Inside a PMDG VC: Light bloom and moving shadows?

[avhpilot 156]

1. I am beginning to appreciate the immersion that the FSX feature 'light bloom' creates inside the VC. It creates this sun reflection on the equipment inside the VC.

2. I have always enjoyed the moving shadows inside the VC when running FSX in DX10 mode. 

 

As for 1.

I notice that the LD767 with its outdated (even with A Folkers terrific new VC) yet acceptable cockpit, this light bloom effect is fanatastic. It provides this feeling of i-am-flying-above-the-clouds-in-a-sunny-blue-sky-and-i-need-to-put-on-my-sunglasses. The way the NGX737 VC handles light bloom is completely different. perhaps it's not even there. it''s difficult to say. if so, it is hardly noticeable. The VC remains relatively dark when flying in the sun in a blue sky.

 

As for 2.

PMDG has made it clear to run FSX in DX9 mode only because DX10 has too many problems. However, after applying a fix (the shader release v3.2.2) i discovered yesterday i am sort of moderately positive about new attempts to try out DX10 again as it would seem that some child disseases may have dissapeared (flickering runways for instances). By no means do i intend to regard this as the Holy Grail for DX10 because testing time has been too short for that and i also noticed some funny things going on with Dreamteam GSX not being shown, i am only saying that there may be a moment when the benefits will outweigh the cons)

 

With the J41 (PMDG's 'test-case' before making the 737) the moving shadows inside the cockpit are supported whereas with the NGX737 they are not.

 

PMDG have made nice light and shadow effects inside the VC of the 737 even including fingerprints on the displays but it lacks the dramatic contrast of what additional features like light bloom and the moving shadows (for DX10) could bring on top of that.

 

So, my question:
Is this something that is been taken into account for for future generation PMDG aircraft (T7, 747 etc.) or does PMDG's own methods make somthing like that impossible?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

The bloom issue also occurs with some default FSX aircraft. Some VC windows are darker than the usual, which cause the light bloom effect not to show.

[Tabs 2,790]

I'd have to ask Vin to be sure, but I think the techniques we use in our VCs and their overall complexity preclude stuff like this from working well. Those features are pretty broken in FSX and add a lot of extra CPU overhead to the sim as well.

[avhpilot 156]

I'd have to ask Vin to be sure, but I think the techniques we use in our VCs and their overall complexity preclude stuff like this from working well. Those features are pretty broken in FSX and add a lot of extra CPU overhead to the sim as well.

 

Thank you for your reply. I'm curious to know more about this.

 

for some high end systems light bloom or the moving shadows inside VC (dx10) doesn't really have a dramatic loss of performance so there may be a day in the near future on which DX10 issues have become negligible or minor.

 

On a sidenote: with their new night lights, FTX Global is changing the game when flying at dusk, dawn or night ! For my taste, this even gets better when applying light bloom to those night lights.

 

But, the upper part of the dashboard of the NGX737 allows for those lights to pass through (only with light bloom) as if that part of the VC is using an alpha channel/ opacity? 

This may be just another symptom of a 'broken' feature inside FSX but it doesn't bother me that much. It provides a sense of increasing movement when approaching the ground, almost like

you would have lights reflected in the windows, in a perfect simulation.

 

In a perfect simulation, dirt spots, scratches and fingerprints would become visible on the windows when flying on a sunny day.

 

Ah, the future of flight sim, i wonder ...

[remcoso 7]

Soon there will be a fix for all DX10 problems. So PMDG prepare for DX10

 

http://stevesfsxanalysis.wordpress.com/

[remcoso 7]

I'd have to ask Vin to be sure, but I think the techniques we use in our VCs and their overall complexity preclude stuff like this from working well. Those features are pretty broken in FSX and add a lot of extra CPU overhead to the sim as well.

Im sure it will procces by gpu and not on the cpu. So there is no fps decrease. And only the windows cause shadows and not tbe other knops yokes ect. Please look into it. DX10 have the future. Maybe PMDG 777 and NGX sp2

[remcoso 7]

Maybe can PMDG an option in the config to turn it on and off?

 

it looks really nice!! http://stevesfsxanalysis.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/jet-shadows/

[AAfan 49]

Im sure it will procces by gpu and not on the cpu. So there is no fps decrease. And only the windows cause shadows and not tbe other knops yokes ect. Please look into it. DX10 have the future. Maybe PMDG 777 and NGX sp2

The core FSX game puts much more load on the CPU Vs GPU, so I would think adding anything like shadows would indeed drop the FPS because the computer has to process the dynamic shadows, where the sun is in relation to the airplane, and what the shadows would do in that environment, then actually make the shadows appear over a complex model.

 

Based on that and knowing how 1 too many trees causes FSX to OOM, I would think that adding those shadows would increase memory usage and drop FPS due to the complexity of what needs to be done.

[ArjenVdv 190]

I would LOVE to have a dynamic moving shadows in the cockpit, it add SO MUCH to the immersion. I dunno if you guys have ever played a racing simulator using cockpit view, such as Gran Turismo 5 or iRacing, then you'll notice how much it adds. Let's say you are making a turn during sunset and you see all kinds of shadows casting on different things and moving around, sun shining on the displays and causing reflections, etc. Unfortunately though, this isn't (really) possible in FSX as far as I'm concerned. The shadows in DX10 mode are very jagged so that's not the solution as well. It's gonna be a matter of time before we have a new flight sim platform, before we can have this. 

[remcoso 7]

There is no impact on fps try it self.

[avhpilot 156]

1. shadows aren't jagged anymore the way they used to be, just look at these improvements:

 

http://stevesfsxanal...01/jet-shadows/

 

2. FPS drop is insignificant or hardly noticeable, perhaps even non-existent

 

some would argue using DX10 improves overall performance a little so this is no issue

 

It is the best we currently will get out of FSX when DX10 will be completely fixed