This Could Be Very Interesting - AnKor's Shaders

[popsaka]

Thanx Ankor... you're a machine! And thanx to all ...as the group effort is what makes this a reality!!

[MajorMagee]

Time to keep this from being lost again.

[gosd]

I've just found the cause. Simply forgot to add a line of code which enables standard _t/_r textures when +nm is used. Now they work as expected.
This will be fixed in the next update which I hope to make soon.

AnKor could you post the specific mod that should be made so that we wont have to wait for the next update to fix this anomaly?

[Threedp]

Woe and lamentations! I just bought a new rig pretty much to be able to play CFS3 Add-ons without difficulty and that's all I'm getting! I apologize if this has been answered before, but I have perfectly functional clean installs of CFS3 (original), ETO, MAW, BoB, and PTO (waiting on Rising Sun as it's always been the touchiest), but as soon as I add in the new shaders (either the download or lifted directly from WOFF), I get the dreaded 'CFS3 has stopped working' error. If I remove them, all is well again.

If it matters:

I'm on a fresh install of Windows 10.

As I recall, I never had any shader trouble with my old ATI video card system, but I have switched to nVidia with my latest rig.

I've not been able to get WOFF running. I get the message below.

Any help greatly appreciated!

[Daiwilletti]

hi Threedp,
I don't know about WOFF but I think you should use Ankor's CFS3 specific shader package for the CFS3 installs, not the WOFF shaders. By the way, I am running Ankor's shaders on 6 installs under Windows 10, no problems.

[Threedp]

I have tried both the CFS3-specific package and stealing them straight from WOFF and both net the same result. :-(

[Threedp]

More info: I have now tried older versions of Ankor's shaders (2014) and get exactly the same result.

[AnKor]

AnKor could you post the specific mod that should be made so that we wont have to wait for the next update to fix this anomaly?

Here it is.
It doesn't include d3d8.ini and TextureMagic.ini - just keep those which you already have.
Also I believe MajorMagee has made some modifications to sea rendering in his package but I didn't include them here. So perhaps he can reapply his changes and reupload the mod.
I don't have time to check thoroughly now, but judging by file dates besides d3d8.dll only Models.fx and Terrain.fx were modified since the last build.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...60713.beta.zip

Consider this a beta version, not because there are known issues, but simply because it isn't tested yet.

Changes:
- fixed bug with reflective textures not working with bump map
- improved performance of label rendering (previously there was a measurable FPS drop with many labels onscreen, at least for me)
- improved performance of aircraft model rendering (nothing dramatic, but managed to offload a bit more work to another CPU core)

Threedp, I'm not sure if this error is related to shaders. However you can try installing DirectX 9 runtime, its installer comes with WOFF (don't remember which folder though) or you can download it here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down...s.aspx?id=8109

[MajorMagee]

I'll validate the changes and take a look at putting the revised package together.

[Threedp]

DX9 did the trick for bot CFS3 and WOFF. Eternal thanks!!!

[MajorMagee]

A few quick checks this morning.

The updated files are:
d3d8.dll
Models.fx
Skybox.fx
Terrain.fx
Texture.fx

Generally I'm seeing a bit better balance on the CPU load between the two cores I'm using, and there is a measurable increase of a few FPS (up to 5) in the over all display rate.

The label text boxes show a more visible outline along their top and bottom than with the previous version.


Here's the revised package:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...1&linkid=21615

[FOO FIGHTER]

Far out! Thank you gentlemen!

[eddie]

MajorMagee, that link of yours just goes to an empty page.

[MajorMagee]

The link is now active...

[greycap.raf]

I'm having a bit of an issue with the latest set. For an unknown reason a large part of the terrain goes black, like it's getting a heavy load of shadowing applied. I presume the solution lies in the d3d8.dll because the rest of the package works when used with an older version of it.

[MajorMagee]

I've not seen that with any of my various installs. Is that happening in ETO, or another version of CFS3? Location? Time of Day?

