Hi,

 

Is the Shader 3.0 Mod still relevant?

 

I have an AMD Radeon HD 7850 card.  It is worth trying installing the shader 3.0 mod?

 

Will it mess with the REX Essentials plus Overdrive performance?

 

I found this thread, but the last post is from August 25, 2012.

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/283701-bojotes-shader-30-mod-for-fsx/

Any forum user who combines the shader 3.0 mod with REX?

Any forum user who combines the shader 3.0 mod with REX?

I use REX and the mod together and it works flawlessly.

 

Gideon

Well that's good to know.  I have read so many posts of REX users claiming to have problems with wave animation and other REX users who had no problems at all.

Thanks for answering.

 

I was wondering why there is nothing about this mod in the tweak guide?

Is the Shader 3.0 Mod still relevant?

I was wondering why there is nothing about this mod in the tweak guide?

To answer both questions at the same time perhaps - this mod is highly relevant, but primarily if you have an AMD card. I'm not sure how much benefit is to be gained with a 7850, but I can assure you that with a 6950 (my card) this mod makes a huge impact.

 

As to why it's not listed in the 'tweak guide' - my opinion is that the tweak guide is optimized for what most consider the ideal fsx setup: an overclocked Intel cpu with a Nvidia graphics card. I'm sure the majority of simmers stick to the tried and true. Indeed, were I to build a new system today, so would I. For now though, I get more mileage out of many of the older tweaks, plus the Shader 3.0 mod.

 

However, I can't comment on it's compatibility with REX.

Thanks for the feedback Gideon and Jimmy.

I will try the shaders 3.0 mod this weekend and see how it performs with my system.

Well I tried the shaders 3.0 mod, but unfortunately the water was static.  No wave animations.  No water movement.  This issue was also reported by other REX users.

Well I tried the shaders 3.0 mod, but unfortunately the water was static.  No wave animations.  No water movement.  This issue was also reported by other REX users.

There is a fix for this, I thought, by the same author who originally posted about this (was if Bjote / *******?). I don't use it so don't have the fix, but search might be your friend...

 

Thanks, Bruce.

My only problem with this shader was getting super white textures in ground objects (trees, houses, cars, etc) when there was fog or a low ceiling... never figured out why!

This mod, when I had an older cpu made a big difference, but now with a modern cpu I don't see many differences between the default shader and v3 tbh...

 

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the advice Bruce.

 

I did a search but didn't find a concensus in what is the official "Fix" for this situation.

Some REX users reports this issue and others don't.  The suggested fix by some users is to edit the waterconstants.xml file.  Changing parameters in that file appears to mitigate the problem.  The things is that this solution gives some mixed results from what I read.

 

The REX version I use is REX Essentials plus Overdrive.

OK-  I have never used this shading so don't know the solution off hand-  but I may have saved it somewhere in the plethora of info I archive on FSX in tips, etc., so if I find it I will post back here.

 

Thanks,  Bruce.

Hi,

 

Is the Shader 3.0 Mod still relevant?

 

I have an AMD Radeon HD 7850 card.  It is worth trying installing the shader 3.0 mod?

 

Will it mess with the REX Essentials plus Overdrive performance?

 

I found this thread, but the last post is from August 25, 2012.

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/283701-bojotes-shader-30-mod-for-fsx/

 

More than relevant to the tenth power!!! Best thing to happen to ATI users under DX9 period. Makes performance the same between nVidia and ATI with respect to clouds in DX9.

 

I own a Gigabyte HD 7970 3GB OC (Ghz clocked) and previously 3 other cards. I benchmark cards in FSX when I upgrade and keep those results. I use a benchmark tool Dazz sent me called GPUMark2. It's just a saved flight with the default 737 and 4 layers of 8/8 clouds. His tool not mine. First I will address Shader Mod 3.0 effect on performance and then the fix for the water. But first performance comparisons across the cards.

 

The Test Setup

 

Tool was GPUMark2 for FSX. Cloud based tourture test for the GPU.

Test were run at 1920x1080x32 with maxxed cloud density and 80nm radius in the weather tab.

Scenery and Autogen at Very Dense and Dense.

