FSX Missing Invisible Water and Scrambled Planes with FSWC and Shader 3 MOD

[vigilante96 0]

 Okay, the stuff i did to screw up my fsx to this point is a little complicated so ill just list what happened.

 

 

 

1. I installed fs water configurator

 

 

2. i also installed shader 3 mod. i know some people say they are a toxic mix but mine worked fine.

 

 

(2 1/2. I ran the fsx.cfg tweaker that came with s3m, fsx worked fine after that)

 

 

3. then, i tried to change the water style in fswc using the program that came with it.

 

 

4. i applied my settings, started up fsx, and found that there was NO WATER. it had all become sky colored (it works on the low fsx water detail settings but it looks like crap)

 

 

5. I have tried everything i can think of just short of running a repair on fsx, as i am afraid of losing the numerous addons ive accumulated

 

 

6. so far i can remember trying the HIGHMEMFIX and SHADER VERSION fsx.cfg tweaks, restoring the fswc original settings, uninstalling both fswc and s3m, rebuilding the fsx.cfg, running it through the s3m tweaker again, and replacing the shaders with ones from a backup of the stock fsx i have on another computer. so far nothing has worked.

 

 

7. then i tried reinstalling fswc and s3m to see if it would restore some shaders, but all it did was scramble all of my planes parts (even the default MSFSX ones, so i know its not just the addon planes)

 

 

 

 

In the end i got something like this (sorry about just putting download links, i cant figure out how to insert pictures):

 

 

 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbqza1qfzf2isqd/AAB3nZek5TfGiPpa6n1oaWzFa <if this doesnt work make sure your browsers pop-up blocker isnt blocking it

 

 

A REINSTALL IS THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO. I HAVE PROBABLY HUNDREDS OF ADDON PLANES, SCENERY, AND REPAINTS INSTALLED. SOME WERE EXTREMELY HARD TO FIND AND I DO NOT WANT TO SEARCH FOR THEM AGAIN. PLEASE DO NOT JUST SAY SOMETHING LIKE "DUDE YOU'RE SCREWED JUST REINSTALL IT". I AM LOOKING FOR ACTUAL HELPFUL ADVICE AND YOU WILL BE IGNORED. THOSE WHO ACTUALLY LOOK INTO THIS AND TRY TO HELP HAVE MY UTMOST RESPECT. THANK YOU.

 

 

My current FSX installements are:

 

 

SP1, SP2, and Acceleration

 

REX essentials with overdrive

 

UTX tropical north america and caribbean

 

 

P.S.: the missing land textures in the pictures are new, before today it was just the water that was gone

 

[Peacedivision 4]

As far as I know, FSWC is NOT shader model 3 compatible.  Not sure the exact files it modifies but my guess is that is the problem.

[FloG 148]

Please do not use CapsLock and a larger font, particularly not for such long texts. It's a pain to read and considered shouting, so basically rather rude (not to mention futile to what you actually want to achieve, as hardly anyone will read through that caps part - so it is likely to be you who's going to be ignored.). Thanks for your future cooperation in that regard.

 

As for your pictures: If it were only for the planes, my first advice would really have been HIGHMEMFIX=1 in the [GRAPHICS] section of your FSX.cfg; however, looking at the rest I'd assume that something (perhaps FSWC or the shader mod) has really scr**ed up your FSX install.

Since you don't want to go through a reinstall, which I can perfectly understand, I'd suggest you try a repair. For that you have to insert one of the FSX disks, I assume Disc 1, into your drive. When the setup dialog pops up, it'll ask you if you want to repair or remove, you have to click repair and follow the instructions on the screen (just like your usual installation process).

 

But t be honest, if I were in your place I'd prepare myself for a complete re-install, as this looks really serious. You could of course move all of your folders containing addons (e.g. Addon Scenery, Gauges, Effects, SimObjects/Airplanes and SimObjects/Rotorcraft) to another location, preferably an external hard disk drive for back up purposes; that way you could easily copy the files back to a new FSX install (click no to overwrite). However, it might cause some registry issues, particularly if the addons have been installed using automatic installers.

 

Best regards,

[charliearon 3,017]

Dude you're screwed!   Thanks, I feel better!  I'm using just the Shader 3 mod and it

 

works perfectly!  I would delete one or the other.  Instead of the "dreaded" reinstall,

 

have you given any thought to doing a Repair (which has no effect on addons) ?

 

The biggie with a Repair is any default file, including those default aircraft.cfgs with added liveries, that have been modified, tweaked, or otherwise changed, will be returned to default status.
You can make a copy of your existing FSX folder/subfolders before the repair and paste those individual files back in afterwards.

If you have SP1, SP2, or Acceleration installed, they must be uninstalled before a repair attempt, and reinstalled, after the repair, or it won't work.
Once you have your FSX up and running properly again, back it up, all of it.
You may need it again and it's a lot easier than a Repair or Re-Install

[vigilante96 0]

 

 

Please do not use CapsLock and a larger font, particularly not for such long texts. It's a pain to read and considered shouting, so basically rather rude (not to mention futile to what you actually want to achieve, as hardly anyone will read through that caps part - so it is likely to be you who's going to be ignored.). Thanks for your future cooperation in that regard.

 

Sorry about that. Looking back i think it was a little much. Anyways, thanks for the advice, Ill just try repairing it since i now know it wont delete my addons and see if that works. 

[jandjfrench 3]

Hi,

I had a problem with misplaced parts on any new aircraft that I added.  All previously installed aircraft were alright.  The problem turned out to be related to Shaders 3. There were changes to FSX.cfg and part of the needed edits somehow were deleted.  This was 2 or 3 years ago and I recall posting pictures of the problem at BritSim but couldn't locate them recently.  I first noticed the misplaced parts on an aircraft I had downloaded from there.  It's still baffling to me what a Shader mod would have to do with the model.

Incidentally, I was using a Radeon card then and now and I've found that the Shader Mod no longer makes any difference.  Formerly I couldn't fly with detailed clouds without the mod.  My frame rate went from the mid 30s to single digits with even moderate clouds.

Jim F. 

[Peacedivision 4]

Thought about this one a bit more since i use SM3 but havent had to mess with it for a while.  If you want to completely get rid of it, try the following.

 

Restore your original ShadersHLSL subfolder in the root of FSX

Restore your original WaterConstants.Xml in the root of FSX

Remove ALLOW_SHADER_30=1 from FSX.CFG

Delete all shader subfolders in Appdata \ Local \ Microsoft \ FSX

 

Restart sim and report back.