FS9 Xtreme Evolution: beta testers wanted!

[Sascha66]

Hi, here are some tweaks I forgot to include in the config guide, now updated with these items:

11. A set of files which I greatly recommend is found in Kaufbeuren AB v2 airport by Klaus Jone:

http://library.avsim...php?DLID=157915

Included is an excellent lclookup patch by Jobia, the only one I am aware of in fact (install into Scenery\Base\Scenery) which generally fixes landclass errors; and a set of improved terrain masks (install to Scenery\World\Texture). The latter are the files that control the shape of town and forest edges and the way textures generally meet. More detail in the file.

I also use the included Germany LC, which I like much better than UT.

12. Other freeware landclass I use on top of Ultimate Terrain and which you might like is:
- Mountains for USA & Europe by Markus Balz, http://library.avsim...php?DLID=153059
- Philippine Landclass and Waterclass Scenery v.2.0, http://library.avsim....php?DLID=38340
- Switzerland Landclass by Frank Barth, http://library.avsim....php?DLID=81240
- UK landclass by Raimundo Taburet, http://www.flightsim...right&fid=98237
- France landclass and landmarks by Arnaud Clère et. al., http://www.gratisim....tes-4?task=view

Best,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

Hi all,

here are some screenshots I made over the last days. As Rich requested, these are from rural locations. I wanted to show off the variety of textures, so these are from all round the world! Not all sets, though, only the most common.

1. Germany


2. Germany(Munich)


3. France


4. UK


5. UK


6. US Type1 (NE)


7. US Type1


8. US Type1


9. US Type2 (KBAB)


10. US Type2 (KBAB)


11. US Type2


12. US Type3 (Wittman Regl.)


Cheers,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

More rural textures:

13. US Type3


14. US Type4


15. Eastern Europe (Poland)


16. Eastern Europe (Hungary)


17. Russia


18. Eastern Europe (Slovenia)


19. Eastern Europe (Slovenia)


20. Eastern Europe (Slovenia)


21. Eastern Europe (Slovenia)


22. Greece


23. Greece


24. Greece (UT mixes English fields in some parts???)


Cheers,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

Still more rural textures:

25. Thailand


26. Thailand


27. Thailand


28. Thailand


29. SE Asia (Vietnam)


30. SE Asia (Vietnam)


31. SE Asia (Vietnam)


32. SE Asia (Vietnam)


33. South America (Colombia)


34. South America (Colombia)


35. South America (also uses US Type 3 textures in some parts)


36. Mediterranean


I will post desert and scrub textures and urban areas in the next days.

Have a nice Easter weekend!
Sascha

[rich12545]

Hi Sascha, here's my 2 cents fwiw. Thank you for the pics. On the whole I like it. There was a little urban and, hard to tell, but it looks like that dreaded blue tint is gone. Couple of urban shots should be able to tell. But rural, there's still too much green and not enough variety in colors. You can look a couple pages back at my UK shot for comparison if you want. Just my opinion but if I was flying over that section in the UK (4 & 5 in the first set for example), it would drive me kinda bonkers. Maybe others like that and I'm in a tiny minority. If so, perhaps they can speak up. It's probably just personal taste. Also, I haven't been able to find anywhere what all is included in the package. I'm sorry to be probably the most critical guy here.

[Sascha66]

Hi Rich,

you can find some information on what is inluded here: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post879519

In short, all terrain and land textures have been modified (except glacier textures) as well as airport buildings, runways, taxiways, clouds, water (ocean and inland), autogen buildings, trees. There are also new autogen lights (see a user video here http://forum.avsim.net/topic/408107-...4#entry2966453) although this feature causes fps on some systems. I am trying to make a simple light object with a friend, but I am no modeller ...

Well, adding more colour variety is easy enough as I have the fields in layers, but I don't like the overall effect. If enough people want this, I will add this to my list of things to do, though.

Glenn has posted some screenshots at flightsim with a visual feel quite different from mine:
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showth...to-many-places
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showth...sco-California
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showth...ide-Comparison

You can see from these screens compared to mine that the individual look/feel depends on wether you use enb or sweetfx and how you configure these (eg I like mine to darken textures), even how your monitor is set up. The look can be tweaked a lot according to preference.

All the best and Happy Easter!
Sascha

[rich12545]

Sascha, those pics look fantastic.

Since you say adding colors to fields is easy, might I suggest you include alternate textures for that?

Will the evo somehow be an integral part of the program or something to download elsewhere? It's something I'm not really familiar with.

