Gerard I have REX4 installed only latest version - what does TD mean ?

Texture Direct, aka REX4

Texture Direct, aka REX4

 

Thanks Noel

I'm with Rich -- updated to new REX 4 - installed animated waves texture set 17 (MEDIUM SHALLOW CORAL) -- tessellation maxed - water maxed - all other config settings as recommended by REX - I see no difference as before update.

I'm with Rich -- updated to new REX 4 - installed animated waves texture set 17 (MEDIUM SHALLOW CORAL) -- tessellation maxed - water maxed - all other config settings as recommended by REX - I see no difference as before update.

 

Hi Vcarlo - I had to reinstall fresh copy of P3D to get them back and now paying attention to what I install to see if it breaks again - I also made a backup copy of my fresh install P3D effects folder just in case - I could not figure out what caused it - I know you dont want to hear this but it works now and worth the reinstall - good luck

Thanks Rich -- I think I'll just wait for 2.5 to do the re install --- yuuucccckkk  

Thanks Rich -- I think I'll just wait for 2.5 to do the re install --- yuuucccckkk  

 

Your welcome nothing like a new P3D install and not that bad as it used to be if you know what I mean take crae

Sadly I'm in the same boat. I get NO animation above 700 feet. As long as it doesn't break anything else, I'm ok. Perhaps I'll just restore the shaders HSL folder from a backup and forget the sp2 update entirely.

 

Wish we could figure out why it works for some and why not. Reinstalling to get an add-on to work is not something I'd consider.

 

Vic

Just to clarify.....do I need to install a special animated texture set before I have a chance of seeing any animated water? I had assumed that the updates covered the entire range of textures? I have just checked out the water with my normal "Sparkling" texture set, but I did not see any animation whatsoever. All I saw was a painting of waves. Nothing else.

 

EDIT: This is with REX Essential Plus SP3.

I don't have REX.

 

I tried the (modified) settings recommended by geolpilot but like others am seeing no difference.

 

I notice there are two waterconstants.xml files. One is in the main P3D folder and the other (which I modified) is in the same folder as the Prepar3d.cfg file.

 

Am I editing the wrong file? The waterconstants.xml file in the main P3D folder has additional text which doesn't appear in the file modified by geolpilot.

 

Adam

I made a quick video showing the wave animation with rex and sp4.. The full details are in the video info section.. but basically, on my system I can only see the animated waves at higher altitudes when i view from directly above the airplane, particularly with sun glimmer on the water.  If the glimmer is just right, you can see waves moving out the front or side window at times, but not very often.  It becomes really apparent when you get lower to the water at 700 feet or less (from any angle).  In the video I land and get tossed about, the C206 amphibian.  40 mph winds are set at low altitude.  If I turn off those winds, the waves are nearly flat.  Also, if you don't use ultra, you wont see the right scale of animated waves at low altitude.. ie: they arent very tall at all.  I had made sure i had the default user profile waterconstants.xml in place prior to installing REX4 Sp4.  I haven't tried to mod it further as of yet.

 

Set to 1080p60 for best quality: 

 

 

 

Under REX 4 ... you select the water texture set, then in the tab next to it you select the wave animation ... I've not modified waterconstants.xml -- no need as the waves look fantastic.

 

FYI, after every NEW fresh install of a P3D Version 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 - I backup the 4 key directories to an external HD.  This provide a "base" set from which I can always compare and/or restore specific files if they have been modified by 3rd party and I need the originals back.  But be aware that modified core files will NOT get updated via any LM patch process (you will have to restore the original files before patching).

 

I've always seen wave animation (Water = Ultra) in P3D, however, the latest REX 4 update has definitely made them look much better.  I haven't tested the altitude at which  animations stop ...  but I'm pretty sure I've been at least a FL200 and still seen hints of white caps below my aircraft.  LOD RADIUS ... level of detail may also impact wave animations distance (mine is max). 

 

Cheers, Rob.

I am not sure if it's the same in REX Essential Plus SP3, but I can't see any white caps at all. These are imperative to give the illusion of motion, even if the winds are calm. I really don't know where to go from here, because the water in P3D is really not "doing it for me" at the moment.

Hm, I've been thinking about buying REX mainly (or only) for the water, specially because I've read it fixes the reflection problem (where reflections are offset or completely wrong, which happens to me ALL the time). But it seems everyone is getting different results... not too comforting...

 

 

But it seems everyone is getting different results... not too comforting...

 

Suggest you seek out someone that isn't

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

I am not sure if it's the same in REX Essential Plus SP3

 

Much confusion here!

 

With Rex Essential SP3 installed you will still need to modify the WaterConstants.xml file yourself (the one in the Appdata/Roaming/Lockheed Martin/ Prepar3D V2 folder where your .cfg file is, NOT the one in the root folder of P3D). I too only had Rex ESS + OD SP3 installed when I posted my trial mods to this file in this thread.

