UKGTL Season 17 GT40 Classic - Le Mans - Nov 13

[EvilClive]

"Are you familiar with Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering and what they do to the image ?"

 

I would admit to recognising the words............................as to what they do, or do not do,  I am ready to be educated 

[Wiltshire Tony]

google it

[Erling G-P]

"Are you familiar with Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering and what they do to the image ?"

 

I would admit to recognising the words............................as to what they do, or do not do,  I am ready to be educated 

LOL okay okay, just no reason to explain what you already knew, but here's a brief crash course:

Anti-Aliasing:  Removes jagged edges; mostly visible on slanted lines - looks like small ladders without it. Different methods and levels, with varying impacts on image quality and frame rate.

Anisotropic filtering:  Level of this determines how far things are rendered sharply. Low levels has only stuff near you sharp, while more distant things are blurred.  Highest level has stuff sharp right to the horizon.  Little impact on frame rate with modern video cards, so no reason not to use the highest level.

You can set the level of Anti-Aliasing with GTL config (but not the method). Normally you specify it as 2x, 4x, 8x etc, but GTL Config calls it 'Level 1' to 'Level 6'.  You can also set it in the 3D settings for your video card, overruling GTL's own settings.  I ended up doing that yesterday.  Anisotropic filtering has to be set in the 3D settings for your card, again overruling GTL (where there's no option to set it)

You mentioned a 1080 card, so I assume it's Nvidia based. Mine's AMD, so I can't tell you exactly where to change the settings, but expect you to be able to change the same things as me.  Maybe someone with Nvidia hardware can advise on where/how ?

I believe your card is faster than mine, so you shouldn't have problems with the settings I use.

Here's what I did:  First changed Anti-Aliasing (AA) method from Multisampling to Supersampling.  With earlier video cards, Supersampling had too high an impact on frame rate, but with my present one, frame rate dropped from 'ridiculously high' to 'slightly less ridiculously high', so not a problem.  Removed some of the shimmer, but not all. 

Had level of AA set to 'Level 3' in GTL config. Upped it to 6.  Frame rate took a hit, and shimmer looked worse!  Lowered it to 1.  Frame rate got a boost, and shimmer looked a little better, but still present.

Next tried changing AA level in the 3D settings for my card instead, overruling GTL.  Options are 2x, 2xEQ, 4x, 4xEQ, 8x, 8xEQ.  Went straight to 8xEQ, but that was too much; removed the shimmer, but frame rate started to stutter.  4xEQ had ok frame rate, but still some shimmer.  8x proved the sweet spot: all shimmer gone, but still very smooth frame rate.

Hope it makes sense; otherwise just ask (Would be a shame not to get the most from your new rig) 

[Erling G-P]

It sort of sounds like a refresh rate problem?

Or maybe tearing, if Vertical Sync isn't on ?

Bob, if you're unfamiliar with it, it's a setting that synchronizes your frame rate to your refresh rate.  Prevents tearing in the image, but also lowers your frame rate to your refresh rate (60 Hz probably).  I'm not sure what happens if PC can't achieve a frame rate at least equal to your refresh rate - maybe lowers it to half that ?

Setting for GTL is done with GTL config (outside the game). Has to be run as administrator - otherwise your selections aren't saved.

[Wiltshire Tony]

Yor GTL graphics config file can be found in the same folder as your GTL.exe file. It's called GTLconfig.exe, just double click it.

[Bob M.]

Thanks for your help guys but I better not get into any files and really botch it up.  I did a PC re-start this AM and that seemed to help some also.  I also learned in a 1/2 race with 12 AI,  that if I turn my lights off on the straights the flickering goes away and then turn my lights on when a curve comes up its OK because my speed is down. I know the track well enough that I can handle that. My FPS is running from 160 to almost 200 which doesn't seem the problem to me.  So guys if you lap someone in the straights and I don't have my lights on it's only me!!!  
Tony: Don't change the format, keep  it a nite race, nice challenge for us and I don't think I'm a challenger for a series Trophy LOL.

Bob M.

Edit:Put the track and added skins into a different load (last season F-1).  Guess what no flicker at all, see you all Monday...

[Erling G-P]

Thanks for your help guys but I better not get into any files and really botch it up.  I did a PC re-start this AM and that seemed to help some also.  I also learned in a 1/2 race with 12 AI,  that if I turn my lights off on the straights the flickering goes away and then turn my lights on when a curve comes up its OK because my speed is down. I know the track well enough that I can handle that. My FPS is running from 160 to almost 200 which doesn't seem the problem to me.  So guys if you lap someone in the straights and I don't have my lights on it's only me!!!  
Tony: Don't change the format, keep  it a nite race, nice challenge for us and I don't think I'm a challenger for a series Trophy LOL.

Bob M.

