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Tower!3D Pro: Multi-monitor Performance


crbascott

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Just started played Pro and have noticed that when when I start using multiple monitors, I get a major performance degradation. On average, in 60 seconds of real time Pro only advances 30 seconds and the graphics are jumpy rather than fluid. Anyone else experience this? I have no issues using a single monitor (both built-in and external) and changing the graphics settings appear to have no impact.

I have a decent system, below are my specs:

HP Envy Laptop, Intel Core i7, 2.6 GHz, 12 GB RAM, GeForce 840M, Windows 10, 2 40 inch Samsung TVs 

Thanks,

Craig

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I did a little more testing and I think it boils down to this simple fact - size matters!

My preferred setup would be very similar to what I used for Tower!2011: 1st monitor for the tower/airport window, 2nd monitor for the ADIRS window, and 3rd monitor for the DBRITE and Strip windows. What I'm finding is that when I have more than one of these windows using a full screen it brings Pro to its knees.So, in my case window size really does matter. If I keep the window sizes down, then performance is fine.

Again, I'm curious to what others are seeing. I wonder if this can be tuned by myself/FeelThere. Or, is this an excuse for a bigger/badder system? Ummm, dear my birthday is coming up again this year and I know what you can get me. :)

Craig   

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I have tried a couple of versions of multi-monitor use and I have yet to decide which one I prefer. One is with the STRIP/ADIRS/DBRITE on one monitor and the 'view' on the other screen; the other style is to drag the 'view' window larger to display it across 2 screens with the other windows on top as it was in the standard version. I shall keep testing until I choose a winner.

Any recommendations out there?

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  • 6 months later...

I'm having problems moving screens to a second monitor as mentioned in someone's previous post (can't find it). Tried clicking on the icons for re-sizing but all I get is the one I want to move becoming full screen on the main monitor and not able to move it. Multiple screens work fine with other sims. What's the correct procedure?

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On 02/25/2017 at 5:32 PM, FeelThere said:

I used two ADIRS during testing; one for overall view (full airport) on my second screen and one close up for the terminals on my main screen.

To put this into perspective, could you tell us the size and resolution of the screens you were using and an overview of the computer specs and the (average, guessed) performance....

Tnx

Willem

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As a follow up, for me the sim performs much better when the main 3D window is active (I.e., it is the last window clicked on). If I click on the ADIRS window (on a separate monitor) the sim will begin to lag. But as soon as I click on the 3D window performance improves.

The typical performance I see is 1 minute of sim clock time takes 1 minute and 4 seconds of actual time.

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On 25/02/2017 at 5:28 AM, crbascott said:

I did a little more testing and I think it boils down to this simple fact - size matters!

My preferred setup would be very similar to what I used for Tower!2011: 1st monitor for the tower/airport window, 2nd monitor for the ADIRS window, and 3rd monitor for the DBRITE and Strip windows. What I'm finding is that when I have more than one of these windows using a full screen it brings Pro to its knees.So, in my case window size really does matter. If I keep the window sizes down, then performance is fine.

Again, I'm curious to what others are seeing. I wonder if this can be tuned by myself/FeelThere. Or, is this an excuse for a bigger/badder system? Ummm, dear my birthday is coming up again this year and I know what you can get me. :)

Craig   

I have no loss of any description using Pro on 2 screens. 

 One is with the STRIP/ADIRS/DBRITE on one monitor and the 'view' on the main screen, I have 2  wide screen monitors with 2560 x 1080 resolutions therefor I have more than enough room to display  the  STRIP/ADIRS/DBRITE frames. I usually have the ADIRS taking up the center half of the monitor with the others either side .

 
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3 hours ago, Flightsimpilot said:

I have no loss of any description using Pro on 2 screens. 

 One is with the STRIP/ADIRS/DBRITE on one monitor and the 'view' on the main screen, I have 2  wide screen monitors with 2560 x 1080 resolutions therefor I have more than enough room to display  the  STRIP/ADIRS/DBRITE frames. I usually have the ADIRS taking up the center half of the monitor with the others either side .

