NEC TS 2012 Optimized

[snowstorm]

My point was that the new TSX engine doesn't appear to allow for the usual AA settings and setting AA to x4 or even lower should increase performance (FPS) significantly. Give it a try. I'm unable to detect any difference in aliasing in the sim at the different AA settings with TSX on, and so dropping the setting to increase performance comes at no cost to visuals.

AA can't be done onTSX , it's technically not possible using DX9 so best bet is FXAA , a rather poor substitute for the real deal

I saw a couple of posters at uktrainsim making the same point, which has left me a bit puzzled as to why screenshots I took in TSX mode did show some reduction in jaggies after changing the launch window setting from no AA to MLAA-only, and perhaps more so switching from MLAA-only to MLAA + 8x MSAA.

No AA


MLAA-only


MLAA + 8x MSAA


There are parts such as the top of the brick wall where there's no significant effect, but clear differences such as the vertical stripes on the foreground building which lose their jaggies in MLAA-only, and the power lines to the right and left of the scene, which become smooth in MLAA + 8x MSAA mode. This does not seem consistent with the claim these AA modes are technically impossible in TSX mode, and I wonder if it varies depending on GPU (I'm using a Radeon 6850) or if it's just the differences are too subtle to be as noticable in-game.

[RSAdam]

Hi Matt,

The list above is the TS2012 upgrade for NEC, tonights patch was a massive lights performance change. I suspect however that its not the lights on the Acela Express scenario, but infact the heavy rain, which was a big performance hitter even on RailWorks2. There have been alot of comments on one scenario, has anyone run the others included with the pack, or indeed can comment on the default NEC scenarios with the new lights?

Regards

[Shadders]

Hello Again,

Thanks for the welcome!

I should add that it looks like I got patched about half an hour ago, judging from the time stamp on the new Lights folder. I'll retry the Acela Express scenario and I'll see if I can try a couple of other scenarios to get a better average on the frame rates.

Kind regards,

Shad.

[g_nash]

My second observation is the scenery, there’s so much of it, and I’m not just talking about near the line, I used the 8 camera and travelled so far from the rail-road I could not even see it, even though the camera must have been at a virtual 500-1000 feet. Why add scenery out there? I mean I like scenery as much as anyone, but what’s the point of populating landscape you can’t even see from 800 feet above the train? Also there’s the quality of it, for example, right next to the track is a good to high resolution rendering of a tree, travel a mile or so away from the track and the trees there seem to be the same model, what the reasoning behind having a reasonably high resource model all the way out there? I’m sorry but I think this route had not been optimized at all. RS have added TSX features but failed to address what would seem to be fundamental problems.

Personal opinion here is that RSC are between a very large rock and a very hard place , punters expect value for money and large numbers of detailed assets seem to represent value Commercial routes also seem to thought of as "asset packs" as well as a nice route . It's quite possible to get detail and performance , unfortunately that requires treating a route as a stand alone game and building bespoke components for specific locations with an eye for what is seen from only the cab or camera 4 or maybe low level camera 2 views , it's an argument I've had with 1 UKTS member before ... too many sky pilots around . Far better to use the Near , Mid and Far approach for building assets , that would take time that perhaps the art team at RSC aren't given .... experience also tells me that most paying customers won't accept half a house with minimum texture quality even if it meant extra FPS ... could rant about this all day , but it would make no difference .

Good observations in your post .

[TDHenderson]

Hi Matt,

The list above is the TS2012 upgrade for NEC, tonights patch was a massive lights performance change. I suspect however that its not the lights on the Acela Express scenario, but infact the heavy rain, which was a big performance hitter even on RailWorks2. There have been alot of comments on one scenario, has anyone run the others included with the pack, or indeed can comment on the default NEC scenarios with the new lights?

Regards

I personally have seen an increase in FPS from the dreaded 14 FPS barrier up to 17-18 outside of stations but still at 14 at the stations. Turning TSX off gets me up to my locked limit of 30 smooth as silk.

Thanks for keeping at it Adam and the RSC team.

Regards,
Trevor

[MattW]

Thanks Adam, I too have seen a performance increase in the NEC since the latest update. Still have the low FPS from the TSX engine, but at least it's consistent with the whole program now

[RSAdam]

Cheers for the note.

Ultimately we have vastly changed the rendering engine in TSX and things are generally now more demanding. If you look back at the release of RailSim and RailWorks2 we had the same feedback. These are the effects when our consumers demand the latest technology.

However, we at RSC are fully aware of the feedback about performance, and we continue to look stringently at anything that can be done to improve the situation more than originally planned. We have received excellent information via support@railsimulator.com and will continue to act on anything we can to give our customers the best experience we can provide.

