Hi Mike,>We have three options under 'Seafloor Appearance' in OceanFX>2, viz. Default, Deep Water and Tropical Water. The fact that>I saw all this splendour during my flight tends to support the>view that this is indeed a local MS enhancement.Does this mean we select the ocean textures on a flight by flight basis dependent upon where it is we are flying?Cheers and thanks,Chris Porter:-outtaPerthWestern Australia

Hi Chris,"Does this mean we select the ocean textures on a flight by flight basis dependent upon where it is we are flying?".....yep, I'm now sure that is correct. In my case I spend a lot of time flying around the west coast of Scotland and it is great to be able to setup the swell direction to match the prevailing westerly wind in that region. In addition, we are also able to match the Waveset with the current weather conditions in the area in which you are intending to fly - anything from dead calm to heavy wind (7 choices in all if you don't include the default option). Johan's OceanFX 2 front end makes the chosen installation completely foolproof and quick so there is really no deterrent to switching around to your heart's content.Just make sure you have installed OceanFX 2 - FS2004 correctly. It is vital that the two files 'oceansfx.zip' and 'oceanstx.zip' are placed as is in the OceanFX 2Zip Files folder, otherwise it will not work. Do NOT extract the files from these archives.As I stated before we owe these guys a great debt of thanks for their efforts on our behalf. The water appearance has been one aspect of the sim that has bugged me since its release. Now I am happy, apart for the reservations expressed in my original post - Daniel, where are you?Cheers,Mike :-wave

All,I'm drooling to try this out, but have a question first- does the OceanFX program continue to run during flight sim, and thus drain resources / FPS, or is it just a "set up" program that closes out and has no effect on FS performance?Any info appreciated, thanks.Best,Joel

>thus drain resources / FPS, or is it just a "set up" program>that closes out and has no effect on FS performance?I can put your mind to rest - it is setup ONLY. Zero effect on performance.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Hi, "does the OceanFX program continue to run during flight sim, and thus drain resources /`It`s only a batch installer program, you have to close the utility after your installation of the water and run fs2004, OR you even don`t need to have the utility, you can download the water texture zip files and install them manually in fs2004.Clarification:The ocean fx water will have better performance then the default fs2004 since, the default fs2004 water files are 171 kb each, and the ocean water fx addons are 43kb each. (in fs2002 it was 43kb default also)The only things that`s are not 100% compatible buts works is the animation fx, since this was made for fs2002 the water_detail stop 01 to 16 and fs2004 have from 01 to 31.ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

wow, I just did this to my water.. amazing! No FPS hit over having normal water with no detail. Looks great to boot.

Hi, The ocean fx water will have BETTER performance then the default fs2004 since, the default fs2004 water files are 171 kb each, and the ocean water fx addons are 43kb each. (in fs2002 it was 43kb default also)ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

