Water Shaders/Color Question

[E-Buzz]

Hi All,

Sorry for the noob question... Probably an easy answer, but I'd like to see what the good, knowledgeable folks here say.

What changes/influences the water shaders or water colors in FSX?
The reason I ask is because while the vast majority of my flying is done in DX10 (love those wind-induced waves and whitecaps!), there are a few aircraft I like that don't render properly (i.e: pure white exteriors with no graphics/colors) in DX10, so for those I'll switch to DX9.
I have Striking Software's FS water configurator (sp?) and yesterday tried to change how the water looked in DX9. Now the water is a weirdly bright blue without any texture - it just looks flat, almost like a cloudless sky, and where it meets land, there is a large, dark, featureless gap. I've tried to have FS water configurator restore to the default settings, but still no change.

I also have REX OD and have tried reloading the water textures and colors, but there were no changes in DX9. The water textures in DX10 are unaffected except the water color itself, which makes sense, as I did alter the color in REX OD.
I know I've read somewhere to delete the shader cache and let FSX rebuild it, but I would like confirmation of which one and where it is. I don't want to mess up my DX10 water.
I'm running FSX with Acceleration, REX OD for textures, Shade, UTX (FS9 waves set to Off), GEX, SweetFX, Bojote's shader 3.0 Mod (I have an ATI video card), and Win 7 Home. FSX is running fine, no other issues or changes until using the FS water configuator. And the only issue is the water...

I know I need to post some pics, as they are worth a thousand words, but I'm not at my FSX computer right now - I'll post some later.

Thanks for your help and insight,

E-Buzz

[E-Buzz]

Hi Again All,
I tried taking a pic of my DX9 water - pressed the "V" key and I received an error that said something like unable to capture... So, no thousand words.
Again, only in DX9. DX10 is working fine.
Thanks,
E-Buzz

[garymbuska]

The problem here could have to do with the fact that the aircraft you are using was made using textures that work great in DX9 but will not display properly with DX10. I am no expert when it come to textures but from what I do know this could be your problem.
Any time you are trying to look at something using a new version or program that has updated there is almost always a issue that something does not convert the way it should.
About the only way I know to fix the issue is to try to find a aircraft that has updated textures. Or go back to using DX9

[E-Buzz]

Hi garymbuska,

Thanks for the reply!

I agree that there are many aircraft textures that will not look right in DX10, but look perfectly fine in DX9. And my choice for using DX10 brings with it a host of other problems, as it was originally meant only as a "preview."

I do switch to DX9 when I have the desire to fly in an AC that does not render well in DX10 (I'm glad that Dino's F14 and T45 look great in DX10!).

The problem for me now is when I do switch to DX9, the water looks bright baby-blue and completely featureless - no waves, no textures, just a flat sheet of blue. Not even remotely resembling the original DX9 water...
I originally had no problems with the DX9 water until I tried to change the appearance using FS WaterConfigurator (FSWC) a few days ago.
I have used FSWC in the past, and it did make a good bit of difference, but the water, to me anyway, never looked as good as DX10 water. I'm just a bit baffled as to what I may have done to cause this error. I know it's not FSWC's fault, and I'm trying to diagnose this by process of elimination, and hoping others have had a similar situation and could tell me what they did to fix it.
I did some searching and I read somewhere that Bojote's Shader Mod 3 may not play well with FSWC. I hope someone could confirm that and help me get my default DX9 water textures/color back.
A friend suggested that the problem may lie in the fact that I have an ATI vid card. And now I am saving for a very good Nvidia card - maybe by Christmas...

Or, I could just make the switch to P3D... But I'm not ready for that yet.

Thanks,

E-Buzz

[E-Buzz]

Hi once again all,

I found the answer and I'm posting where I found it, just in case anyone else runs into a similar problem.
The short answer is you cannot use FSWC in conjunction with the shader 3 mod. You will have to choose one or the other.

http://www.strikingsoftware.com/forum/i ... pic=2299.0

http://www.strikingsoftware.com/forum/i ... pic=2542.0

Thanks,

E-Buzz