RealFlight

[Brian Fox]

Hi -

I've been away from the fixed wing rc stuff for about a decade. I
returned only to find everyone trying to fly planes like they're
helicopters. Cool stuff, but not really my thing.

Anyway. I'm starting down the long road of heli flying with zero
experience. I thought RealFlight would be a good inexpensive
start.

RF has stopped at development on version 2 for a few years, right?
Are there any rumors of an upcoming release?

And also, are the different helis modeled for physics or is it just
really a cosmetic thing? I ask because the Lite version seems like a
decent deal if the physics don't count from heli to heli. (The
full version has a handful of models, the lite has three I think...)

Thanks!
Brian

[Alibi10 Jerry]

Did anyone try running RealFlight 3.5 on a laptop?
If so what make and model please.
I have to buy a laptop, and can't get any info on integrated GPU's with
shared memory.
I know they can run games.
Many have the Intel Express Media Accelerator 950 chipset.
...jerry

[Ed Paasch]

You'll find the integrated Intel video woefully inadequate for running any
of the flight simulators currently available, except for maybe FMS.

You will want to find a notebook with an ATI or Nvidia of some kind. While
there is a variety of notebook video chips and I'd be hard pressed to
explain them all in this forum, I can state categorically that the worst ATI
or Nvidia graphics chip will run a flight simulator much better than Intel's
best integrated graphics chip.

You might find a few articles enlightening:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2427

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2268

The first article is over two years old, and it openly discusses how Intel's
950 video chip totally sucked even way back then.

Any notebook with any ATI or Nvidia video chipset will be the way to go.
You won't have to spend a lot of money either. I've seen Dell and Toshiba
notebooks available in the $600 range with ATI video chips.

Good luck and good shopping!

"Alibi10 Jerry" <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5329-45F7FFA7-39@storefull-3276.bay.webtv.net...
>
> Did anyone try running RealFlight 3.5 on a laptop?
> If so what make and model please.
> I have to buy a laptop, and can't get any info on integrated GPU's with
> shared memory.
> I know they can run games.
> Many have the Intel Express Media Accelerator 950 chipset.
> ...jerry
>

[funfly3]

Ed Paasch wrote:
> You'll find the integrated Intel video woefully inadequate for running any
> of the flight simulators currently available, except for maybe FMS.
>
> You will want to find a notebook with an ATI or Nvidia of some kind. While
> there is a variety of notebook video chips and I'd be hard pressed to
> explain them all in this forum, I can state categorically that the worst ATI
> or Nvidia graphics chip will run a flight simulator much better than Intel's
> best integrated graphics chip.
>
> You might find a few articles enlightening:
>
> http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2427
>
> http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2268
>
> The first article is over two years old, and it openly discusses how Intel's
> 950 video chip totally sucked even way back then.
>
> Any notebook with any ATI or Nvidia video chipset will be the way to go.
> You won't have to spend a lot of money either. I've seen Dell and Toshiba
> notebooks available in the $600 range with ATI video chips.
>
> Good luck and good shopping!
>
> "Alibi10 Jerry" <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote in message
> news:5329-45F7FFA7-39@storefull-3276.bay.webtv.net...
>> Did anyone try running RealFlight 3.5 on a laptop?
>> If so what make and model please.
>> I have to buy a laptop, and can't get any info on integrated GPU's with
>> shared memory.
>> I know they can run games.
>> Many have the Intel Express Media Accelerator 950 chipset.
>> ...jerry
>>
>
>

on a shop website is the following
LAPTOPS: The RealFlight software has been run successfully on many laptops.

Generally, laptops with the following video chipsets will run

RealFlight adequately under most conditions:

Nvidia GeForce 5500 (or higher)

ATI Radeon 9600 (or higher)

[Alibi10 Jerry]

Most laptops have the Nvidia GeForce 6150 integrated shared memory.
It's Direct X9 but I can't find out if RF G3.5 will run on it.

[Ed Paasch]

The GeForce 6150 integrated video chip is a generation more advanced than
the 5500-series that Real Flight mentions on their website.

It won't provide scorchingly fast frame rates with all of the detail turned
up, but the 6150 integrated graphics core will provide good, usable
performance for G3.5 and it will perform much better than the Intel graphics
core.

