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Scenery Texture files

Let's hear all about the eye candy at those military bases.
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petebramley
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Scenery Texture files

Post by petebramley »

I'm sure this has been asked before but can't find anything on forums:

What is the best/correct Format for FS9 Scenery Texture files

I have mixtures of the following in my sim:

DXT1
DXT1(mips)
DXT1(mips/alpha)
BMP 256 Colours
DXT3(mips)
DXT3
DXT3(mips/alpha)
DXT3(alpha)

(And possibly others I have not come across as yet)

What is correct and are there any that I should not have in sim at all ??

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Pete B
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JohnTenn
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by JohnTenn »

Pete

I do not think there is a correct format.

What I have found is there are DXT3 files from the High-end payware developers.

From my own very limited experience I have found that DXT1 with alpha gives better frame rates and acceptable graphics. The new version of DXTbmp has the option to save it directly.

Image quality is lost when converting from 32bit to DXT3 and then to DXT1. It is pointless converting the image the other way as the colour complexity has already been lost.

Scenery DXT3 textures need alpha channels otherwise they either do not load or take a while to load.

I am not a great fan of mip-maps. The scenery ground tiles need them otherwise you get a crash to desktop.

For a specific scenery try to keep the bitmap type the same.

Some of the older textures are in 256 or 8 bit format so that you can have an alpha channel.

John
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John Young
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by John Young »

Certainly agree with John that Dxt1 with alpha is the best way to go with scenery textures, but for performance, I would always include mips, particularly on 1024 sheets.

Dxt3 with alpha will give a better rendition of the transparency in cruciform trees rather than Dxt1 with alpha.

John
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Greg
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by Greg »

I believe the rule for FS9 is:

If a texture doesn't have or need an Alpha channel: DXT1 without alpha
If a texture has or needs a 1 bit ( pure black and pure white only ) Alpha channel: DXT1 with alpha
If a texture needs partial transparency, so the Alpha has levels of grey (e.g. tree, prop and glass textures): it HAS to be DXT3 (always with alpha).

Always include mipmaps. People removing mips because it gives them The Blurries™ need to tweak their configuration, not their textures.
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John Young
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by John Young »

Point 1 is interesting Greg and is quite logical. However many years ago, designers at MAIW discovered that adding the alpha channel to the dxt1 for all of those textures improved the quality/performance/stability - I can't remember which. I've done it that way for many years and I know Ian (Rocket26) has too. Can anyone remember the rationale?

John
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Greg
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by Greg »

Wasn't that for DXT3 John, which always requires an alpha layer?
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petebramley
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by petebramley »

Thanks Guys

This gives me something to chew on. I amended a couple of DXT3 files to DXT1 in the problem scenery (KLAX) and it seems to
have solved the problem. Its amazing how installing an updated Traffic file can send you on a weird route to a completely different aspect of the Sim. :D
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col1948
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by col1948 »

Ha Ha @ Pete B, yes I do that a lot, start by adding an aircraft then end up modifying an afcad, then make a flight plan to try it, before I know it a couple of hours have passed and I have almost forgot about the aircraft I just added lol.
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John Young
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by John Young »

That's certainly true for Dxt3 Greg, but the alpha (pure white) was always recommended to be added to Dxt1 textures even if it wasn't needed for transparency. I wish I could remember why. Ian will probably remember when he next comes by.
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rocket_26_
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Re: Scenery Texture files

Post by rocket_26_ »

John Young wrote:That's certainly true for Dxt3 Greg, but the alpha (pure white) was always recommended to be added to Dxt1 textures even if it wasn't needed for transparency. I wish I could remember why. Ian will probably remember when he next comes by.
You are correct John. The project was the Lakenheath package and the 84 repaints I painted. I originally saved them as DXt1 without alpha and we had serious stutters when testing. Once I applied the alpha it was sorted. I cant explain why but it worked and ever since with scenery and aircraft.
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