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jaybird1nyc

Need Help Finding Realistic Water Using FSX + DX10

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Hi All,


 


I posted this topic in the DX10 Fixer forum, but didn't get any help. So, I'm posting it here, with the hope that more of you will see it and have some good advice.


 


Been using the awesome DX10 Fixer for a while now, with phenomenal results.  The only exception being - WATER.  For the life of me, I just can't seem to find a setup that will give me a realistic looking ocean water, Atlantic ocean, specifically. I haven't even bothered to check the tropical water because I almost always fly near the east coast, where I live.


 


Some background, I run FSX Acceleration, and I have REX 4 Texture Direct installed, although I'm not using any global water or wave animation from it right now.  I'm using FS Water Configurator at the moment, but I'm not at all satisfied with the results. Right now I'm using some variation of the FSWC preset  'Water, Water Everywhere" with default water textures and Gizmo's 4096 water normals.


 


It seems like I've tried every possible combination of REX, Fixer and FSWC to the point I'm sure I've mucked it up in some way.  I would like to get back to square one, with some known working setup.  Just really frustrated right now is all.  


Would anyone care to share their setup of realistic looking non-tropical ocean water, if your happy with it of course.  It could be that simply using the Fixer with default FSX textures is the ticket.  Or, maybe you've found a good looking set of textures and/or wave animation in REX 4.  Maybe you're using FSWC and love it, if so, please tell me how to configure the configurator!


 


I'm lost at sea (and a very poor representation of it at that)...


 


Thanks in advance,


Jay



Current Build (02/2024): AMD 7800X3D | Asrock X670E Steel Legend MB | Noctua NH-U12S Chromax | 32gb GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CAS 30 | Samsung 990 Pro 2tb NVMe Gen4 (OS) | WD Black 4tb NVMe Gen4 (MSFS) | Corsair RM1000x Shift Series PS | ASUS RTX 4090 Strix ROG | LG 55" C2 Display

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I'm debating the switch over to DX10 as I get OOM issues flying the PMDG 777. Have you tried only Texture Direct without fs water config first? I am no help but would like to hear the outcome if you eventually get this fixed.

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I'm using FSX DX10 with Steve's Fixer and the water seems great, better than with DX9.  I'm not using REX, except for the soft clouds.

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If I am not mistaken there is a function inside FSWC that lets you reset your water settings back to the default FSX.  Then you could start again from scratch. 

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I'm using FSX DX10 with Steve's Fixer and the water seems great, better than with DX9.  I'm not using REX, except for the soft clouds.

So, you're using the only the options from within the DX10 Fixer, with default FSX water?  What are your exact settings in the Fixer (water section only), if I may ask?

 

If I am not mistaken there is a function inside FSWC that lets you reset your water settings back to the default FSX.  Then you could start again from scratch. 

Yes, true, I have been able to restore default FSX water textures. After that, I did try messing around just using the Fixer, but I couldn't find any setting that was at all realistic. So, I went to FSWC.  I then added Gizmo's 4096 Water Normals (recommended by FSWC) and using FSWC with a variation of a preset called 'Water, Water everywhere". I wasn't at all happy with any of the built-in presets, so I just slightly modded one. That's what I'm using right now, but it ain't great.

 

Oh, almost forgot, I'm using water 2x Low in FSX, anyone feel using a different setting will improve the water realism effect. I know for a fact going to 2x High WILL tank frames, but what are you using?

 

Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated!

Jay


Current Build (02/2024): AMD 7800X3D | Asrock X670E Steel Legend MB | Noctua NH-U12S Chromax | 32gb GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CAS 30 | Samsung 990 Pro 2tb NVMe Gen4 (OS) | WD Black 4tb NVMe Gen4 (MSFS) | Corsair RM1000x Shift Series PS | ASUS RTX 4090 Strix ROG | LG 55" C2 Display

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I think I have FSX water set at 2x moderate.  I remember trying other water settings in FSX and nothing horrible happened, moderate just seemed to be the best compromise between quality and frames.  

Regarding my Fixer water settings:

 

Sky Reflections Max.  59%

Sky Reflections Min.   38%

Ambient Light            100%

Misc.                          The only box checked under misc. is "Moon Phase Lighting"

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I don't think FSWC is compatible with DX10. The lite version is but you don't need this if you have the fixer.  (my water looks fine and there is suppose to be a new version of FSWC that will work with dx10 in the future).  Josh


CPU: Intel i9-11900K @5.2 / RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200 / GPU: 4080 16GB /

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I think I have FSX water set at 2x moderate.  I remember trying other water settings in FSX and nothing horrible happened, moderate just seemed to be the best compromise between quality and frames.  

Regarding my Fixer water settings:

 

Sky Reflections Max.  59%

Sky Reflections Min.   38%

Ambient Light            100%

Misc.                          The only box checked under misc. is "Moon Phase Lighting"

Great!  Gonna go and try these settings.  I'll report back.

