does anybody know if a5 uses a 16bit or 24bit z-buffer and if i can switch between the two modes?

my problem: i use a terrain with a lot of tree models on it. where the trunks penetrate the terrain surface i get z-buffer artifacts (wandering "stairs" and such things) when i look at it from a distance. how can i avoid this?

In 32 bit mode or on a 32 bit desktop, a 3D renderer always uses a 32 bit z-buffer; on a 16 bit desktop it uses a 16 bit one.

does the commercial edition support 32-bit in fullscreen mode?

i just compared fullscreen and window mode (which is 32bit) and there is no difference. does the z-buffer range have something to do with the clip-range or something like that?

this is a screenshot of my problem. look at the example in the red circle. the artifacts are more visible when in motion. how could i avoid this?

i read something about a bug in the nvidia drivers. it uses a 16bit z-buffer although it shouldn't. the programmer of the 3d-application has to force 32-bit in a special way to workaround this bug. could that be the reason? or is this a opengl issue only?

the link:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030127/geforce_fx-11.html

This bug affects only the OpenGL driver.

For increased precision, A5 uses nonlinear z-buffering, referred to as a "w-buffer" in some publications. Nonlinear buffering means that the precision increases when you are close to the object, but decreases when you are far from it. This could happen in your case if the tree is quite far away. Maybe you are using zoom here. The solution is to go closer to the object, while zooming out.

ok, i don't use zoom but i will try around a bit...

sometimes it's much worse than on the screenshot and even big parts up to the half of a tree disappear and flicker in big distances. it really looks ugly.

with camera.arc=90 (i had 60 before) it seems to look better. but my scene is so "wide angle" now...

i can hardly await the introduction of 128bit z-buffers.