I'll see if I can reproduce it.

[AnKor]

I'm seeing very similar effect if I set Composite Terrain Texture Usage to "D3DUSAGE_DYNAMIC" in cfs3config Custom Settings -> Texture Info.
It should be set to either "0" or "D3DUSAGE_RENDERTARGET" ("0" might be more compatible with all cases, but I'm not sure).

I think I have recently changed some code which detects texture formats to be more strict (I need it for certain new features which I hope to implement) and now it fails when texture usage is set to an unusual option.

[greycap.raf]

I've not seen that with any of my various installs. Is that happening in ETO, or another version of CFS3? Location? Time of Day?

My own heavily modified CFS3, Leiston, summer, morning.

I'm seeing very similar effect if I set Composite Terrain Texture Usage to "D3DUSAGE_DYNAMIC" in cfs3config Custom Settings -> Texture Info.
It should be set to either "0" or "D3DUSAGE_RENDERTARGET" ("0" might be more compatible with all cases, but I'm not sure).

I already had the _RENDERTARGET option selected but tried 0 too and unfortunately nothing changed. The next test will be MAW.

EDIT - The same thing happening with MAW, not quite to the same extent but still.

[AnKor]

Hmm... Not sure then.

I've seen very similar side-effects while experimenting with composite terrain blending (I needed to enhance it for reflective rivers), but I believe I disabled all new code for this build. Maybe I missed something. I will inspect the source code when I have time, but since it works for others it is still likely something unusual in your cfs3config.

[gosd]

I also have this black scenery problem with the 20160713 version. Had to go backto the 20160404 version to avoid it.

[MajorMagee]

After looking into a lot of different possible sources, I have not been able to replicate the black terrain textures that others are experiencing. The fact that the terrain renders properly out to a particular distance tells me that they can be rendered, just not when seen from a distance. That would hint at something like compositetexturebudgets.xml, or cfs3config terrain detail setting differences.

[greycap.raf]

I dug in to the d3d8.ini a bit deeper and after a few fruitless tests found out that disabling terrain bump mapping removed the problem once and for all. On the other hand it caused new issues such as my airfield playing hide and seek when trying to land but that's another story, I fully intend to keep the bump mapping on.

It seems to be caused more by viewing angle than distance, the black areas only exist at low altitudes where the angle from the viewing point to the terrain is relatively low. Above 5000 feet they're pretty much gone.

EDIT - getting more and more weird. I messed with the shaders30 folder stuff, managed to crash the entire thing, got it back up and running, and everything was fine. Closed CFS3, fired it up again, and the black areas were back. I'm beginning to think that everything isn't loading properly.

[MajorMagee]

Here are my d3d8.ini settings and I can fly right down to the treetops without seeing a rendering problem.

[D3D8]
; Change to NoMultisampling=1 for SweetFX compatibility, but it will disable ingame antialiasing.
NoMultisampling=1


; Aircraft shadows. 0 - No Shadows; 1 - Low; 2 - Medium; 3 - Good; 4 - High; 5 - Best
ShadowQuality=5


; Terrain shadows. 0 - Disabled; 1 - Low Quality; 2 - Medium; 3 - High
TerrainShadows=3


; 0 - Disabled; 1 - Enabled
TerrainBumpMapping=1


; 0 - No shadows; 1 - 10%; 2 - 20%; ...; 10 - 100%. Doesn't make much sense to go below 50%.
CloudShadowScale=10


; 0 - No shadows; 1 - 10%; 2 - 20%; ...; 10 - 100%. Smaller values cause brighter shadows.
CloudShadowDensity=5


; -1 - Off; 0 - Default; 1 - VSync On
VSyncMode=0


; 0 - Use default (which is 60 degrees); 1...180 - override FOV for external views.
ExternalFOV=30


; Sun glare and lens flares. 0 - Off. 1 - On.
SunGlare=1


; Weather tuning (might be overwritten by WOFF)
; Range 0...100 as percentage of sunlight reduction.
CloudShadowOvercast=10
CloudShadowHeavy=90


