants x-plane to have the option of running past the specs of every computer. Just live with it and try out the various options. I have mine set to run and look good. Not all option are on, but the results are great for me and my computer. Good Luck, Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:35 PM Author Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:35 PM Graham, Thanks much for the response. Being that you're on a MAC, I'm not sure if the file structure would be the same or not. But could you give me the name of that preferences file and where it's located? It would at least give me a clue about what to look for. (Oh what a helpless feeling this is after knowing so much about MSFS. ) Anyway, from what I've seen so far of X-Plane, it's an absolutely beautiful simulator. It just seems I'm having a rough time getting out of the starting gate. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted December 28, 2005 at 05:23 PM Author Posted December 28, 2005 at 05:23 PM Graham, Nevermind.. I found the preferences files you were talking about. It's nice to know that I now have a way to recover without needing to reinstall. But I'm still curious why the TOTALLY INSANE settings don't work. I picked up a tidbit somewhere that the TOTALLY INSANE settings were unusable if you wanted to fly. But I'm just pokin' around this new program trying to see what it's capable of. he he... Thanks again, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Serio 823884 Posted December 28, 2005 at 10:01 PM Posted December 28, 2005 at 10:01 PM Thomas, I have a pretty "bad-@$$" machine and i agree that you should NOT be using Totally Insane. I have my texture sizes set on Very High and most other things just a notch about average and i'm getting about 60+fps in all conditions. This isn't FlightSim. XPlane gives you plenty of rope to hang yourself with. Christopher Serio, Developer XTower/AVC/XSB/ACSim (Sweatbox) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted December 29, 2005 at 03:02 AM Author Posted December 29, 2005 at 03:02 AM Hey Chris, Thanks for the response. I'm learning very quickly what you say... there's a lot of rope to trip over, get knotted up in, hang yourself with. As a computer programmer geek type, I'll probably end up enjoying that flexibility once I learn the pitfalls. The bit with the TOTALLY INSANE settings, I think I'm drawing a conclusion.. I was able to fly in the SOCAL region with the settings maxed out today -- TOTALLY INSANE. I then went in and found Custom Scenery for SOCAL and it had all the texture files with the "xxx_lit.png" suffix. My conclusion is that if you want to fly TOTALLY INSANE, you're going to need the detailed texture files to support it and they don't come standard with the DVD set. Being that San Bernardino is the default airport, I'm guessing they put the hi-res texture files for SOCAL for all the first time flyers just like me who want to crank it up and see what it can do. My first criticism would be that they should do better than bail out with no indication as to why. Believe it or not, I was actually able to fly pretty well with the TOTALLY INSANE settings. I guess that means I have a pretty bad-@$$ machine too. Starting to enjoy X-Plane, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Meneses 907180 Posted February 5, 2006 at 12:03 AM Posted February 5, 2006 at 12:03 AM Hello Tom, nice to know people are starting to see X-Plane for what it is. And it's just going to get better. My question to you is, what frame rates are you getting with INSANE! Just curious becuase I might want to get a dedicated PC for X-Plane. I'm currently on a Mac. -- Carlos F. Meneses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted February 5, 2006 at 03:01 PM Author Posted February 5, 2006 at 03:01 PM Hey Carlos, I see this post, but it may take me a couple of days to get around to finding an answer. I'll let you know as soon as I do. In the meantime.... It's been a while since this thread was active. I've had a bunch of time between then and now to play with XPlane. I got off to a slow start, but I have really REALLY grown to love it. I hope it continues to grow. One area I'd like to see improve is the scenery around the airports (buildings & such). But I still play the fence between XPlane and MSFS. For GA (singles and light twins), I'm completely hooked on XPlane. I love Gerald Rader's airplanes from www.3pointaircraft.com. But I like the PIC ERJ-145 and the PMDG 737 on MSFS much better. I've started my own little VATSIM adventure. I'm flying around the perimeter of the U.S. in a Beech Baron -- all on XPlane. I fly when I can for as long as I can (usually ~2 hours). I plan each leg as I go. I started at Brown field in San Diego. I've made it as far a Mobile, AL and still going. Lovin' XPlane. