COMING SOON: NIXMIX

[krigl]

All I could do is offer overwrites of the original Microsoft aircraft.cfg files. A batch editor wil not work because every plane has different engine locations, and may use a different gauge and FX file.

Since there is no such tool that will read the aircraft.cfg general gengine data, recalculate the engine positions and write the light/smoke system lines with the proper FX file name, manual editing is required.


It takes me less than 5 minutes to apply the FX to any plane. It just takes a little practice.

I did provide copy/paste lines for the microsoft planes and a few other popular aircraft.

Thanks for the reply Nick, I suspected there was no easy way.... Well, I appreciate all the effort you've put in and I'm going to definitely give it a go... 5 minutes you say? More like 45 for me it will be, but at least I'll get to know the files a bit better.  :)

Cheers

Krigl

[Midnight_LS1]

What's the progress on the NIXMIX ?

I can't wait to try the new clouds and the sun/moon being seen on the water when the sun is actually behind the view.

[NicksFXHouse]

What's the progress on the NIXMIX ?

I can't wait to try the new clouds and the sun/moon being seen on the water when the sun is actually behind the view.

I am shooting for this weekend

[jordonj]

Thanks for the effort!

[NicksFXHouse]

What's the progress on the NIXMIX ?

I can't wait to try the new clouds and the sun/moon being seen on the water when the sun is actually behind the view.

Clouds are really tough. Allot of people want DXT3 and do not care about quality. I refuse to run DXT3 because of the loss of visual quality and the 'render to texture' requirements.

I discovered Chris Willis's original highFPS cloud fix has visually corrupted clouds so I extracted all the default MS cloud and reworked them myself.

One thing I discovered is that the file cumulus01.bmp absolutely cannot be less than 256x256 OR DTX3 due to the loss of visual quality. I refuse to distribute clouds that all have poorly defined edges which look like digital zoom blocks.

[NicksFXHouse]

CLOUD UPDATE

I have reworked all the MS clouds to come up with 3 packages.

======================
Option #1:

All DXT3 clouds with the exception of cumulous01.bmp which is resized to 256x256 32bit. By leaving the cumulous01.bmp @32 bit 2 things are accomplished..

1. Knowing that DXT3 clouds look ratty.. these are better looking clouds for the greatest performance, much-much better than with a DXT3 cumulous01.bmp.

2. Render to Texture can be set to DISABLED (no more DXT3 crash) and therefore better performance on frames, also smoother.

DXT3 clouds totally suck rocks for visual appeal and this install will provide the absolute maximum FPS without complete and totally horrible looking clouds, but they are not going to be pretty.

Because ALL the MS clouds are resized to DXT3 and not just some, like in Chris Willis original package, the cumulous01.bmp can remain 32bit and provide the same or better performance as a tiny DXT cumulous01.bmp which makes clouds look terrible.


======================

Option #2:
A special mix of resized 32bit and DXT3 clouds. Since Cumulonimbus clouds have naturally dark areas, resizing them to 256-DXT3 will not degrade their visual appeal anywhere near as much as the other clouds. That, combined with resizing all other clouds to 256, with the exception of stratus, this package provides maximum FPS with the best looking clouds possible.


NOTE: All the images below are shot using this package. Render to texture can stay disabled.


=======================

Option #3:
Same as above but 32bit cumulonimbus clouds instead of DXT3. A mix of 512 and resized 256 32bit textures will provide the absolute best looking clouds and with a much better frame rate than the default MS clouds set.



Chris Willis orginally had the right idea and did a good job in his

[NicksFXHouse]

continued...

[NicksFXHouse]

And these are the setting used:

















Hopefully I will have it released by tomorrow afternoon... If not, definitely Sunday

[Midnight_LS1]

I'll have the option #3  ;)

[NicksFXHouse]

[quote]I'll have the option #3

[Midnight_LS1]

I don't get it why people want DXT3 so bad, I mean for aircrafts that's fine but for weather, I don't see the big deal.

In your case you manage to do 2 things at once, able to reduce the file size and improve the quailty in 32 bit mode.