Remember that Real Flight now offers a downloadable free demo. You should
be able to burn the file to a CD and take it shopping with you. If somebody
wants to sell you a notebook, they should have no problem with you trying
the software out at the store.

"Alibi10 Jerry" <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5293-45FA4273-367@storefull-3274.bay.webtv.net...
>
> Most laptops have the Nvidia GeForce 6150 integrated shared memory.
> It's Direct X9 but I can't find out if RF G3.5 will run on it.
>

[Alibi10 Jerry]

Ed first I want to explain that I live in 2 different places and if I
buy a desktop, I'm out of here in May, then back and forth between the
two.
I emailed "Tech Support" this afternoon, and they fired this right back
to me!
"Very impressive quick response!"

Mar 16, 2007, 8:05pm To: alibi10@webtv.net Subject: Fwd: Re: RealFlight
G3.5
Date: =A0=A0 Fri, Mar 16, 2007, 3:07pm (EDT-1) From: =A0=A0 "RealFlight
Tech Support" <RFSUPPORT@hobbico.com> To: G3.5 X-Brightmail: =A0=A0
Message tested, results are inconclusive

To run RealFlight G3.5 on that video card, you will need to do the
following to get reasonably good performance.
The color settings and resolution may be set too high and could be
impeding the performance of your video card. I would lower these
settings a little to enhance performance.
Right click on an open area of your DeskTop.
Click on Properties
Click on the tab at the top that says SETTINGS.
Use the drop down menu to change the Color Quality to 16 Bit.
Use the slider bar to change the Screen Resolution to 1024 X 768.
Then click on apply. The change in color will not really be very
noticeable to the eye, but the change to resolution will alter the
appearance of the screen a little.
Things you can do IN RealFlight G3 to help get a smoother flight
include:
Start and run RealFlight G3.
1) Click on the View tab at the top of the screen.
Click on Show. To the right it lists several graphics features in
RealFlight G3 that you can turn off. By clicking on them you can remove
the check mark and the simulator will no longer create these effects on
the screen. This in turn allows your video card to apply more resources
to creating a smooth flight rather than rendering more objects. At the
very least I would remove the check mark from the Clouds listing. Clouds
eat up a lot of processing power in the video card. You may also want to
remove Trees to help out.
2) Lowering the "Graphics quality" of the simulator.
Click on the tab at the top of the screen that says Simulation.
Click on Settings
Click on the '+' sign next to Graphics.
Click on Quality.
To the right will be several settings you can alter for the graphics
quality of the Simulator. Next to Shadow Quality, Particles, Textures,
and Misc. Graphics, etc... it most likely says 'Highest'. I would click
on the word 'Highest' for each of these and change them to 'Medium'.
This should GREATLY effect the smoothness of your flight using that 6150
video card.
PLEASE REMEMBER to attach all previous correspondence (and dxdiag
information if previously requested) with our responses to any follow up
e-mail you may send. This will allow us to better track our attempts to
troubleshoot your problem. Unfortunately, due to the volume of e-mail we
receive, WE ARE UNABLE TO SAVE OR REMEMBER E-MAIL MESSAGES ONCE WE HAVE
SENT A RESPONSE.
You can also reach our product support technical team at 217-398-8970
during our regular business hours Monday through Friday 8am to 7pm
Central time. Be sure to have your computer specifications and serial
number for your software available at the time of your call.
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW WEB SITE?
In an effort to provide you with the fastest, most up-to-date support
available, we have developed a new web site dedicated specifically to
answering your questions or concerns regarding all versions of our
software. Most of the difficulties users have running our software are
related to problems we have already seen many times before, and have
consequently developed reliable solutions to correct. Please try
visiting this new resource we have developed for you. Most likely your
problem or concern has already been encountered before and the fix or
answer you need is already there waiting for you! You can visit this new
site at www.gpsoftware.com . Please give it a try!
Sincerely,
James D.
Product Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
www.gpsoftware.com
www.realflight.com
www.realrace.com
www.rc-pilot.com
NO AUTORESPONDER
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0_______|_______
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0___---(X)---___
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A 0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0o/=

