looks horrible  :blink:   so many hotfixes and still a no go on the water.

Doubt it. P3D's water is made to work with tessellation and move with the wind. It's not a generic shimmering effect like FSX. 

 

The reason you don't perceive movement at higher altitudes is because that's exactly how it is in the real world. I try to stay higher over larger water expanses in real life (engine out concerns), but even as low as 3,000 feet you can't really see any actual movement. 

 

I've always said water movement in FSX is prettier then real life. 

 

What P3D needs is better reflections and whitecaps to spice it up.

Sometimes when I'm flying around 3500 feet I can definitely see water movement. Other times, it's just a static pattern. I always fly with ASN so I'm guessing it's the wind. I'll pay more attention next time.

 

Vic

I'm not quite understanding what's going on... are you saying the water doesn't move at all when flying over it? Like no rippling/waves/etc ? 

... the water doesn't move at all when flying over it? Like no rippling/waves/etc ?

Yup, that's what I am getting in 2.5.

 

Chas

It really depends on several factors - the wind, your altitude and your P3D settings.

 

Get real low, around 900 feet with a high wind and you'll think the waves will hit the a/c. Climb higher and the movement diminished until you get a static pattern that only appears to move IF the light is right.

 

Definitely needs some work at higher altitudes but at 30,000 feet - you won't see it anyway

 

Vic

Sorry, but I had to add this.....

 

via Imgflip Meme Maker

The only way to really tell for sure what is going on is to compare two adjacent frames of a video screen capture to see how many pixels have changed.

 

Even in RL, once one is flying above 3-4000 feet, water motion is virtually imperceptible. Sure, there is variability in the way that sunlight reflects off of the the water (BTW, that's the sparkling effect that one sees in FSX) and also if it is very windy, whitecaps might be visible. But generally wave heights are not going to be that obvious. In P3d, the wave action is pretty obvious when flying low, especially in high winds.

 

To maximize the wave motion in P3d, one has to have the terrain resolution set at 1 m and the water setting at Ultra. This has negative consequences though. ORBX airports are designed to work at a resolution of 5 m. Further, some airports that are at  less than 1 m AMSL and near the ocean may show waves breaking through the ground scenery. Finally, since no 3rd party terrain meshes have resolutions of 1m, nothing is gained by using that LOD setting.

 

As to the whitecap issue, LM has that option disabled within the Triton SDK, probably to maintain performance.

You need Rex 4 with latest updates to get the water moving.  i do see some animation even at Med Water Setting.  See their forums I forgot which texture is it (but it is there).  It is better than before.  Water is dependent on GPU for sure. 

 

Once Rex4 is done, make sure to clear the shaders and then see if the animation or flicker/whitecaps show up.  It is based on wind etc

It might be worth them switching it back on again. You know, for those of us who aren't averse to having a bit of "fun". As for needing REX4, it's worth noting that the SP3 build of Rex Essential Plus is also supposed to have been "updated", but it does nothing for P3D on my PC. Maybe when the Sun expands into a red giant, and the Universe is close to terminal collapse, it may just spring into life. One can hope, eh?

It might be worth them switching it back on again.

 

 

You can see if this works. However, first, my disclaimer. LM has stated recently not to alter the settings in the Triton SDK configuration file, as it will break a lot more than it fixes. Now that I have that out of the way... The file is found at:

 

<drive>:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\TritonResources\Triton.config

 

Make a backup copy of this file. Edit the file with a text editor and change:

 

fft-enable-spray = no (Line 337 in my version, which is the most recent P3d build)

 

to yes. Run P3d. If LM doesn't have the wave spray code blocked from within Prepar3d.exe (there are a variety of wave algorithms in the Triton SDK), you will probably either get a CTD or poor frame rates. But maybe you will be lucky and you will either see no difference at all. There is a remote chance that this "tweak" might also work.