For info, this is the reply from LM that I referenced earlier, relating to how the water textures work, (outside of the animated stuff under 2000ft)...
 
Beau Hollis: "All the water texture layers do animate based on wind, though admittedly they don’t scroll nearly as fast as it seems like they should. We made the system fairly tweakable in hopes that the developer community would help us come up with the best values. We also load 5 different textures but currently they are all copies of the same texture, so there isn’t nearly as much variation as their could be. If you want to play with the values, you can edit them in WaterConstants.xml which can be found in the Roaming folder along with the Prepar3D.cfg. Each of the five textures has 4 associated values in the water constants file:

1) Wave Distance: This is the distance at which this map will fade out and no longer be used
2) Texture Scale: e texture scale (number of times this will repeat in a 4km area
3) Wind Offset: Angular offset of texture scroll from the wind direction. (allowing some maps to scroll in different directions if that is desired)
4) Wind Scalar: Scalar that will be multiplied by the simulated scroll rate based on the wind speed.

So a good start would be to go in and put bigger values in the scale rates. Another thing you could play around with is tweaking the entire set to look best at the altitude you usually fly. For example instead of having a few detail maps that you can only see at low altitudes, you could configure all 5 maps to extend out further and scroll in different directions. Just note that if you will get bad tiling artifacts if you extend a texture out farther without dropping its texture scale to compensate."

For info, this is the reply from LM that I referenced earlier, relating to how the water textures work, (outside of the animated stuff under 2000ft)...

 

Beau Hollis: "All the water texture layers do animate based on wind, though admittedly they don’t scroll nearly as fast as it seems like they should. We made the system fairly tweakable in hopes that the developer community would help us come up with the best values. We also load 5 different textures but currently they are all copies of the same texture, so there isn’t nearly as much variation as their could be. If you want to play with the values, you can edit them in WaterConstants.xml which can be found in the Roaming folder along with the Prepar3D.cfg. Each of the five textures has 4 associated values in the water constants file:

1) Wave Distance: This is the distance at which this map will fade out and no longer be used

2) Texture Scale: e texture scale (number of times this will repeat in a 4km area

3) Wind Offset: Angular offset of texture scroll from the wind direction. (allowing some maps to scroll in different directions if that is desired)

4) Wind Scalar: Scalar that will be multiplied by the simulated scroll rate based on the wind speed.

 

So a good start would be to go in and put bigger values in the scale rates. Another thing you could play around with is tweaking the entire set to look best at the altitude you usually fly. For example instead of having a few detail maps that you can only see at low altitudes, you could configure all 5 maps to extend out further and scroll in different directions. Just note that if you will get bad tiling artifacts if you extend a texture out farther without dropping its texture scale to compensate."

 

Thanks Kevin.

 

But what influence has the wind to waves / direction of the waves if they are static above 2000 ft ?

 

 

For info, this is the reply from LM that I referenced earlier, relating to how the water textures work, (outside of the animated stuff under 2000ft)...

 

Thanks so much Kevin for bringing this LM quote back to Light!

 

2night been playing around with values in the WaterConstants.xml file, and YES, it works. I can now see water animated at heights up to 25000ft (highest I tested); really just happy that I can see water surface animated up to 10000 for low-slow GA lying.

 

No longer that static waxy water :rolleyes: ! Still a WIP, and I am finding some things not working as advertised (eg. the scroll direction of the textures applied to larger areas (ftexturescale3 and 4) will not change with wind direction, seems fixed. So from a hieght the textures always scroll in the same direction. Have to test some more, but I am way happier than before, where ocean swells as depicted in the textures just stayed put. I may have them moving a little too fast now!).

 

I will test a bit more, make a video, and maybe even post the values I used so others can see what I mean. But if keen to test for yourself, look at the Wind Scalar values in the default WaterConstants.xml, particularly for the textures set to repeat 5 and 1 X per 4Km area (Scalars 0.3250 and 0.370, texture sets # 3 and 4). I got to thinking the smaller 128 texture set 0 (repeated 128 per 4km area) is 64 tiles on a side (2X2km), set to fwindScalar -0.1 (why neg I do not know). To scroll at same speed through a 4km tile, the fwindscalar4 value (1 texture in 4km area) would have to have a scalar of 64/2 * 0.1 = 3.2 (not 0.37). I tried 6 just to push it and Bingo! Animation (well scrolling movement of water, not quite the same animations as below 2000ft, but convincing enough!)

 

I am sure if we all try testing different values on this file we will come up with something good.

 

Rob

Thanks Kevin.

 

But what influence has the wind to waves / direction of the waves if they are static above 2000 ft ?

Hi Gerard, I think you may be confusing the 3D dynamic waves generated by Prepar3d itself, and the illusion of wave activity by the water texture set injected through REX. The 3D dynamic waves are what you see up to 2000ft and are generated by their own engine and respond in terms of wave height to wind speed, but I don't know whether they change with respect to wind direction. The illusion of wave activity by the water texture set is the effect that you will see above 2000ft and is related to what I referenced above with the statement from LM Cheers K

 

 

2night been playing around with values in the WaterConstants.xml file, and YES, it works.