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Stuart 924159 Posted February 5, 2006 at 03:14 PM Posted February 5, 2006 at 03:14 PM Tom, Go here - http://www.stratmann-web.net/xplane/aircraft.html and download Benedikt's 737. It's an excellent freeware 737 for X-Plane. And it keeps getting better! Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted February 5, 2006 at 06:34 PM Author Posted February 5, 2006 at 06:34 PM Hi Bill, Thanks for the link. Funny you should mention it, I just downloaded and installed it yesterday. (With my Continental colors too! ) I started playing around with it, but couldn't figure out how to start the engines. doh! Got the APU started, but couldn't find the pneumatic controls to let bleed air into the engines.... No worries. I'll get there. It's just a matter of learning something new. My problem is that I've got as many different things going on with Flight Simulator as there are threads on this forum. Not enough time in a day... Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Stuart 924159 Posted February 5, 2006 at 06:53 PM Posted February 5, 2006 at 06:53 PM I guess I cheat... I start on the ramp with the engines running. Sooner or later I'll figure out the engine start procedure too. BTW, the manual, buried in one of the folders, is pretty good. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Meneses 907180 Posted February 7, 2006 at 07:23 PM Posted February 7, 2006 at 07:23 PM Hey Carlos, I see this post, but it may take me a couple of days to get around to finding an answer. I'll let you know as soon as I do. No prob... but just in case you weren't aware of this, you can check the frame rate at any time by going to the Settings>Data Input & Output menu. In the Data Set tab, you will see 112 colums (for v763) each of which has 4 boxes. Click on the fourth box for frame rate, time ration (column 00 v763) and the you'll get frame rates displayed in the upper left hand side as you fly. If that number ever drops below the setting under Settings>Rendering Options... minimum frame rate (12.5 is default), then visibility will diminish in efforts to give you a good flight model. Enjoy the friendly skies! -- Carlos F. Meneses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted February 14, 2006 at 01:42 AM Author Posted February 14, 2006 at 01:42 AM Carlos, Well hello there. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to this.. but I finally figured it out. With everything maxed out in the San Berdnardino demo area (extremem high res, tree hugger, very high world detail, TOTALLY INSANE objects & roads -- which looks stunningly beautiful), I was holding around 17fps to 20fps sitting there on the end of the runway. As soon as I started to move, fps went straight down to 15fps and vis down to 0.1. What am I running it on? Motherboard: ASUS P5GD2 Deluxe w/ I-915 Chipset Processor: Intel P4 540 3.2GHz LGA775 1MB cache 800Mhz FSB Memory: DDR2 (533) 4200 - 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Video Card: eVGA GeForce 6600GT 128MB DDR3/PCI-Express/TV-out OS: Windows XP Home It was cool playing around with that data input & output. Just to play around, I flew from KSBD to KLAX and captured about 20min of frame rate data, then graphed it out on Excel. Not that you care too much, but it's cool to see how easy it is to get that kind of data out of X-Plane. Tom [edit] BTW, my previous claims of good frame rates on TOTALLY INSANE.. well.. I know much more about XPlane than I did then. Now that I REALLY maxed it out, I didn't do so hot. [/edit] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Meneses 907180 Posted February 14, 2006 at 02:15 AM Posted February 14, 2006 at 02:15 AM With everything maxed out in the San Berdnardino demo area (extremem high res, tree hugger, very high world detail, TOTALLY INSANE objects & roads -- which looks stunningly beautiful), I was holding around 17fps to 20fps sitting there on the end of the runway. As soon as I started to move, fps went straight down to 15fps and vis down to 0.1. I've yet to see (or hear of) anyone getting more that 15 fps while maxing all of the rendering settings. Makes you wonder what type of machine(s) Austin is running. It was cool playing around with that data input & output. Just to play around, I flew from KSBD to KLAX and captured about 20min of frame rate data, then graphed it out on Excel. Not that you care too much, but it's cool to see how easy it is to get that kind of data out of X-Plane. Most of that stuff in the Data Input & Output is way over my head. Way too much data for me. I guessed it mostly used for those users that build there own planes and stuff. Like you said, it's cool though. -- Carlos F. Meneses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Parker Posted February 14, 2006 at 02:57 AM Author Posted February 14, 2006 at 02:57 AM I just noticed.. you must have joined VCAir just before me.... I'm COA932. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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