Texture anomalies in 4.3

[mmann 72]

When I loaded the default Piper Cub at a grass strip I noticed that the ground textures within about 5 feet of the aircraft was composed of large block pixels (as in Atari 2600 Breakout sized pixels). This only happened with P3D v4.3 (client only or full install made no difference).

My Nvidia driver was really old (original with my GTX 750 Ti) so I updated to the 397.64 driver. I lost the block pixels but gained a new problem, as soon as the aircraft started moving the textures (again within about 5 feet of the aircraft) changed to a different colour grass texture which only disappeared when the aircraft left the ground.

This problem is mainly noticeable in the Piper Cub which has a good view of the close in ground textures. This texture problem does not exist with the 4.1 or 4.2 client installed. Anyone else notice this with the 4.3 client?

 

[eslader 1,783]

I've seen nothing like what I'm imagining that looks like with my p3d4.3. Got a screenshot?

 

 

[mmann 72]

Unfortunately I didn't take a screenshot. I have since put P3D v3.4 back on. I had the dreaded ATC problem in v4.2 and with the textures anomalies in v4.3 I decided to play it safe.

I do have a new computer on order, which is why I'm asking about this problem. I have to decide if installing 4.3 is viable, or if I should stick to v3.4 on the new system as well as my current system.

[vgbaron 3,620]

Use 4.3 - if there were significant problems we would all be screaming.

Remember - just as in the FSX days - each version kicked up the settings. If you just copy your settings from 3.4 to 4.3 you are getting a significant increase in demand on your system. Running normal in 4.3 would be like running max in 3.4. If you want to compare 3.4 to 4.3 - turn your settings down in 4.3.

Vic

[mmann 72]

I would think you are right about people screaming if there were significant texture problems!

As far as the settings go, I had reduced my autogen settings (sure did look sparse compared with my v3.4 settings) and I didn't have all the Orbx (Regions, Global Base, Vector, openLC and airports) which I have saddled v3.4 with. It should have had an easy time rendering the textures properly!

I'm hoping the new system will correct the texture problem; v3.4 won't make use of the 16GB of ram on the new computer.

[Jim Young 2,356]

4.3 is a 64 bit program with almost unlimited Virtual Address Space (VAS); 3.4 is a 32-bit program which is severely limited by VAS and subject to crashes and running out of memory like in it's predecessor, FSX.  Without a screenshot, it is difficult to see what you are seeing but I did find a video that represents and shows a comparison of 3.4 and v4.  V4 is on the right side of the screen and the textures DO look lighter than in v3.

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, mmann said:

This problem is mainly noticeable in the Piper Cub which has a good view of the close in ground textures. This texture problem does not exist with the 4.1 or 4.2 client installed. Anyone else notice this with the 4.3 client?

I haven't notice this problem in V4.3, but if you only did a "client only install/update" when upgrading then that might be why.  Any changes in the Piper Cub will be in the 4.3 "Content" install.

If you problem is changing based on your nVidia driver version then I'd recommend you use DDU to completely uninstall your old drivers, download the new drivers, manually install.  Once that's done delete your P3D shaders folder to ensure no corruption.

Cheers, Rob.

[mmann 72]

It wasn't the textures being lighter or darker; with the older driver the textures were pixelated and with the newer driver they were just wrong (which corrected after the aircraft left the ground). I'm going to guess that some of you have tried the default Piper Cub and if you don't see an obvious problem with the textures than I'm guessing v4.3 just doesn't like my old system.

Do note that the texture problem is only apparent in the Virtual Cockpit view; outside views are just fine.

[mmann 72]

The texture problem is also viewed while in other aircraft (Virtual Cockpit view); it is just that the Piper Cub made it much more obvious (due to the ability to see the ground close to the aircraft). I also did a complete reinstall of v4.3 (not just the client) and the problem was still there (I use Acronis True Image so this was on a "virgin" Windows 7 SP1 64 bit install).

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, mmann said:

I'm going to guess that some of you have tried the default Piper Cub and if you don't see an obvious problem with the textures than I'm guessing v4.3 just doesn't like my old system.

Yes I've done a lot of testing in Cub, and the R22.  Highly doubt it's your system (possible, but very unlikely), have you tried the suggestions I made above?  Remove any NI profiles if you've created some for P3D.

Cheers, Rob.

[mmann 72]

I uninstalled the older driver first; then I installed the newer driver and I changed my NI P3D profile to: Antialising - Mode [Enhance the application setting]; Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling [4x Sparse Grid Supersampling] and Texture filtering - Quality [High quality] which matched what I had in v4.2 (which worked with no texture problems, but also I had no ATC which 4.3 corrected).

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

3 hours ago, mmann said:

I lost the block pixels but gained a new problem, as soon as the aircraft started moving the textures (again within about 5 feet of the aircraft) changed to a different colour grass texture

Then you said:

9 minutes ago, mmann said:

It wasn't the textures being lighter or darker;

I'm a little confused with your comments.  Your comments above is why I posted a comparison of textures in the video.  I have done everything possible to replicate pixelating in P3DV4.3 and cannot.  I even zoomed in and out of the textures (using the keyboard + and - keys) and could not get it to pixelate but then I have a completely different system from a laptop. 

 

20 minutes ago, mmann said:

with the older driver the textures were pixelated and with the newer driver they were just wrong (which corrected after the aircraft left the ground).

In reality, this is really what you were communicating but you only off-handedly mentioned you recently updated your video card drivers and did not indicate the problem occurred after updating. 

55 minutes ago, mmann said:

I'm hoping the new system will correct the texture problem; v3.4 won't make use of the 16GB of ram on the new computer. 

I think you are a bit confused about RAM and VAS.  P3Dv3.4 does not need 16GB's and having a lot of RAM really means nothing in FSX/P3D.  Virtual Address Space (VAS) or the space that Microsoft Windows gives users for their applications, is more important and P3DV3.4 gets only 4GB's of VAS as it is a 32-bit program.  You run out of VAS and the program/computer crashes.  In P3dV4.3, you get over 7TB's of VAS or an unlimited amount as most computers do not have a 10 TB drive.

In any case, I am certainly concerned when our members are not enjoying the exceptional scenery and add-ons in P3DV4 and see pixels in scenery.  You can be assured Lockheed did not cause pixelation in their default scenery.  Otherwise, why would people like me purchase the product for $199.  If you were around when FSX was first released in 2007, you would be excited about our future in this hobby and the educational and entertainment value it provides.  Of course there will be anomalies in any computer application if you have the wrong settings, bad drivers, or an under-powered system.  I hope your new system will give you more enjoyment and fewer anomalies!

[mmann 72]

Good to know I shouldn't have problems with 4.3 in the new system! It just bugs me that 4.2 didn't have the texture problems (but it did have the ATC problem); while 3.4 has neither problem.

As far as the RAM/VAS goes; I have never had an OOM in 3.4 (which makes sense with my modest settings and my penchant for small GA aircraft at small airstrips).