A FS2004 Texture Question.

[PeteHam]

Over at Avsim there are some new Carenado C185 textures ( for FSX ).

I checked the files and saw they were bmp textures and not dds.

I tried this one ..... Cessna 185 Tundra (N217BH) n217bh.zip .... but the sim froze up when I selected the aircraft.

So my question is ..... even if the FSX textures are bmp and not dds, is there anyway to get them to work in FS2004?

Thanks for any help.

Pete.

 

[OBIO]

Pete

Seeing as how they are for FSX, the texture files may be in 2048 by 2048 size....which would definitely cause FS9 to freeze. Go to the texture folder and take a look at the size of the files.....if they are larger than 1024 by 1024 they will need to be resized.

OBIO

 

[PeteHam]

Thanks Tim,

I've checked and the files are 1024x1024 ; DXT5 ; Mip Level 9.

What should the DXT & Mip be ?

Thanks again for your help.

Pete.

 

[Sascha66]

DXT3 is ok, 16bit and 32 bit work as well. It is important that you select an extended bitmap format, not a dds format.

Mipmaps can be on or off, this just improves sharpness on some systems when off.

Cheers,
Sascha

 

[Mick]

DXT5? I think that's the problem. DXT5 is not an FS9 texture format.

FS9 recognizes and displays DXT1 and DXT3 formats. DXT1 has no alpha channel, so if you convert to that format you'll lose any transparency or reflectivity in the textures. DXT3 has an alpha channel, so it will retain any transparency or reflectivity.

However, be advised that DXT formats are very lossy, meaning that the quality of the image deteriorates every time the file is opened. If you look at them closely, DXT textures often look like crap. After long enough, they'll look like crap even if you don't look very closely.

If you want to retain the quality of the textures, and assuming your computer isn't some old, slow, steam-powered rig, save them in Extended 32-bit 888-8 format.

In case you don't already know, you can do this work with DXTbmp, freeware from Martin Wright Graphics. Be sure to take the required DLLs as well as the DXTbmp program.

You can save the files with or without mipmaps. Mips are lower resolution copies of the image, meant to be displayed when the plane is some distance away and fine detail can't be seen. Trouble is, FS9 often displays a lower resolution mip when the plane is still near enough that the lack of detail is very visible, and/or the plane's paint job looks very soft and fuzzy. Saving the file without mips means that the full resolution image will always be displayed. It means that your computer will work harder than necessary when the plane is seen from a long way off, but it will always look good up close.

 

[racartron]

"DXT5? I think that's the problem. DXT5 is not an FS9 texture format."

Thanks Mick. I never thought to look at the dxt "name" If it was a bmp and no more than 1024x1024 I figured that was that -- so to speak.

But I just checked a Carenado c185 that wouldn't load and sure enough it was a dxt5. Once I converted to dxt3 she loaded right up.

It's amazing what you can leard on this site evryting you check in.

Thanks ever so much for this great little tidbit. now I have to go find some of those pesky FX birds in bmps and further my hanger load.

 

[PeteHam]

Thanks Guys

I converted the textures to 32 Bit, looks great.

Off to find another couple.



Pete.