Simviation Forums

Finally upgraded from Windows Xp (not connected to the internet) to Windows 10, specifically because I know from reports on Simviation and Sim Outhouse that CFS2 will work on Windows 10. It does work but the first thing I notice is that the aircraft skins are terrible. I suspect it has to do with it being only 16 bit. I have found the only BMP texture format that will work at all is 565 but it's not very good. Can anyone tell me what I can do to get aircraft skins looking at least reasonable?

Hi


Not sure if dds is the answer but def worth trying. Easy to convert bmp to dds.

1. Download and install DXTBMP https://www.mwgfx.co.uk/programs/dxtbmp.htm

2. Go to texture folder and open each bmp file with DXTBMP

3. In top menu you see 'Image' >> Flip image

4. Save as DDS Texture >>> DDS DXT5


Repeat with each texture. (be careful to do this with each BMP file - easy to forget to flip image for example!)

5. Now - make a folder inside the Texture folder (call it what you want) and move all the old converted BMP files into that otherwise your sim (FSX/P3D/CFS2 or whatever) will 1st read the BMP files and you only want them to read the DDS files. Also acts as a backup!

Any problem get back. Be interesting to see the result.

However if you look at the post below Hagar reports no problem with default textures in w10. It may well be something else. I do not have CFS2 on my pc so cannot test.

Nope, with DDS texture no paint shows at all. The only format that seems to work at all is 565 but it's not anywhere as good as Hagar's textures below. I haven't got around to configuring my Nividea card yet, maybe that has something to do with it. I know with Windows Xp whenever i got jagged textures, to Save As, extended bitmap solved the problem but that doesn't seem to work here.

I think that your problem, that is also my problem with my new desktop, is that since an update in 2020 WindowsX doesn't support 32-bit anymore. I suppose you have a 64-bit system?

Regards, hertzie

investdude wrote:Finally upgraded from Windows Xp (not connected to the internet) to Windows 10, specifically because I know from reports on Simviation and Sim Outhouse that CFS2 will work on Windows 10. It does work but the first thing I notice is that the aircraft skins are terrible. I suspect it has to do with it being only 16 bit. I have found the only BMP texture format that will work at all is 565 but it's not very good. Can anyone tell me what I can do to get aircraft skins looking at least reasonable?

I don't think your problem is directly connected with Windows 10 but you might need to update your graphics card drivers & tweak both graphics card & CFS2 display settings.
I have no knowledge of Nvidia cards. My everyday PC is an old Windows 10 64-bit laptop with all the latest Windows updates & AMD Radeon R5 graphics. This has always run CFS1/CFS2 & FSX perfectly well enough for my purposes.

There is a list of CFS2 supported texture formats in DxtBmp Help. 6 different formats are listed including DXT1 & 3.
I checked out the updated Fox Four Korea F-86 player aircraft & the main textures are 5i2 x 512 - 256 colours.
The CFS2 default aircraft main textures are 1024 x 1024 in the Extended DXT1 Bmp format. See shots below.





As I've mentioned before it's a very long time since I used CFS2 in anger & the display settings are the same as the last time I used it. It's quite possible I could improve them with a little tweaking.

Note: The DDS texture format was introduced with FSX & is not compatible with CFS2.

You may consider enhancing the aircraft skins themselves by using image editing software. Adjusting the brightness, contrast, and color levels can help improve their appearance. Additionally, applying sharpening filters or using texture overlays can enhance the details and make the skins look better.
Donkey Kong

Personally, 512x512 textures will never look crisp and clear. With that small size texture it's almost impossible to be able to hold any decent clarity. Add to that the use of Mip Maps and textures always appear fuzzy unless you're right up on the airplane. I don't have CFS so I don't know what the limitations (texture-wise) are but 1024x1024 would be the smallest texture size I'd use and even hope to get some decent paints.