GuysCan anyone explain exactly what this does in FS? The reason I ask is, I've seen recommendations to disable it to solve various problems concerning panel display problems etc.What effect does it have when it's enabled/disabled, and why should it be that VFR england and wales photorealistic scenery crashes at 77% when trying to load it with RENDER_TO_TEXTURE disabled?At exactly 77% I get the famous "Microsoft has encountered a problem.." message, anywhere else in the world I can start FS normally, but I can't actually see any visual difference between enabled or disabled?BestGrahame (EDHL)

BUMP!Where are all the experts today today? Anybody?BestGrahame (EDHL)

Hi Grahame,This option, when on, renders the FS panel images (in normal cockpit view) as a single 3D texture instead of 2d images.The reason is for increased compatibility with certain graphics cards (older), as they could not originally display both 2d images and 3d world display at the same time without problems.But most graphic card mfg's even of older cards have updated drivers which solve these issues.FSUIPC is incompatible with RENDER TO TEXTURE ON because it, like many other add-ons, can cause flicker of the panel display when FS calls are intercepted for read or modification of memory space. I am not aware of the full details, but this is as I understand it... Apparently only certain graphics cards are effected, but this includes some of the newer ones such as the ATI Radeon series.Non-32bit textures are incompatible with RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF and can cause the FS crashes such as you are experiencing. It sounds like this scenery add-on uses lower-bit textures (strange?). The problem is that apparently the 32-bit textures and 16-bit textures are not compatible when the panel is being drawn in 2D mode (RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF).So what I see as the problem is that your scenery has 16-bit or lower textures and this is not going to work with RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF (as required for use with many add-ons). I'd check with the scenery developer to find out if they are aware of these issues (feel free to send this to them) and if they can provide a 32-bit only texture set.Hope that helps!

Hi again,Also make sure that if you have FSW clouds, that you are using the 32-bit and not the DXT3 set, which can cause the same problems... it might not be related to the scenery at all...

DamianThanks for the answer, from a real expert! I've printed it out for future reference!BestGrahame (EDHL)

DamianAn addendum to my reply: The scenery is a 12CD set of photo-realistic scenery from england and wales (costs over 70 british pounds!), and uses getting on for 8gb space in FS. I'd think the chances of getting a 32bit set IF they are 16bit is pretty remote, so I guess I'll just have to live with it.BestGrahame (EDHLPS I'm also a very happy ActiveSky user, thankyou!

>Non-32bit textures are incompatible with RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF>and can cause the FS crashes such as you are experiencing. It>sounds like this scenery add-on uses lower-bit textures>(strange?). The problem is that apparently the 32-bit>textures and 16-bit textures are not compatible when the panel>is being drawn in 2D mode (RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF).>Hope I'm not taking you out of contex here, but just to be clear Most ALL scenery textures for terrain are 16bit, thats the default as well as most all add-on photorealistic scenery.

Hi Paul,I'm not too familiar with scenery, and was not aware of that fact. I had assumed the issue was the same as per experiences with 16-bit cloud set textures and noted incompatibility as such.So the problem is not the texture color depth, but something else? Obviously FS9 default scenery is compatible with RENDER TO TEXTURE OFF, so what could make a scenery package incompatible and crash?

I got the following from an article in Computer Pilot magazone some months ago regarding FS2K2 to FS9:Mode=1152x864x32RenderToTexture=0//PanelAsTexture=0MipBias=6This is in FS9.cfg under mt NVidia card section. The panel as texture is commented out because it did not seem to help with RenderToTexture as 1, but the OP may wish to try it as Texture 1, Panel 0.

i know it's a while ago since I started this post, but I thought everybody would like to know what was actually causing the problem back then. It had nothing to do with england and wales VFR as it turned out, the problem was caused by the DXT3 versions of Chris Willis's replacement cloud textures. i swopped them for the 32bit versions, and all is well! guess you live and learn!BestGrahame (EDHL)"I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time: I think I've forgotten this before..."

Hi, Next time read the doc files when you download a files, it was cleary stated about this:)I knew it was the dxt clouds cause 77% ctd , but did not reply at that's time, since it was already stated on this thread. ThanksChris Willis

Hi ChrisSorry if I trod on your toes, that certainly wasn't my intention.You are of course perfectly correct, I should've RTFM! And the trouble was, between installing the textures and having the problem were a few weeks, and you know how it is: You can't always remember what you installed and when...your cloud textures look fantastic, and work perfectly (providing you do it properly of course :+ )Sorry about the delay in replying to put things straight, I had trouble logging in here, due to the new server!BestGrahame (EDHL)Edited once for speling..

Incidentaly, and not an attempt to hi-jack the thread, but I find that with using Chris' 32bit cloud set gives much better performance, possibly due to the way that Nvidia cards handle AA, and will try to apply it to the DXT3 set when using 4x AA, whereas the 32bit clouds don't seem to be affected.