Night Terrain in ETO

[Threedp]

My apologies if this has been asked before, but at night in ETO, all is dark except the ground. Is there anything I can do about that?

MTO is fine, so I assume it's a setting somewhere?

[mongoose]

I assume you want the ground dark? various ideas have been and are being tried; at the moment gecko is probably investigating the best idea as we also want it for the future TOW install. daniel will no doubt reply to this!:wavey:

[Threedp]

You are correct sir! Bombing Berlin by night in my Lancaster is way too easy right now!

[gecko]

Yes this is a problem and yes there is a solution. I am currently in the middle of adjusting the sun effect.xml and the shaders.xml to correct this and other issues. Currently finalizing the colors of the sun effect and making a couple minor tweaks. I hope to release them soon, provided I can find the time this week and next (if anyone feels like doing financial paperwork and unpacking boxes for me, feel free!:icon_lol:) A more complete overhaul of the CFS3 environment is in progress for release in TOW (The Other War) and will be compatible with the other installs too. If you like flying at night you won't want to miss TOW.

[gecko]

You are correct sir! Bombing Berlin by night in my Lancaster is way too easy right now!

Better brush up on your instrument flying if you want to survive Berlin in TOW!

[mongoose]

Better brush up on your instrument flying if you want to survive Berlin in TOW!

Especially if people start making missions with the WP's extracted! :isadizzy:

[HouseHobbit]

I have built several TOW missions that have the way points removed, it is a challenge..
Yea, I Learned to print out my flight plan and keep it close by..
And keeping from hitting wing mates was a chore sometimes..
Had to open up the formations quite a bit in the missions once I flew them several times..
Discovered that hobbits aren't great at flying straight, inverted??
:icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
Also discovered in ETO you can get total blackness, it depends when you set the mission(time) and the moon cycle..

[gecko]

How is this done? Does warp work? Do you still have to reach the target to complete the mission?

[HouseHobbit]

They are here, for the night fighters..
You take off and the first (only) way point is set on the take off,.
The you still have to get to the target, and achieve it before you receive the well done you win message..
kind of challenging..
In The mission is the Flight plan for these missions Course, speed, altitude..
If you want total darkness you can change the time and dates(in the mission) for these and get total darkness..
It scares hobbits..

Since I built these I have built several bomber missions RAF also..
but to be honest unless you want to fly for hours in the dark to bomb a German target they tend to be a bit boring..
Unless you fly like hobbits do that is..:icon_lol:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=70&sort=d&page=3&pp=20

[mongoose]

Well for those BC missions you get set up and put on auto pilot and go off and do your stuff! That's what FSX people do with their fly in nights. If you still have those bomber missions, put them up as well. Are ETO_TOW_NF_Missions_1943-1944__HH_200 the only night missions? I shall have to redo all my old ones for ETO/TOW given all the new a/c effects, etc. Did you have the "windows" which Mathias made for me?

[gecko]

Never used auto pilot in CFS3, does it just hold current heading, altitude and speed? We have time compression, right?

[HouseHobbit]

Well for those BC missions you get set up and put on auto pilot and go off and do your stuff! That's what FSX people do with their fly in nights. If you still have those bomber missions, put them up as well. Are ETO_TOW_NF_Missions_1943-1944__HH_200 the only night missions? I shall have to redo all my old ones for ETO/TOW given all the new a/c effects, etc. Did you have the "windows" which Mathias made for me?

I have three missions for bombers I built for my personnel use.. I will have to adjust these for public use needless to say..
Lots of non stock items used..Not a problem to polish these up so that it reduces the Giant load in process..
I will get these set up for the public..
And add a few more to it, so most will find something they like..

I don't have the "windows' from Master Mathias..
I have the TOW package started by the ETO team members

[gecko]

BTW, just found this: http://www.weatherimages.org/latlonsun.html

Could be of some use for mission builders.

[spencer19692007]

hello yes you can make the ground dark ,a download called enbseries.ini online somewhere can adjust xml folder darkingamountnight=27 or whatever suits you,also many other settings you can adjust,i have the download somewhere so if you can not find let me know i can send to you email

[Pat Pattle]

Hi Spencer, :wavey:

You got a pm!

[MajorMagee]

Here's something a bit more current than the enbseries mentioned above.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265 (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265)

[mongoose]

Never used auto pilot in CFS3, does it just hold current heading, altitude and speed? We have time compression, right?

Well, AFAIK you can't use speed compression if you don't have waypoints, or rather I don't know what would happen to be truthful. Once I get the bomber trimmed and headed correctly, then yes, turning it to autopilot keeps it to those settings. You do have to make sure all is trimmed correctly first so I always fly a few minutes to do that. Also you have to keep an approximate time to your next wp. I use phone alarm! If I am not using wp's I don't worry about complete missions statements! One can take a picture of your bombs and include "z" to see where they landed!

[mongoose]

BTW, just found this: http://www.weatherimages.org/latlonsun.html

Could be of some use for mission builders.

there is also this http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsslpeur.html

[mongoose]

Here's something a bit more current than the enbseries mention above.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265 (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265)

Daniel... you going to be the tester??:wavey::icon_lol:

EDIT

I think what you will find is that everything is effected while we only want the terrain and water effected. We don't want all our effects darkened

[gecko]

We don't need it for darkening, CFS3 is capable of full darkness by adjusting its own files, but some of the other effects may be good. I'm currently using a very subtle version of the enbseries which I tweaked to make the sun lighting a bit more realistic but doesn't really darken anything. I'm eager to see what else can be done with this new one.