>Hi all,>>I will start by stating that I take no credit for these>recommendations as some have already been mentioned briefly in>the odd other post in this forum. However, many of you may>still be struggling and have not yet achieved the ideal combo.>So, I thought it might be useful if I detail my current>installation which I find approaches perfection and continues>to give me the greatest pleasure.>>There are still some issues, mainly to do with the various>night reflections, but until wizards like Daniel Buechter>continue to work their magic I have contented myself with what>we have available to date.>>First, the files you will need (all available here from the>library)>>Johan de Vries and Ed Truthan:>oceansfx.zip>oceanstx.zip>ofx20sa.zip>>Bill Lyons:>fs9wat2a.zip (the file you require is called 'InstlWat2.zip'>and is contained within the parent archive).>>Daniel Buechter:>new_waves3.zip (NOT the dxt version)>>The files in this archive are larger in size than in the 'dxt'>version but, IMHO, look much nicer and don't seem to hit>performance noticeably on my system.>>Installation procedure:>>Backup the 13 x env_*.bmp files in the Flight Simulator>9SceneryWorldtexture folder.>>I recommend you extract all files from their zip archives to a>temporary location. It's easier to identify what goes where>and allows you to delete files that are not needed prior to>installation.>>1. Install OceanFX 2 - FS2004 (from ofx20sa.zip) and create a>shortcut for easy access in the future.>This program acts as a convenient front end that allows you to>choose and install a Waveset, Swell Direction and Seafloor>Appearance. It also allows you to return to the FS2004>defaults should you so wish. You won't ;)>Make your choice, install and exit.>>2. Install the 11 x 'env_*.bmp' files from 'InstlWat2.zip' by>cutting and pasting into the Flight Simulator>9SceneryWorldtexture folder and overwrite the originals. >>3. Install the 6 x 'env_*.bmp' files from 'new_waves3.zip' by>cutting and pasting into the Flight Simulator 9>SceneryWorldtexture folder and overwrite the originals. Yes,>some of these files will overwrite Bill Lyon's files, but>rather than pick out the specific files to install this is>just an easier way to achieve what we are after. These cover>dawn, dusk, highnoon, lowsun, midsun and overcast. >>4. After you have extracted 'new_waves3.zip' to a temporary>location you will note a file called 'OceanHeightField.bmp' in>the texture folder. This file should be cut and pasted into>the Flight Simulator 9Texture folder (Backup the original>first).>>Daniel has also provided an alternative file as described in>his 'readme.txt' file but I would try the>'OceanHeightField.bmp' in the texture folder first before>trying the other. >>5. Fire up the Sim and set Terrain Detail to 'Land Only' and>Water Effects to 'High'.>>Apart from some of the best reflection effects I have seen to>date, the water textures at times do appear quite uncanny with>very convincing cloud reflections and in many places you often>feel you are looking below the surface towards the sea floor!>As stated earlier, I feel the night reflection effects could>benefit from more work as you are still aware of that>irritating cyclical pattern spreading across the water>surface. During the daytime this is now barely noticeable. It>just looks great :)>>Try a late afternoon flight (say 1000-2000ft) low and slow>over water and look back towards the setting sun and tell me>that all this was not worth it!>Try a flight around midday with scattered clouds from St Just>UK, fly on a southerly heading and admire the breakers on the>beach beyond the cliffs with the rolling Atlantic waves>stretching out behind. Look down and see the sun's reflection>sparkling below and those cloud reflections slowly drifting by>on the surface of the waves.>>My heartiest congratulations to all the authors mentioned. >>Enjoy!>>Mike :-wave>>P4 2.4GHz (400FSB), 1Gig PC2100 DDR Crucial, ATI Radeon 9800>Pro 128MB (Omega 2.4.96c), Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" Monitor>(1280x1024x32), Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBo, Ultra-Quiet PSU 400W,>WinXP Home (SP1), DirectX 9.0b>>>> >>>Hi Mike,many thanks to you - that's what I'm looking for some weeks.Now I will give them a try.B.R.Stefan

Chris,I just installed the default seafloor and got the results I showed here. From FS2002 I know that there is no need to fiddle around with the files on a flight by flight basis.See what you fid.Cheers, Henri

MikeThank you for sharing. I have installed all the recommended goodies and this would have to rate as the best single enhancement to FS9. Not only realistic water and reflections but good frames as well.Thanks againAndy B

Hello Mike,Thank you 1000 times!Your "mix" gives the very best FS 2004 water I've seen!Even those nasty "squares" are almost gone!Sincerely,AC5

*chuckle*...thanks ;)-Daniel

Just a quick question about these great Netherlands Antilles screenshots... Howcome my default Fs2004 looks more like below (with no beaches, dull boring landclass etc). I know I haven't done the water effects exactly as here yet (and haven't downloaded oceansfx.zip yet because I'm on a dialup connection) but am I doing something seriously wrong?...Any help appreciated, many thanks,PierreAmd Duron 1.3 GHz384mb DramGeforce 3 Ti card 64mbps. Apologies for the bad quality of screenshot.

Don't know what went wrong, but though the colors and waves look great, I have lost my sun/moon reflections on water (except when looking straight down I see some). Those wonderful long reflections have disappeared!OceanFX2 seems to be doing what it is supposed to. I was using FS9wat2a before trying this, and had the proper reflections. Interestingly, there is SOME reflection happening now, just not the sun/moon type during sunsets etc.Any ideas? Of course, running water effects on High.Noel

I was having the same problem and it seems that when using this setup, you only get the long reflections on the water when the sun is low in the sky i.e. dawn and sunset. I don't remember this being true before using this method. Can anyone confirm or dispute this?Ray