Water textures from FSX to CFS2?

[langereis]

Hi Aimé, Miamiegle, Dvslats,

These land class textures which are converted from Aimé Leclercq’s and FSX stock textures for use in Combat Flight Simulator 2 and wonderful.:applause:

It should be marvellous if also the FSX water textures could be converted for use in CFS2.:salute:

See the screenshots (2 in CFS2 and 2 in FSX)

Happy new year to all

[langereis]

The mission screenshot in FSX

[miamieagle]

They sure do!

Thank you!:ernae:

[CrisGer]

I think the water is one of the most limiting things visually in CFS2 compared to the FS series, is ther any way to improve on it? I dont know the particulars... and is it possible to introduce any 3d texture to the water as well? actual wave forms?

[dvslats]

Hi langereis and CrisGer,
I can try some of them and post some screenshots. Unfortunatly there will be no reflection animation in CFS2. Just static visual.
I'll get back to you guys.
Dave

[dhasdell]

Have I got this right? We make two texture folders with the new files, both the same, and put one in CFS2 root and one as scenedb\world\texture?

[dvslats]

Hi dhasdell,
Pretty close...there is no need to make new texture folders.
Just open the the files you have downloaded where you will see Bitmap Images named "008h2su1" and others as an example.
With this folder still open tick on Edit in the windows toolbar, Select All, then Edit again, Copy, minimise the screen then open the folder in CFS2 scenedb\world\texture. Tick edit with it still open then paste.
It will ask you if it is ok to replace the the old ones with the new ones... click on Yes To All.

Still inside of CFS2, go back to the root of CFS2 where you find a folder named Texture, should be right after Scenedb. Double click Texture and when it opens do the Edit, Paste again. It will ask the same question again, tick Yes To All.

I Think that a graphic will help on this. I will make one up.
Dave

[dhasdell]

Thanks - but make copies of the originals outside CFS2 as well? My forum sig was not arrived at by coincidence.

[sc7500]

...Thanks - but make copies of the originals outside CFS2 as well? My forum sig was not arrived at by coincidence...

Dhashell's Post for the Funniest of the Almost New Year ! :wiggle:

LOL !
SC
:kilroy:

[oldwheat]

Is it kosher to upload the textures for those of us FSX'less?

[CrisGer]

IF they are changed a bit, they would be like mod files, similar to other resources shared in between the sims i would think always with the no other use provision that eveyrone respects and observes. I would think it is similar to a new skin for a plane but just on a wider scale. Always everything is under the same umbrella of resources for the game and for no other purpose.

[oldwheat]

My thinking also. It wouldn't be the first time that FS textures were used for CFS2 & uploaded.

[erufle]

IF they are changed a bit, they would be like mod files, similar to other resources shared in between the sims i would think always with the no other use provision that eveyrone respects and observes. I would think it is similar to a new skin for a plane but just on a wider scale. Always everything is under the same umbrella of resources for the game and for no other purpose.

I was not aware that modifying existing Microsoft files, then uploading them was O.K. If I had known I could have made the language packs easier to install - drag and drop. I wanted to be very careful about copyright infringement.

[Fibber]

Dvslats;:salute:
Maybe you would have better luck.
I tried to convert some files from Real Pro Enviroment that I found nice but had minimum to none sucess. Could they be a candidate for your conversion skills? They had some nice water , runway and taxiway textures. I tried nad then had surgery and now am CRAFT :isadizzy: as to what I did, or did not do.
Not as good as the pics of FX but maybe a substitute.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:ernae::guinne ss::isadizzy::sleep:

[dvslats]

My thinking also. It wouldn't be the first time that FS textures were used for CFS2 & uploaded.

That's true oldwheat, I can think of four others who have done the same thing from Fs8 and Fs9.

Getting back to the FsX water class textures...CFS2 has sixteen place holders for water texs. FsX has one hundred and eighty.

