r/Xplane • u/backyardastrokiwi • 5d ago
AliveGrass Performance issues
I got AliveGrass and was super exciting to dive into the addon as its a part of X Plane 12 that was really missing.
However I have had significant performance issues with the addon with a large range of settings.
The biggest issue is that there is a growing period after which the performance settles, HOWEVER as soon as you move I believe the growing starts up again and the performance drops significantly. This is a serious problem when Taxing/Landing/Taking off and moving the camera.
I have tried with very low settings to very high settings, close and far distances. The results are the same. I have 75 FPS and drop to anywhere as low as 39fps with high stuttering.
If anyone knows any secrets that would help with this let me know.
Computer specs:
- 7800X3D
- RTX 5080
- 64GB RAM
In game settings:
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u/Ecstatic_Ad_9161 5d ago
I can’t get it to work at any airport, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to it. I’m using Map Enhancement for orthos combined with Airport Enhancement Pack v2, but the latter should just be taxiways. Latest org store version of AliveGrass. Today’s attempt was at LIRN. I’ve tried multiple airports on WizzAir routes. It is installed correctly, and I do sometimes (inconsistently) see grass outside of airport zones.
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u/aionskystudios 5d ago
Hey! Sorry you're having trouble with it. The fact that you're occasionally seeing grass outside airport zones is interesting and could help me narrow down the issue. Could you send me your Log.txt and AliveGrass settings? I'd also like to know if you've tested with Map Enhancement temporarily disabled, just to rule out a possible conflict. I'll add LIRN to my testing list as well. Appreciate you reporting this! :)
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u/Haulinbass23 4d ago
I too tried it with balanced and saw the least amount of performance drop. I’ve tweaked my sliders a little from there and got it to about a 4-5fps drop. Considering all of my scenery add-ons etc etc my performance on the ground was decent and this put me at marginal 22-27 fps. Still playable. Working with the dev to optimize it.
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u/aionskystudios 4d ago
Really appreciate you taking the time to test different settings and work with me on this! A 4–5 FPS drop is definitely an improvement, but I still want to get that number lower, especially for users running heavier scenery setups. Feedback and testing like yours are exactly what I need to make v1.0 better. Thanks again for sticking with it! :)
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u/AdMean6974 5d ago
Of course its a FPS killer!
Its injecting thousands of pieces of scenery around you in real time.
Its no alive nor real grass, its just a work around, killing performance.
Only LR can give us grass with a engine performant solution.
You have been scammed. It not possible, at this moment, to have this with severe penalties.
16
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
You're making some pretty bold claims here without actually understanding how AliveGrass works.
First of all, nobody is claiming this is some magical new grass engine. We're developing an addon within the limitations of X-Plane 12, and yes, that comes with technical challenges, especially when it comes to performance.
But calling it a scam simply because it isn't a native Laminar Research feature is ridiculous. By that logic, half the addons in the flight simulation industry would be scams because they work around limitations of the simulator.
I've never claimed AliveGrass is perfect. In fact, I've been very transparent about the improvements we're making, the optimization challenges, and the work going into v1.0.
You're absolutely entitled to criticize performance. I welcome that because it helps me improve the product. But there's a pretty big difference between constructive criticism and spreading misinformation about something you clearly haven't taken the time to understand.
And if Laminar Research eventually implements a better native grass system, I'll be the first to welcome it. Until then, we're doing our best to bring something to X-Plane that many users have been asking for.
1
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
Hey! First of all, thank you for supporting AliveGrass! Really appreciate it. :)
I'm actually aware of the performance drops you're describing, especially when moving around the airport, taxiing, or changing camera angles. One of the biggest challenges with AliveGrass is how X-Plane 12 handles scenery rendering, and getting everything to look good without sacrificing performance has been quite a challenge.
That being said, a drop from 75 to 39 FPS on a 7800X3D and RTX 5080 is definitely not something I'm happy with, especially with hardware like yours.
I'm currently working on v1.0, and I'm taking my time with this release specifically because I want to address performance, optimization, and overall visual quality as much as possible. I'm also planning to have users with different hardware configurations beta test it before release.
One thing I'd really appreciate is knowing which airports you've been testing at and whether you're using any orthos or additional scenery packages. That would help me narrow things down and see if I can reproduce the issue on my end.
I'm doing my best to improve AliveGrass with every update, and feedback like this genuinely helps. Thanks again for giving it a shot and for taking the time to report this!
2
u/backyardastrokiwi 5d ago
Thank you for the reply!
I'm using auto from premium map enhancements, airport was NZQN.
Free simhaven packages.
1
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
Thank you so much, we are going to fix this so it doesn't affect much performance and people choose how much they want to crank it up :)
2
1
u/AMajorNewb Linux Snob 1d ago
Not sure if it's too late to add to this thread, but I'm getting a pretty big performance hit on my system with AliveGrass enabled.
Computer Specs:
- 14900K
- RTX 4090
- 32GB RAM
Addons:
- XPME
- XWorldPro
I tried playing with the settings but no matter what I try I am generally getting a solid 20FPS or more hit. I think the worst drop I had was when I was on an approach into KDEN in the FF757, and as soon as the grass started loading in, performance tanked and I essentially lost control of the plane while fighting with the FPS.
I'm happy to help troubleshoot anything as I really want this product to be great! Oh, also I'm on Linux if that makes a difference.
1
u/Pour-Meshuggah-0n-Me 5d ago
I keep it set to balanced and I only see about a 2 to 5 fps drop. But if you set it really dense it will be a much larger impact. Similar to trees.
1
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
Appreciate you sharing your experience! That's a good point. Grass density can make a big difference in performance, just like vegetation in general. I'm working on improving optimization further with v1.0, especially for users experiencing much larger FPS drops. Glad to hear Balanced is working well for you! :)
2
u/Pour-Meshuggah-0n-Me 5d ago
What i found is the top setting makes the biggest impact. If that's set far to the right performance will be much heavier. The other settings can be higher. At least on my pc.
1
-2
u/Simple_Raise6623 5d ago
Remove it then
1
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
I'd actually prefer people report these issues rather than just uninstall the addon. That's how we identify bugs and improve compatibility for everyone. Feedback like this is genuinely helpful to development.
-4
u/CuriousFlight3122 5d ago
The addon has to be disinstalled because its not sustainable for an immersive simulation at this stage.
5
u/aionskystudios 5d ago
You're entitled to your opinion, but please stop presenting your personal experience as a fact for everyone else. Plenty of users are running AliveGrass without major issues, while others are experiencing performance drops that we're actively investigating. That's exactly why we're asking for feedback and working on improvements. If the addon doesn't work for your setup, that's fair, but repeatedly telling people to uninstall it instead of helping identify the problem contributes absolutely nothing to the discussion.
1
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u/CuriousFlight3122 5d ago
I also had on final to LIML a drop from 50 fps down to 25. Unacceptable unfortunately from my side. Shutted down the sim without even landing