; Tweaks strength of environment reflection. 0 - off. 1 minimum, 9 maximum.
EnvReflection=5


; Tweak sharpness of sun and environment reflections. 1 dullest, 9 sharpest.
Glossiness=1


; Enable dynamic lights (gun flashes, etc) for scenery objects. 0 - Off. 1 - On.
SceneryDynamicLighting=1


; Adjust sprite (smoke, dust, etc) brightness according to time of day. 0 - Off (always bright). 1 - On.
SpriteLighting=1


; Ambient+sun light amount when night sprites are enabled
NightLightThreshold=0.35


; Troubleshooting options
Enabled=1
ForceHardwareVertexProcessing=1
ForceRenderTargetTextures=1
EnumAllDisplayModes=1
AutoGenMipMaps=1
WriteLog=0
Numpad0Switch=1

[MajorMagee]

and my ConfigOverrides values

<Config>
    <FileVersion val="60"/>
    <Adapter val="0"/>
    <Device val="0"/>
    <Mode val="37"/>
    <MultisampleType val="D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE"/>
    <VendorId val="4318"/>
    <DeviceId val="5056"/>
    <VersionNumberLowPart val="858168"/>
    <VersionNumberHighPart val="655378"/>
    <TextureLimits>
        <aircraftmodels Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <compositeterrain Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <compositeterrainsource Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <effects Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <hud Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <nonaircraftmodels Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <precompiledterrain Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <shadows Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <ui Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
        <uncategorized Scale="0" MaxDim="0"/>
    </TextureLimits>
    <ConfigOverrides>
        <DisableWarningBoxes val="n"/>
        <DisableSound val="n"/>
        <DisableIntroMovie val="y"/>
        <DisableMovieUI val="n"/>
        <DisableUIAnimations val="n"/>
        <SafeMode val="n"/>
        <NoDXT1 val="n"/>
        <NoDXT3 val="n"/>
        <NoDXT5 val="n"/>
        <DisableIndexBuffers val="n"/>
        <DisableVertexBuffers val="n"/>
        <Disable1600x1200 val="n"/>
        <Disable1280x1024 val="n"/>
        <Disable1024x768 val="n"/>
        <DualPassRender val="n"/>
        <HighResolutionZBuffer val="y"/>
        <TerrainDetailTexture val="y"/>
        <DisableWindowed val="n"/>
        <DisableValidateDevice val="y"/>
        <DisableWriteOnlyVB val="n"/>
        <DisableWriteOnlyIB val="n"/>
        <DisableTriangleStrips val="n"/>
        <UnsupportedHardware val="n"/>
        <UnsupportedDriver val="n"/>
        <DisableCompositeTerrainTextureMips val="n"/>
        <DisableCompositeTerrainTextures val="n"/>
        <DisableCompositeGroundPlaneTextures val="n"/>
        <DisableCompositeAircraftTextures val="n"/>
        <DisableScenery val="n"/>
        <DisableEnvironmentMapping val="n"/>
        <DisableShadows val="n"/>
        <DisableWhiteOut val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainLighting val="n"/>
        <DisableSceneryLighting val="n"/>
        <DisableSun val="n"/>
        <DisableStars val="n"/>
        <DisableRenderText val="n"/>
        <DisableLabels val="n"/>
        <DisableTacticalDisplay val="n"/>
        <DisableTargetCone val="n"/>
        <DisableHUD val="n"/>
        <DisableChat val="n"/>
        <DisableAdvisor val="n"/>
        <DisableSimWarnings val="n"/>
        <DisableTimeCompress val="n"/>
        <DisableWeather val="n"/>
        <DisableClouds val="n"/>
        <DisableBlendToOffscreen val="n"/>
