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Reflection/Shine mod for CFS3?

T

the Dutchman

Members +
Does anyone remember that mod,i remember liking it,but have no idea where to find it again,it gave the surfaces some shine,which looked better to me.....
 
ENB series or bloom is what I think you are talking about, they're the same thing. There are different versions of the files (d3d8.dll and enbseries.ini) floating around out there for different games , I use a version specifically for M$ flight sims but can't remember where I found it. I'm sure a quick google would turn up several hits.
 
ENB series or bloom is what I think you are talking about, they're the same thing. There are different versions of the files (d3d8.dll and enbseries.ini) floating around out there for different games , I use a version specifically for M$ flight sims but can't remember where I found it. I'm sure a quick google would turn up several hits.
​
Click to expand...

Does this work for cfs3?? Be very interested having those files if it does! :)

There's screenies of what it can do in other games here:

http://www.kegetys.net/rbr/?p=rbrdll

and a bit more info here:

http://enbseries.gtamaps.net/index_en.html


As for shine - it would be nice to have the sea a bit more relective/shiney. NOt sure that's achievable though.
 
Pat, those links are not to the files I was thinking about. Not saying they won't work, but I have no knowledge of them.

The ENB and CFS3 topic was covered in some depth in the OFF forum with links, here http://forum.combatace.com/topic/50963-the-enb-series-bloom-and-hdr-mod/

Links repeated for convenience...
Download d3d8.dll & ENBseries.ini files:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jcjphh

Suggested tweak to tone down bloom (clouds get too burned out):
http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32482

Here is another link to a version for MS FS-X, it is for ENBseries with a d3d9.dll (not sure if it'll work on older CFS3 sim, I'll try later). http://speedskater.ru/download/arccvid/EMBserie_for_MSFS.rar

BOTTOM LINE: you can toggle it on/off by hitting Shift + F12 (nice) because you want to use it during certin times of the day when you need more contrast. Dawn/dusk/night you don't want it on.
 
Not sure if this is true,but didn't it have to do with the fact that you had an Ati or Nvidia graphics card?
I seem to remember Ati did produce shiny skin?
Thanks for the links !
 
All I know is that I have gone from sli Asus 7800 GTX cards to an XFX 5850 and the difference is amazing ... not towards the newer card either ... sure my new system flogs the old one but I do miss the "looks" that a Nvidia card gives in cfs3 .....
 
the Dutchman said:
Not sure if this is true,but didn't it have to do with the fact that you had an Ati or Nvidia graphics card?
I seem to remember Ati did produce shiny skin?
Thanks for the links !
Click to expand...

Specular maps on aircraft got lost with ATI cards on driver versions higher than CAT 3.9 if I recall correctly, ages ago that is.
There was some talk back in the days about a tweak to some CFS3 config files that re-enabled some basic shine but I can't recall what file it was.
Needless to say that tweak is a workaround at best and can't make up for the loss of dedicated specular mapping with ATI cards.
 
OK, my original GPU for my 3+ year old workstation is an old(ish) nVidia Quadro 4500 with 512 Mb vRAM, which sounds all good, but it is not a gaming card (vRAM is GDDR3) and is obsolete (for most people) compared to the XFX 4870 I upgraded to last year. I got into CFS3 and third party mods since then...

I know I can experiment with the two of them myself, and I likely will now that my curiosity is peeked (!), but Mathias, are you saying I'm going to see a real difference in quality between these two cards? Won't the sheer power of the 4870 just push the quality and fps way beyond the nVidia?

Just curious before I spend any precious time away from simming :icon_lol:
 
Pat, those links are not to the files I was thinking about. Not saying they won't work, but I have no knowledge of them.

The ENB and CFS3 topic was covered in some depth in the OFF forum with links, here http://forum.combatace.com/topic/509...m-and-hdr-mod/

Links repeated for convenience...
Download d3d8.dll & ENBseries.ini files:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jcjphh

Suggested tweak to tone down bloom (clouds get too burned out):
http://www.simforums.com/forums/foru....asp?TID=32482

Here is another link to a version for MS FS-X, it is for ENBseries with a d3d9.dll (not sure if it'll work on older CFS3 sim, I'll try later). http://speedskater.ru/download/arccv...e_for_MSFS.rar

BOTTOM LINE: you can toggle it on/off by hitting Shift + F12 (nice) because you want to use it during certin times of the day when you need more contrast. Dawn/dusk/night you don't want it on.​
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links! Am trialling these at the moment. I'm using the dx8 version first and playing with all the various settings in the .ini file. The bloom effect is quite nice and you do get more shine on refelective surfaces and more contrast. The only snag so far is that it also affects the UI screen and the shift-F12 toggle doesn't work. Will keep going though and post some screenies soon.