Anyway, I am now a fanboy and awaiting final release!

[Sascha66]

Sascha, those pics look fantastic.

Since you say adding colors to fields is easy, might I suggest you include alternate textures for that?

Will the evo somehow be an integral part of the program or something to download elsewhere? It's something I'm not really familiar with.

Anyway, I am now a fanboy and awaiting final release!

Since you say adding colors to fields is easy, might I suggest you include alternate textures for that?

- Sure, I can do that!

Will the evo somehow be an integral part of the program or something to download elsewhere? It's something I'm not really familiar with.

- Evo is the short nomer for FS9 Evolution, so everything you read about in the various threads is part of that (if I understood you correctly). Navtech has offered to make an installer which I have not managed, so the final version will have an installer + the usual zipped files version.

Anyway, I am now a fanboy and awaiting final release!

- Thanks, hopefully FS9 will be around for some time still!

Take care!
Sascha

[rich12545]

Sorry, what I meant was the thing you talk about that makes the colors lighter or darker. Is that a part of the overall program or something that would be downloaded elsewhere?

[Sascha66]

Hi Rich,

both enb and sweetfx are small applications that allow you to tweak the graphics of most programs including FS9/FSX.

I would recommend sweetfx because it allows more user control and has understandable instructions.

There is a thread at the ourhouse on sweetfx including a download link:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...73818-Sweet-FX

and a video tutorial (not FS specific):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaE7Qotn5Jc

With both applications basically you just drop a number of files into your root FS folder and manually set some settings in a configuration file.

There is a config utility for sweetfx but I found this confusing, maybe you can use it:
http://sweetfx.thelazy.net/

Hope this helps!

Sascha

[rich12545]

I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[Sascha66]

Hi guys,

I have released a large update: this update includes numerous tweaks - most will improve visual appearance, while a few will improve performance. Some parts of it were released in previous fixes already, they are included here again for the convenience of those who didn't grab them yet.


Dropbox location:

Get it in the dropbox in the folder 3_Updates_and_fixes and the subfolder updates_5_all_fixes_included_2014_05_29.

To install the files, just drop the contents of these zip files into these directories:

- fs9_Scenery_World_texture_update_2014_05_29 <--- into fs9\scenery\world\texture

- Iforgotthese_fs9_Scenery_World_texture_update_2014 _05_29 <--- into fs9\scenery\world\texture

- fs9_texture_update_2014_05_29 <--- into fs9\texture

Select overwrite when asked.


List of changes:

- grass textures changed to look grassier and less scrubby for Europe and US, the old version produced some strange looking small airfields. Also more arid look for dry areas. Thanks to Manfred for pointing out this problem!

- tweaked desert and scrub textures to blend better and have less green textures in some areas

- more field variety for England and some areas of the US and Europe

- more autogen and some autogen tweaks (probably unnoticeable)

- better default stream replacements with smaller banks and less whitewater

- default road replacement with non-green verges (greyish-brown). Thanks to Harald G. for his work on this.

- tweaked rice-paddies with more visible water

- tweaked mountain textures for US and Europe. I have included an alternative tweaked texture for US-SouthEast eg Grand Canyon (mountains_USSE_tweaked_may2014.zip) and the full original release (mountains_v1_release.zip)

- smaller cumulus clouds for better fps, also have one fixed edge. I have included a large version of this (larger_cumulus_may2014.zip) and the original release version (cumulusclouds_original_version)

- some tweaked runways and taxiways

- colour tweaked trees for better blending with textures, also smaller for better performance. Of course these do not look as good close-up. If you want to keep your original trees, do not install treesu.bmp from the fs9_texture_update_2014_05_29.zip into fs9\texture

- tweaked autogen buildings for better blending, redder roofs, also better performance

- added a texture set including custom autogen for Arabian and some Greek/Turkish towns - I missed that set the first time round.

I think that is all, at least the noticeable tweaks and fixes!


Blue skies and best wishes!

Sascha

[jackryan172]

Hi Sascha,

How do I get the new improvements? BTW this package is without a doubt the best add on for fs9 period. payware or freeware this is the must have add on.

Sean

[jackryan172]

Hi Sascha,

How do I get the new improvements? BTW this package is without a doubt the best add on for fs9 period. payware or freeware this is the must have add on.

Sean

Errf....found it I think.

Sean

[Sascha66]

Hi Sascha,

How do I get the new improvements? BTW this package is without a doubt the best add on for fs9 period. payware or freeware this is the must have add on.

