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An unplanned new feature: Unwrap Texture Creator

Tako_Kichi said:
There is no error message at all Arno, MCX just crashes to the desktop after about 2 seconds of loading time.
Click to expand...
Right, that's weird, normally you should get some exception. You could try to just copy the mdl file to another folder, if it loads then it might be texture related.
 
slacker said:
Virtavia freeware F-11 tigercat and F7U cutlass both CTD with error using both the lastest dev and stable. They do not CTD with stable 1.7. Other than the event viewer I don't know where to look
for and error reporting.

This is what the event view shows:

ication name: ModelConverterX.exe, version: 1.9.2026.104, time stamp: 0x68ff0000
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.26100.7462, time stamp: 0x9225342c
Exception code: 0xc00000fd
Fault offset: 0x0000000000042175
Faulting process id: 0x2128
Faulting application start time: 0x1DC7FB9D5356B34
Faulting application path: E:\mcx4aJan26\ModelConverterX.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: de25c182-74dd-404a-9cd2-e73b1f09b679
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

These models are on virtavia.com/freeware site
Click to expand...
Let see if I can download one of those models to see what happens.
 
I tried your suggestion, and it will load from a different folder. Trying the option to load untextured didn't stop the CTD.
 
What do you mean with loading untextured?

But if the MDL loads from a different folder I suspect the issue is in the cfg or an texture file.
 
MCX has an import option (aircraft.cfg) to load untextured. By the way the f-11 is call a tiger not tigercat to avoid confusion if go to virtavia.
 
Turns out my cultass and tiger are old payware afterall. I bought them years ago and don't see them on the virtavia freeware list. And, I think your right about a problem with the aircraft.cfg. which most likely can be sorted out. Sorry about the miss direct.
 
arno said:
Right, that's weird, normally you should get some exception. You could try to just copy the mdl file to another folder, if it loads then it might be texture related.
Click to expand...
I moved the .MDL file to the desktop and imported it from within the latest dev version of MCX and this time the aircraft came in but it was tiny and also included a huge ground poly for some reason. See image below:

MCX_Test.jpg


The large chequered poly also shimmers and partially disappears and reappears as you pan around almost like it is interacting with the grid face itself. I have never seen a ground poly appear with an aircraft model before (light polys yes, ground polys no)!
 
I guess these are light polygons as well. Since the texture did not load now they look weird. They probably also have a visibility condition to trigger when they are shown.

But since it loads now it is not the MDL file. You could try to add the aircraft.cfg, but still skip the textures and see if it still loads.
 
Out of pure curiosity I just went through my entire 'rotorcraft' collection (both active and inactive) and came across three helos that cause a repeatable CTD when opening the model in MCX. All are made by Virtavia and they all load when just the .mdl file is opened from the desktop. They are the 'CH-46 Sea Knight', the 'Sea King' and the 'Westland Merlin V2'.
 
arno said:
You could try to add the aircraft.cfg, but still skip the textures and see if it still loads.
Click to expand...
I made a dummy folder on my desktop and included a copy of the TBM850 'aircraft.cfg' file and a copy of the entire 'model' folder and MCX opened/imported both the .mdl file directly and opened/imported the model info from the 'aircraft.cfg' file.
 
The texture.cfg file in the models texture folder is what was causing the CTD in my situation. The sim doesn't have a problem with it. And, stable 1.7 doesn't either. Maybe this is the common thread
 
Good catch that it was the texture.cfg file. Could you maybe share the content of the file that gave the issues? That would help me to debug.
 
[fltsim]

fallback.1=..\..\ALPHA F7U Cutlass\texture.shared
fallback.2=..\..\ALPHA F7U Cutlass\texture.bump

This is the location of the required textures:

D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\FSX\SimObjects\Hanger Alpha\ALPHA F7U Cutlass\texture.shared
 
So it seems the first entry refers to itself, let me check if that could not lead to an endless loop. That could explain the CTD.
 
Tako_Kichi said:
Out of pure curiosity I just went through my entire 'rotorcraft' collection (both active and inactive) and came across three helos that cause a repeatable CTD when opening the model in MCX. All are made by Virtavia and they all load when just the .mdl file is opened from the desktop. They are the 'CH-46 Sea Knight', the 'Sea King' and the 'Westland Merlin V2'.
Click to expand...
I was able to download the Merlin and Sea Knight models from the Virtavia freeware page and I can confirm that I can reproduce the CTD with those models. So now that I can reproduce it, fixing it should hopefully not be too hard.
 
I have fixed the CTD now. It was indeed a circular reference in the texture.cfg file. The texture.cfg in the texture.shared folder references the texture.bump folder, while the texture.cfg in the texture.bump folder references the texture.shared folder. So for a texture that is not present in either this resulted in an endless loop. I have modified the texture search logic in MCX now so that it only checks each folder once. And then the two models I downloaded to test work fine. This fix will be in the next development release.
 
Lagaffe said:
Hello,

I have tested this function this morrning and note theses points: for a MSFS 2020 aircraft,
- the interface offers DDS files
- the unwrap display is reversed horizontally (maybe because the DDS were mirrored under FSX/P3D ...)
- when saving the unwrap by choosing a PNG extension, the file is always mirrored

For a livery creator who is not aware, this can lead to errors that he will not understand.
Click to expand...
The way DDS implementation in FSX/P3D was handled was quite poor and the source of much unnecessary confusion. For years, I simply assumed this was part and parcel with the DDS format - and I was wrong.

When Open Rails implemented DDS, we simply kept the existing coordinate system. It was a smooth transition: welcome to a modern container format without the hassle of figuring out whether you're coming or going. I use DXT5 DDS textures on all of my models exported directly from GIMP with no tomfoolery. The user base, while initially hesitant to move away from the old ACE format, has come to appreciate the joys of a modern, layered paint kit that can be exported directly to a game-readable format.

DDS Export 1.JPG


DDS Export 2.JPG


Flipping the y-coordinate was a decision made in the service of a hypothetical, but never measured, potential and minute performance gain in a sim that was so poorly optimized in terms of drawcalls and scenery objects that you'd need a sledgehammer of a gain to reap any real benefit... in other words, decisions were made based on untested assumptions and it's been an annoyance for painters ever since! It's telling that, for years, we were told that flight simulators were unique among games and couldn't possibly be optimized for a myriad of supposed (and untested) reasons (well, uhm, people's computers aren't all the same, and, like, there's physics and stuff!), yet FS2020 will practically run on a brick of cheese with a USB port stuck in it while looking a million times better than FSX ever did. I somehow doubt the problem was the coordinate format of the textures...

The #1 consideration in any UVW mapping layout must be ease of use for the texture artist, no exceptions. Nobody cares how impressive your UVW packing is... it's not going to get you a first date with anyone.
 

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arno said:
I have fixed the CTD now. It was indeed a circular reference in the texture.cfg file. The texture.cfg in the texture.shared folder references the texture.bump folder, while the texture.cfg in the texture.bump folder references the texture.shared folder. So for a texture that is not present in either this resulted in an endless loop. I have modified the texture search logic in MCX now so that it only checks each folder once. And then the two models I downloaded to test work fine. This fix will be in the next development release.
Click to expand...
Thanks Arno, I appreciate your efforts.
🍻
 
Hello Erick

It’s very nice of you to explain this history to us, but I’m just reporting a behavior (I wouldn’t dare say a bug) that can embarrass a young developer.

PS: As far as I am concerned, I have been developing since 2008 and I have addressed FS9, FSX, all the versions of P3D and now MSFS so this does not pose any problem for me
 
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