Best water & wave animations for P3D V2.x from REX

[Noel 4,486]

Give us your best choices from the REX E+ or Texture Direct if you will.   I had something decent a while back but when I changed P3D versions some time back I can't seem to find good wave animations in general.  Right now I'm using ones from Essentials +, but alas, none of the ones I'm using look very good.  If you don't mind mention your nVidia driver too.

 

Thanks in advance

[timest 472]

Noel, have you updated to the latest version of REX released a few days ago?

[Noel 4,486]

Noel, have you updated to the latest version of REX released a few days ago?

Nope but thanks I will straightaway!   Do you have a favorite Tim?

[Nemo 1,305]

Noel, have you updated to the latest version of REX released a few days ago?

 

Can't find any recent updates. Neither in forum nor with REX4TD update function. My current version is ...2014.0814.

[DylanM 1,069]

Same here (@ 0814) - I've tried the autoupdate but no new versions found...

[vgbaron 3,496]

Ditto - nothing recent.

 

Vic

[Noel 4,486]

Tim may be referring to 'Texture Update 1' which I had not updated to.  The first few textures definitely were better than what I had and were pretty decent overall--thanks looking better.  I will check a few others and see how they look but I do see some definitely improvement for sure.

[timest 472]

No, I am referring to REX Essential and REX Essential OverDrive, since that is what Noel was enquiring about.

 

SP3 is out for both of these programs.

 

Currently, Texture Update 2 is in the works for REX4 Texture Direct.

[Noel 4,486]

No, I am referring to REX Essential and REX Essential OverDrive, since that is what Noel was enquiring about.

 

SP3 is out for both of these programs.

 

Currently, Texture Update 2 is in the works for REX4 Texture Direct.

Actually I was enquiring about both REX E+ & TD.  I seem to have much better ocean wave animations & reflectiveness.  Thanks, but it sounds like more refinement is coming eh?  

[carlito777 712]

A bit confusing that the "older" product gets updated before the newer one. I also own Rex Essentials but don't use it anymore as I now use REX4 TD + ASN.

[Noel 4,486]

I discovered something bizarre last eve.  I was doing some testing to see which animations looked best and when I loaded a clear weather (no wind) theme reflections looked awful once again!  Simmering, swimming, weird moire patterns!  When I turned the wind back on it was ok again.  I've wondered if the reason getting water to look decent again had to do w/ the fact 3D waves were added and now I'm thinking maybe there's something to that interpretation.

[Christopher Low 5,332]

Tim,

 

Are you saying that the texture updates for REX Essential Plus that improve the water in P3D have been available for the last few days? I can't see any mention of this on the REX website or forum (at least, nothing that is glaringly obvious).

 

Where do I download SP3 for REX Essential Plus? Is this something that I need to do within REX itself?

[geolpilot 88]

 

 

Where do I download SP3 for REX Essential Plus?

 

It is rather hidden I must say! You need to log into Rex forums and this link will take you there;

 

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/31996-rex-ess-overdrive-service-pack-3-for-build-3720130715/

 

I have tried it a bit in P3D V2.4, and yes the wave animations are there, and the water looks somewhat better, but I still have some "questions" about this whole water-issue in P3D.

 

In a nutshell I find if one uses a wave pattern that is very distinct (large wave patterns), the wave pattern in the texture is static (I do not know if these are supposed to move, can move, or not?) The result is from any height above around 2000 ft the water surface still looks static. The water texture creates what looks like ocean swells, but using reference points like along a coast line, these appear static (those who are good at hovering a chopper should really be able to prove this). The result is loss of immersion.

 

If one looks carefully down at reflections of clouds / sun etc, you see that the water surface is animated and definitely not static(confirmed if you make a landing on a beach, then you really see the waves). But from altitude, the pattern of the texture chosen dominates.

 

I find that using a less "obtrusive" wave-patterned texture (like "sparkling"), one gets a better effect at altitude, without that "fixed glossy, wax-wave" appearance.

 

But maybe the REX devs can comment more on this....

 

My feeling is that in P3D we need water colouration determined more by variables like light, sky-colouration, cloud shadow, water depth (oops bathymetry models!), water clarity (sediment load, plankton etc), and, in shallow, clear water only, by textures of the sea-floor (eg sand waves, coral, rocky coasts).

 

I am aware of the limitations of this approach, given that it requires some ocean mapping, akin to land-class like we have on-land at the moment! LM would have to unlock this by either adding some "water classes" or allowing modification of the present worldwc.bgl so as to to have more realitsic detail / variation, and I do not know if that can / will be done.

 

Then let the wave animation do its thing over that base, but variable colouration, by changing light reflections and colouration as the surface-generated wave-forms move around (plus cool stuff like added foam, wavecrest breaks, wind spray effects, to add to the movement effect). That is, no actual wave texturing at all.

 

To me all the wave animation is being hidden at the moment, or overprinted / dominated by the selected wave-texture. Go over a shallow coral sea, and the wave animations are more clearly visible from altitude, because they are not masked by an artifcial, surface "wave-pattern" texture.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong! Just how I see things from the little experimenting I have been able to do so far in the time allowed since I installed the update.

 

Rob

[Christopher Low 5,332]

I wonder if the new animations and textures will do a better job when REX4 is updated? I will have to download the SP3 update for REX Essential Plus, and see what it looks like to my own eyes. I used the "Sparkling" option in FSX, because I thought that it was the best on offer. It sounds like that might be the preferred option again :smile:

 

EDIT: What do I do if I don't have version 3.7.2013.0715 installed??

[geolpilot 88]

 

 

What do I do if I don't have version 3.7.2013.0715 installed??

 

I guess that would mean you did not update to SP2. I think the links to SP2 are still on the REX site, so you would have to get that first, apply it, then go to SP3.

 

The version/build you are on is displayed top right of the splash screen as Rex is started, or from the About REX tab in the control panel.