Oh, btw, that is using default FSX water textures, not REX, correct?

 

I don't think FSWC is compatible with DX10. The lite version is but you don't need this if you have the fixer.  (my water looks fine and there is suppose to be a new version of FSWC that will work with dx10 in the future).  Josh

Here ya go: http://www.strikingsoftware.com/forum/index.php?topic=2982.0


Current Build (02/2024): AMD 7800X3D | Asrock X670E Steel Legend MB | Noctua NH-U12S Chromax | 32gb GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CAS 30 | Samsung 990 Pro 2tb NVMe Gen4 (OS) | WD Black 4tb NVMe Gen4 (MSFS) | Corsair RM1000x Shift Series PS | ASUS RTX 4090 Strix ROG | LG 55" C2 Display

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Set water to 2X - Low.  Anything higher looks like liquid metal to me.  Then add some nice REX textures and you are good to go.

Thanks Mark, I am using 2x-Low at the moment, although I have tried Med and High, just to see. Now, as far as adding some nice REX textures, what exactly are you using, and are are also using the paid version of Steve's DX10 Fixer?

 

I'm just using default FSX water.  The only REX I'm using is their REX Soft Clouds.

Ok, great.  I'm gonna try those settings and report back.

 

Thanks guys!!


Current Build (02/2024): AMD 7800X3D | Asrock X670E Steel Legend MB | Noctua NH-U12S Chromax | 32gb GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CAS 30 | Samsung 990 Pro 2tb NVMe Gen4 (OS) | WD Black 4tb NVMe Gen4 (MSFS) | Corsair RM1000x Shift Series PS | ASUS RTX 4090 Strix ROG | LG 55" C2 Display

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I find I need to adjust my water textures depending on where I am flying. The Mississippi river looks nothing like Lake Michigan, the Chesapeake Bay, or the Caribbean ocean.  None of them look alike. 


Frank Patton
MasterCase Pro H500M; MSI Z490 WiFi MOB; i7 10700k 3.8 Ghz; Gigabyte RTX 3080 12gb OC; H100i Pro liquid cooler; 32GB DDR4 3600;  Gold RMX850X PSU;
ASUS 
VG289 4K 27" Monitor; Honeycomb Alpha & Bravo, Crosswind 3's w/dampener.  
Former USAF meteorologist & ground weather school instructor. AOPA Member #07379126
                       
"I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me." - John Deere

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I find I need to adjust my water textures depending on where I am flying. The Mississippi river looks nothing like Lake Michigan, the Chesapeake Bay, or the Caribbean ocean.  None of them look alike. 

Ok, fair enough.  What do you do to adjust your water textures?  Let's say you were flying near the coastal Atlantic ocean, what would you do?


Current Build (02/2024): AMD 7800X3D | Asrock X670E Steel Legend MB | Noctua NH-U12S Chromax | 32gb GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CAS 30 | Samsung 990 Pro 2tb NVMe Gen4 (OS) | WD Black 4tb NVMe Gen4 (MSFS) | Corsair RM1000x Shift Series PS | ASUS RTX 4090 Strix ROG | LG 55" C2 Display

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Ok, fair enough.  What do you do to adjust your water textures?  Let's say you were flying near the coastal Atlantic ocean, what would you do?

 

I use Rex E+ and reset textures based on where I will be flying.  For instance this week I flew from Indianapolis to Charlotte, NC, to Elmira, NY, and back to Charlotte. The most significant water for the flights were the Ohio and later the Susquehanna rivers, and lake Norman in NC.  Not near any coastal water. So I set my textures for the week based on those. 

 

My FSX home base is Easton, Maryland, and the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay are major features of that area.  So I load textures accordingly.

 

If I fly from Maryland to say Daytona Beach, FL, I just have to set a happy medium.

 

Each January I fly to the Caribbean (Cayman Islands and Jamaica) and back to SW Florida. So I load appropriate coastal and tropical water textures.


Frank Patton
MasterCase Pro H500M; MSI Z490 WiFi MOB; i7 10700k 3.8 Ghz; Gigabyte RTX 3080 12gb OC; H100i Pro liquid cooler; 32GB DDR4 3600;  Gold RMX850X PSU;
ASUS 
VG289 4K 27" Monitor; Honeycomb Alpha & Bravo, Crosswind 3's w/dampener.  
Former USAF meteorologist & ground weather school instructor. AOPA Member #07379126
                       
"I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me." - John Deere

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My water looks generally like where I often fly, Pacific Ocean off the U.S. west coast.  It's dark blue with swells and some white caps.  The problem is when harbors, lakes and streams have the ocean swells.  But often with Orbx scenery or with Megascenery photoscenery they either have fixed this problem or its just a photo  of the water which usually looks ok.  Overall for me the water is a plus, not  a negative.

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