        <DisableClear val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainRender val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainUpdate val="n"/>
        <DisableSceneDBRender val="n"/>
        <DisableWaterRender val="n"/>
        <DisableWaterShorelineRender val="n"/>
        <DisableWaterReflectionRender val="n"/>
        <DisableWaterAnimationRender val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainTextureRingBlend val="n"/>
        <DisableFog val="n"/>
        <DisableRain val="n"/>
        <DisableTexturedAlphaMaterial val="n"/>
        <DisableShellCasings val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainDiffuseLighting val="n"/>
        <DisableTerrainDecalRender val="n"/>
        <DisableVCFog val="n"/>
        <DisableInCloudEffect val="n"/>
        <DisablePropDiscs val="n"/>
        <CompositeAircraftTextureBudget val="10240"/>
        <CompositeAircraftTextureMaxDim val="4096"/>
        <CompositeAircraftTexturePool val="D3DPOOL_DEFAULT"/>
        <CompositeAircraftTextureUsage val="D3DUSAGE_RENDERTARGET"/>
        <CompositeTerrainTextureBudget val="five"/>
        <VertexBufferPool val="D3DPOOL_DEFAULT"/>
        <IndexBufferPool val="D3DPOOL_DEFAULT"/>
        <PreCompiledTerrainTextureBudget val="five"/>
        <UserShadowTextureBudget val="1"/>
        <AIShadowTextureBudget val="30"/>
        <ObjectShadowTextureBudget val="500"/>
        <UserShadowSize val="512"/>
        <AIShadowSize val="512"/>
        <ObjectShadowSize val="512"/>
        <MaxParticles val="2000000"/>
        <ZBiasBitsResolution val="15"/>
        <ZBiasTerrainDecal val="0"/>
        <ZBiasWaterPolyNear val="1"/>
        <ZBiasWaterPolyFar val="0"/>
        <ZBiasWaterLineNear val="1"/>
        <ZBiasWaterLineFar val="0"/>
        <ZBiasFlatEffects val="25"/>
        <ZBiasShadow val="0"/>
        <ZBiasTerrainAlphaNear val="0"/>
        <ZBiasTerrainAlphaFar val="0"/>
        <ZBiasObject val="0"/>
        <ZBiasObjectFar val="0"/>
        <ZBiasEffects val="1"/>
        <ZBiasClouds val="1"/>
        <TerrainVertexBufferCapacity val="65536"/>
        <TerrainIndexBufferCapacity val="65536"/>
        <VertexCacheSize val="64"/>
        <BackClipDist val="128748"/>
        <InteriorWaterLoadingFactor val="1"/>
        <WaterDetailTextureSize val="5"/>
        <WaterElevationBias val="4"/>
        <WaterElevationBiasFactor val="0.5"/>
        <NearPassBackClipDist val="1000"/>
        <FarPassNearClipDist val="10000"/>
        <FogStartDist val="10000"/>
        <CloudScale val="10"/>
        <TerrainBestImageQuality val="0"/>
        <MaxLandClassVariations val="0"/>
        <TerrainMaxBlenderInstPerFrameNear val="8192"/>
        <TerrainMaxBlenderInstPerFrameFar val="8192"/>
        <SceneryTriangleBudget val="five"/>
        <TerrainTriangleBudget val="five"/>
        <MaxModelLOD val="100"/>
        <FullscreenSwapEffect val="D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD"/>
        <CompositeTerrainTexturePool val="D3DPOOL_DEFAULT"/>
        <CompositeTerrainTextureUsage val="D3DUSAGE_RENDERTARGET"/>
        <TextMaxTextures val="0"/>
        <OverallGraphicDetail val="5"/>
        <AircraftDetail val="5"/>
        <SceneryDetail val="5"/>
        <TerrainDetail val="5"/>
        <EffectsQuality val="5"/>
        <CloudsQuality val="5"/>
    </ConfigOverrides>
</Config>

[greycap.raf]

Attachment 40646

Nothing obviously visible in my config settings when compared.

Another thing that I may have missed in the past, is it normal that trees seem to lose their mipmaps when the shaders are enabled? It's been like that for the entire time I've used them.