I can format the one hundred and eighty to 256x256 8 bit for CFS2 (a copyright protection in itself :icon_lol: ) and upload them.
As far as the naming of the textures, with all of the choices, someone would have to take them from that point and provide the name/numbering themselves. I have the Fs 2002 sdk which would give the layout for doing this. Put that in the upload also...then tinker away.
What Do You Think?


Hey Fibber,
I'm not familiar with Real Pro Environment. Are these freeware?

[dvslats]

Hey dhasdell, make copies of the originals and paste them somewhere outside the sim...like your My Documents as an example.
Made some pics...

[CrisGer]

I was thinking of the connection between FS2000 and CFS2, as they both use the same engine, that makes a lot of sense. I suppose we could try to make packs of relevant textures that would work for CFS2 for differnt areas similar to some of the new water textures that Stiz has made, that way ppl could switch them out for the differnt theatres, as the coral textures would not be needed in the Med or Europe and vice versa.

[Fibber]

Dvslats;
It is a FS2004 (I believe) file. Here is a link to the download

http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads-file-2749-details.html

[dhasdell]

Thanks dvslats - done it!
:wavey:

[dvslats]

A little something on the FsX water textures in CFS2.
They really give this sim a bad case of striping. The FSX water class bitmaps have a pattern in each of them. It shows up Ok in the civil sim because there are seven .bmp's to CFS2's one.
In example...

CFS2 007h2su1 = Shallow Ocean Water 1: 0-5m


FSX 007h2su1
007h2su2
007h2su3
007h2su4
007h2su5
007h2su6
007h2su7 ___ All seven of these = Shallow Ocean Water 1: 0-5m

Looks like the water class is using the similar amount of texs as the land class.

Using only one of the above bitmaps gives a fraction of the detail intended, thus the strip effect.

The first screenie is a single bitmap taken from FSX to give you an idea of the irregular pattern in it.

The second is the effect it has in CFS2.

[CrisGer]

well looks like that wont work .... too bad, well maybe we can heighten some of the contrasts in the Water texture to give an illusion of waves without making them too blotchy. I am experimenting with a new water set now.

[p14u2nv]

If my memory serves me correctly someone had converted FS9 water textures back when "The Zone" was in operation. Only those who had powerful kick butt PCs could actually run them however...back as far as 2001-2002 maybe? I distinctly remember the multitude of screenshots everywhere.

Sadly my AMD 1.33, ATI 7200 didn't fair well enough to run 'em...

Somebody remember that?

[dvslats]

Yeah p14u2nv, I remember that. It was the detail in those that caused a resource overload. My video card was only a tnt something or other with 32 megs of memory. Today's newer hardware really made CFS2 look brand new. :icon_eek:

I had some time today and did some experimenting with a set of custom water class textures. Google earth to PSP to Image tool.

My goal was to create something to emulate the shallow to deep ocean effect, keeping the highest detail possible without getting into the striping. And also to keep them on the generic end where they would fit in just about anywhere in the Pacific.

Here's what today's results are. Some of the hues are still off a bit...this is in the Solomons. Opinions?

[msfossey]

Those look great dvslats, appreciate all your efforts.

msfossey

[mariereid]

Indeed, they do, thanks for all the work you do!:salute:

[Jagdflieger]

It certainly gives the effect of waves rolling in toward the beaches. I think that it looks pretty good.

One thing about the ocean in real life is that it changes daily depending on clouds, light, position of the sun and wind. I don't think that there is one magic bullet for CFS 2 water textures, but the more options we have the more we can tweak it to our preferences or theater.

Sometimes I think that it's a shame CFS 2 won't support reflective water, but I rarely use or appreciate the feature in FS 9 so I don't think that we're hampered in any way with the senior sim.

[Brunosk]

By the way, somebody knows what is causing this :

[dvslats]

One thing about the ocean in real life is that it changes daily depending on clouds, light, position of the sun and wind. I don't think that there is one magic bullet for CFS 2 water textures, but the more options we have the more we can tweak it to our preferences or theater.

