Gaming Flight Simulator 2004 - Help please!!!

[Pound4]

I've been having a REALLY irritating problem with FS9. The game video always sort of "stutters" or hickups" if you understand what I'm saying. The screen's constantly just freezing for a fraction of a second, every couple seconds, and it's so annoying. And another recent problem that may or may not be related to the other problem is I'm having a hard time with control of the aircraft I am flying. This may be because of the settings I have the game on, or (I hope not) a problem with my joystick. Can anyone help me with either of these problems, preferably the first one?

 

[Hielor]

I've been having a REALLY irritating problem with FS9. The game video always sort of "stutters" or hickups" if you understand what I'm saying. The screen's constantly just freezing for a fraction of a second, every couple seconds, and it's so annoying. And another recent problem that may or may not be related to the other problem is I'm having a hard time with control of the aircraft I am flying. This may be because of the settings I have the game on, or (I hope not) a problem with my joystick. Can anyone help me with either of these problems, preferably the first one?

What system are you running on (hardware specs and OS)?

Have you tried turning the graphics settings all the way down?

Have you ensured that there's nothing else running on your computer while you're playing?

 

[Pound4]

- I am using Windows XP

- I've had them at middle and all the way up, but when I turned them all the way up, it became a growing problem. It didn't just start doing this as soon as I started playing with the settings this high. It started out fine and progressively became a worse and worse problem.

- There was nothing else running when this was happing.



I know this isn't a lag problem. It just sort of "hiccups".

 

[Hielor]

- I am using Windows XP

Okay, useful but doesn't full answer the question. What hardware? And I mean everything, including PSU wattage.

If it's a stock machine (dell/hp/compaq/whoever) and you don't know the detailed specs, tell me the make/model and any modifications you've made to it.

- I've had them at middle and all the way up, but when I turned them all the way up, it became a growing problem. It didn't just start doing this as soon as I started playing with the settings this high. It started out fine and progressively became a worse and worse problem.

Didn't answer my question. Have you tried it with all setting turned down? If not, try it. Over what period of time did it "progressively bec[o]me a worse and worse problem"? Days, months, a year?

I know this isn't a lag problem. It just sort of "hiccups".

It's having periodic issues of some kind. Turning graphics all the way down will allow you to determine whether the problem is coming from the graphics card or your CPU. Also, knowing what hardware you have in your machine will help in figuring it out.

 

[Pound4]

Um, my computer is an HP Pavilion a1230n.

No, I have never tried with the graphics all the way down. I will try it, but I really don't want to. The main reason I got FS9 was because I was told it would be capable of running the graphics higher than FSX.

---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:38 PM ----------

The problem DID stop when I tuned the graphics all the way down, but the graphics were HORRIBLE. I'll give it a try at default graphics.

 

[Hielor]

Um, my computer is an HP Pavilion a1230n.

That computer has an integrated graphics chip, but it does have one available PCIe slot (according to http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00471052 ). Unfortunately, it looks like the stock power supply is only 300W, so you'd be severely limited on the graphics cards you could put in there. This is your primary problem--you're trying to play games on an integrated chip, and that's usually asking for failure.

No, I have never tried with the graphics all the way down. I will try it, but I really don't want to. The main reason I got FS9 was because I was told it would be capable of running the graphics higher than FSX.

I'm not saying to turn your settings all the way down and then leave them there. I'm just saying to do it for troubleshooting purposes.

And yes, 2004 can run with higher graphics settings than FSX, but with an integrated graphics chip you're pretty much hosed anyway. My guess would be that playing it with medium to high settings has been stressing the machine and it's starting to complain.

One of the reasons that OEMs like HP really suck is that they hardly ever update drivers for their chipsets. You can try getting the "newest" graphics drivers for your system from here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&dlc=en&cc=us&product=1127355&os=228&lang=en but considering that those are from 2006 there's really no guarantee that that'll actually do anything.

---------- Post added at 04:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

The problem DID stop when I tuned the graphics all the way down, but the graphics were HORRIBLE. I'll give it a try at default graphics.

OK, the problem is with the graphics "card" in your computer. Try installing the drivers I linked above and see if that helps.

