Night textures are not always needed

[Guest GerrishGray]

Calling all scenery designers:-wave Hi everyone!I seem to be continually downloading scenery with loads of unnecessary *_lm.bmp night textures files included. FS is quite capable of darkening the ground and 3D objects all by its clever little self, thanx. _lm night textures are only required if you want to add deliberate night-lighting effects such as floodlighting, or lit windows on buildings, etc.So please guys, save yourselves the time and trouble, make your downloads smaller, and save space on our disks by forgetting those _lm textures that are just a darkened version of the original.Of course, if you like to have everything under your micro-control, there is probably an opening for you as a Member of Parliament here in the UK - our 'New Labour' governement under Tony Blair are famous for their love of being "control freaks" ! :-lolBut seriously guys, hope this little tip saves some of you unnecessary trouble. (But if you're an "old dog" who knew this already, please accept my apologies for trying to teach you new tricks!!!)Kind RegardsGerrish

[Guest PaulL01]

>Calling all scenery designers >>:-wave Hi everyone! >>I seem to be continually downloading scenery with loads of >unnecessary *_lm.bmp night textures files included. FS is >quite capable of darkening the ground and 3D objects all by >its clever little self, thanx. _lm night textures are only >required if you want to add deliberate night-lighting >effects such as floodlighting, or lit windows on buildings, >etc. >>So please guys, save yourselves the time and trouble, make >your downloads smaller, and save space on our disks by >forgetting those _lm textures that are just a darkened >version of the original. >>Of course, if you like to have everything under your >micro-control, there is probably an opening for you as a >Member of Parliament here in the UK - our 'New Labour' >governement under Tony Blair are famous for their love of >being "control freaks" ! :-lol >>But seriously guys, hope this little tip saves some of you >unnecessary trouble. (But if you're an "old dog" who knew >this already, please accept my apologies for trying to teach >you new tricks!!!) >>Kind Regards >Gerrish Hi Gerrish,Good point!Problem is, if you apply even just one _lm.bmp to an object that uses other *.bmps they all would/should be _LM.bmps; the same goes if the object is near to another that makes use of the _LM.switch. Why? Because Fs2k2 does not render the "darkening" effect evenly compared to the more correct look of the default _LM.bmp files; that is, its very pale and light as compared to most any _LM.bmp.I find that if I dont apply _LM.bmps to all significant scenery and objects, then it really stands out like a sore thumb. :( One thing however that can be done is in a lot of cases there just isn't a whole lot to see as far as detail in many Object and AC _LM.bmps and so these can be reduced from 1028x1028 etc. to 256x256 or 128x128 etc...I do this to many of the _LM.bmps to many of the added AC that use, as in some areas at night there seems to be some real power hungry "stuff" going on and we need all the help we can get. :)Ok, I'm rambling now...LaterPaul

[Guest]

Buildings at night are lit from outside by monochromatic sodium or mercury vapour lamps. Have a look at unlit billboards, signs, ads etc.Unless FS automatically desaturates the colours then some night textures might be required to give the proper effect. Here in Los Angeles some buildings are externally lit by colored floodlights.Of course, consideration should always be given to file sizes of downloads. However around where I live, many trees have those sparkly white holiday lights in them and can be floodlit from the ground. Usually found in trendy areas full of popular restaurants and cafes. We should demand night time tree textures to achieve this effect.:-lol :-lol :-lol :-lol

[Guest GerrishGray]

Hi PaulThanks for your reply. Of course there are, indeed, many occasions when 'lm' textures are needed, or improve the night-time appearance, but my tip was meant for newbies etc. who perhaps don't realise that an 'lm' is not always required. I notice that Microsoft[ol][li] do not provide 'lm' versions of the default ground textures unless there are night-lit buildings to pick out - the auto-darkened versions of these seem to blend quite happily alongside those textures that do have 'lm' versions[/li][li]and also do not provide 'lm' textures for the default aircraft - where necessary, they now add '_L' versions which, as I understand it, superimpose window lights, tail spots, etc. onto the auto-darkened default '_T' texture?[/li][/ol]Now, as to Ihor's party lights, I've told him that I expect an invitation to one of these shindigs before I go hanging lights on my trees and risk setting fire to them :-smile12CheersGerrish

[wsieffert 0]

Just think, if they did start on fire, we could fly in one of those fire-fighting aircraft that drops all the red fire retardant on them to put out the fire.So...Who's going to build the fire-fighting aircraft, who's going to build the fire retardant effects file, and I guess we'll LET Gerrish deal with lighting the trees. I hope he doesn't use those cheap Holiday lights that crap out and the whole string goes out. If he does, then we'll need a whole new maintenance program to replace the bulbs one-by-one until the string lights again.:-lol

[Guest]

>Now, as to Ihor's party lights, I've told >him that I expect an invitation to one of these shindigs >before I go hanging lights on my trees and risk setting fire >to them :-smile12 >>Cheers >Gerrish ROFL!!I'm an ex-volunteer firefighter, I'll drag some extinguishers to the party! :-lolhttp://fsgateway.com/images/frank.jpg

[Guest Claviateur]

Hi Gerrish,Umm that makes me think about my scenery, maybe I must learn the lesson from here. As you are testing can you please tell me if the _LM I have are all needed or they are too many of them? Especially for the ground layoutCheersMichel

[Guest]

better make the extinguishers in GMAX...if done in scasm the fps may be to low to get ahead of the burn rate.B