That sums it up pretty good Jagdflieger. Being landlocked, my views of the real ocean are far and few in between. With your extensive travels you should be a good go to person on the subject. Thanks for the input.

When I'm satisfied with these, they'll be bundled and uploaded for ya'll to use at will and your own risk. He heee

Dv

[dvslats]

By the way, somebody knows what is causing this :

Hello Brunosk, Can you guess the distance you are from land? If it is more then 50 kilometers, the look in the background/land is the Base Color of the sim. The land class textures will show through the nine Lod's/mips, up to 48 or so kilometers. After that the base color is used. Frame rates you know. For me...I keep the max visibility level in settings to 25 to 30 miles. This will put a kind of fog over the horizon. Call it a very humid day. :rolleyes:

Dv

[dvslats]

Disregard the above post Brunosk.

I flew to your coordinates and there is no land. :redface:

It looks like a format issue in one of the water textures. Are you using egypt's
Med. water?
If so, he has fixed the textures and put them in a new download a month or so back.
If you hover your mouse over the water class texture it should show a size of 86.4 kb

Dv

[p14u2nv]

Yeah p14u2nv, I remember that. It was the detail in those that caused a resource overload. My video card was only a tnt something or other with 32 megs of memory. Today's newer hardware really made CFS2 look brand new. :icon_eek:

I had some time today and did some experimenting with a set of custom water class textures. Google earth to PSP to Image tool.

Dave are these "custom textures" you spoke of originally meant for FS9? Is that correct? Just curious. Like I said earlier I tried them way back when...and you are correct with the newer hardware we now have we stand a better chance of running what was once high end only.

I, like so many others here, really appreciate what you are doing for all of us. Thank you very much.

[Brunosk]

Disregard the above post Brunosk.

I flew to your coordinates and there is no land. :redface:

It looks like a format issue in one of the water textures. Are you using egypt's
Med. water?
If so, he has fixed the textures and put them in a new download a month or so back.
If you hover your mouse over the water class texture it should show a size of 86.4 kb

Dv

Well, to tell you the truth I don't remember which water textures I use...:confused:
I did check as you suggested, all the "waterlike looking" textures I have are 86.4 kb...
Looks like at some point in the distance the sim uses one of the clear ones instead of the basic darker texture which is in the foreground ?
Oh and by the way, I do set my max visibility low as well...

[Wulf190]

I had the same issue as you Bruno, then I reformatted my system and got CFS2 back up and running and the issue is pretty much entirely gone. I dunno why but it is.

[dvslats]

One more item Brunosk...do you have the FSUIPC.dll in your Modules folder?
If you do, try removing it and re-start CFS2. In my computer this .dll causes similar havoc with scenery.
Dave

[CrisGer]

I am following your work with great interest Slats as i hope to be able to combine what you are able to convert with a new project i began a while ago to set up a new Pacific Water Texture affect that will try to convey the brilliant azure and deep blue of the deep Pacific with the sparkling emerald hues of the shallow water. I have not found any one water set that conveys both, though some of the sets created already are very nice. I have been working on it for a while and am going to take a break from it because i have other work i have to do, but I did find some good balances so far. I was hoping to help add a custom water set for Pearl Harbour too, as the harbor is darker and bluer than any of the water textures i have seen yet. I found by experimenting that it is the texture called : 007h2w1 that covers most of Pearl harbour itself. Working with that and other areas i have found a balance that seems to at least present a comprimise that works. I guess optimally it would be ideal to have custom waterclass sets for each island group, as they are all diffent to a degree. One of the big challenges is that you cant use a very detailed texture in a large area as it stripes out easily.

So here are a few pics and hopefully once DvSlats gets some textures converted I may be able to match some of the effects i have found with just the old stype CFS2 texture style so far.

