Geforce 4 and flt3.cfg

[Guest napis]

Hi All !!!Can someone explain these commands in flt3.cfg ?"punt_single_pass_multitexturing""punt_vertex_fog"I have Geforce 4 TI4400 and My question is:"Need I these commands disabled or enabled ???"Thanks to all for explain.(Sorry for my bad english)PeterP.S.Thanks to all for all addons !!! I love the FU3.TO: Jon PointMy customize clouds. :-))My best screenshots:

[Guest Quaxo]

Hi Napis,I don't know about the "punt_vertex_fog", but I can explain the "punt_single_pass_multitexturing" command.When flying in the night, there are two textures for the ground: 1) the ground photo; 2) the lights texture, which is "superimposed" over the terrain. Recent graphic cards can render the two textures kind of "simultaneously"; I mean, they don't have to draw all the terrain and THEN draw the lights on it, they can do it all in one pass (which is, obviously, much faster). But older cards can't do that.The command "punt_single_pass_multitexturing" controls this: if the command is enabled, it "punts" (blocks) that feature. If you disable it, by putting a ";" before it, you can take advantage of that feature (all modern cards support it). You won't see much visual difference, but the night-flying performance will be much much higher.Hope this helps...CristianP.S. I like your screenshots very much, but in the second, aren't the clouds a little too "orange"? :)

[Guest napis]

Hi Cristian !I don't know why clouds are a little too "orange". :-)I use the flt3.cfg by Rob Driscoll.Ask him. :-)Peter

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Peter,With respect to the "orange" clouds, do you have the following line in your flt3.cfg file ?SkyHazeMethod SpecularI had a problem with "black" clouds appearing when using the SPECULAR option, and this could be similar. The sunset colours may be the reason why the cloud looks dark orange instead of black.Of course, I could be wrong. :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Umm, err.Well anyway, if you think they are too orange, there are plentyof settings you can modify - esp the ones for the sunset effectspointed out in the flt3.cfg text. But too orange? I don't know - I love a full colour sunrise/set, andthe clouds should keep colour as long as possible - after all they catch the sun far longer than the ground does. But you can easily make then redder by dropping the green component: ;--1.SUNSET:sky_LowLevel1ScatterRedHW 1sky_LowLevel1ScatterGreenHW 0.96sky_LowLevel1ScatterBlueHW 0.97sky_LowLevel1ScatterRedScatterHW 0.15sky_LowLevel1ScatterGreenScatterHW 0.40(increase the 0.40 a little to decrease orange, enhance red)sky_LowLevel1ScatterBlueScatterHW 0.55sky_LowLevel1OpticalDepthHW 500I love the photos here. And I'm jealous - you are getting bettercloud effects than I can!Kind regards, Robert.

[Guest napis]

Hi all.You forgot explain me command "punt_vertex_fog" yet.AND, I want to know yet, what is command no_single_texel_textures and that's all and thank you.Hey, RobThank you for compliment, :-)May be, I'm getting better cloud effects, but I'm getting worse FPS, may be. :-)Hey, Chris.Yes, I use only specular method.2xFSAA, Anizotropic filtering Level 4 (16-Tap)Any question next ? :-)RegardsPeterP.S. Sorry for my bad english. :-(

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Peter,Next question. Do you use an Nvidia graphics card ?With respect to the clouds that appear "too orange", try initialising a startup situation at noon, with clouds. Are any of the clouds BLACK ? If so, the problem is your SPECULAR haze method.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

I did some experimenting last night, and unfortunately I can't getmultipass and fog skyhaze options to work properly on my computer. At least, I can't get proper sunset effects with those options, despite going through a fairly full range of parameters. But I get almost pure white clouds during the day with specular, along with good sunset effects. So I prefer specular. But I don't get orange clouds during the day.This means that the parameters I chose for the flt3.cfg files areoptimised for my machine! Not for anyone elses. Although I did useLaurie Doering's site (and many other old hints and tips) in trying to make it as good and robust as possible within my limits.My intention was not to provide a definitive flt3.cfg, but quite the opposite - to generate more experimentation by exploring further. I don't have the answers - other people may have.So I recommend:- keep trying things!- let other people know what you discover!I don't know what punt_vertex_fog means.Regards to all,Robert D.

