So far I've gotten my default airports to look much better than default (Zinertek Airport Environment with REX runway and taxi textures and Absolute Realsim Textures for trees and grass).  The trees from Absolute Realsim are super fantastic and very realistic looking for all seasons.  The grass is alright.  Colors are a little better and less cartoony than default.  But now I want the best HD grass I can get my hands on.

 

Right now I'm thinking about getting the Prealsoft Grass Environment Pro X V2.  Judging by screen shots from online vendors, I think this one looks the best so far.

 

Any recommendations?  

Those look real nice.  Definitely much better than default.  Thanks for sharing.

 

I think I'm going to try the Prealsoft.  I just read their description again and saw this (don't know how I missed it before):

 

New : 4096px resolution compatible with FS9
 

• 3 Resolutions availaible for FS9/FSX :
• Normal Definition Texture 1024x1024px
• High Definition Texture 2048x2048px
• Very High Definition Texture 4096x4096px

This is going to be interesting.  At 4096, the textures should stay sharp while in the VC.  The screen shots do show them looking very sharp from up close.

Hi,

 

I'm looking for a grass texture that does not only look good from the ground or at low altitudes, but doesn't cause a strange look to all kind of textures from high altitudes.

 

I once tried Photograss.zip by Stanislav Moskvin - so far the best looking freeware grass in my opinion - but the look of glaciers and mountains disturbed me so much that I still use the stock grass.

 

regards,

Harald

Yeah I did see that. Interesting how the 4096 looks. Should indeed stay very sharp at closer views then the ones above I have. 4096 for Fs9. Interesting how they did that one. Lets us know how it goes if you do purchase it.

 

 

Time for some more experimenting.... B)

 

I'll let you know.  Will probably purchase it over the weekend.

I hear ya on the 4096 B) .  We were just talking about 1024 and now there's 4096 in FS9.  Man, we're seeing some very interesting things happening in FS9.  Good luck!

 

 

Hi,

 

I'm looking for a grass texture that does not only look good from the ground or at low altitudes, but doesn't cause a strange look to all kind of textures from high altitudes.

 

but the look of glaciers and mountains disturbed me so much that I still use the stock grass.

 

regards,

Harald

 

I'll let you know how the Prealsoft turns out.

I thought upgraded grass are only around airports?  So the Absolute Realsim grass I recently installed are in other areas of the sim away from airports?

Hi Maurice,

 

I'm not sure, but the modified grasses contained the file fs9\scenery\world\texture\detail1.bmp, and it seems that this bitmap shines through all kinds of landclass textures. I had the impression that glaciers now have a grassy structure - I mention glaciers because the effect is particular visible on their blank surface.

 

Thanks for posting your experiences; I will look into the forum after the weekend, as I'm going onto a journey right now.

 

Have fun!

Harald

Harald,

Thanks.  I think I see it now after doing a few VFR flights.  Not that easy to tell with my current grass textures because it's basically the same as default with a darker shade of green.  Will be interesting to see how it turns out with HD grass.

 

Jon,

Sorry for the delay.  A few things came up and I haven't had much time to fly.  I'm getting it tonight.  I will post pics and impression after I get at least 30 mins to explore the new surroundings.

I had about 1hr to kill last night in FS9 and decided to download the Glacier Bay add on.  Wow!  Very, Very high quality for FS9.  Took the Cessna around to enjoy the views.  I love the terrain mesh and the coverage is huge.  Thanks again for the recommendation.

You're right.  I see myself flying the default Cessna a lot more because of this lol.

 

UPDATE:

Well, I got the Prealsoft HD grass textures.  First I made a backup of my FS9 Texture folder, then used the installer and selected 4096 textures.  The installer then asked where to install and I pointed it to my FS9 texture folder.

It's one of those installer that cannot locate your FS9 folder automatically and gives a default of C:Flight Sim......\Texture.  I changed it to my D:\FS2004\Texture.

Finished installation and I see no difference.

 

I installed it into a separate folder afterwards to see what went into the FS9 Texture folder and it installs a bitmap image and an uninstall application.

