Fireball's SimGaming & Media

Formation With Attila16

2008-07-05T18:33:00.003-04:00

Hello my few faithful viewers :) Sorry i haven't posted much in a bit, i was busy with school finishing up, but since Summer has begun i will hopefully keep this updated with new posts.

Well anyway, here's a video of a quick flight me and the famous Attila16 had over San Francisco. Enjoy!

Flying the Cessna Citation 500

2008-05-16T15:45:00.006-04:00

Here's some nice screenshots I took of the Cessna Citation 500. It's an amazing freeware aircraft, and a blast to fly, i'd recommend it for any jet enthusiast, and it can be found here:

http://simviation.com/fsxjets35.htm

Takeoff from Innsbruck Airport

Flying around for landing.

TWEAKING YOUR FSX FOR BETTER FPS

2008-05-15T16:49:00.007-04:00

Hey guys- As everyone knows, FS2004 pales in comparison to the eye candy FSX has to offer. But- that comes with a price. FSX is almost twice as hard to run, even if it looks worse than it's older counterpart. I've got an excellent computer in my opinion, and FSX is still hard to run for me. So, i went looking for tweaks- And i struck gold... There's TONS of things you can do to improve your FSX framerate. There's three links below once you want to get in depth with tweaking your flight sim, but before looking at them, here's a simple tips to get your FSX running smoother (remember, this is based off of my computer [specs at the bottom of the blog] so i can't guarantee it will help you 100%, but it should!):

1. BLOOM= BAD. If you have framerate problems... TURN OFF YOUR BLOOM. Yes, it makes everything look pretty, but it's NOT worth the framerate drop it gives you. Basically, it must replicate every object to make it look shinier- Which causes a hell of a a lot of lag. I, personally, love the effect bloom gives, and i always want to turn it on just to see what it looks like compared to being off, and it's nice for a minute or two. Assuming i've got autogen and scenery complexity to dense, i'd get about 20-25 fps over a forest. But, once i turn bloom on, it goes down to about 12-13. So, to keep it simple, don't even worry about bloom unless your taking a screenshot or shooting for a movie. A ton of autogen looks better than a bare landscape with blurries :)

2. ROAD AND AIRPORT VEHICLES= LAG WITH WHEELS. After running a few tests, even 10% road vehicles cause lag. Now, this is usually not apparent at first, because the lag is causes is not usually framerate, but lag spikes that cause blurries and eventually slow down your computer. Now, if your flying nice and slow in a prop for some bush flying, putting road vehicles on about 15-30% might cause a bit of trouble, but it won't ruin your experience. But as soon as your start to go fast, the road vehicles, which you will barely see, will cause blurries and dissapearing autogen your entire journey. I have done city flying in helicopters and turned road vehicles on to about 50%, and i lose about 5-6 fps, so it's not too bad. Also, airport vehicles, which only include several airport service cars KILL your fps in large airports. So, to keep it simple, keep road vehicles off unless you'll be going slow, in which case, only turn them up to 50% at the most.

3. TURN OFF UNNEEDED BACKGROUND PROGRAMS! This is a pretty obvious one- Open up your task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) Go to the processes tab, and close down everything that isn't FSX, aside from any SYSTEM and LOCAL or NETWORK SERVICE ones, as well as explorer.exe. Depending on your system, there may be hundreds of unneeded programs running. I just recently formatted, so i don't need to worry about that much, but once i get a few months in, the stupid programs i've installed start to take their toll on my system. But generally, you only want FSX plus an additional few programs at the most. I usually run Ventrilo and Fraps, as well as FSHost if i i'm hosting a session and Media player if i've got music on, and i try to eliminate any other programs.

4. GET SERVICE PACK 1 AND THE ACCELERATION EXPANSION. Service Pack one boosted my fps by a great amount. All you need to do is download and install it. Also, the Acceleration expansion includes service pack 2 plus several other good tweaks, and in an environment where i get about 20 fps, i've got up to 25-30.

That's about it for the easy stuff, now time to get in depth with these useful links:

This is a forum post that includes a ton of tweaking guides:
http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=92583

This is a very helpful guideline for what your setting should be if you have an NVidia card:
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_fsx_techtips.html

Finally, a VERY useful and lengthly guide for a smoother FSX experience if all else fails:
http://members.cox.net/spambait/FSXTweakGuide.pdf

FSHost server running

2008-05-14T20:10:00.002-04:00

I am currently running an FSHost server for Microsoft Flight Simulator users.
Server Name: Fireball's FSX Experience
IP: 69.253.130.23

It should be running most of the day, and i'll try to get on fairly often. If your on with no one else, message me via XFire (Username fizznfire12) and i'll get on to do some flying!

If your using FS2004 or earlier, you can connect via the ingame Multiplayer with the IP above. But, if you use FSX as i do, you must use a program called FSClient to connect. Basically, this allows you to connect to the session without using Gamespy. It has it's ups and downs, but in my opinion, it is MUCH better than Gamespy if you want to get in and just do some fun flying. You can find FS Client here:
http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/fshost/
I recommend downloading Fs Spy as well. This allows you to look at & join FSHost servers without needing to obtain any IP.
I look forward to seeing you in the skies!
I will also be releasing a list of my recommended freeware addons to have when you join the session. They will all be obtainable via simviation.com.

-Nate

What it's all about

2008-05-14T17:52:00.001-04:00

Hey guys I was browsing freeware aircraft when i got a great idea. I have been flight- simming for several years now... How about i make a website about my adventures? So i started looking for good free website hosters, and finally came to Blogger. By then, i decided i might as well make it a site to post all my gaming & media stuff, and here i am now! I'll see what i can put together here. PLEASE, bookmark it and check every once in a while! I promise, I'll get some interesting stuff up, including:

- Free ware and Pay ware aircraft reviews
- Screen shots and videos of my flights
- Links to websites you may find interesting
- Opportunities to join the team
- and more!

As for now, check out my Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Fizznfire12
Also, i am part of an awesome gaming realism unit for the incredible FPS simulation called Armed Assault.
It's called the 15th M.E.U.: http://www.15thmeu.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28

You can contact me at: fizznfire1222@yahoo.com! I'd love to add others as authors to get more posts going!

Fireball's SimGaming & Media

Formation With Attila16

Flying the Cessna Citation 500

*TWEAKING YOUR FSX FOR BETTER FPS*

FSHost server running

What it's all about

TWEAKING YOUR FSX FOR BETTER FPS