FPS in MSTS

thecaretaker · Post by **thecaretaker** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 5:56 am

I just bought myself a Radeon 97000 pro. This card flies through most 3D programs but MSTS is no better than when I used a GeForce3 (non Ti) and had small cpu (intel 800mhz) on my old system. I now have a Athlon XP2000. Everything else I have seems to be much much faster. It's a fresh install of Windows XP as well, latest drivers and all that!

I've used a utility called fraps to check what fps I was getting and it looks as though MSTS is locked at 60 frames per second. It makes no difference if I ran at max settings or the lowest. 60fps is all I get.

Is MSTS locked at 60fps?

I've also done a refresh rate fix for XP which seems to smooth any jurkyness out cos a refresh rate of 60 fps and a game running at 60 fps and a train moving at approx 60fps created jurks.

Anyone confirm this for me or have any ideas, tips how to get more than 60 fps?

thecaretaker · Post by **thecaretaker** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 6:52 am

ooooops! OK, Just read this thread

Looks like it is locked at 60 fps. Must learn to read more :drinking:

MAYBE some boffin out there will know how to write a patch file or do a regedit to unlock MSTS so it can do more than 60 fps. Mind you, your prolly not allowed to play with the code of the game so I didn't say that bit did I

I like setting challenges for people

johny · Post by **johny** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:40 am

60 fps! Aren't you lucky?

John

Baily9531 · Post by **Baily9531** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 8:09 am

im lucky if i see 30!

Goingnorth · Post by **Goingnorth** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:27 am

thecaretaker wrote:ooooops! OK, Just read this thread

Looks like it is locked at 60 fps. Must learn to read more

MAYBE some boffin out there will know how to write a patch file or do a regedit to unlock MSTS so it can do more than 60 fps. Mind you, your prolly not allowed to play with the code of the game so I didn't say that bit did I

I like setting challenges for people

Why do want any more than 60 fps....you can't see any more that 50 fps anyway!

If you have a lot of visable scenery and gradients, many AI trains it seems to slow things down, there's a lot of variables.

thecaretaker · Post by **thecaretaker** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 12:33 pm

I guess I am lucky. I appreciate that some of you don't have such fast systems. I'm not knocking you at all. Everyone to their own.

But most games and demos that I have run at far greater speeds these days. It makes for a very much smoother movement. 60fps is very slow compared to the fps of some games these days. Some of my demos run at 800-1000fps now, not that I'm expecting anything like that from MSTS as card & cpu has alot to do.

I disagree with not seeing 50fps. It's a bit like the WinXP/2000 refresh rate problem with 3D games being stuck at 60mhz it can be tiring on the eyes for long periods. But many utilities are available to fix that for you now. I use reforce to give me a 85mhz refresh rate. Those lucky enough to still have Windows98/ME never had that problem as you could choose the 'optimal' refresh rate setting.

As for frame rates, even 70-80 fps would be smoother for 3d objects to move across the screen. When you have view '4' selected and a train moves from left to right, look at the gaps between carriages as they move away from you. When they are close up, you can definatly see the 60 fps frames being rendered. If it was possible to run at 70 or 80fps then I'm sure it would show much smoother movement and be much more comfortable to watch.

But, I supose MSTS is getting a bit long in the tooth now. CPU's and especially graphics cards have moved on in leaps and bounds in a very short space of time. Maybe it's time for Microsoft to bring an up-to-date version out that is more in tune with modern systems and graphics cards (but also be fully compatible with users who don't have as well). It would also be nice to see realistic water like in the game MorrowWind has under those bridges. Most DirectX 8 cards can show these effects now.

Don't misunderstand me, I love MSTS to death. It's my favourite sim. I was just expecting to see a greater improvement regarding frame rates when I upgraded my system but it seems I was getting the best out of it before anyway.

Thanks for you comments.

wirralsimon · Post by **wirralsimon** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 1:02 pm

thecaretaker wrote:I disagree with not seeing 50fps. It's a bit like the WinXP/2000 refresh rate problem with 3D games being stuck at 60mhz it can be tiring on the eyes for long periods. But many utilities are available to fix that for you now. I use reforce to give me a 85mhz refresh rate. Those lucky enough to still have Windows98/ME never had that problem as you could choose the 'optimal' refresh rate setting.

I'm happy when my frame rate reaches 20 fps! It's not too bad on the default routes but play something with loads going on like the Cajon pass route or Mid-East UK and I'm stuck in single digits a lot of the time, especially with the detail setting on high, thats in a 1GHz/256MB/Geoforce 2 system which is probably typical of many users ut there.

Just be grateful your MSTS isn't playing slowly enough for the sound to break up!

