July 22, 201411 yr I finally got around to doing a badly needed GPU upgrade. Before I was using rather modest textures because my computer would choke at the slightest hint of a thunderstorm. So having upgraded, I'm now capable of running a lot more detailed textures and levels of filtering. In fact, although I'm still fps capped by the CPU when running certain planes, it appears that I can run virtually any level of environmental textures, at any level of AA, AF, and Transparency AA. Sparse Grid Super Sampling used to not be possible, now it appears to have no apparent effect on fps or smoothness at reasonable levels. I prefer to stick with 2048 texture clouds though, because I really can't see that dramatic a difference between those and the 4096. Trouble is, I'm really not finding "the perfect combination" of enhanced or higher definition textures to make things look really good. First of all, all the REX Runway Textures look absolutely TERRIBLE to me! I went back to the default for those. As far as the clouds are looking, I'm just not seeing the kind of realistic look that I want when using these textures with the ASN weather engine. I have REX Enhanced. I also have Flight Environment X available to provide textures, if those might be better, and although I use ASNext now, I also have AS 2012 somewhere as well, which has a number of cloud textures. Anyone have some theme/texture name recommendations to really make things pop out!
July 22, 201411 yr Moderator I never found an REX sky or cloud set that thrilled me as far as looking realistic. I love their water sets though. What I and some others have done that post here is use the HDEv2 sky and cloud sets and use REX for everything else. Sky set is below. http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/18029/fsx-hde-sky-textures-v20/ Clouds third download down. http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywords=hde+ You can also get the sky from the second link, second download down. Just make sure you don't use the sky set from the download that includes the clouds. The clouds can be used in both FSX and FS9 but the sky must be the FSX version. Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator
July 22, 201411 yr Author I still want to hear further REX theme suggestions, but WOW, Jim, those HDEv2 clouds look fabulous. They are only 1024, but in my experimentations with different cloud sets thus far, including 2048 and 4096 REX and FEX sets, these are the best. Thanks for the suggestion-I wish I had been using these for years.
July 22, 201411 yr I really like the new REX4 textures, especially for the sky. Rex 2 and 3OD textures were in some cases, way over the top, but fun and colorful. I change textures quarterly for variety. Experimentation is the key. Set up and save a paused flight at 1,000 feet in FSX at KFHR with 3/8 cumulous, 1/8 stratus (both between 5,000 and 15,000) and 5/8 cirrus at 40,000 feet . Make up some themes of your own, save them in REX, load them into FSX, fire it up and load your saved flight. Pan around at dawn, then change time of day to mid-day, and then dusk to see what happens. Coming up with my own choices was part of the fun. After your happy with your picks I think a live weather program is also very important: when REX, Opus, and ASN do their thing (and I have them all) they push, pull, and position clouds to make it look more varied .and more realistic (to my eyes anyway). These are just my current picks. To each his, or her, own. REX4 Textures NOV/DEC N. HEMISPHERE MAY/JUN S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 4/14/14 SKY SET: D/M/S: ICY NOVEMBER/AUTUMN/OCTOBER SUN EFFECTS: 3 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & SUBTLE AND FOCUSED JAN/FEB N. HEMISPHERE JUL/AUG S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 1/6/3 SKY SET: D/M/S: GLACIAL/ANTARCTICA/CHILLY FRANKFURT SUN EFFECTS: 8 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & FROSTED MAR/APR N. HEMISPHERE SEP/OCT S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 6/1/13 SKY SET: D/M/S: VIETNAM/IBEZIA/ROMANTIC SUN EFFECTS: 7 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & GLIMMER MAY/JUN N. HEMISPHERE NOV/DEC S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 7/10/1 SKY SET: D/M/S: HEAT/FAIR/CLEAR SUN EFFECTS: 1 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & WHITECAPS JUL/AUG N. HEMISPHERE JAN/FEB S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 11/7/4 SKY SET: D/M/S: HUMID/HUMID/JULY HEAT SUN EFFECTS: 10 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & CALM SEP/OCT N. HEMISPHERE MAR/APR S. HEMISPHERE CLOUD SET: H/L/LTG: 16/6/6 SKY SET: D/M/S: SUMMER SUNRISE/AUTUMN/JUST SO SUN EFFECTS: 9 WATER & WAVE SET: DARK CLEAR CORAL & ACTIVE **************************************************************** FIXED SETTINGS: AIRPORT LIGHTING: PROTOTYPICAL OR SET02 LAMP TERRAIN BUMPMAP: 05 ASPHALT RW: 01 LIGHT USE CONCRETE RW: 01 LIGHT USE RW DETAIL, JETWAY AND PARKING MARKS, SURFACE REFRACTION: ONLY 1 CHOICE EACH RW MARKS: 02 USED ASPHALT TW: 04 CONCRETE RW: 03 TAXIWAY MARKS: 03 SOUNDS: PRECIP SET1 #2 - THUNDER SET1 #3 - WIND SET1 #2 Frank L.T
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