Strange Display Behaviour when Replaying Flights

[TonyW]

Hello,

In the last two weeks or so I am experiencing some very bizarre display issues with the Piper Comanche.

After I land and get off the runway I usually replay the last few minutes of the flight so that I can review my landing from several different viewpoints, e.g. cockpit, outside spot view, tower view etc. I've been doing this since I got FSX on whatever aircraft I'm flying, and also for most of my flights in the Comanche which I've been flying intermittently over the past 18 months.

What happens now is that as soon as I change the view after starting the replay, usually switching from cockpit to locked spot view, I no longer see the external model of the aircraft, but the lights and aircraft shadow are visible. Initially the scenery, including runway and airport buildings etc. is fine.

However if I try to replay a second time the display just goes crazy with duplication of scenery, large black areas on the screen etc. Most of the airport scenery also disappears at this stage. At this point I have to press Esc to end the flight and then exit FSX, as using Alt to display the menu bar no longer works.

My flights, including walkaround, engine start etc. usually last just over an hour, maybe 90 minutes maximum, as the actual time in the air is usually around 30 to 45 minutes. I've done several test flights from the same airport & runway in the default Cessna 172 as well as in a Robin Dauphine (Lionheart Creations) and have been able to replay the last few minutes of these flights without any problems, so it seems to be specific to the A2A Comanche?

Today I did an additional test which was to start FSX with the Comanche (C&D) on the runway and then manually tow it onto the grass – an operation that took about a minute or two. I then replayed this “flight”, but in this case I was able to switch views without a problem. Also when I am flying I can switch views without a problem.

The only changes to my PC that I've knowingly made are two sets of Windows Updates (on 12/4 – KB4014553 & KB4014565 and on 14/4 – MS Silverlight 5.1.50906.0 & KB4015519). As far as I can recall I only noticed the problem since then, but as I don't use FSX every day I cannot be sure. In fact something may have gone wrong with the update of the 12th as I shut down the PC that night, but the next morning found the PC still on and trying to install the update, so I just had to power it off with the button.

Has anyone else seen this behaviour? Any ideas? If not I'll just try a System Restore, but would like to avoid that as they are not always successful.

Regards,

Tony

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello Tony,

the replay function in the sim is known to be quite buggy, esp with third party aircraft. I am surprised you have only just come across some issues with it to be honest.

thanks,
Lewis

[TonyW]

Hi Lewis,

Thanks for the quick reply. I've never had any problem with replays on any aircraft including the two add-ons that I've been using, i.e. the Comanche and Robin Dauphine. Up to mid April I would have done replays on most of my flights over the years on FS8 and FSX with never a problem. I do have two other add-ons that I bought a few weeks ago but have not flown yet, and last night I was just looking at one of them parked in a small airport and when I went to change the airport I got similar display issues that I've described. I actually just logged on now, not expecting a reply yet, just to update my issue to say that it does not seem to be related to the A2A Comanche after all.

I mentioned recent Windows Updates as the only factor I could think of but last night I thought of something else. I almost never use the built-in (or any) ATC, but around mid April I did use it for a particular reason when flying the Comanche and since then I intermittently hear some ATC chatter on all flights, any aircraft, even though I don't have it switched on. As far as I know you need to start ATC by pressing the apostrophe key for every FSX session - do you know if I am correct in this? If so do you know how I switch off the ATC? It seems unlikey that an audio problem could cause display issues, but with computers who knows?

If nobody on the forum can think of any reason why I'm suddenly having these problems I'll just do a System Restore in a few days.

Regards,

Tony

[Lewis - A2A]

Hey Tony,

you can try a system restore but as I say the replay function is limited and buggy which is why so many use fs recorder etc to help them get better replays. Because its worked before doesn't mean it will work for you again that's a possible scenario you should be prepared for.

thanks,
Lewis - A2A

[TonyW]

Hi Lewis,

This is my second time to type a reply tonight, but I seem to have cancelled the first in error, but if by chance it does show up I apologise for the duplication.

I've discovered that the issue is bigger than just instant replay. In my second post on this topic I mentioned that I had a similar issue on another add on aircraft (as yet not even flown) which I tried switching to a different airport. So it is not an instant replay issue, nor is it an A2A issue.

Tonight I took off from (hard surface) Runway 21 in Waterford - this is a small airport in SE Ireland for which I have excellent add on scenery. In the 30 to 40 minutes that I was flying my Comanche the diggers and demolition crew were busy ripping up the runway as well as the taxiway and parking area!!!. When I was approaching Rwy 21 to land I could clearly see the PAPI (or VASI?) lights but all that was left of the runway was just a rough strip of ground! The demolition crew had however left the airport building as well as the "traffic cones" lining the taxiway intact, and the couple of static aircraft still looked fine. I started changing views and got some very bizarre visual effects, but then when switching to outside view I noticed that the runway and all other hard surfaced had re-appeared! Before shutting down FSX I took the attached screenshot. While the external features are more or less OK at this point you'll see that the display of the aircraft interior is all wrong.

My other issues (again not A2A specific) is ATC. Yesterday I turned off all ATC features (un-ticked the 3 ATC boxes), but yet I still hear ATC audio. This may not be related to the display issues but I am 90% sure that the persistent ATC issue started with the same flight where the display issues started. Coincidence maybe?

As I say these are not A2A issues but maybe someone on the forum has experienced this or may have some ideas.

Regards,

Tony

I am unable to attach the screenshot (quota limit?), but what it shows is a view from the cockpit which looks OK, but most of the interior detail of the cockpit is missing, just a few buttons here and there showing.

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello,

what are you system specs, it sounds like your system is having a few issues keeping up with the sim. Have you recently turned up your graphic settings or added any new scenery etc that might be taxing your system a lot more than normal.

thanks,
Lewis

[TonyW]

Hi Lewis,

I'm happy with my system specs - with one exception (below). It's a PC I built myself about 4 years ago and has an Intel i7 processor and my graphics card is an AMD Radeon HD 7800 . Right up to mid April I've been getting good frame rates and quality with most, if not all, sliders fully to the right. The only display issue I've had are the odd black squares on my scenery, especially near my Aerosoft Dublin Airport (highly detailed) but these black squares last only a few seconds.

The bottom line is that I'm almost certain that I've solved the issue. A few web search results, while not matching my issue exactly, mentioned sound settings. This seemed to make sense to me as I had been unable to disable ATC and randomly I would hear ATC audio (but not the pop up semi-transparent screen). I have three User Profiles on my PC, one for me, one for my wife and a separate on called "Flight Sim" which I use for more "serious" flights. (This has a plain desktop, some services disabled etc) The issues I had were on my own profile which I only use FSX on for short flights and just practice. So I decided to look at the respective fsx.cfg files and sure enough the sound settings were different. So I did what maybe I should have done as a first step (isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!) which was to fly on the "Flight Sim" profile! After two longer than usual flights with quite a few Instant Replays and switching of views the strange display behaviour did not happen.

I mentioned not being 100% happy with my specs - which is that around 2015 I got some menu issues on FSX (can't remember exactly what) and from research it seemed that I would need to keep using an older driver as above a certain version caused the problem. For my graphics card I am using AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series driver version 14.501.1003.0 dated 20/11/14 which is now quite old. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum can remember this menu issue or knows if the newest version of the driver still has the problem. I'm regularly prompted to update the driver but am reluctant to do so, even though I can still roll it back.

I hope that my rather long winded description of my solution might be helpful to anyone else who may get this type of problem. I certainly would not have been looking at audio settings to try to solve video problems!

Regards,

Tony

[Lewis - A2A]

Glad to hear you got it sorted

thanks,
Lewis