Anyone with problems with ATI drivers read this.

[dduff442]

Originally Posted by =PF=Coastie

If you think of it as a decimal, yes, it is same number. But when describing ATI's driver versions, that is a big nono and can cause big problems. Think of the decimal as a simple separator for two whole numbers. The first number signifies the YEAR and the second number signifies the MONTH. The 9.10 drivers were released in OCT 2009 and the 9.1 drivers were released in January 2009, ten months before the 9.10 drivers.

Hope this helps you understand the ATI driver numbers now.

Fair enough. The file attached to the earlier post is the correct 9.10 version, though.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Coastie, I did file a Feedback Form for Catalyst team explaining the issues. But better now that you got Terry's attention. Thanks a ton! Hopefully ATI will take a look in this. At the annual virtual pilot con we discussed the IL-2 and how it performs. We did extensive track running etc with logging and checked results. It seems code of IL-2 has errors in some values in it, but hard to tell what without more troubleshooting capability.

Even IL-2 age is showin a small bit of attention could be given, to at least address the support for newer gfx cards. IL2 is so far the only game I run that has problems. Others I play, like STALKER, Rise Of Flight, Aces High 2, Mass Effect 2 etc. Have NO issues at all..go figure.

I am planning to go for AMD cpu just for fun, using Intel i7 920 atm with the Intel DX58SO mobo. Just need to see if the AMD can use DDR3 yet

[Qpassa]

good news,thanks coastie

[Flanker35M]

S!

Did some testing last night with Catalyst 10.1 Hotfix drivers and different DLL-files of IL-2 floating around. To see which ones would give best image quality and performance. Quite surprising results as average framerates were within 1-2fps between ALL of them with same settings applied to the graphics card. The most recent dll-files caused terrain to flicker and corrupt, but setting Catalyst AI ON solved that. Catalyst AI just has a negative impact on FPS, it drops and noticeable in heavier scenes of The Black Death. But average FPS was with ALL 53-54FPS at 1920x1200 32-bit, Perfect etc. Will post my test setup later today for reference.

A few pointers though. If using AntiAliasing EdgeDetect with 4X and AA Mode at Performance, there is only a very small hit on FPS, maybe 1-4fps. So a very well implemented thing. With Adaptive or SuperSampling almost the same, maybe slight stutter. But need to run more tests to verify this. Anisotropic filtering, if application controlled, gives worse image quality than overriding it with CCC. IL-2 seems to use 2x Anisotropic only. I ran tests with 16x and there was a difference in the water shimmering.

Catalyst AI is a bit complicated issue. Some DLL's required it to be at Standard at least to get normal graphics(terrain only). Some dll's worked normally and faster without it. Catalyst AI at Advanced caused water to look like it was "pixelated" or covered with small squares. So I settled with a set of dll's that gave best image and performance without Cat AI.

The variation of error messages in console with different dll's was wide. Some gave a lot of them, most only the clamped error now and then. So a set of new dll's for IL-2 would clearly help users to get more out of IL-2, but that is up to TD/MG to decide Test results with settings and conf.ini later today..still at work..meh!
Coastie, can you keep us posted on ATI Team's responses on the driver issue? Would be great to see these issues rectified.

[=PF=Coastie]

I rcvd an update from Terry and they are working on it. We will need to be VERY patient with this guys. As long as e have the 9.10 dll's we are ok. A lot of testing will be going into this as well as making sure nothing else is broken in the driver after making adjustments.

I will test some of your findings Flanker. I like what you have come up with so far. But I disagree with your assesment on the in game aniso.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Coastie, the anisothing is based on the thing that if I set it to Application Controlled then it reverts to 2x every time I run IL-2, even it would be on 4x or anything else before that. Also when running application controlled the shimmering is closer to you than with forcing it to higher value with CCC. I ran on 16x and it was almost non-existent. But results may vary and we need to test more

I now changed rig to AMD Phenom II 965 BE + 790FX chipset Asus mobo added with 8Gb DDR3 in dual channel. IL-2 runs fine even there is still the blocky text. If you need something tested, just let me know and I will dig into it. I am for one very eager seeing IL-2 run fine on ATI cards and if testing helps then even better

[=PF=Coastie]

When you switch to app pref in the CCC it will revert to 2x. It has nothing to do with what the game is rendering. Try this for a comparison......

Start with a random CCC setting of lets say 4x and uncheck use app preference in the CCC. Now start game/choose a map with lots of long straight LEVEL roads/hit fly and lawn dart your plane onto a nice long stretch of level straight road(try to mark the place you crash so you can do it again in the same place). Now, using the external view, look straight down the road at ground level. NOTE HOW FAR YOU CAN SEE THE ROAD CLEARLY UNTIL IT FADES AWAY. (pick a tree or something to mark the spot).

Now close game and go back to CCC and tick use app pref in the aniso block. Also make sure you are using aniso as your mipmap filter in the conf.ini (TexMipFilter=3).

Now go back and crash your plane in the same place and compare how far you can see down the road. I am sure you will be amazed at the difference. I find that using the games aniso gives me much better results and higher fps.