[RESOLVED: FTX Mode OFF fixes it] Texture corruption in US caused by FTX mode

[pwheeler]

Hi,

I'm getting a texture corruption in the US running with GEX and UTX which seems to be caused by FTX. When I turn FTX mode off the problem goes away. It only happens with night textures. Its as though its trying to display two textures at once as it keeps shifting around even when the sim is paused. Any ideas? I really don't want to have to disable FTX mode everytime I want to fly outside an FTX region.

Lat: N39"51.32' Lon: W104"45.42'

Lat: N39"49.05' Long: W104"43.36'

Also, when I turn FTX mode off and then back on it seems to install a blank terrain.cfg and I lose all my UTX entries. Can this be stopped?

Thanks

Paul

[John Venema]

Yes, FTX Mode ON will place custom terrain.cfg and lclookup.bgl files which are not compatible with other addons.

To fix the UTX issue, turn FTX Mode OFF, run the UTX config tool again which will rebuild your terrain.cfg, and then go fly in the US. When you turn FTX mode ON again the custom UTX terrain.cfg will be nicely backed up for you and you can enjoy AU BLUE region.

Since FTX Mode OFF takes only 1-2 seconds to execute, just get into the habit of turning it off whenever flying outside an FTX region.

[pwheeler]

Is there not a compromise solution? I would rather lose some FTX features and have it compatible with all other addons than have to keep switching it off and on. What if I fly from Austrailia to the US or another part of the world. I don't want to have to stop enroute to switch FTX off.

Also since GEX just replaces the default textures why does FTX corrupt these textures? Or is it compatitbilty with UTX that is causing this problem?

You have said that when you release FTX for the US that it will be compatible with UTX, and since GEX just replaces the default textures I fail to see why these three don't sit together right on my system.

I have noticed that your terrain.cfg includes the changes made by the modified terrain.cfg that is available on avsim. Wasn't this written to address problems with the rtm FSX (e.g. rocks in rivers like the Thames). Is it possible that one of these entries is causing this problem?

Thanks

Paul

[John Venema]

What you are seeing in those shots is LM night lighting sets being called using our modified lclookup.bgl, for sets which either don't have LMs or use them in a different way. Even though GEX does a wholesale replacement of default textures, FTX still repurposes B classes textures in different ways to achieve the lack of repetition and unique feel you get from our scenery.

Believe me, we'd love for the FSX SDK to allow us to implement FTX completely seamlessly and without any intrusion. The issue is that terrain.cfg and lclookup.bgl (both critical files) are *global* files which affect every developer's scenery projects. There is no API available which allows each developer to "register" their changes and just apply them incrementally. That would be the ideal solution. Also, lclookup.bgl is a "closed" format file and completely undocumented, without an .spb and .xml equivalent to allow more open-ended customisation. We are lobbying ACES to allow those (and other) files to be localised, API'd, XML'd and installable to individual scenery addon folders to avoid this issue in FS11 and onwards.

I concede that for trans-ocean flights this will be an issue, but a 2 second switcher process is still doable by saving the flight mid-ocean, exiting FSX, switching FTX modes and then reloading the flight. Think of it as a simulated First Officer Toilet Break

[pwheeler]

Thanks for the explanation John. That makes sense. Funnily enough it only seems to affect a small area of the US between Denver and Kansas and only at night. The rest of the US seems fine. Will this happen with the the default scenery or just GEX/UTX.

Out of interest what would happen to FTX if I used the original lclookup.bgl? Would this make FTX areas unusable?

Thanks Paul.

P.S. I wish I could shut down and restart FSX in 2 seconds - you must have one hell of a rig! 

[John Venema]

Thanks for the explanation John. That makes sense. Funnily enough it only seems to affect a small area of the US between Denver and Kansas and only at night. The rest of the US seems fine. Will this happen with the the default scenery or just GEX/UTX.

Out of interest what would happen to FTX if I used the original lclookup.bgl? Would this make FTX areas unusable?

Thanks Paul.

P.S. I wish I could shut down and restart FSX in 2 seconds - you must have one hell of a rig! 

- Using default lclookup.bgl will completely foobar FTX - Try doing an FTX mode OFF and then loading up a flight in the FTX AU BLUE region - you'll see the effect.

- The small area affected would indicate we have re-classed only some B region textures called by the default landlcass and lclookup in that part of the USA.