On the missions, it would seem to make the missions more flexible and realistic if written without waypoints. Warp I guess wouldn't work, but wasn't there also a plain old time compressor without any aircraft control functions to it? Of course it would seem you need to be the flight leader if you want your flight to come along with you. Not as big a deal for night flying though.

[mongoose]

.........................
On the missions, it would seem to make the missions more flexible and realistic if written without waypoints. Warp I guess wouldn't work, but wasn't there also a plain old time compressor without any aircraft control functions to it? Of course it would seem you need to be the flight leader if you want your flight to come along with you. Not as big a deal for night flying though.


This what you mean?
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?28447-CFS3-ETO-Time-Compression

[gecko]

Yeah, that was it!

[Threedp]

Thanks for all the replies to my first post in this forum!:jump:

Just out of curiosity, why does terrain darkening work in ETO for dawn & dusk, but not night? And MTO seems to have no problem with night. PTO too, although I think I have to choose afternoon or something to get night (maybe my install is goofed).

Also, at night in ETO, it's curious that the planes and buildings are dark, it's just the ground that's so bright. Wouldn't light settings affect everything equally?

[gecko]

Brightness can be significantly affected by the moon phase, so that could be part of what you're experiencing. The rest is down to the contents of the shaders and sun effect xml files. The terrain is set too bright in the stock versions. This has been fixed in my version, will release as soon as I finish it. I'll likely be including a tweaked version of this sweetfx enhancement as well. MAW and PTO may use some different files, so they might not have the problem as bad.

Edit: your PTO isn't goofed, all mission times are locked in at GMT, so at 1500 GMT it is night in PTO.

[mongoose]

Thanks for all the replies to my first post in this forum!:jump:
................................



You started a very informative thread all round.:applause:

[gecko]

Here's something a bit more current than the enbseries mentioned above.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265 (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=376265)

Have you gotten this to work? I'm gettin nothin.

[mongoose]

No I I have downloaded but haven't installed it yet but did you look at the vids? Has MajorMagee tried it in CFS3 or FSxxxx?
Did you Dl the configurator?

[MajorMagee]

Install Help Starts At About 4:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v21m_p7d2A4

[gecko]

That's what I did, still no go. I wonder if my system is missing something. With ENBseries I used the d3d8.dll version as the d3d9.dll version didn't work. I notice this mod uses d3d9.dll as well. Is there anything I can do to get it working?

[MajorMagee]

That's probably it, in that SweetFX will only work with DircetX 9 and above, and I thought CFS3 was a DirectX 9 game.

[spencer19692007]

v.0.005 beta gta vice city boris-vorontsov.narod.ru can google it sure you can find it

[gecko]

I've got that one, works fine with the d3d8.dll.


That's probably it, in that SweetFX will only work with DircetX 9 and above, and I thought CFS3 was a DirectX 9 game.

So I take it you've not tested it successfully either? I thought it was a dx9 game too, I know you need it for the sdks, but the game was released earlier and may only use dx8?

[MajorMagee]

I was planning on looking into it this weekend.

I used to use ENB, but stopped when I changed computers and was forced to go from XP to Win 7.

[gecko]

I'm still using ENB with windows 7, though I don't like most of versions out there - too drastic of an adjustment for my taste. My own is not very noticeable but I like the effect, especially at sunrise and sunset.

[HouseHobbit]

Brightness can be significantly affected by the moon phase, so that could be part of what you're experiencing. The rest is down to the contents of the shaders and sun effect xml files. The terrain is set too bright in the stock versions. This has been fixed in my version, will release as soon as I finish it. I'll likely be including a tweaked version of this sweetfx enhancement as well. MAW and PTO may use some different files, so they might not have the problem as bad.

Edit: your PTO isn't goofed, all mission times are locked in at GMT, so at 1500 GMT it is night in PTO.

Yes, in mssions one can make them in total darkness.
Just adjusting the moon phase (Date), and time is needed..
I am scared in the dark! so I make mine so I can see somewhat>> :icon_lol:

[mongoose]

I think the problem is that even in various levels of moonlight, the ground is far too bright; it's not really even monochrome which it should be more so in moonlight. daniel ha sproduced some interesting beta ideas, together with water appearance (another night problem) so I am confident he will give us a good solution!:applause:..........in due course!:kilroy:

[KellyB]

Yes this is a problem and yes there is a solution. I am currently in the middle of adjusting the sun effect.xml and the shaders.xml to correct this and other issues. Currently finalizing the colors of the sun effect and making a couple minor tweaks. I hope to release them soon, provided I can find the time this week and next (if anyone feels like doing financial paperwork and unpacking boxes for me, feel free!:icon_lol:) A more complete overhaul of the CFS3 environment is in progress for release in TOW (The Other War) and will be compatible with the other installs too. If you like flying at night you won't want to miss TOW.

I'm behind the curve, I guess. What, precisely, is TOW (The Other War)?

Building new machine, and haven't even installed ETO yet! (Too many real life thingys).

[mongoose]

I'm behind the curve, I guess. What, precisely, is TOW (The Other War)?

.

TOW is an plan to do a stand alone install on the night war; the blitz, UK night fighters, Bomber command, the LW nachtjagd, etc. It's been on and off in development for 10 years! With luck may finish this late Fall.:mixedsmi:

[KellyB]

Thanks. I'll look forward to it.

Gotta get this machine squared away!