"Shade" for FSX

[Guest]

Bought it, used it, feels like a waste of money right now, to be honest... I have the idea that what I see could be done for free by fooling around with the nVidia control panel's options for color and gamma and so on... I tried Marks final because that one should solve the dark clouds, but I found out it makes everything a bit lighter...! Including the shadows! I don't see the darker shadows and more depth that's been promised (flying at 8 o'clock in the morning just to be sure). My default FSX has the same amount of shadows and depth... I tried various settings and so I do know Shade is doing its job, but apart from making EVERYTHING darker or giving it a certain hue, it doesn't give me the deeper shadows and more depth or bigger contrast I was hoping for... Maybe you have to fly at an exact day at an exact time to see the difference...? (Just to be sure I did copy day 1 to all days.) Luckily it was rather cheap... EDITJust tried the Shade default again and I do notice deeper shadows but at the cost of everything getting VERY dark and losing detail... In order to get the detail back, you have to edit everything so it looks like FSX default again or even brighter like Marks final... Odd addon. Well, you can't please everybody, I guess... EDIT 2BTW In the GUI version I noticed that when I copy Day 1 to the other days, the examples for Current FSX Value for Light and Shadows are switched on Day 7, 8 and 9. Bug...?

Ok, I gave it some more time and I got it now... I was testing during the wrong times of day... I gave Marks Final another go and while default FSX still looks as it does at noon at the beginning of the evening, Shade gives you a lot more shaded spots on earth, while leaving for instance mountains in the distance still sunny. Also the difference between flying towards the sun and away from it is a lot more pronounced. And I also really like the yellowish tones you get when the sun gets lower (long time before default FSX gets darker or shows you those overdone sunsets): it really gives you the idea the sun is going down as it is in real life. So I am starting to appreciate Shade now, and I have to take back what I said yesterday. I spoke too soon. Sorry for that.

[Novation 534]

Hi Jeroen... very pleased you have found a way to use Shade that suits you... I made that preset for the reasons you highlight, as a compromise between added definition on the terrain, while maintaining good VC and cloud brightness levels... then once you get into pre-sunset [or dawn] time of day, the shadow levels are ramped-up again. The darkest presets are wonderful for enhancing the terrain definition, and make it look stunning, but the global lighting FSX uses means it does affect other things too, so it's a case of finding a balance your happy with, based to some degree on the type of flying your doing. I like playing with Shades ability to alter the hues, so you can warm-up or cool-down the terrain colouration.. blue shadows in the snow look fantastic, so this tool has a lot of scope to influence the look of your sim, beyond darker shadows.

I'll buy this when there's a fix for dark clouds. I love my bright fluffy bloomy clouds way too much for now.

Conversely, this may be for you too then, as you can make your clouds even whiter and fluffier, buy reducing the shadow tones... this may lose some of the enhanced shadow definition, over rugged terrain, that Shade offers, but in some places this is not an issue, such as the Netherlands and other flat parts of the world, in it's place you can achieve beautiful snow white cumulus, with no dark bases, like the images below. These shot were taken without enb.

[guenseli 1,606]

looks great! may I ask which preset this is or where to download...?And also which clouds you use? REX? if so, which set#...? many thanks!!!

[darem 84]

Folks, where can one get the 1.01 update?

[Guest]

Folks, where can one get the 1.01 update?

Hasn't been released yet.

[Novation 534]

looks great! may I ask which preset this is or where to download...?And also which clouds you use? REX? if so, which set#...? many thanks!!!

Hi.... I've uploaded the preset here http://www.mediafire.com/?t5p33p251up4new ... called 'Pale Shades' The REX cloud set is either 05 or 66 with 'Blueberry' sky.

[guenseli 1,606]

Many thanks!!!!

[fritzreinhart 0]

G'day, This is wizard, this is! Except for the VC lighting. I haven't tried all the presets not to mention attempting my own so I'm not complaining at all and I understand that the preset "Mark's Final" addresses the problem but I noticed on the blog http://shadeforfsx.blogspot.com/ that there was post titled "Overly dark VC's durning morn/noon/afternoon" with a link to a blogpost included. That link appears to be dead. Would anyone happen to know what is/was in that post? Thanks. I imagine that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have a separate VC shader, wouldn't it? Cheers,Fritz

[Squishy 0]

Well I don't see any difference with how it looks on my PC from those netherlands shots

[ZKOKQ 986]

Well I don't see any difference with how it looks on my PC from those netherlands shots

You won't see the atmospheric difference looking at a screen shot. Are you ever positive about anything ?

[Squishy 0]

You won't see the atmospheric difference looking at a screen shot. Are you ever positive about anything ?

Hm thats weird because I did see it on the mountainous pictures....

[gliderdriver 6]

Just a further endorsement from me, with my ATI HD5870, enbseries causes constant CTDs, but Shade has provided a much valued uplift in visual quality for FSX, particularly in the evenings when colours are rich and shadows are enhanced. I wish I could use Steve/Gonzo's enbseries ini, as it adds a little something extra, but it it inevitably CTDs. Shade has been the best 10$A I ever spent in terms of visual enhancement what ever the time of day. The 'mileage' you will get from Shade will vary depending on your hardware, but we now have more power over appearance at a small price. Many thanks Steve - if you're here, any idea how we'll be able to optain the 1.01 upgrade?

[clum 2]

Bought this the other day and after having a good play around with all the settings today, I'm unsure how I feel about it. Certainly does produce some nice scenery effects, but in order for them to really look impressive you have to just deal with the VC's being almost blacked out when flying into the sun. To then turn the shadows down to address that issue, you just end up with far less impressive scenery effects. May well be able to find a personal preference middle ground somewhere, but it's still a bit of a disappointment that we can't have the best of both worlds. That coupled with the fact that the scenery shadow effects are only really visible for a short window at pre/post dawn/dusk, make me wonder whether I'll keep running this. Shadows aside, I like the options for colour and fog tinting. This may well be the sole reason to run this personally, as I may just keep the shadows on default due to the above. Anyway, can't complain either way as for the price of a cinema ticket, I'll get plenty of enjoyment out of just playing around with the various effects.

[Hirgab 9]

I'm loving the "Blue Daze" preset, anyone else?Clum, I agree with you. I don't think I'll be using this if I fly mid-afternoon in a flat area. But will definitely use it for dawn/dusk flights across rugged terrain.

[fakeflyer737 1,012]

See that's what Im saying, if its usless during the day I dont want too buy it, I dont MOST of my flying during the day because at Dawn/Dusk or Night in ORBX AU on FPS are about 1-5 lol , no lie!