fs9 alpha reflections that work in fsx do not in p3d?

[bpfowler]

HI All,
Noticed that Milton's Lodestar, fs9 native, looks quite shiny and bright in FSX, but not so in my p3d 2.5 install. All the metal textures are flat grey.
The same issue appears to make diffuse alpha meaningless in fs9 portovers.

Is this a shader difference the two products, or something busted on my install?
I may have to keep fsx around just to enjoy the best of these great planes :- )

 

[Daube]

No, it's a P3D issue, if I remember correctly. The FS9 planes are not shiny anymore.
I don't know if changing the texture format helps or not...

 

[falcon409]

No, it's a P3D issue, if I remember correctly. The FS9 planes are not shiny anymore.
I don't know if changing the texture format helps or not...

I asked Milton about this a long time ago regarding his Tigercat and he was really at a loss as to what could be done to correct/fix it. Basically if you run an FS9 airplane in P3D the shine is gone.

 

[Milton Shupe]

As a test, simply make the alpha channel black for a texture with a non-white alpha channel. If it is still flat, then we know.

FSX requires a darker alpha than FS9

But I suspect, P3D 2.4/5 ignores the old meaning of the _t.bmp that allowed the alpha to control the buffed out metal or wet paint look, in favor of a separate texture to control it in the material.

Have you downloaded the F7F-1 that gman5250 converted to native?
It uses _T.bmps with darker alpha channels for the polished look.

If that works in P3D 2.5 then you just need a darker alpha channel.

 

[bpfowler]

HI All,
I did a test with gman's great fsx update of the tigercat wonderplane.
When I removed the spec files from the mix, the alpha rendering disappeared from the diffuse textures.
So in p3d it appears that any alpha values in diffuse layer are moderated by the presence of the specular files.

Let me know if this is consonant with your experiences :- )

 

[Firekitten]

That's an fsx native model, in p3d 2.5, it has the same effect in 3.

Fs9 aircraft also shiny for me...


When you remove spec files from an aircraft that has materials calling for them, the whole thing looks shadowed, not darker, but shadowed. (like its under a rock) and as such you can't SEE the shine, but it's there. The spec is irrelevant to your problem.
Question... what are your graphics settings in p3d?

 

[bpfowler]

Hi All,
For your review:



[GRAPHICS]


HIGHMEMFIX=1
MIPMAP_VC_PANELS=1
TESSELLATION=1
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024
NUM_LIGHTS=4
COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1
AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1
LANDING_LIGHTS=1
DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1
LENSFLARE=0
HDR=0
BLOOM_LEVEL=2
SHADOW_QUALITY=3
TERRAIN_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=5
CLOUD_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=6
OBJECT_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=2
CONTENT_NO_SHADOW=0
INTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=1
EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=1
SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_CAST=1
TERRAIN_SHADOWS_CAST=1
VEGETATION_SHADOWS_CAST=0
BUILDING_SHADOWS_CAST=0
CLOUD_SHADOWS_CAST=1
INTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
TERRAIN_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=1
VEGETATION_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0
BUILDING_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=4
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=5
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=7
SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12
GROUND_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=2048
CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.850000
SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.850000
EFFECTS_QUALITY=1
EFFECTS_DISTANCE=1
TEXTURE_QUALITY=3
IMAGE_QUALITY=0
See_Self=1
Text_Scroll=1
//HIGHMEMFIX=1
GROUND_SHADOWS=0


[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti.0.0]
Mode=1920x1080x32

//////////////////////

thanks!