What do the various graphics options actually do?

alexl102

Learning... slowly!
Hi guys,

I've often heard people talk about draw distances, anistrophic filtering, good fog, bad fog etc.


However, I'm not entirely sure what all this means, how it changes what I see in Trainz and how it affects performance. Please could someone talk me through the controls seen in the attached image?

Thank you very much. :)
Screen%20Shot%202016-02-03%20at%2019.08.17_zpszrhaxdie.png
 
What they do:
Draw distance- controls how far into the distance Trainz will attempt to draw objects in a route. With the settings in the screenshot, a building 2.5km away from the viewpoint will be visible, whereas one 2.6km will not.
Scenery detail- I believe this affects a variety of factors, such as the ground resolution and the points at which levels of detail change.
Tree detail- only applies to SpeedTrees, and controls the transitions from 3D modelled tree to billboard.
Anisotropy- controls how sharp textures look when seen at oblique angles. At low values, textures in the distance will look fuzzy.
Good Weather fog- a setting to control the point at which objects disappear into the background haze in good weather conditions.
Bad Weather fog- ditto for bad weather conditions.

Impact on performance: Depends on your system. In my experience, the draw distance one is likely to have the single biggest impact, but the best way to find out is to experiment to find the combination that works best for your hardware and preferred routes.

R3
 
What they do:
Draw distance- controls how far into the distance Trainz will attempt to draw objects in a route. With the settings in the screenshot, a building 2.5km away from the viewpoint will be visible, whereas one 2.6km will not.
Scenery detail- I believe this affects a variety of factors, such as the ground resolution and the points at which levels of detail change.
Tree detail- only applies to SpeedTrees, and controls the transitions from 3D modelled tree to billboard.
Anisotropy- controls how sharp textures look when seen at oblique angles. At low values, textures in the distance will look fuzzy.
Good Weather fog- a setting to control the point at which objects disappear into the background haze in good weather conditions.
Bad Weather fog- ditto for bad weather conditions.

Impact on performance: Depends on your system. In my experience, the draw distance one is likely to have the single biggest impact, but the best way to find out is to experiment to find the combination that works best for your hardware and preferred routes.

R3

Cheers - are there any general rules about performance, such as 'Increasing good weather fog increases demand so may slow the game down' or whatever? I know you can't say specifically for my system.
 
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