 

I also play dual monitors unless I'm recording gameplays.  I never have lag issues with dual monitors.  Remember, the game is on an old engine, and most lag is because the game can't handle all that it offers (i.e. too much traffic on the screen).   Only other thing that might cause lag is if you have a video-card that is is a little outdated.  I run an 8GB video card and the game runs just fine everytime.  

Any others with less than 8GB's video cards have issues?  

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In my experience, asking a laptop to push its own screen plus another can get taxing on the poor GPU. They are usually cutdown versions of the desktop graphics chips to begin with, so the larger the resolution you are asking it to push, the worse the results are likely to be for you.

Unfortunately there is really no way around this other than a better pc or laptop with a better GPU and possibly CPU.

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1 hour ago, ATControl -- Joe said:

I also play dual monitors unless I'm recording gameplays.  I never have lag issues with dual monitors.  Remember, the game is on an old engine, and most lag is because the game can't handle all that it offers (i.e. too much traffic on the screen).   Only other thing that might cause lag is if you have a video-card that is is a little outdated.  I run an 8GB video card and the game runs just fine everytime.  

Any others with less than 8GB's video cards have issues?  

I just sampled your videos and it looks like your performance is similar to mine. Here are my findings when random sampling a minute of game play. The format below is your episode number, airport, sim time, actual clock time it took to complete 1 minute of sim action.

9 - JFK, 14:14, 1:05
7 - JFK, 20:56, 1:04
6 - LAS, 20:59, 1:04
5 - ATL, 17:51, 1:06
4 - LAX, 17:04, 1:05
3 - JFK, 16:07, 1:04
2 - PHL, 13:31, 1:05
1  -SAN, 06:52, 1:05

I could have averaged out the whole video but that would have been a little more of an undertaking - when was the sim started, stopped, paused, sped up, etc. Also, I didn't look at episode 8 because it looks like you may have run it at 2X.

Not sure if you have anything else running that could impact the sim, but interestingly your performance appears to be very similar to mine ("1 minute of sim clock time takes 1 minute and 4 seconds of actual time").

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43 minutes ago, crbascott said:

 

I could have averaged out the whole video but that would have been a little more of an undertaking - when was the sim started, stopped, paused, sped up, etc. Also, I didn't look at episode 8 because it looks like you may have run it at 2X.

Not sure if you have anything else running that could impact the sim, but interestingly your performance appears to be very similar to mine ("1 minute of sim clock time takes 1 minute and 4 seconds of actual time").

Maybe the sim engine is just bad/slow/old/needs updating etc and doesn't use an accurate timer ha.  If it's w/in 5 seconds, I'll take that.  That's good enough for me and close enough to 1:1.

BTW, when i record gameplay, I don't do 1 hour of "game sim" time.  I monitor my recording software's clock because i know FOR SURE that that program is accurate. :D

P.S. Much appreciated for the channel visits and views!

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15 hours ago, ATControl -- Joe said:

P.S. Much appreciated for the channel visits and views!

All in the name of research - but if it added a penny or two to your pockets you're welcome. But don't buy a new car based on me visiting. :)

The "Pushing Tin"  videos helped me when I was deciding whether or not to get into Tower!2011, but actually subscribing and watching game-play videos episode by episode is definitely not my cup a tea. Not a knock on you by the way, I'm sure there's an audience out there. Good luck with it.   

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On 9/16/2017 at 12:10 PM, Kl408 said:

To put this into perspective, could you tell us the size and resolution of the screens you were using and an overview of the computer specs and the (average, guessed) performance....

Tnx

Willem

I use a 3 years old Alienware MX15 with GeForce GTX 765M, 8GB RAM, Intel i7-4700MQ, WIn 10. By the time I posted I used the laptop's own screen and an LG Ultrawide monitor, but in these days I use a standard resolution.

 

Vic

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 months later...

I'm trying to make 2 strips screens. One for arrivals and one for departures. On single screen, you can switch between a and d.  On multi screen I am not able to.  Anyone else try and or solve the issue?

 

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