 

Would you mind sharing your settings in WaterConstants.xml so we can all have a tweak?

 

Cheers

 

Adam

Thanks so much Kevin for bringing this LM quote back to Light!

 

 

 

I am sure if we all try testing different values on this file we will come up with something good.

 

Rob

 

Sounds  like you found the pot of Gold. I was thinking about doing the same last week (as we learn from Bojote  for FS2004 a few years ago ); however,  being new to P3D I decided to wait for REX to bring us the new Update. Anyway glad you're having a good experience.

 

May I suggest:  When you get a chance, please post your WaterConstants.XML settings so we can give it a try, as well.

Hi Rob,

 

Could you share your current settings as a starting point for others ?

 

It would be great to make such modifications that the transition from 1992 ft to 1993 ft is less noticable than now.

 

 

Would you mind sharing your settings in WaterConstants.xml so we can all have a tweak?

 

 

 

When you get a chance, please post your WaterConstants.XML settings so we can give it a try, as well.

 

OK, OK, seems we are all tired of that static wax sheet everywhere! I understand perfectly.

 

So as I said this is a Work In Progress, trail and error stuff!. But I am excited so lets share that out..

 

Please back up your WaterConstants.xml so if you do not like my settings you can revert.

 

BTW I am using REX ES OD SP3 "Low Seas" animation at the moment. About to try to inject another animation to see if that makes a difference. So many Variables!

 

Here is what I am testing at the moment, and water is scrolling/moving at alts above 2000, so  "animating" in the sense of scrolling the textures.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<SimBase.Document Type="WaterConstantFile" version="1,0" id="WaterConstants">
    <Descr>AceXML Document</Descr>
    <Filename>WaterConstants.xml</Filename>
    <WaterConsts.ConstantSet>
        <ShaderP3D>
            <fSpecularPower>124.0000</fSpecularPower>
            <fSpecularBlend>0.2750</fSpecularBlend>
            <fSpecularBoost>1.0125</fSpecularBoost>
            <fWhiteCapPower>1.0000</fWhiteCapPower>
            <fTextureScale0>128.0000</fTextureScale0>
            <fTextureScale1>64.0000</fTextureScale1>
            <fTextureScale2>32.0000</fTextureScale2>
            <fTextureScale3>16.0000</fTextureScale3>
            <fTextureScale4>1.0000</fTextureScale4>
            <fWaveDistance0>250.0000</fWaveDistance0>
            <fWaveDistance1>2500.0000</fWaveDistance1>
            <fWaveDistance2>5000.0000</fWaveDistance2>
            <fWaveDistance3>10000.0000</fWaveDistance3>
            <fWaveDistance4>24000.0000</fWaveDistance4>
            <fWindOffset0>0.0484</fWindOffset0>
            <fWindOffset1>0.0484</fWindOffset1>
            <fWindOffset2>0.0484</fWindOffset2>
            <fWindOffset3>0.0484</fWindOffset3>
            <fWindOffset4>0.0484</fWindOffset4>
            <fWindScalar0>0.1000</fWindScalar0>
            <fWindScalar1>1.0000</fWindScalar1>
            <fWindScalar2>2.0000</fWindScalar2>
            <fWindScalar3>3.0000</fWindScalar3>
            <fWindScalar4>6.0000</fWindScalar4>
        </ShaderP3D>
        <Wave>
        </Wave>
    </WaterConsts.ConstantSet>
</SimBase.Document>

 

I also delete the shaders between each test (c:/Users/yoursusername/Appdata/Local/Lockheed Martin/Prepar3D v2/Shaders) and let them rebuild.

 

Would welcome feedback from those who try this.

 

Rob

Thank you, Rob. I will try this tonight. Does the WaterConstant XML contains a Low, MID, and High settings to make the modifications (as in FSX), or is this a one-size fits all   heights?

they are static above 2000 ft ?

 

the transition from 1992 ft to 1993 ft is less noticable than now.

 

Rubbish!

My observations using stock P3D textures, Ultra water and Moderate surface winds show water activity even above 20,000 when looking into the sun's reflection on the water.  There is no transition at whatever altitude.  

 

My specs - 4770K, GTX970, (both stock,) 1980 x 1080 IPS panel.

 

Whilst I don't go anywhere near 20,000 feet, I have never seen anything of the sort.....with stock or REX textures.

Whilst I don't go anywhere near 20,000 feet, I have never seen anything of the sort.....with stock or REX textures.

On my setup the same.

I will post 2 screenshots tomorrow to show what I mean..

Just an update guys, we have released Service Pack 4 / Texture Update # 2 for users to download.

 

You can download the update through the REX 4 Texture Direct interface or through our forum at:

 

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/32175-rex-4-texture-direct-service-pack-4-texture-update-2/

Just an update guys, we have released Service Pack 4 / Texture Update # 2 for users to download.

 

You can download the update through the REX 4 Texture Direct interface or through our forum at:

 

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/32175-rex-4-texture-direct-service-pack-4-texture-update-2/

Curious,

After installing the sp, do existing textures need reinstalled to benefit?

 

 

I have never seen anything of the sort.....with stock or REX textures.

 

But were you ...

 

looking into the sun's reflection on the water.