The hardest challenges are the detailed and large areas like Truk Lagoon that Jean Bomber did so beautifuly to match the old PacTex green tone. Mine is a deeper blue and will need to be adjusted, but for now, i have some more generalized solutions that work for a range of locations, here are pics from Henderson, Port Moresby, Pearl and French Polyneisa, Bora Bora...

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/479/newbluefrenchpolynesia.jpg

Bora Bora French Polyneisa NewBlue2

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/48/newbluefrenchpolynesia2.jpg

Bora Bora NewBlue2

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7363/boraborareal.jpg

the Real Bora Bora

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/2622/portmorsbeynewblue.jpg
Port Moresby NewBlue1

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9281/ahenderson.jpg
Henderson NewBlue2

the original blue textures are from two sets by BlueDevil and JIMKO, Pac-Blue ACM and Pacific Blues including a very nice deep blue with white caps and a double line of breakers in the surf. Nothing could be release from this set without their permission first ...so for now..this is a working project and I am sharing the concept ...and hopes. It may not work out.... it is very tough to get a good generalized water range of colours that works for all areas in the Pacific but i just had to try as I love the beautiful blues of that part of the world.

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7529/pacficlagoon.jpg

For Pearl, i started with the Pac Tex colours...

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9606/pearlback1.jpg

and then tried to match some photos that were both darker and bluer, with a green variant and then ended up with this blue for the harbour, which it is on a sunny day,

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4921/pearl2vista.jpg

it looks especialy good at ground level from the faciltieis looking across the bay...and also does a fairly decent job as an under colour for the ariel view, it would be better to have variations and swirls in areas, as it is browner in some parts of the harbor and greener in others but I dont want to distract the Pearl team as they are working to release the remaining parts of the wonderful new Pearl PH2 set.

for now, this is a sharing of concept and suggestions and commments are welcome and work will continue as we continue to work with improving the textures as dvslats is doing so nicely.

BTW the land colours are Pac1 and though a bit brown compared to some they are quite subtle and realistic in a lot of ways..and for now they make an excellent counterpoint to the water ....

Here is one of Dog's very nice enhanced bases...and the ocean water acts as a very nice counterpoint to it all.

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/1958/adogbase.jpg

[miamieagle]

Wow!

Its looking Great!:jump:

[Ghostrider]

Looking good there, Cris! I am just having a couple of ideas - first, the 'tiling' effect might be used to advantage with some alternating subtly lighter/darker "stripes" across the tiles which would line up with each other when placed edge to edge, creating the illusion of ocean swells which are parallel with each other. Probably done at an angle across the 'tile', and very subtle, experimenting with different "wavelengths" so the visual effect was not overdone. Anyway, I know it's lots of work, and maybe a bad idea, I'm just 'thinking out loud'.

Also, taken to the nth degree, this could be done like FSX programs which swap out cloud, sky, water textures et al, in fact, just about any environmental texture you want, to reflect different conditions. Morton's MK CFS2 utility already does this with aircraft and ships by simply renaming certain files with a batch routine to "activate" the ones you want. You could have diferrent texture sets for diferrent geographical areas, as well as different sky and weather conditions. Bright sunny days would have an entirely different set of textures from dark days, for example. This may be alot more work than it's worth, just "spitballin' ".

You just had to put Bora Bora pictures in there too - I have sailed from Raietea throught the western pass of BB (only way into the atoll) and spent some incredible nights anchored under the volcano off of Vaitape, and and the various motus - some of my all time favorite memories!

[CrisGer]

Ghost thanks for your suggestions i think they are good ones. My challenge is time and work load, i am swamped at the mo. but hope to get back to this soon, as i do enjoy working with such challenges as it is close to my own work.. painting, and i really enjoy trying for realism in the sim. I think the texture swapping idea is very intriguing, I had to give up on trying to get a dawn and dusk effect that works as the water textures dont change i dont think ..just the lighihting.... but i will keep tryiing. thanks again.

I am going to use bora bora as a test bed.