=A0 \o
12:33 PM >>>
Hi, I want to purchase a new HP laptop tomorrow. It has a good dual core
cpu and a gig or ram, but I'm concerned about the integrated GPU.
It's an Nvidia 6150 integrated gpu with 256 meg of shared memory, DX9
capabilities.
I'm not expecting all the full blown graphic detail like on the big
desktops, but want to know if RealFlight G3.5 will run on it and operate
on a functional usable speed.
I wish to purchase RF tomorrow as well, but I can't possibly test even a
demo, without purchasing the laptop.
...thank you ...Jerry

[Phil Wyatt]

I have an older HP/compaq nw8240 and it runs RF3.5 good enough for some
practice whilst away from my desktop.

It runs ATI Mobility FireGL V5000 display adaptor plus 1Gb or RAM


"Alibi10 Jerry" <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5329-45F7FFA7-39@storefull-3276.bay.webtv.net...
>
> Did anyone try running RealFlight 3.5 on a laptop?
> If so what make and model please.
> I have to buy a laptop, and can't get any info on integrated GPU's with
> shared memory.
> I know they can run games.
> Many have the Intel Express Media Accelerator 950 chipset.
> ...jerry
>

[Thomas Korff]

Alibi10 Jerry schrieb:
> Most laptops have the Nvidia GeForce 6150 integrated shared memory.
> It's Direct X9 but I can't find out if RF G3.5 will run on it.
>

All true, but my m-atx mainboard used to be running on the 6150 with
256mb of shared memory. I got about 10-15 fps with Reflex XTR. Not
enough for a real expirience. The program mentioned also that any form
of shared memory used by the graphic-chip will deteriorate performance.

Tom

[Alibi10 Jerry]

Bought the laptop, Nvidia GeForce GO 1650 and RealFlight G3.5. It works
GREAT <IMO>
Looks and flies real good, and I'm getting mid 30's for FPS. Is that
good? It looks good, plus I can turn a lotta stuff down or off.
I can't get the cockpit camera, but I might if I turn all the gadgets
off??
I'm happy with it! Thanks for your help guys!
...jerry

[Doug McLaren]

In article <8443-4602D03E-305@storefull-3278.bay.webtv.net>,
Alibi10 Jerry <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote:

| I can't get the cockpit camera, but I might if I turn all the gadgets
| off??

Make sure you're not using a `photofield' -- that sort of setup can
only give a view from one place, and the pilot can't move around.

--
Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzied.us
Which is worse: Ignorance or Apathy? Who knows? Who cares?

[Alibi10 Jerry]

Thanks Doug, cockpit camera works now. I couldn't find it in the
manual.
BTW> What's considered a reasonably good or ideal FPS speed?

<Jerry>
I can't get the cockpit camera, but I might if I turn all the gadgets
off??

<Doug>
Make sure you're not using a `photofield=B4 -- that sort of setup can
only give a view from one place, and the pilot can=B4t move around.
--

[Ed Paasch]

30 frames per second is a good, smooth framerate.

The human eye can see at about 15 frames per second, so 30 frames per second
looks completely smooth as there are 2 frames for every one time the eye can
see, slower than that and the motion starts to look "choppy" as the eye
catches some of the frame-to-frame changes.

Video game geeks who play first-person-shooters often shoot for 60fps or
faster video performance to provide silky smooth movement with no hint of
stutter or chop.

Faster is better, but once you get to 30 frames per second the improvements
are a lot less noticable.

"Alibi10 Jerry" <alibi10@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:24596-4604E790-536@storefull-3271.bay.webtv.net...

Thanks Doug, cockpit camera works now. I couldn't find it in the
manual.
BTW> What's considered a reasonably good or ideal FPS speed?

<Jerry>
I can't get the cockpit camera, but I might if I turn all the gadgets
off??

<Doug>
Make sure you're not using a `photofield´ -- that sort of setup can
only give a view from one place, and the pilot can´t move around.
--

[Alibi10 Jerry]

I'm now running low 30's Ed, when running around 15 the helis seemed
slower and too easy to fly.
That's when I said, "wait a minute, I'm not THIS good!" ...lol
...jerry