Simon

saddletank · Post by **saddletank** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 1:13 pm

Caretaker

1) What are your system specs please?
2) When my Highworth route is done, please get a copy and report your frame rates, I'm interested to see how it will run on a high-end system.

pitleyfalley · Post by **pitleyfalley** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 2:36 pm

What relation does the fps in the Route Editor bear to the game?

When i go into RE i tend to get an fps of about 50-60 on most parts of my route. However hit the route and this can drop down to about 20 in places! Is this just the added train in the game causing the drop in fps?

Pitley

asalmon · Post by **asalmon** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 2:40 pm

pitleyfalley wrote: Is this just the added train in the game causing the drop in fps?

Pitley

Yep - the player train, AI train and static stock are all extra objects that have to be drawn!

-Alan

Stooopidperson · Post by **Stooopidperson** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 2:43 pm

Yes, it is "locked" at 60fps.
I am not worried about the highest frame rate. At 60fps, you would be wasting the computers energy anyway. Anything above 24fps, it would be very smooth. Actually 18fps is the just okay mark that the human eye doesn't detect any stutter. I am more worried about the lower one as I have gotten 1fps before. I was making 5 trains(my train +4 AI) do a head to head crash at over 200mph. So I got 1fps!
And I think the Shift+1 view gives you the highest frame rate. View 1(cab) gives you one or two fps lower.

thecaretaker · Post by **thecaretaker** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 3:58 pm

saddletank wrote:Caretaker

1) What are your system specs please?
2) When my Highworth route is done, please get a copy and report your frame rates, I'm interested to see how it will run on a high-end system.

Hi Sandletank. My system isn't quite state of the art on the edge of technology stuff, but I'd be more than happy to test your Highworth route out for you if it helps. Or if you would like me to beta test any sections for you before release, just drop me a line (no pun intended)

Here's my spec

WindowsXP Home SP1 (+all later updates)
Hercules 9700 pro with Catalyst 3.2 (not overclocked)
Althlon XP 2000 (not overclocked running @ 1.7mhz)
MSI K7T266 pro2 with Hyperion v4.46 drivers
2 sticks of 512mb pc2100 ddr ram
Hercules Prophetview 920 17" monitor with the Prophetview drivers
Enermax 433w psu twin fan auto speed
Soundblaster Audigy 2 with latest 5.12.1.324 drivers
1 x 40gig Western Digital WD Caviar 7200 HD (main 'C' drive)
1 x 80gig Western Digital WD Caviar 7200 HD (used as back-up clone drive)
Sony 16x/10x/40x CD ReWriter
Unknown DVD 8x ROM
Standard Floppy drive
SupraExpress Pro 56I VC Modem
1 x pci turbo exhaust blower fan
5 x case fans (3 front in/2 rear out)

burninghorizons · Post by **burninghorizons** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 5:46 pm

Blowing my own trumpet!

AMD Athlon XP2700+ @ XP3000+
Thermalright SLK-800 with
YS-Tech Silent FD8125 80mm Fan
Abit KX7-333 Motherboard
512MB Samsung Original PC2700 (Fastest timings)
Connect3D ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

(just bought it!)
Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB, 8MB cache. NTFS
Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW
Lite-On 16x DVD
Samsung SyncMaster 181T 18.1" LCD Monitor - Silver

Creative Soundblaster 128 Soundcard
56K Modem
Realtek 10/100 LAN card
Floppy Drive
Hewlett Packard Deskjet 930C
Mustek 1200CP Scanner
Microsoft Optical Wheelmouse
Logitech Navigator Keyboard

Latest catalysts
Latest Via 4 in 1's
Reforce
WinXP Pro, Service Pack 1

Just to let you know that I cannot get more than 60fps either.
On some routes/activities, FPS can go as low as 8!!!
Basically MSTS is so badly coded, that no matter how fast your system, graphics can't be displayed fast enough.
I think it's actually a physics problem and not a graphics problem because if you turn your resolution down to 640*480 and reduce all extra display settings you hardly get any improvement in FPS.

Let's face it, MSTS will never ever run smooth with lots of stock, even with a 10Ghz processor and a graphics card 5 years in the future!

In my opinion, the worst piece of software ever written. (excluding WinME!)

thecaretaker · Post by **thecaretaker** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:20 pm

In my opinion, the worst piece of software ever written.

It's given lots of people alot of pleasure including myself

It's a thousand times better than a game called 'Southern Belle' that ran on my Commodore64 20 yrs ago. Anyone remember that?

burninghorizons · Post by **burninghorizons** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 10:27 pm

thecaretaker wrote:
In my opinion, the worst piece of software ever written.

It's given lots of people alot of pleasure including myself

You know what I mean! TECHNICALLY it's the worst piece of software ever written. Apart from it's shoddy programming, I absolutely love it too!