Edit:Put the track and added skins into a different load (last season F-1).  Guess what no flicker at all, see you all Monday...

Great to hear you got it solved Bob.  Was wondering; those 160 - 200 fps, is that with minimal settings ?   If it is, it sounds like you could easily dial up the video settings a notch or two.   Could be interesting also to run the GTL Config program in each of your installs, to see if there's any difference in the settings that might explain why only one of them flickers.

[Wiltshire Tony]

Edit:Put the track and added skins into a different load (last season F-1).  Guess what no flicker at all, see you all Monday...

I think that you will get a miss match message when you get online tho...............

[EvilClive]

Thanks for the education course guys.

I was out last night, but will have a tinker with the config file and the Nvidia settings later. I am thinking that it might be prudent to save a copy of the config before I start digging around in there. As the Nvidia is set in factory default ATM, I can easily restore to default if required. At least I should be able to get back to where I am now if it all goes t*ts up  .

Yesterday I did a short practice session ( with the zigzag barriers and white lines ) and discovered that :-

a) The gearing is too low and I am banging on the rev limiter for what seems like 70% of the lap even in 5th gear??
b) The rear tyres took a lap to get warm and the front tyres appeared to stay stone cold no matter what I did, so front end grip was minimal.
c) Did not try night time driving but I have concerns about picking out apexes and braking points in the dark.

I am looking forward to racing on such an iconic circuit regardless of any issues with the car ( or my driving abilities!!) and despite my poking fun, thanks to Tony for setting this one up.
I would quite like to run a proper long distance race around here, maybe with a choice of cars that would offer some with better fuel economy vs more powerful machinery so that the pitstops ( which all cars would need ) might even things out?

In GPL we worked out a handicap system that required the faster cars to spend longer in the pits, so that in theory if every car ran at optimum speed everyone should cross the finish line together.
Of course that never works in practice because we are all human and make mistakes. The result was that the drivers who chose the fast cars ran off into the distance at the start and then made their pitstops. The slower cars would almost inevitably pass those in the pits and get well ahead, then the problem was for the quick cars to work their way back to the front. TBH the aliens are always aliens and would get whatever they were driving to the front, but quite often the handicapping meant that they had to drive at 100% for the whole race and would only get to the front on the last couple of laps, which kept things very interesting right up to the wire. One mistake could be the difference between hero or zero..................................just a thought....

[Wiltshire Tony]

Thanks for your help guys but I better not get into any files and really botch it up.

Bob, the GTLconfig.exe file is user friendly. It's there for you to use. You would have seen it the first time you ever started up GTL. Give it a go, it will not muck anything up, honest. Remember to right click on it first and choose "Run as Administrator"

[Bob M.]

Thanks all for your help.  Learned some stuff, but will miss Mondays event because I just got a call from my doctors office, have a appointment for a hi-tech body scan for my back problem just before race time.  Therapist says I am not progressing as I should, maybe have other problems and they want to check me out.  I think it's just my almost 76 year old body!!!
Erling yes those FPS numbers were with minimum videos setting.
Tony I went online and you are right I got the mismatch message useing the F1 load.  I also took a chance and went into the config file, it was set at 60 so didn't mess with it, but was good to know about it.

See you all @ Korea hopefully
Bob M.

[EvilClive]

Well...... I have tried ( or think I have ) altered some of the values as suggested by Erling, but to be quite honest I cannot see much difference/improvement thus far.

Maybe I need to try various combinations of settings??

Interestingly, Erling appears to have options 1-6 in the GTLconfig window for AA, where I only have 1-4??

[BillThomas]

My NVidia Control Centre has a graphic which shows a good crisp rotating object - don't think I've touched it since I installed my graphics card couple of years ago!

[Erling G-P]

Well...... I have tried ( or think I have ) altered some of the values as suggested by Erling, but to be quite honest I cannot see much difference/improvement thus far.

Maybe I need to try various combinations of settings??

Interestingly, Erling appears to have options 1-6 in the GTLconfig window for AA, where I only have 1-4??

You probably have to experiment a little.  Do you have to (and have you ?) set the drivers to overrule the in-game settings ?  (I do, otherwise the game dictates the settings) 

I don't know why I have two more AA options in GTLconfig - maybe AMD has more options than Nvidia ? - You shouldn't miss them though, as they all looked crappy... 

If you experiment with the settings, you can Alt-Tab out of the game to change setting, and then see the effect immediately when you Alt-Tab back into it - that makes it fairly easy 

[EvilClive]

aha!! Alt Tab!!! That could make things unbelievably better. I have been altering the settings , booting GTL, doing half a lap, closing GTL, re-opening Nvidia, adjusting the settings, re booting GTL etc etc.

Never knew that I could swap out of GTL with alt-tab and get back in again....this I gotta try!!! 

Thanks Erling, some more things to try.