90% reduction in textures

[clayton4115 56]

wow! thanks to Tom Knudsen he has reduced the textures by a whopping 90%!!!You may see frame rate improvements in this download.http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=...4&CatID=fsxmisc

[Max Kraus 338]

Worth a try. Nice work.

[d-skypilot 0]

hello,I tried it, texture seems to be upside down :-) in the sim.And what about framerate gain?Im not shure so far.regardsUli

[Guest]

What exactly does the global environmental textures show us...? In the zip are only two textures! The original was 6 Mb: doesn't sound that much when you've got 2 Gb ram... I'm going to try it of course (have to wait until tonight) but I'd like to know what exactly this global environmental texture is.BTW The filesize has gone from 6 Mb to 86 Kb: that's not a reduction of 90% but almost 99%!

[Guest Redvan]

screenies? How's the quality compared to the original?

[Guest abulaafia]

what is upside down? I see no difference visually or in frame rates. ==Marten:Weber==P-D920 oc3.64MHz 2GB RAM WinXP ATI X1900+1024MB 2xSATA250 2xVIEWSONIC 19"Best AI available today: www.world-of-ai.com

[Guest CDAhmedEH]

Well on my system, I didn't gain any performance..

[d-skypilot 0]

hello,it affects the "chrome"-parts of the plane, like propeller spinners, for example.I see the ground reflections on top and the sky reflections on the downside.regardsuli

[n4gix 4,947]

While a commendable effort, unfortunately both of those files are saved in an incorrect format. Both of these textures are "Cubic Environment Maps" and should be created and saved in that format using the correct tools:"Flight Simulator X uses a cubic environment map to generate reflective surface qualities on objects. The cube map itself is a virtual cube, comprised of six individual textures which are all arranged to form the six faces of a cube. This cube is not visible as a separate object in a scene since it exists solely in the texture buffer, but represents a cube with the object at its center and its faces directed inwards. As such it acts as a stand-in for the real environment surrounding the object."More importantly though, please take note of this cautionary note in the SDK (emphasis redactor's):"Existing cubic environment maps within Flight Simulator X should not be edited. Many objects throughout Flight Simulator X use materials which reference the existing cubic environment maps. Settings and values used in Reflection and Specular maps were designed specifically to be used in coordination with the values in the cubic environment maps. If these values are changed, almost all of the objects within Flight Simulator X will display incorrectly in a permanent and universal way.""Cube maps exist as a specific set of six separate textures embedded within a single file along with information about where each of the six textures should be arranged in order for it to be displayed properly. These cube map files are not ordinarily editable as a standard, single texture file would be. They need to be opened and edited using tools designed specifically for the purpose of editing cube maps."Here is a composite image showing the "replacement maps" above the original, "Cubic Environment Maps."http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6271/cu...mentmapswv0.jpg

[meerkat 86]

So better some admin should contact the author and remove the file from the library.Regards

[nudata 10]

Bill,I was enticed by the numbers for the changed files. I saw no improvement as well. Now it seems that there are situations where the texturing may be harmed.My problem is "fumble fingers". Although I kept backup folders they were on the same drive and I did drag/drop to try the changes. Now I end up with the changed smaller files only. Is there any way to decode the stuff on the FSX DVDs to pull in those two files or do I have to do a repair?Regards,Dick BoleyA PC, an LCD, speakers, CH yoke

[n4gix 4,947]

>do I have to do a repair?Using the "Repair" should fix you up nicely, Dick.

[Guest JIMJAM]

Anything that seems to good to be true.......I learned the hard way not to just click and pray when it comes to these "tweeks"Just yesterday I downloaded some scenery from here and the auto installer auto screwed it up.Before the FSX patch arrived, I know mine was a wreck from all the texture reductions that turned out to do S***!Think before you click.

[n4gix 4,947]

For the interminably curious, here is what a "Cubic Environment Map" looks like when it's "Unwrapped" into its seperate faces. If you were to print out this image, cut it out around the borders, then fold along the edges, you would wind up with a "picture cube" with the dark face as the "bottom" and the sky blue face as the "top." ;)http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5216/cu...tmapsunwqp8.jpgBTW, using Photoshop CS with the nVidea DDS plugin, it is easy to reduce the size of the Cubic Map by - say - 50%, and then Save As same filename, selecting the "Cubic Map" as the type in the export plugin's dialog. Doing that will reduce the size of the file from 1537 KB to a mere 97 KB, but still preserve the "Cubic" format... ...however, I still don't recommend it as it's impossible to easily determine just what else may be adversely affected by the reduction in resolution... :-beerchug

[boshar 6]

I always thought that the chrome reflected the real enviroment. So its just this enviroment map that we see reflected?