 

[Pound4]

Thanks, and I absolutely think you were right. I was overdoing it with my lamo graphics chip, I gave it a breather, turned the graphics back up, and it's running fine on highest graphics now, but that doesn't mean I can't do permanent damage to it later.

---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:56 PM ----------

I downloaded the update like you said, and after restarting my computer, everything on the screen is bigger. How do I get everything back down to normal size again?

---------- Post added at 05:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------

Nevermind, I fixed it.

 

[Hielor]

Thanks, and I absolutely think you were right. I was overdoing it with my lamo graphics chip, I gave it a breather, turned the graphics back up, and it's running fine on highest graphics now, but that doesn't mean I can't do permanent damage to it later.

How old is the computer? It's also possible you're getting heat issues, if you've had dust build-up on the cooling fins. Find a friend who's comfortable with the inside of a computer and get him (or her, but good luck with that) to go inside and remove dust from all the cooling bits.

At one point I had issues with my computer randomly freezing after like thirty minutes of playing games. I opened it up and it turned out that the cooling vanes were pretty heavily occluded with dust, so the pieces were overheating.

I downloaded the update like you said, and after restarting my computer, everything on the screen is bigger. How do I get everything back down to normal size again?

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/tipsandtricks/changing-screen-resolution-win-xp.htm

 

[Pound4]

I have had this computer since... probably 2005 or 2006, and I'll just get my dad to fix the dust problem. He knows how to do all that stuff.

 

[mjl1966]

I've been having a REALLY irritating problem with FS9. The game video always sort of "stutters" or hickups" if you understand what I'm saying. The screen's constantly just freezing for a fraction of a second, every couple seconds, and it's so annoying. And another recent problem that may or may not be related to the other problem is I'm having a hard time with control of the aircraft I am flying. This may be because of the settings I have the game on, or (I hope not) a problem with my joystick. Can anyone help me with either of these problems, preferably the first one?

Yep, the dreaded "stutters", second cousin to the "blurries". I run a 3 monitor rig on good nVidia 9600 cards and still get the stutters. The best way to abate this is to decrease the load on your CPU. (Better graphics card won't help - it's all about the math.) If you fly heavy iron,you will notice that the stutters are more prominent if you're flying complex aircraft like the Wilco 737 vs. the 152.

Besides upgrading your CPU and/or motherboard, a very handy tool is alacrity pc. (Google it.) It's free and it helps a lot.

-MJL

 

[Hielor]

Yep, the dreaded "stutters", second cousin to the "blurries". I run a 3 monitor rig on good nVidia 9600 cards and still get the stutters. The best way to abate this is to decrease the load on your CPU. (Better graphics card won't help - it's all about the math.) If you fly heavy iron,you will notice that the stutters are more prominent if you're flying complex aircraft like the Wilco 737 vs. the 152.

I disagree--in this case, the graphics card clearly is playing some role in the problem, since turning the graphics settings all the way down fixed it.

It may simply be that the lack of a real graphics card is forcing the CPU to do more work on the higher settings.

However, my desktop has an Athlon 64 3400+ (his has a 3700+) with an geforce 6800 GT (AGP, too) and it runs FSX fine at 1680x1050 with medium graphics settings. Considering that it had only 1GB of RAM when I started playing, the clearest difference between our machines here is his lack of a dedicated graphics card.

Besides upgrading your CPU and/or motherboard, a very handy tool is alacrity pc. (Google it.) It's free and it helps a lot.

He doesn't need a CPU/mobo upgrade. He needs a graphics card. And unfortunately since he has an HP, that means he'd also need a new PSU.

 

[garyw]

- There was nothing else running when this was happing.

There are ALWAYS other programmes running. A basic install of Windows XP has about 26 running processes BEFORE the user is even allowed to install anything onto the OS.

 

[Omhra]

I second what Heilor wrote.
If low graphic settings took the stutter out, then the CPU is managing the physics just fine. And the stutter happens at texture load time.. when approaching the runway, for example. Or at low altitudes and tiles are being T&L'ed...

 

[TSPenguin]

Since he is probably dealing with shared memory, that may amplify all effects mentioned.