eye candy?

[tazzharm]

hey guys.
well I'd like to know for those who are using fs9 what are you using to enhance the look of things like buildings and things?
I switch between fs9 and fsx as fsx is so much better to look at however after adding in Maiw and woai some textures are not showing up ( black buildings ) for example and fsx is such a fps hog.
fs9 runs at max but is missing the fsx look...anyways what add ons are some of you using if you don't mind sharing your secrets.
thanks
Glenn.

[MIKE JG]

Try the high def environmental textures from Pablo Diaz (freeware). They really enhance the look of the sky and clouds in FS9 and you can choose from several different texture sizes for more or less detail.

Also REX which is payware seems to be very popular for environmental textures.

Ground Environment Pro for ground textures (payware).

FSGenisis mesh (payware).

There is also an light bloom effect, like the one in FSX, for FS9. It's freeware and can be downloaded from AVSIM I believe.

Those are the ones that come to mind.

[tazzharm]

thanks Mike
I know I'll never get fs9 to look like fsx but really sucks that my pc I built for fsx still struggles....
Glenn

[timbob1]

Do you really need FSX?


"Scottish Mist"



Using the old 2002/2004 VFR scenery

This is from my FS9 setup Mostly freeware, the HDE environment gave it a real boost and no frames issues. turn autogen to normal, 3D clouds at 60%, Trilinear filtering, ground shadows off. No lens glare as it would be assumed you would be wearing sunnies. Mip maps at 6, lighting at 4. There are some tweaks around for the .cfg file, used to be on the old VOZ site, done by a friend of mine John Korby, do a search for "Korby's tweaks" they may still be around.
Tim

[timbob1]

Mesh is freeware from AVSIM by Ian, can't remember his last name, sorry mate , oh and do yourself a favour, download VOZ and check SE textures, although primarily designed for Australia, it's a great landclass series for around most of the world, a general web search for Vista Australis should find a link.
Tim

[Joseph29]

Wouldn't the high def environmental textures from Pablo Diaz and REX do the same thing?

[Joseph29]

Oh and check avsim and flightsim. Some FSGenisis mesh files can be found there.

[tazzharm]

thanks guys
I purchased a Orbx scenery for fsx too bad my rig still has a few trouble spots.....also what good fighter jets and WWII planes do you recommend?
the reason is I watched top gun again on bluray and have the superbug for fsx when I install miramar into fsx and converted the bgl files big fps hit with traffic.....a few buildings blacked out also kinda had me looking at fs9 again but I don't have any good planes for fs9...I have REX also for fsx and love it though its not so much the clouds its the buildings and ground I'd like to get to look better.....yes I know I'm too picky......my wife keeps telling me lol
thanks again.

[MIKE JG]

Wouldn't the high def environmental textures from Pablo Diaz and REX do the same thing?

For the most part, yes. REX is a bit more extensive though, more "themes" and textures to chose from. I use the Pablo Diaz stuff with no FPS hits and it's the most realistic set of sky textures I've seen, looks 99% real to me, especially at dusk and dawn. Plus it's free!

[Joseph29]

Wouldn't the high def environmental textures from Pablo Diaz and REX do the same thing?

For the most part, yes. REX is a bit more extensive though, more "themes" and textures to chose from. I use the Pablo Diaz stuff with no FPS hits and it's the most realistic set of sky textures I've seen, looks 99% real to me, especially at dusk and dawn. Plus it's free!

Well I already have REX, but I see Pablo Diaz has new aircraft reflections and grass detail that REX does not have. I think I will use those from Pablo's package.

[timbob1]

Yep totally agree with you Mike, better than FSX I reckon, well at least I can fly a plane in FS9 without stuttering frames and yes I got a new PC that does everything but serve coffee and cheese and pickle sandwiches ( Hey now there's an idea ), and guess what FSX worked like a snail, even worse with the SP added, although I did like the Merlin.
So it's FS9 for me thanks
Tim
With the textures appearing black yes I noticed that when I ported stuff over to FSX, I think it maybe to do with alpha channels on the textures??? As far as I'm aware all my buildings work in FSX, just change the textures over to .DDS with Martin Wrights DXT programme to speed things up a bit.
But do you really want better than this below?

[BadPvtDan]

I'm surprised you aren't having more success with FSX. My specs aren't radically different from yours and I have no stuttering problems in FSX. Even the heavy areas like NYC or Las Vegas just seem slower than usual.

[MIKE JG]

The black textures in FSX are a result of MS reversing the alpha channel assignments in FSX vs. FS9.

In FS9, a texture that has a 100% black segment in its alpha channel is treated as transparent (see through). It's exactly the opposite in FSX meaning that when you use one of these textures in FSX, instead of being see through, you get the background which is usually a black color. That also means that you should be able to flip that alpha channel to 100% white and fix the texture for FSX use, YMMV however. Why they reversed it is beyond me.

I think most of the die hard FS9'ers like myself are really running about a FS9.5 setup with enough upgrades, commercial and free to make it a very good sim, one that we're more than happy to live with.

[RKE]

519 scenery library entries and counting. HDE, AEU, ActiveSky, FSRealTime, FSUIPC, UTUSA, UTCAN, UTE, plenty of FSGenesis mesh, freeware mesh & freeware landclasses.

I'd say I'm approaching FS9.6 at this rate

If only it was possible to tinker with the AI engine a bit more, I honestly can't see why I'd ever want to move on from FS9.

[tazzharm]

Thanks for all the input
I get a 20-30 fps average with fsx however it only bogs down with the AI and I have tried to lower the % of AI but flying into an airport that has one planes kinds sucks , I guess I want too much.
I'm going to look around at some freeware ground textures and see what pops up.....
thanks again.
Glenn.