COMING SOON: NIXMIX

[NicksFXHouse]

[quote]Woah! I must try that!!
Only prob...my system isnt the best youve seen, so my frames are gonna take quite a hit.....
But hey! I'll try it anyway!

[Tweek]

About ground textures, what are the best freeware textures out there? I do use a set, though I can't find the name of the zip file or the author...just wondering whether there are many ground texture packages.

[ATI_7500]

The best ground textures with the least frame hit come from Fscene. The best (standard) landclass and replacement geography comes from FSGenisis. Unfortunately both are payware. Both are used in the images above. I would like to offer the ground textures as well but it would not be right for me to included those textures.

Ground textures: BlueSphere or Lennart Arvidsson (Europe only).
Mesh: 70m SimV world mesh.

Both better than their payware counterparts and free.

[NicksFXHouse]

Ground textures: BlueSphere or Lennart Arvidsson (Europe only).
Mesh: 70m SimV world mesh.

Both better than their payware counterparts and free.

as you said, europe only

I fly US and Asia more than anywhere else

I also run LOD 9 and LOD 10 mesh (TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=22) so the 70m simV mesh would degrade my visuals


It would be a good replacement for many but for myself it would limit me

[ATI_7500]

as you said, europe only

I was referring to Lennart's textures. BlueSphere is globally useable.

I also run LOD 9 and LOD 10 mesh (TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=22) so the 70m simV mesh would degrade my visuals

LOD   9 = 70m (19 Vertex Levels)
LOD 10 = 38m (20 Vertex Levels)
LOD 11 = 18m (21 Vertex Levels)
LOD 12 = 10m (22 Vertex Levels)

And a LOD9 mesh is always good as a basis, on which you can put LOD1x meshes.

It would be a good replacement for many but for myself it would limit me

No,it wouldn't. See above. You would have three meshes,but everything would be more high-res than with the default mesh.

[Tweek]

Thing is, how long did it take to download all of that terrain mesh? That's what's been putting me off downloading everything...2mbps connection, but it's the fact that it isn't click and be done with it. There's so many files!

[ATI_7500]

Thing is, how long did it take to download all of that terrain mesh? That's what's been putting me off downloading everything...2mbps connection, but it's the fact that it isn't click and be done with it. There's so many files!

I've got the whole of Europe and part of Canada covered with it. Only download the areas you actually fly in and you're fine.

[NicksFXHouse]

[quote]

I was referring to Lennart's textures. BlueSphere is globally useable.


LOD

[Tweek]

I will definitely be downloading that when it's released! BlueSphere does tend to look a bit pale, not quite how it should do, but still better than default. I suppose this one is an improvement on an improvement! Well done

I've got the whole of Europe and part of Canada covered with it. Only download the areas you actually fly in and you're fine.

Yeah, I discovered the map of the different areas Is there any mesh for the majority of Alaska though?

[NicksFXHouse]

I will definitely be downloading that when it's released! BlueSphere does tend to look a bit pale, not quite how it should do, but still better than default. I suppose this one is an improvement on an improvement! Well done


Yeah, I discovered the map of the different areas Is there any mesh for the majority of Alaska though?

Keep in mind, the ground textures are Fscene and will not be in my package.

My package will change:

Clouds (better FPS for best (realistic) visual possible)
In my opinion, clouds should not be sharply defined in all circumstances like allot of add-ons do. It makes them look like a painting instead of a cloud.

Water (Reflections, waves and depth)
Water should change in tone as you fly closer to it or when it is viewed across the surface as opposed to looking down on it. It is not highly reflective unless viewed at a angle with the sun or moon in the right position. You should also be able to see some whitecaps here and there as well, even in lakes.

Stars & Moon
Sunrise and Sunset high altitude corona
Sun lens flair

I will post a few more snags as I progress

[NicksFXHouse]

Some more goodies....


I just made an edit to the env_ files with really good results


Check out how the color will dynamically change with sun direction, same with the reflection on a clear day and no clouds:















and add in real time weather....






Now check out the same scene and time of day but in stormy weather:






Nice stormy sea will appear!!


I think I got water figured out

[ATI_7500]

FScene is payware after all,so it is definately no option for me. Period.

I'll definately try your clouds, they look quite nice. The filesize of the cumulus01.bmp?

[NicksFXHouse]

FScene is payware after all,so it is definately no option for me. Period.

I'll definately try your clouds, they look quite nice. The filesize of the cumulus01.bmp?

It is Chris Willis ... 341kb 256x256

I mixed several of his freeware releases to come up with the best look for the least frame cost

There is an alternative to bluesphere..

[Tweek]

Well, I found a comparison between the BlueSphere textures and the edited landclass (I presume) on one of Holger Sandmann's terrain meshes.



You can clearly see where one bit ends and another starts, and the deeper colour looks a lot better when flying at height, especially as it is supposed to be a thick forest/wood.

[ATI_7500]

It is Chris Willis ... 341kb 256x256

Hm, if you try to make that one DXT, you could maybe get it below 100Kb.

There is an alternative to bluesphere..  someone reworked all the default MS ground textures but I do not remember where it is posted. 3 30mb downloads covers all seasons named "colorized ground textures" by Steve Kempf and as I recall it was a decent job of bringing the default washed out ground textures to life.

I've tried them, but found them way too overcoloured.

- Edit: I'll give them another try nonetheless. Let's see how they work together with neuwald.zip (forest textures).

-Edit