- RAID-0 is your best friend 

[pwheeler]

Actually John just tried flying from Adelaide using the default lclookup.bgl and it wasn't that bad at all (sorry if thats blasfamy to the Orbx crew ). I only did a quick flight but nothing stood out as being terrible. I'll do some more testing tomorrow (its 2.30am in the UK). All the FTX textures were there, night lighting seemed OK, and Denver was back to normal! I guess not being an Aussie native I don't really know how its supposed to look.

I'll probably come across a major problem that'll make me look stupid, but oh well... Its worth a try.

Thanks for your help and swift response!

Paul

[macca22au]

Pwheeler:  There is no problem flying from an FTX area of Australia into the default areas where FTX hasn't got to yet.

The problem you have is one most of us have experienced and that John has explained so well.

The trick to it is, or really there is no trick.  If by mistake you start a flight in the US where you have UTX installed(or Canada, or Europe) then you must shut down Flight Simulator altogether, turn FTX off, and restart your North American flight. 

It would seem that some can just turn FTX off,while the game is running, reinstall the UTX files (by clicking on the setup tool icons, and are sweet.  Not so for me therefore I have learned the hard way.  However once it becomes part of your sim checklist it ceases to be a problem.

Come on Gold!!

[pwheeler]

I don't believe this has anything to do with UTX. Since it is a texture corruption I am seeing and GEX only changes the default textures, this must also affect the default landclass and textures. People with no other addons will probably have this problem in this area too.

I don't want to have to exit and restart the sim. I do alot of jumping around the globe when I am in FSX and it takes at least 5 mins to do so this (I don't think anyone can fix this by turing ftx mode off while the sim is running - Since the lclookup.bgl is global it must be cached from the start and will require a full sim restart to refresh it)

Anyway, I am curious to see the effects of the default lclookup.bgl on FTX. So far I have not found anything too drastic so maybe this is a solution for those of us who don't want to keep turning FTX off and on.

Paul

[markwlee]

Paul, It sounds like you should be talking to the Aces Team.  Wonder how interested they will be in patching FSX to make this all happen seamlessly?  OrbX have had to do a lot of hacking to make what they've done happen.  There are compromises - but you'll have to go back to the source for changes to the FSX engine.

Love to hear how you get on.

[pwheeler]

OK first few tests with the default lclookup.bgl have gone well. I've only come across a few eronius textures. These have so far been quite few and far between. The pic below shows a comparison between the ftx and default lclookup.bgl and as you can see the only difference is one missing texture around the stadium. I have only come across a couple of other missing textures and they have not been that bad or obtrusive. I'd rather live with this than the texture corruption all over the US as seen above.

It is of course difficult to do a direct comparison as it takes a sim restart to change files, but other than the missing textures I've not come across any glaring problems yet. Its still early days, but this maybe a solution to the problem.

P.S. sorry about the spelling on the pic. It should read lclookup.bgl (no 's')

Paul

[John Venema]

I can assure you that using the default lclookup.bgl will degrade the cohesiveness of FTX textures quite dramatically. The area you've chosen as an example is not indicative of the chaos that will ensue once you leave urban areas. I suggest you take a flight away from the cities (which have predominately grid-like structures) and into rural areas. The effect will be quite pronounced. Another thing your small images don't show is the secondary slopes which will appear all over non-flat urban areas adding forest and parks where there are none (see the park which has appeared in the CBD area above the word "DEFAULT" in your second image. The most chaotic effect will be the complete misalignment of rural farmlands, fields and display of default classes all over the place outside the cities.

It's completely up to you of course, but this is not a recommended solution endorsed by Orbx at all

[pwheeler]

OK John, I must confess I haven't had time to check out away from cities. I'll take your word for it. I will do some more investigating, however. as I do want to use FTX, but constantly turning it off and on is not really an option for me.

I guess its going to be put up with the US corruption or the FTX misalignment and missing textures. Tough call... Since Austrailia is not the only place I fly and that it is likely there are similar probelms elsewhere in the world,  I am leaning towards the latter.

This will definately affect my desire to buy more FTX packs though. What are people supposed to do when FTX US starts to be released. You wont cover the whole country at once so it is quite likely people will do a flight from the ftx area to a corrupted area. Are people supposed to restart the sim when they fly from the ftx area to the default area with the corruption? I think that will be more of an issue than this is at the moment as currently default Australia works with FTX mode on so people aren't noticing. There's ALOT more simmers in the US...

Paul

P.S. I don't really consider this issue resolved.

[John Venema]

Thanks Paul. This topic is now closed and yes, it is resolved, because that's the way FTX is designed to be used. If that affects your future purchase decisions, that's unfortunate.