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On transparency problems in FSX SP2

E

ErikBwall

Messages
13
Country
sweden
Hello!

From Jon Patch's blog regarding SP2: "FS9 objects with transparency may not display properly". From what I've seen myself my oldest API-based trees with DXT1 textures display the formerly transparent parts of the textures as black. Newer MDL-based trees built with FSDSv3 or 3.5, compiled with MakeMDL.exe and thereafter treated with MDL Tweaker II display the same parts as transparent but with the old DXT3 problem of "unlimited transparency, IE you can sometimes see through everything all the way to the horizon.

I guess ( at the moment I don´t have SP2 installed so I can't check it) that objects compiled "in the FSX way" with XtoMDL.exe will be OK.

My questions now are: Has someone found a way around these problems which allow you to create trees with correctly displaying textures, trees that also rotate to user and display seasonal textures? As far as I know MDL Tweaker II does not work with objects compiled with XtoMDL. Or does it? Are there other ways to treat "XtoMDL trees" to get the desired results? Or are there texture formats that will allow the old models to display properly?

Anyone?

Best regards,
Erik Björnwall
 
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Hi Erik,

This is a tricky part indeed. It seems we are now forced to use XtoMDL for these objects, as we get transparency problems in other cases. But using XtoMDL also prevents us from tweaking for rotation to the user or seasonal textures.

For the seasonal textures I still hope some work around can be found later, but for the rotation to the user I think we will have to forget that feature. The other advantages of the FSX gamepack weight more heavy IMHO.
 
Arno,

Thanks for your answer (even if it wasn´t what I had hoped for:)!). The "rotate to user" feature I can live without but the seasonal changes are necessary to make a small swedish airport look real. Guess I'll just have to postpone my releases, sit down and see what happens!

Erik
 
ErikBwall said:
Guess I'll just have to postpone my releases, sit down and see what happens!
Click to expand...

I have planned to use my Christmas vacation to look more closely at some possible solutions/suggestions I heard at the DevCon. But as vacations usually prove to be too short, I don't know if I will be able to finish that completely :).
 
Arno,

I don't just wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a very long, merry and successful Christmas!

Erik
 
Arno!

Just before Christmas you wrote here that you planned to spend the holidays looking for a way to make trees (and other objects) with seasons variations textures for FSX-SP2.

As you understand I’m very anxious to find a solution to this problem so I’ve got a short question for you now: Did you find out anything?

Best regards
Erik
 
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Hi Erik,

The vacation seemed to short to do all things I planned to look at, so this is still on the wishlist. The only problem is to find the time :).
 
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