Regards

[dcushing]

Ok, I got the new patch. Gave me about 5 seconds more of run time before freezing up. About to give up. I have sent an email to railworks support. Just have to wait and see.

Duncan

[gtw5812]

The question I got...as it downloads now is....How is your performance? Did they "Optimize it"..."Overload" it...Thanks.

[Shadders]

Just time for a quick post before bed.

FPS taken from in game counter.
This after tonight's patch. All scenarios played for at least 10 minutes.
Acela Express < 14 FPS - Then I edited the scenario and turned off the rain, substituting Clear weather. Got worse FPS ~ 3 FPS.
Business Bullet - < 14 FPS it did raise to 18 for a about a minute, then went down to 14 and stayed there.
Early Clocker - < 14 FPS.
Lucky (can't remember the whole name) - < 14 FPS.

I'll try renaming the Lights folder tomorrow and see if that improves anything.

I hasten to add that I get far better frame rates on other routes with the same settings, the highly demanding Wales & Borders route by GhostCav flies in comparison to this. WCML North is a joy in comparison to this.

Just for jollies, I loaded up Half-Lift 2 Episode 2. I know it's an entirely different engine and I'm comparing apples to oranges, but I maxed out the settings, started a new game and turned on the FPS counter. Now assuming the counter is reporting correctly, I got 300fps. Those of you that know the game will know that there's a bit at the beginning where a train falls off a bridge (rather apt). My PC rendered that at over 200FPS. Either the counter's lying or the bottleneck is not with my equipment.

I have no wish to offend anyone from RS, especially when they take the time to post to the community when their not even at work. Nor do I even want to moan about a small company filling a large gap in the simulation market.

But, I think it's perfectly fair to point out there's a world of difference between demanding and poor implementation and at this point, I think it's the latter.
This needs to be fixed please.

Good night everyone.

Shad.

[ca2kjet]

I think the priority at this point should be getting true multi-core support in this game. Shadders mentioned Half-Life 2: Episode 2 which was when the Source engine was upgraded to multi-core capability and just as he pointed out, look at the performance. I know the games are vastly different and I know there's lots of variables in terms of CPUs and graphics cards, but if we're getting roughly 15-20fps with one core, imagine having two, or heck, four or more! Just my

Also, is anyone else that's tried the Acela noticed some odd things happening with its sound effects when you're in outside view hovering around the engine? Some sound gets cut off as I move around... such as engine noise and rail scraping when going around corners (not sure of the correct term for that) and the horn. I've done all the usual checks and file verification but it still does it. It's as if the camera angle puts me in just the right spot that it cuts out a sound effect. It's weird.

[styckx]

Also, is anyone else that's tried the Acela noticed some odd things happening with its sound effects when you're in outside view hovering around the engine? Some sound gets cut off as I move around... such as engine noise and rail scraping when going around corners (not sure of the correct term for that) and the horn. I've done all the usual checks and file verification but it still does it. It's as if the camera angle puts me in just the right spot that it cuts out a sound effect. It's weird.

Not just you.. If you #2 view, and then rotate the camera around you can here it cut in and out.. It sounds as if it's trying to blend the power car audio with the coach audio and something is getting lost in the mix and they just cancel each other out.

edit: Sent an email to RSC support about it.

[ca2kjet]

Not just you.. If you #2 view, and then rotate the camera around you can here it cut in and out.. It sounds as if it's trying to blend the power car audio with the coach audio and something is getting lost in the mix and they just cancel each other out.

edit: Sent an email to RSC support about it.

Phew, thought I was going crazy! That's exactly what's happening and hopefully it's an easy fix for RSC.

[styckx]

Mr. Adam.. Hate be contribute to the bad news, but I'm seeing little to no difference.

Acela Express = 8FPS (using the settings on page one I did with the benchmarking).. Changed to clear skies, same.

The other two Acela based scenarios opened to 22fps.. Playable, but right on the fringe.

I re-ran the same benchmark I ran on page one.. Used the same settings, same test pattern. (This is with an AEM-7 btw)

Chart showing, before new patch, and after new patch. I even went as far as deleting my entire NEC route folder, and NEC asset folder, reverifying cache just to make sure I got the NEC 100% the way RSC are sending it out.

[bigphill]

Hi all
Are all US tracks as bad as NEC? The new acela jumps and bucks almost off the tracks Maybe this uses pc resources and adds to low fps rates. I would very much like an honest response from RSC as to what they are seeing on their pc,s. Why ask us as if there is some voodoo link between Steam and us causing everyone to have something diferent to them. Lets see some pc specs, settings, and video's of what they see.

Regards....Phill

PS Are you talking shift2 view Bill, cause i dont have one on the acela?