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34 CHAPTER 4. CONFIGURING AND TUNING YOUR X-PLANE INSTALLATION
shortcut it’s assigned to (found on the right within a set of brackets). For instance, in the view
menu, the “Forward with Panel” view has a “[w]” next to it, so it can be selected with the ‘w’ key.
4.8 Configuring the Rendering Options
X-Plane is a very advanced simulator that has been designed for use across a broad range of
computers with varying specifications. As such, X-Plane offers the ability to change numerous
settings to optimize performance on your computer. For this reason, this is one of the most critical
portions of this manual. The Rendering Options window allows you to match X-Plane’s settings
(and thus the demands the simulator puts on the computer) to you computer’s capabilities.
The simulator’s performance is measured in frames per second (FPS, or frame rate). This is how
many times per second the X-Plane physics and rendering code (currently more than 700,000 lines
of code!) can be run. Each time the computer runs through the program it advances the aircraft
and recalculates the images that are seen (cloud formations, scenery, aircraft instruments, other
aircraft, etc.).
Obviously, X-Plane has to be tremendously flexible to be able to run on a three year old
computer and also take full advantage of the latest and greatest hardware available. There are two
things that affect X-Plane’s frame rate: the computer’s capabilities and how much it is being asked
to simulate (e.g., how much visibility is set, how many buildings, clouds, and other aircraft are being
drawn, etc.). It will be much harder for the computer to compute images when flying an airplane
in 30-mile visibility with 8,000 3-dimensional buildings and cloud puffs than it would be if X-Plane
were set up with only two or three miles of visibility and no clouds. Thus, generally speaking, the
higher the rendering options are set, the lower the performance and frame rate achieved.
The faster a computer can run X-Plane the more realistic and rewarding the simulation will be.
Testing has shown that the human brain can separate individual frames at frame rates of less than
about 20 FPS, causing the simulation to appear “choppy.” Coincidentally, this is also about the
same place that the engineering behind the simulation begins to fall apart. For this reason, X-Plane
has set the minimum operating speed at this level. If a computer is not capable of delivering a frame
rate of 20 FPS while rendering the level of detail set up in the Rendering Options page, X-Plane will
automatically introduce fog to help the simulation to run more smoothly. The fog keeps X-Plane
from having to draw the world to as great a distance, allowing the simulation to run faster.
The Rendering Options dialog box is used to configure the level of detail in the simulator. This
window can be found by moving the mouse to the top of the screen, opening the Settings menu,
and clicking Rendering Options.
4.8.1 Setting the Basic Rendering Options
The broadest-reaching graphics settings are located at the top of the Rendering Options dialog
box, in the section of the window labeled “Resolutions.” These include the texture resolution, the
resolution of the window when in full-screen mode, the level of anti-aliasing, and more.
4.8.1.1 Texture Resolution
The texture resolution drop-down box determines the clarity and detail of the textures displayed
in X-Plane. Textures are the image-maps that are draped over the terrain and aircraft to make
them look realistic. If the texture resolution is set to low, the runway and terrain will look blurry
and blocky. While this will not look very good, it will use very little video memory (VRAM), so
a high frame rate will be more easily achievable. The more powerful a computer’s video card is,