 

Any ideas why it's not showing up in the sim?  Am I suppose to do something else after the installation?

 

Pretty frustrating as the developer did not include any instructions.

I forgot to add.  My wording was wrong.  I wrote that I couldn't see a difference.

 

What it should have been was, I don't see the new textures.  It's still the ARS grass textures showing in the sim and not the Prealsoft.

 

Yes, the texture it installed is called detail1 I believe.  I'm really curious about this too because there are two versions for the Prealsoft.  The original Pro version only allow up to 1024 for FS9 and this new Pro V2 allows up to 4096.

 

Maybe there is some clashing with the Absoluterealsim (ARS) grass textures I already have installed.  But as I think about it, shouldn't the new HD grass texture overwrite the Absoluterealsim grass texture I already have?

 

I really don't want to take away the ARS textures because at the same time it installed amazing new trees that I don't want to take away.

 

I just looked at the backup Texture I made before installing it and there is no image file called "detail".  This is weird.

Will do.  But I'm off to bed now.  I'll play around tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

Like FSX don't you have to change the FS9 cfg file from 1024 to 4096 to accommodate the new texture size?

 

Like FSX don't you have to change the FS9 cfg file from 1024 to 4096 to accommodate the new texture size?

 

You can't make this in FS9 ! (IMHO)

 

 

original Pro version only allow up to 1024 for FS9 and this new Pro V2 allows up to 4096.

 

4096  is not possible in FS9 ! (IMHO again )

Okay, I sort of got it working.  I made a mistake last night by installing it into the FS9\Texture folder.  It's suppose to go into the FS9\Scenery\World\Texture folder.

 

Now here's the frustrating part.  The 1024 textures work and they look quite nice.  Much nicer than default.  Not much difference than a lot of other freeware/payware out there.

When I install the 2048 or 4096 textures, they won't work.  I get a solid blue texture everywhere where the grass should be.

I went into my FS9 cfg and changed Texture Max Load to 4096 under [GRAPHICS] but it didn't help.

 

I have sent an email to Prealsoft and waiting for a reply.  Their description clearly states that V2 will do 2048 and 4096 in FS9.  They say that is the new feature of V2.

So it's either possible in FS9 or the developer is is lying.  I hope it's possible because I can't imagine anyone releasing a payware texture set without even testing it.

 

If it won't work, I won't be very happy because I paid $20 for it to get HD textures as advertised.

 

So still waiting for a reply from Prealsoft.  I'll keep you guys posted.

 

 

4096  is not possible in FS9

 

Yep, my error. I've just  been following Jon_aus' conversation over on the FSDeveloper's Showroom thread. Very enlightening.

 

 

 

 

still waiting for a reply from Prealsof

 

Be very interested in their reply in the light of the above thread.  Maybe I'm jumping the gun, however my crystal ball is seeing an attempt to obtain a refund in the near future.  :rolleyes:

If Prealsoft really claim that 2048 or 4096 textures work in FS9 then they are lying. The maximum size for ANY kind of texture in FS9 is 1024. That goes for custom addons and clouds.

The detail1.bmp also can be a maximum of 1024x1024 and while you're calling it a "grass texture", it's really just what it's called, a "detail texture".

If you open it up in imagetool or dxtbmp you'll see it's just a noisy image of grayscale dots. It's tilable though which it needs to be, otherwise you'd see seams all over the landscape.

What it does is it just adds an overlay of these fine gray dots to make the landclass textures look more detailed.

You can quite easily make a detail1.bmp yourself if you know how to make tilable images.

 

Bottom line is, $20 for that is a complete ripoff no matter how you look at it.

 

 

It's tilable though which it needs to be, otherwise you'd see seams all over the landscape.

 

Hi,

 

with the freeware detail1.bmp I mentioned above I experienced exactly that, I saw it all over the landscape.

Can I edit it so that it's only seen laying over grass? Or can I make a "merge" between a modified and the stock detail1.bmp?

 

Thanks and regards,

Harald