Pat :)
​
 
Pat Pattle said:
Thanks for the links! Am trialling these at the moment. I'm using the dx8 version first and playing with all the various settings in the .ini file. The bloom effect is quite nice and you do get more shine on refelective surfaces and more contrast. The only snag so far is that it also affects the UI screen and the shift-F12 toggle doesn't work. Will keep going though and post some screenies soon. Pat :)
Click to expand...

Hey Clive can you include a short tutorial on how to use these files and where exactly these go in the game folder.
 
Thanks Major, will try that. :)

Hi Lewis

I'm using this version, just drop the d3d8.dll and the enbseries.ini files into the root cfs3 directory. They don't overwrite anything, it's quite safe! If you don't like it, just delete them.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/jcjphh

I've attached the .ini file that I've been using but there's a help file (which lists what each variable does) included in the above link if you want to play with the settings.

Here's the sort of changes it makes, enhanced shine and more contrast (ground appears darker). I've toned it down a bit, the settings are in the [BLOOM] section of the .ini file
I quite like it overall and will probably keep it in my installs.

Before:

cfs3bloom_off.jpg


After:

cfs3bloom_on.jpg
 
The thing that I have found that helps me the most when I fly is to clean my glasses. I have tryed this but just do not know yet. The thing is you can leave it in your install and turn it off and on. shift+backspace. It starts on.

flyer01
 
Specular Enable

the Dutchman said:
Does anyone remember that mod,i remember liking it,but have no idea where to find it again,it gave the surfaces some shine,which looked better to me.....
Click to expand...
Hi Dutchman,
the thread you were looking for is I think the one posted first by FBP on 22 Aug '04. In it he details a work around for either the lack of an s.dds file, or for an ATI card without drivers to show the shine.

He explained how to edit the shaders.xml file. Look for the line: "specularenable="false"" and change to "true".

In the same thread, Awesome explained how he edited the shaders.xml file to allow fog in your skybox, and to have more transparent smoke. Now I don't understand any of this of course. Its all monkey-see, monkey-do for me :icon_lol:

HTH,
D
 
So did anyone ever figure out how to get rid of the jagged edges from the plane's shadow on the ground? It seems to be immune to normal Anti-Aliasing, and is probably controlled by this section of the shaders.xml.

<CFSProjShadow Desc="Shader to project shadow onto terrain"
Lighting="False" SpecularEnable="False"
SrcBlend="Zero" DestBlend="SrcColor"
ZEnable="True" ZFunc="LessEqual" ZWriteEnable="False" ZBias="0" FogEnable="False"
AlphaBlendEnable="True" AlphaTestEnable="False" AlphaRef="0" MultiSample="True"
ColorArg10="Texture" ColorOp0="add" ColorArg20="TFactor"
AlphaArg10="Texture" AlphaOp0="SelectArg1" AlphaArg20="Current"
AddressU0="Clamp" AddressV0="Clamp"
Texture0="0" TexTransformFlags0="Count2" TexCoordIndex0="CameraSpacePosition"
/>
 
MajorMagee said:
So did anyone ever figure out how to get rid of the jagged edges from the plane's shadow on the ground? It seems to be immune to normal Anti-Aliasing, and is probably controlled by this section of the shaders.xml.

<CFSProjShadow Desc="Shader to project shadow onto terrain"
Lighting="False" SpecularEnable="False"
SrcBlend="Zero" DestBlend="SrcColor"
ZEnable="True" ZFunc="LessEqual" ZWriteEnable="False" ZBias="0" FogEnable="False"
AlphaBlendEnable="True" AlphaTestEnable="False" AlphaRef="0" MultiSample="True"
ColorArg10="Texture" ColorOp0="add" ColorArg20="TFactor"
AlphaArg10="Texture" AlphaOp0="SelectArg1" AlphaArg20="Current"
AddressU0="Clamp" AddressV0="Clamp"
Texture0="0" TexTransformFlags0="Count2" TexCoordIndex0="CameraSpacePosition"
/>
Click to expand...
Hi MajorMagee,
I'm not the one to answer this, hope someone else can help.
My only comment is that I usually look for something similar within the xml file. In this case I would look for any other sections of the shaders.xml file that also deal with the generation of shadows, and see if any of the parameters address image quality od the shadow. For the ProjShadow parameter it is hard to see anything to do with image quality, except perhaps the multisample parameter, which is already set to multisample.
Good luck,
D
 
MajorMagee said:
So did anyone ever figure out how to get rid of the jagged edges from the plane's shadow on the ground? It seems to be immune to normal Anti-Aliasing, and is probably controlled by this section of the shaders.xml...
Click to expand...

I believe (as I am not at home and can't check myself) that there is an "aircraft shadow texture budget" or something similar in the CFS3 config program. I do remember that mine was by default set to 256. I always assumed that it had to do with the aircraft's shadows: the higher the budget, the less jagged the shadow texture. It did seem logical. Never tried playing with that myself as my PC can't be bothered with that. It already has too much trouble keeping up a framerate above slideshow pace. But maybe it is worth taking a look at that?
 
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