 

I also have Rex Texture Direct, and the latest service pack for TD fixes the animations automatically for you by modifying the WaterConstants.xml file when you install the update. You need do no more, except modify the file if you want to change the height at which various scales come in of the water texture (is same texture sheet used eg "sparkling" or "cinematic", just at different scales), or if you want to change the speed of scrolling motion for the larger-scales of the water texture.

 

Two things I want to stress, because I think people have some unrealistic expectations here;

 

1. The animations you see at low altitudes ARE NOT visible from high altitudes (above around 2000ft) unless you look straight down below the plane, and even then, as one goes higher they are only seen if looking at where the sun reflects off the water, or straight down below the plane, and then you will only see the reflections "dancing", not the full motion of the detailed, tessellated water surface. The distance factors in the .xml also affect distance looking out diagonally from plane to water surface. So in spot view at say 2000ft, in the foreground you see the advanced animations, in the distance the only animation is the scrolling of wave / swell patterns embedded in the larger-scaled texture sheets. Stronger the wind the easier it is to see this water surface animation, as the surface topography grows in amplitude.
2. Prior to modification of the .xml file (either by yourself or by Rex TD SP4), what was broken was the scrolling of waves in the distance / at higher alts, so the scene looked like a painted, static blue sheet. The fix is that these now scroll, so you will see the swells and larger wave crests and troughs move. With the REX fix in the XML, scrolling is still slow, and you will not see this while flying very easily. If stationary in SLEW you should see this movement if you watch carefully against some shoreline marker, and if you look at your plane in outside view against the water background, you should see an apparent drift of the plane. This is texture scrolling animation.

 

Again YOU will NOT SEE the heaving, moving waves of the tesselated water surface (water surface animation) from higher alts or in the distance, though it is still there, but can only be seen in reflections, and very close / directly below the plane. We can debate how realistic this is, my feeling is that it is perfectly realistic as you would need mountainous, tessellated water topography to see this from high altitudes (tsunami, "Perfect Storm" waves sizes constantly??).    Next time you are at say 5000ft look at how large/ high a 3-story static-scenery, add-on airport building looks (not autogen so much, they appear oversized in P3D ). How often have you seen 3-story high waves (surfers paradise!). For that matter how often have you seen waves 6ft high, and how easy it is to spot a person from 5000ft (no shadow, and waves only cast shadows at very low sun angles!)?

 

Remember also that waves at sea are lower amplitude than when they approach the coast, where they grow in amplitude as water-particle motion changes from circular to an exaggerated ellipse as the motion is slowed by sea-floor topography. At sea, in mild to moderate weather its things like wind-spay, foam patches and streaks moving on the surface, white caps, and changing hues and reflections due to water movement that expose the movement and waves, not so much their height. In strormy weather the previous effects as well as the wave height are obviously both increased, and more obvious (but from 30000 feet you'd still have to look rather carefully to see individual waves down there, and spot their motion!)

 

The slow movement (scrolling) of waves and swells in the distance? Well I have speeded mine up, but even then, while flying one does not see them easily, but what pilot has the time to gaze at waves moving against the shore-line in a fast plane? I do find water effects are much better now when flying around low and slow, in that you do not get the same wave in the same dang place all the time, so the scene is definitely more dynamic. The static waves were very obvious in small inland bodies of water, now at all alts I can see them moving (REX4 TD also seems to have scaled them down); just do not use the movement you see to decide on wind direction for landing at uncontrolled airfields!

 

White caps are still missing. I think what people mistake as white caps are isolated reflections ocassionally caught off waves, that you usually see near to the plane, and some REX coral textures have white foam spots/caps as part of the texture itself, that bob around on surface, but do not fade or move position like proper animated white caps.

 

Shore line waves are still missing - an old 2D effect that was probably removed because it clashed with the new 3D water surface, just as ship wakes used to - have not checked if that was fixed.

 

Both the above would definitely add to the sense of water movement.

 

I suggest those who do not see the animations as others do, after modification of the WaterConstant.xml file, have unrealistic expectations, or are not distinguishing between the detailed water animation of the tesselated surface (water surface animation) and the large-scale scrolling of the water textures at higher alts and greater distances (texture scrolling animation), which was broken by the strange, very low values of fWindScale factors in the released WaterConstants.xml file.

 

I wanted to make a movie this weekend explaining all this visually, and pointing out some errors I still see. Unfortunately I was mugged at knifepoint on Friday evening, and have spent the entire weekend with police, banks, etc. Just happy to be alive, it was close! So will try to get some time in the next few days to do this.

 

Rob