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#4517090 - 04/18/20 05:30 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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messyhead Offline
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Don't set your expectations too high biggrin

I think it's possible to do that with DDS textures, and different layers, but I think the graphics engine needs to support it. I've see multi-layered DDS textures from DCS like that, but EECH seems to just use luminosity. Texturing is a bit of an unknown for me, so I need to sort that all out once everything is functional.

Is that video from Combat Helo?

Last edited by messyhead; 04/18/20 05:33 PM.
#4517092 - 04/18/20 05:47 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  

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ARMA 3.
without problem it can be done with the luminosity in eech.
another idea is a separate texture day and ngt as in mi 28.

#4517365 - 04/20/20 07:26 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Chrono working now, but only for local time. And I need to make it look less like a clock radio! biggrin

Attached Files chrono1.jpg
#4517421 - 04/21/20 10:50 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Finished off the digital clock. It's not the same as the real thing, but it's functional in the game. The real one has GMT (or UTC) at the top, and then Local or Mission time at the bottom.

This one just has Mission Time at the top and Local Time at the bottom.

If there's no mission, it just shows --:--:--

Attached Files chrono2.jpg
#4517431 - 04/21/20 12:16 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Fuel gauge now split between two tanks. I also realised the LEDs weren't showing the correct fuel level, and were always 100%, so have fixed that too.

Attached Files fuel_guage.jpg
#4517524 - 04/21/20 10:50 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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I think it's time I started tackling some of the texture issues. On the central display unit, the textures look fine close up. But when you zoom out, they "shimmer" and become unclear. Can anyone explain why that is, and how to solve it?

I'm going to try a few things that i think might help, but I don't really know, and texturing isn't my strong point. The texture files are just BMP at the moment, so I'm going to try with TGA, and DDS to see if it helps.

#4517552 - 04/22/20 06:35 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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sounds like mipmaps issue - for BMP and TGA, mipmaps should be genereated manually in separate files, like
1_BUTTON.TGA
1_BUTTON@1.TGA
1_BUTTON@2.TGA
1_BUTTON@3.TGA

for DDS, they are generated automatically (if checkbox checked), so it's preferable file format for any purpose

#4517554 - 04/22/20 07:13 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: thealx]  
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Originally Posted by thealx
sounds like mipmaps issue - for BMP and TGA, mipmaps should be genereated manually in separate files, like
1_BUTTON.TGA
1_BUTTON@1.TGA
1_BUTTON@2.TGA
1_BUTTON@3.TGA

for DDS, they are generated automatically (if checkbox checked), so it's preferable file format for any purpose


I thought it might be something to do with mipmapping. I changed the single BMP to a TGA, and it already has improved it. Almost like it mipmaps it by itself. In the images below, the central display and countermeasures (to the left of it) use TGA. When zoomed out, they look softer. Compare that to the RPM/TRQ display that still uses a single BMP.

How do you create the different mipmap levels in the texture? Is it the texture file size, or the resolution that gets reduced? E.g. close up 512x512, then 256x256 etc. Or is it the pixels/per inch size in photoshop? I tried looking on the wiki as I think this has been mentioned before, but couldn't find anything.

I tried using the Nvidia tool to create DDS, but it won't launch in photoshop or using the standalone tool. Photoshop doesn't support DDS, but I've read that Gimp does, so I'll try that.

Attached Files texture_issue1.jpgtexture_issue2.jpgimage_size.JPG
#4517555 - 04/22/20 07:27 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Actually, DDS plugin for Photoshop (can be found on nVidia website somewhere) create mipmaps without manual adjustments - usually it's 1/4 of original image, 1/4 of previous mipmap and so on.

Attached Files dds.jpg
#4517557 - 04/22/20 08:19 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: thealx]  
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Originally Posted by thealx
Actually, DDS plugin for Photoshop (can be found on nVidia website somewhere) create mipmaps without manual adjustments - usually it's 1/4 of original image, 1/4 of previous mipmap and so on.