ATI cards were tested at 4xSSAA and 16xAF through the driver.

nVidia cards were tested at 8xS and 2xSGSS (A slightly sharper AA versus ATI 4xSSAA) also 16xAF

The GTX 680 result is a friends system.

 

DX9 Default w/o Mod

6950 2GB - 15

7950 3GB - 21

GTX660Ti - 24

7970 3GB - 24

GTX680oc - 28 (I was jealous)

 

Shader 3.0 Mod

7970 3GB - 31 <----- Tested and re-tested. Uninstalled the mod, reinstalled the mod, Changed clouds type in REX. Tested again.

 

Keeping Bojote's Shader 3.0 clouds and sticking with REX Water functionality, look and feel

First thing I noticed was I was not happy with the water. I wanted my REXE Sparkling back! Reading the boards and I see others talking about the same thing. I kept the Mod but switched back to REXE water and default FSX water shader.

 

1. The install creates a back up ShadersHLSL folder called ShadersHLSL_ORIGINAL (in FSX install folder)

2. The install created a back up of WaterConstants.Xml (In FSX install folder)

3. After the install I copied the 8 water fx files (They all start with the word water) from the terrain folder in "ShadersHLSL_Original" folder back into the new "ShadersHLSL" folder created by the install.

4. I replaced the modded WaterConstants.Xml with the original I had first copied out to my desktop. Do NOT rename the "WaterConstants.Xml.Bak". Keep that for the uninstall if you ever wanted to uninstall.

5. Flush the Shader Cache using the tool included in the "Shader3 Mod for FSX" folder that got installed when you installed the mod. It's in your FSX folder.

6. Start FSX and have fun!

 

IMPORTANT:  Never perform these steps with FSX running. Always flush shader cache when making changes before your next FSX run.

 

Started up FSX and my water was back and my clouds were Shader model 3. Done. I am now able to pick new water in REXE same as always and it looks like it should. I have amost NO performance inpact from clouds like on my nVidia card.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Charles.

Yep. The shader mod made a big difference for me and my 7950 too.

Cloud coverage set to 12, silk smooth mid twenties in GPUMark @ 4xSSAA + Edge Detect.

 

With all due respect to NickN & Word Not Allowed, to me Jesús Altuve is hands down the ultimate FSX guru 

 

 

Keeping Bojote's Shader 3.0 clouds and sticking with REX Water functionality, look and feel
First thing I noticed was I was not happy with the water. I wanted my REXE Sparkling back! Reading the boards and I see others talking about the same thing. I kept the Mod but switched back to REXE water and default FSX water shader.
 
1. The install creates a back up ShadersHLSL folder called ShadersHLSL_ORIGINAL (in FSX install folder)
2. The install created a back up of WaterConstants.Xml (In FSX install folder)
3. After the install I copied the 8 water fx files (They all start with the word water) from the terrain folder in "ShadersHLSL_Original" folder back into the new "ShadersHLSL" folder created by the install.
4. I replaced the modded WaterConstants.Xml with the original I had first copied out to my desktop. Do NOT rename the "WaterConstants.Xml.Bak". Keep that for the uninstall if you ever wanted to uninstall.
5. Flush the Shader Cache using the tool included in the "Shader3 Mod for FSX" folder that got installed when you installed the mod. It's in your FSX folder.
6. Start FSX and have fun!

 

Thans for sharing this info Charles!

 

Can you explain step 4 in more detail? I just want to be sure so I dont mess my FSX install.

Thans for sharing this info Charles!

 

Can you explain step 4 in more detail? I just want to be sure so I dont mess my FSX install.

 

This first shot....

 

After you installed the patch, you will have two files inside the FSX folder. A new WaterConstants.Xml (the new SM3 based file) and a back up of the original called WaterConstants.Xml.BAK.

 

1. Delete the new WaterConstants.XML or add something on the end like I did (sm3vr) to get it out of the way. See my shot.

2. Make a copy of WaterConstants.Xml.Bak (the original) inside the same folder and it will be called WaterConstants.Xml - Copy.BAK

3. Rename the "WaterConstants.Xml - Copy.BAK" back to "WaterConstants.Xml"

4. The second shot is self explanatory but Copy the backed up WATER files (18 of them) back into the folder new Shader folder.

5. Then run the flush_cache.vbs file in the folder ---> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Shader 3 Mod for Flight Simulator X\