Sean

Sean, sorry about that! I was rushed when writing the post and it was pretty garbled. I've edited it so it makes more sense!

Thank you!

Sascha

[SSI01]

Hey Sascha - I went to the dropbox location, only three files there - backup and installation instructions, beta test EULA, and initial beta test instructions. Where are the rest of the files?

I admit I haven't been on the site for a while, may need a little refresher on how to do this . . .

[Sascha66]

Hi all,

the update is in the release folder. Go to FS9 Evolution v1.0, then to 3_Updates_and_fixes and open the updates_5_all_fixes_included_2014_05_29 directory which holds the various files.

Cheers,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

Hi guys,

the cloud files were scattered a bit over the dropbox so I collected them in the folder cumulus_clouds in the updates_5_all_fixes_included_2014_05_29 directory.


Content

Because the cumulus clouds are a big framerate eater I have made some variations so you can pick the file you want.

The updated cumulus clouds have the same basic visuals, they are just in different sizes and formats:

- the cumulus.bmp in the update folder has dxt3 format and 512 x 512 size. This file gives best fps and lowest visuals.

- the cumulus.bmp in the larger_cumulus_32bit_may2014.zip has 32 bit format and 1024 x 1024 size for best visuals. Biggest fps hit.

- the cumulus.bmp in the larger_cumulus_16bit_may2014.zip has 16 bit format and 1024 x 1024 size. High visuals and some fps hit.

- the cumulus.bmp in the larger_cumulus_dxt3_may2014.zip has dxt3 format and 1024 x 1024 size. This is the best fps and visuals compromise. I use these because I like the fuzzy look. It seems quite natural to me.

I have included the original release version (cumulusclouds_original_version.zip) which is slightly different from the update version (probably unnoticeable). It has 32 bit format and 1024 x 1024 size for best visuals. Biggest fps hit.

Best wishes,
Sascha

[SSI01]

Guys, I've got a Dropbox account but there are only the three .txt documents described above in my folder. Where is the folder with all the FS9 textures in it that Sascha's describing here?

[Sascha66]

Hi guys,

I cleaned up the update folder and while I was at it also added updates for US and UK fields. All of this is explained in the updated readme!

Best wishes to all!
Sascha

[UKVoodoo]

Have I missed or scrolled past where I can buy these at all in the thread?

Been looking but couldnt find a link (I may well be blind)

Matt

[Sascha66]

Have I missed or scrolled past where I can buy these at all in the thread?

Been looking but couldnt find a link (I may well be blind)

Matt

Matt, the information is here: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post879519

I probably should start a release thread, but there are many helpful infos in this thread plus lots of screenshots.

Cheers,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

Sorry, I forgot to post that the update has been released now. We still have a CTD issue with some older sceneries (as far as I am aware of no newer stuff has this issue) calling up textures which are not in the requested format but user EMatheson has very kindly set out on the difficult mission of finding this texture or textures. Once these textures are found, CTDs should at last be a thing from the past!

Best wishes,
Sascha

[Sascha66]

Dear fellow Outhousers!


I have really enjoyed interacting with you bunch over the past year. For me this was an interesting and very productive time - going public with my project was a big deal for me because I am more a private kind of guy. That was probably the most important reason to pick the Sim-Outhouse for this step as I knew there is no more kind-hearted and helpful community to be found in flight simming. And you did not let me down!

Having you as beta testers was a privilege; you always made me feel as if I was doing something worthwhile.

You know how easy it is to be discouraged when you believe in your work but it gets flamed mercilessly when you show it to somebody else.

You certainly helped me go the distance with this one ...

FS Evolution (you may remember the discussion about the name last year and that Navtech suggested FS9 Evo which is the unofficial label now) now even has it's own forum over at Avsim - http://forum.avsim.net/forum/720-the...olution-forum/ - thanks to the goodness of Tmm Allensworth!

I am very pleased to announce that EMatheson and Harald have managed to find the CTD issue which has appeared every so often with some addon sceneries, so hopefully it will be plain sailing from here on.


Thank you all for your support!

Sascha

[EMatheson]

It would probably be a good idea to start a new EVO 2.0 screenshot and release thread. SOH hasn't had a decent update on the status of the project in some time. Although this thread has some pretty good shots, a lot of them are of texture sets that are no longer current... And it has some belly aching from yours truly about the American Southwest, which concern has now been addressed to my satisfaction. I rather enjoy the grand canyon with these textures...