Thanks. I downloaded Nvidia Texture Tools Exporter as a plugin and standalone, but they won't launch. I'll have another look for it. I'll also try the plugin in an older photoshop version, as it just updated to the 2020 version.

However, I was able to use Gimp to export as a DDS with mipmaps, and it seems to work. I just need to play with the export settings to see what effect they have. I think the textures look a bit too soft now, even when zoomed in, and have lost some of their sharpness.

What are the limits on texture sizes?

#4517558 - 04/22/20 08:35 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Originally Posted by messyhead
too soft now

I've noticed that as well, may happen because of low anisotropic filtration level, or just because the way how current DX version render textures. you can decide to use textures without mipmaps for cockpit - sometimes it's worth it.

Originally Posted by messyhead
What are the limits on texture sizes?

it was 2048x2048 but not sure about now - after latest D3D changes, maybe it was increased. had to be tested.

#4517560 - 04/22/20 08:48 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: thealx]  
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Originally Posted by thealx
Originally Posted by messyhead
too soft now

I've noticed that as well, may happen because of low anisotropic filtration level, or just because the way how current DX version render textures. you can decide to use textures without mipmaps for cockpit - sometimes it's worth it.

Originally Posted by messyhead
What are the limits on texture sizes?

it was 2048x2048 but not sure about now - after latest D3D changes, maybe it was increased. had to be tested.


Does having bigger texture sizes help with the in game texture quality? I tried some different sizes and couldn't see much change, but all of my textures need optimised.

#4517561 - 04/22/20 09:15 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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I don't think it may help - at some point image is large enough and does not look blurry, but further resolution increase will not change anything

#4517564 - 04/22/20 10:53 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  

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You can do 4096x4096 texture.

#4517582 - 04/22/20 01:26 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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I'm going to leave the texturing again for now, and work on more functional things. I'm going to need to combine textures into less files and redo the UV maps. Also the sizes all need to be power of 2 e.g. 256x256, 512x512 etc, so that'll mean redoing to the model parts with the new textures. I'll probably use DDS due to the mipmapping, and also in future it means if the DX version is updated, more texture features can be added like different layers etc. D3D9 only supports a few mipmap filters, so I need to experiment with which gives the best results, and also the compression used.

#4517815 - 04/23/20 08:01 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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I started work on updating the MFDs. I'm borrowing the ones from the Apache in 1.15.4 that have never been in a release. They match with what I've seen of some of the MFD screens in the MH60L, and it'd be a shame to never use them as they're pretty good. I've almost got the engine screen working.

#4517996 - 04/25/20 01:28 AM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Engine MFD page now working. Images show manual engine startup, flight, and overtorque. I need to make some tweaks to the font used, but it's all functioning. I'm going to add the MFD buttons too.

Attached Files blackhawk_engine_startup.jpgblackhawk_engine_flight.jpgblackhawk_engine_overtorque.jpg
#4521501 - 05/19/20 06:40 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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I've been out of action for a few while due to needing a new laptop, that got delivered today. I got myself an Asus Tuf A17, Ryzen 5 4600H, with a nvidia GTX 1650ti. So I can now also run Falcon BMS at a decent speed, so I might defect to fixed wing sims biggrin

I'm hoping to get everything reinstalled and get back to work on the Blackhawk asap.

#4521609 - 05/20/20 02:15 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Belarus
Originally Posted by messyhead
I got myself an Asus Tuf A17.

Congrats! wink

#4549446 - 12/22/20 07:33 PM Re: Blackhawk project - revival [Re: messyhead]  
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Originally Posted by messyhead
I've been out of action for a few while due to needing a new laptop, that got delivered today. I got myself an Asus Tuf A17, Ryzen 5 4600H, with a nvidia GTX 1650ti. So I can now also run Falcon BMS at a decent speed, so I might defect to fixed wing sims biggrin

I'm hoping to get everything reinstalled and get back to work on the Blackhawk asap.


Finally found my backup drives, so managed to get Lightwave reinstalled. Maybe I'll do some work on it over the Christmas break, if I can remember what I was doing last.

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