Re: OBJ optimizing…
http://wiki.x-plane.com/OBJ_File_Format_Performance
http://wiki.x-plane.com/w/index.php?title=Optimizing_Object_Performance&redirect=no
is a good start, and if you follow the links and search the blog, there’s more. I need to consolidate this stuff at some point.
For what you mentioned:
– ATTR_hide saves fill rate and vertex count but not CPU/batch count.
– Transparent texture saves _nothing_ don’t do that.
– An OBJ past its _last_ level of detail (e.g. farther than the farthest LOD) saves everything – CPU and working set included, and is the biggest win. So…low LOD is key.

Can’t load buffer ID – I need an _exact_ error message. It’s also not really on topic for this blog post – maybe send an email.

I think I’d better read the object8 spec again….

The other thing I’m seeing is, “can’t load buffer ID”s in the log.txt when a plane is reloaded about a dozen times during sound modelling runs. I’m not sure how it works but if some cache mechanism gets filled it should flush the lot and reload from scratch, which would be quicker than restarting the app. Hope I made some sense.

As for smoke, we have one source per engine and two variants (white and black) but no way to invoke them for such things as hung or hot starts. Similarly, the wet runway ‘smoke’ could be reused for brake fires – a not uncommon event – if we had some means of control without climbing the open GL mountain.

First, I can’t comment on v10 updates _at all_. Why? Because they’re just an idea that gets thrown around the office right now. Basically we have a pretty much closed down feature set for v10, although it’s always subject to change as the work gets done. But then we also have lists of things we’d like to do but don’t have time to do. Once v10 is finished, we will re-evaluate all of those lists and start planning patches. That planning will include what we learn from customers, e.g. what users are saying most important _after_ they have seen version 10. So it’s impossible to know what goes into the patches now – probably some stuff that we will do we haven’t even thought of and will be suggested by users; some things that we think we’ll do will be pre-empted by better ideas and user feedback.

I also can’t go into a ton of detail on the final feature set. I can tell you that AI planes will make full gate to gate flights, and the audio system is designed for audio file customization via audio voice packs.

Hi Vonhinx,
Re: fps, do you mean, a post on how to minimize fps in these cases, or answering the question “is there a fps hit” or…something else?

Smoke & sound: both need some attention, both need more than just a quick patch – I think they need new SDKs – that is, new ways to create the effects that are comprehensive and have future expansion.

If Ben answers all these questions, also ask him if 10 will include AI butterflies and their cumulative effect on global weather patterns, adjusting ATIS along the way! Woah!

I have also heard you will be able to adjust the accent of the ATC voice, is this limited to a variety of US accents? or can I have an Aussie or Brit?

One more: pause mode needs to be invoked when loading new aircraft otherwise those custom sounds can’t be turned off. Pause mode seems to be invoked in Local Map view but not in Finder/file operations.

Apologies for the off topic.