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MSFS20 Sim is stubbornly downsampling my texture

Misho

Misho

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Does anyone know why my object DDS texture (after compiling, PNG->DDS), which looks like this...

1759620343479.png


... gets downsampled by the sim into a mess like this?

1759620453445.png


(the bottom screen grab is what the object texture looks like in the sim)

I played with all the relevant graphics settings, and nothing helps. Any thoughts?
 
it has to do with pixels and the size of the lettering on the texture - zoom vs moving the viewpoint
ive read up on this multiple times and i cant explain it

but i can tell you how to fix it - use a Decal, they can dedicate a lot more pixels no matter the zoom
 
EzRyder said:
it has to do with pixels and the size of the lettering on the texture - zoom vs moving the viewpoint
ive read up on this multiple times and i cant explain it

but i can tell you how to fix it - use a Decal, they can dedicate a lot more pixels no matter the zoom
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, this is a freeware photogrammetry Smithsonian model, topo-scanned, and the texture is a jumble of tiny parts. The UVW coordinates are a complete mess (to humans) because of photogrammetry, so I am stuck with this texture and all its baked in "details"

The size is 4096x4096, but it seems the sim is knocking it down to 2K or even 1K.
 
The thing is, about a year ago, this model displayed just fine, in all of its 4K glory. Here is the screenshot:
KSC166.PNG.PNG


Now, I just took the screenshot from roughly the same perspective and time of day:

KSC166B.PNG.PNG


The difference is obvious - and I have NO IDEA what is causing it. Like I said - the DDS texture is sharp, but the sim is somehow degrading it. I tried all the graphics settings I know, and nothing helps. I am thinking it may be something different between MSFS2020 builds between those 2 time periods.

I don't see any exporter settings in 3DS max either. like I said, the texture itself is sharp, but something in the sim is degrading it.
 
mamu said:
Did you try NOREDUCE in dds flags?

Reference

Textures

docs.flightsimulator.com docs.flightsimulator.com
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for the suggestion! I forgot about the FLAGS file (they used to have them with every texture, but now I see they are gone)

So, I created one, with the contents:

Code: 
_DEFAULT=QUALITYHIGH+NOREDUCE

However, that didn't help.

I also tried to remove "FL_BITMAP_COMPRESSION","FL_BITMAP_MIPMAP" from JSON file, and that gave me a purple checkered texture... so no go on that either.
 
Mystery solved (I think)... I am guessing it comes down to hardware resources. Basically, if the hardware is running out of memory, it will go down to the next MIP level.

I basically created a new scenery project, a blank slate, and inserted the SimObject in question. Lo and behold, it displayed with the full res texture:

1759714423938.png

1759714520322.png



So, basically, as my scenery grew, the resources were wearing thin, and the system at some point started using the lower MIP levels of textures. Well, one for the books, live and learn ;)
 
As you may recall, FS' displayed LOD and associated MIPMAPs vary with user camera distance from 3D objects; this image appears "closer".

Does the above tentative hypothesis hold true with user camera distance from the shuttle at the distance shown in your original screenshot ? :scratchch


Thanks for exploring this, as I was concerned Asobo was eventually going to attempt ways to "dumb-down" quality to save on 2-way streaming bandwidth.

GaryGB
 
GaryGB said:
As you may recall, FS' displayed LOD and associated MIPMAPs vary with user camera distance from 3D objects; this image appears "closer".

Does the above tentative hypothesis hold true with user camera distance from the shuttle at the distance shown in your original screenshot ? :scratchch


Thanks for exploring this, as I was concerned Asobo was eventually going to attempt ways to "dumb-down" quality to save on 2-way streaming bandwidth.

GaryGB
Click to expand...
Hi Gary,

I have 3 LODs on this particular object (Space Shuttle Orbiter). The LOD displayed is 000, while LOD 001 and LOD 002 are WAY different (but close enough for the distance) and they work fine. I think what you are asking is, is the texture sharp if I move the camera away, and yes, it is, because the texture is part of this LOD 000 - the LOD switches the model, not the material/texture. Also, I think the distances in the original screenshots and this latest one are fairly similar, maybe a difference in meters.

Also, I should mention that my dev system is a lowly 1680, and I think on a newer hardware, this would not be an issue. But - that's why I develop on older hardware - to see what problems sprout up on the lowest common denominator...

And then spend time solving an issue that only 1% of users will face :D
 
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