Virtual Tours

The ability of your system to communicate over the on-line connection is referred to as latency. The lower your latency rate, which is measured in milliseconds, the smoother your on-line flying will be.

Here are a few tips for making your multiplayer gaming as smooth as possible:

Close all programs that are unnecessary. Anything that you don't need to fly, close it down! This includes Instant Messaging programs, email, and anything else that might be chewing up your systems resources. If you happen to be running a screenshot program and your performance is still poor, consider asking someone else to be the "photographer" for you multiplayer flight.

Close your Chat Box when not in use. Using the Chat Box may slow your system down. There's no need to leave it open all the time. If a message is sent, you'll here a tone and see the message display across the top of the screen. Assign a button on your joystick to open the chat box, making it convenient to access.

Adjust your display settings. Lower your settings a bit while in the Multiplayer Mode. Start out by toning down your Sight Distance, which adjusts how far out objects become visible. This is the biggy for frame rate hits. Adjust this setting first before messing with others. You'll have to do some experimenting here. Jump on into a session that is in progress (don't be shy!), and let the others know what you are doing. Folks that use the Multiplayer functions have developed a great sense of patience! Everybody is going to have some type of problem at some point, so don't think you're the only one that's had the problem. Don't be afraid to ask someone out there for advice either! Flight Simming is an ongoing educational process in many areas. Odds are real good that someone else has had the same exact problem that you may be having. You can save a lot of time, cursing, and CPU beating by just asking!

Increase the connection speed. If possible, upgrade to a broadband/DSL or cable connection. You'll find that this will enhance more than just your multiplayer action! Go to www.dslreports.com to check out the availability in your area.

Visit Tweak3d.net for tips on how to improve your particular system's performance. There's a lot of information on this site covering a host of topics that will enable you to "tweak" your systems performance to the max!

Toggle OFF the option for "other players see animations on your aircraft". This will discontinue the ability of others to see such things as landing gear and control surface movement.

Toggle OFF the option of your ability to "see animations on other players' aircraft. Same as above, only this concerns your ability to see others.

I hope these tips are helpful to you! It's very frustrating to get into a session with high hopes of formation flying or whatever it is you have planned, only to experience "herky-jerky" game play and slow processing speeds!

See ya up in the wild blue!

FBZ