Low frame rate impact trees

[Thai1On]

I'm getting ready to start adding the forests to my route and I'd like to hear what route builders are using in TS12? I really don't like the billboard trees but I can understand using them to save on frame rates. I've read somewhere Speed Trees have a small impact on frame rate, is this true? I'm looking at Ultratreez that are built-in and they look good but again what is the frame rate impact?

Dave

 

[JCitron]

Hi Dave,

I understand your concern. The flipboard trees and foliage will definitely impact the framerates due to the way they're processed by the computer. A flipboard has to be converted by the CPU from data to graphics where as the SpeedTreez and their variations are drawn mostly by the GPU (graphics card). This takes the burden off the CPU and lets that unit do what it has to for running the rest of the computer as well as keep track of AI drivers, scripts, and other things in Trainz.

McGuirel's UltraTreez are SpeedTreez and are done very nicely. I've used mostly her trees on my Route and have used them to replace flipboard trees on other downloaded routes. Other content creaters have made some nice SpeedTreez as well. Pofig is one of the more famous ones. His trees are used by Andy on his East Kentucky 2.0. Gawpo50 has made some awesome trees as well in various variations that are suitable for your IL, KY route you're building.

John

 

[Thai1On]

Thank you John,

I've just got done looking at Gawpo50's trees :udrool: they look perfect for what I need. They're big files and sadly it's monsoon season here in Thailand and my net connection is down to a crawl .

Dave

 

[RRSignal]

Thank you John,

I've just got done looking at Gawpo50's trees :udrool: they look perfect for what I need. They're big files and sadly it's monsoon season here in Thailand and my net connection is down to a crawl .

Dave

I'm still learning the ropes but am finding that you should combine trees. I have used Tree City 12, which is a billboard tree, along most of my route because it's a light-green spring shade - spring colors are rare in Trainz. But it's also an alpha tree. It looks like crap until adding a speedtree (mostly, McGuirel's) between them, which takes care of alpha issues and allows one to "bulk up" a treeline. Finally, some of McGuirel's latest low-poly trees (esp. the 2-poly "turn-as-you-turn" trees make a great way to bulk up a forest.

 

[pogbellies]

So if I have a slower, albeit dedicated, 256mb NVidia graphics card (dual core intel processor) would I be better off using speed trees or billboard trees?

 

[dnevans8]

If you are concerned about performance you should take a look at recent trees and shrubs by clam1952.

 

[Dermmy]

So if I have a slower, albeit dedicated, 256mb NVidia graphics card (dual core intel processor) would I be better off using speed trees or billboard trees?

If you want some sort of benchmark install both versions of my EK3 route, both have a huge number of trees but one version uses billboards and the other uses speedtrees. Apart form the trees, both routes are pretty much identical. Run a train or two through both routes and see if you can discern a significant difference in performance. If you can - there's your answer. If you can't....