[Guest jonpoint]

Hey Rob, he's using your flt3.cfg but from my PC(I think)! I had changed a few things to suit my particular combo (Athlon XP1700+/VIA MB/GE2). I fixed the black/white cloud problem (black clouds during the day, white at night !!?!) and a few other frigglies. I also passed on my Rivatuner settings although the GE4 does much more, much better than my GE2. My lack of good anisotropy shows here - my clouds usually look more blurred. Also, the GE4 addresses some issue that affects banding, but only partially. As such, I leave some switches 'off' but with a GE4 you can turn them back on. They affect DirectX settings. Funny, I have to have them 'on' in MM2 or it crashes when you try to select a bike!For my part, these clouds are much better than I normally get. Sometimes, I hit on a 'magic' setting. I try to save them but when I go back, they don't always look identical. I have found with sunrise and sunset, the time of day and season is critical. Simply hitting 'd' or ctrl+d changes the time in 15 minute intervals. Sometimes the particular effect you see may only last for 5 minutes! I have one sunset setting I like which involves takeoff from Coupville BUT you have to wait about 5-10 minutes before takeoff. If you do, the view as you pass over the water towards SEA is spectacular :-kewlJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest jonpoint]

Sorry folks!I forget about the 3D stuff. Here's some links which should explain the fog issue better than I can here! There used to be lots of good stuff on the Intel site but it's gone now - I suppose they think that everybody knows all about 3D by now :~pVertex fog explanationhttp://www.osr.com/DDK/graphics/d3d_567b.htmPixel fog explanationhttp://www.osr.com/DDK/graphics/d3d_8cyv.htmOptimising display drivers for Nvidia cardshttp://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=IO_20011120_4051How 3D meshes are displayed in games engines for backgroundhttp://kali.qca.gu.edu.au/~advanced/xxxxx.htmlSuffice to say that early 3D cards had problem supporting different fog types. I don't think this is an issue with a GE4 :-)Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************:~P

[Guest napis]

Hi Chris.Yes, I use the Geforce 4 TI4400 (currently det.31.00)FSAA 2xAnizotropic filtering 16-TapBlack clouds or darkner clouds appears on the sky only sometimes.I don't know why.I USE THE ORIGINAL FLT3.CFG BY ROB.I will try the flt3.cfg file changed by Jon.RegardsPeterHere are screenshots from "NOON"

[Guest jonpoint]

Orange, orange!Napis,I duplicated your orange cloud 'problem' last night. It's caused by using Larie's 'sunset' settings whilst running the 'sunset' weather preset with ~25%-30% haze!It's caused by BOTH the flt3.cfg file AND the weather while 'amplifying' the orange. If you do this whilst flying over snow (Mt Rainier), the whole mountain turns orange (including the shaded, eastern part :-( ) at about 19:00. Hitting 'd' or ctrl+'d' makes it go away so it must only last in real time for <15minutes.I have found that by setting the season, haze and weather conditions ('cloudy - nice day') I can get more realistic effects. My apologies for recommending the 'sunset' weather file as I always used to use it but since loading Rob's cfg file I hadn't tried this particular combination (the haze is CRITICAL - if you set it <25% you get 'normal' clouds, with barely an orange tinge). With my previous haze method (please refer to my flt3.cfg file for what I use now), the orange 'problem' never happened but I did get strange white clouds at night (the black clouds during the day never looked that bad - I just hadn't seen better - now I know).Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest napis]

I have compared the flt3.cfg by ROB and the flt3.cfg by JON.WoW. What I found out:ROB use SPECULAR method. (Me too)JON use MULTIPASS method.My question:What method is better for Geforce 4 ?RegardsPETER

[Guest jonpoint]

Peter,I had to change to multipass or I got strange, fluffy clouds that stayed white at night! It's because of my (compared to yours!) crappy video (GE2MX200) I think. My old TNT32 card did the same thing. I would assume that your GE4 card would be OK but please try it anyway. In my case it gave no performance penalty, just fixed the weird clouds :-)I have tried altering many things in the cfg file over time and sometimes, you hit on something cool :-kewlHavagoodweekend!Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest napis]

Jon,I have tried both methods, but I didn't see any visual difference and performance penalty.(Geforce4)Can someone explain me, how difference between those methods and What method is better for the nVidia detonators ? Or when I use TNT2, Geforce 2 or Geforce 4, is there visual difference betveen those cards ??? :-|RegardsPeter