Hello AllI don't know if anyone can help me, but thought this was the best place to ask the experts!After a certain time in the FS night, my aircraft no longer display textures - they're just black. This is true for AI and flyable aircraft.Is it because the textures are mostly all DXT3? Or is it my video card? I'm using a Radeon x800 with the latest ATI Catalyst drivers.Any suggestions greatly appreciated.Rob

Do you mean all your aircraft are black? Or just some?And do you mean black or just dark, without lights?May be nothing to do with it, but most (all?) aircraft repaints contain a daytime texture file or files (the actual livery)and a night-time mask (or masks) which contain the cabin window lights etc.These are often differentiated as texture_l and texture_t, or wings_l and wings_t or something like that.Some repainters don't supply the night-time mask, as it's the same for all aircraft of that particular type of plane. (e.g. all Aardvark 737-400's are the same, but NOT the same as an Aardvark 737-300 or an ARNZ 737-400)So, I'd check through the texture folders for some of your more common aircraft, or ones you know to be "black" at night.Look to see if there are obviously a group of files (_l's or _t's for example) which are present in some folders but not in others. If this is the case copy the missing files from a folder that has them into the folders that doesn't.As long as you don't over-write any files, you can't be messing up the paint job itself.

Yep, black with lights. So when aircraft have landing lights on, you see small bits of livery within the lightmap, but nothing else. I just don't remember this being the case for FS2002 or FS2000. It looks weird when the scenery is properly lit at night!Do you mean I should _L files for all aircraft? I'm pretty sure I do, but I know there will be some missing here and there.Thanks for your helpRob

I think I need to have a look at mine when I get home and see how dark the aircraft are at night!No, I wasn't clear whether they were completely black (i.e. the complete absence of any texture at all) or whether it was just the lights you were missing.I have noticed that the night time texture files(s)are omitted from some downloads, but you can always copy them across from similar aircraft - similarly, if details like undercarriage legs and tyres are in separate files, some people omit them from downloads too.Umm just thinking on the hoof here, there is a setting in Flight Simulator for the number of lights. I believe I read somewhere this defines how FS displays light sources and how shadows fall etc. Check the setting and make sure it isn't on too low a setting.As with anything, I expect there is a penalty somewhere for setting it at maximum! I'm guessing what you are seeing is normal. Perhaps you could post a screenshot so people could judge how dark your "black" is?