Deleting the HUD glass effect

[ryanbatcund]

I want to delete the entire HUD glass on the F18.  I did it once before but now cannot figure out what files to delete/change names.

I already changed the filename from dds to .bak on these two files:



I still get a HUD that has a dark shade of gray and a lighter shade.  Previously, my HUD was completely clear, except for the HUD green text.

With my old installation on XP, it would look like this, after the HUD glass was deleted:


I can't get it looking like that at all now using Vista x64

[Voodoo]

A couple of things spring to mind.

Now you are on Vista you might be using DX10. You would probably have been on DX9 when you were on XP. That may cause differences with the way textures display.

The other thing was, you only need to rename or remove the "hud_glass" texture to make the hud dissappear; you can leave the "fresnelhud" texture alone.

The "fresnel" textures are not simple texture files. I don't know what the effect of disabling them is.
 
- Voodoo

P.S. there's also an alternative hud glass texture at this link if you prefer:
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=416.0

P.P.S. I don't know how FSX/Vista handles multiple file extensions but, just in case it's an issue, why not try renaming your amended files from *.dds.bak to *.dds_bak  --- this is just a complete shot in the dark, I don't know if it's a real issue or not.

P.P.P.S. That's a really nice sunset shot, by the way.   

[ryanbatcund]

Thank you

I think the fresnel texture is that odd green circular ring or rings around the inside of the HUD.

(EDIT) nm, you're right, the fresnel is not that circle, not sure what that does...

I am using Vista, but in DX9 mode.  I'm also beginning to think Vista does something differently.  At first I thought it was the lack of nHancer, but I am now running it with Vista and I see no change.

Here's a shot I just took with the hud glass and fresnel textures renamed to .bak, the canopy is open so you can see the difference between the canopy texture (something else I wanted to get rid of and cannot) and the sky, and of course the HUD is ugly lookin'

[Razgriz]

Canopy:

F-18_Glass_T.dds  (I suspect.)

Hud (I also suspect these)

Fresnel_Ramp.dds
FA_18_Hud_Glass.dds
FA_18_fresnelhud.dds

[ryanbatcund]

Yeah I've already changed those textures....no joy 

[Voodoo]

Ryan, can you post a zoomed-in daytime picture of the HUD under Vista so I can see it in detail?

Cheers,

Voodoo

[Voodoo]

Ry,

If you really want to remove your cockpit glass reflection textures, the following files in your FA-18 "texture folder" are the ones to rename to .BAK

FA_18_05_C.dds
FA_18_05_NIGHT_C.dds

Be aware, if you rename these, you will lose your cockpit mirrors too.

Also take care, if you have been having problems with the HUD textures, you might have problems with these textures too...so double and triple check you can recover these files in case they throw up weird behaviour!

If you really want to keep your cockpit mirrors, let me know and I might be able to do an edited set of files for you.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Voodoo

[Intrepid]

Ry,

If you really want to remove your cockpit glass, the following files in your FA-18 "texture folder" are the ones to rename to .BAK

FA_18_05_C.dds
FA_18_05_NIGHT_C.dds

Be aware, if you rename these, you will lose your cockpit mirrors too.

Also take care, if you have been having problems with the HUD textures, you might have problems with these textures too...so double and triple check you can recover these files in case they throw up weird behaviour!

Regards,
Voodoo

Hey VooDoo those files you suggested are defiantly the right ones 
Thanks for that fix ,cockpit reflections are something I could do without
The only difference I did to your fix was I just removed the two offending files and placed them in
a separate folder (I do that with all the original files for each each aircraft I tweek) That way I have
Backups for when I do something wrong (happens a-lot )So far the sim hasn't been affected in any
other way.
 B.T.W.
Did you get the pics I sent you of the Airshow?
I'm having trouble with my server sometimes sending E-mails

Thanks again
Randy   

[Voodoo]

Spot on, Randy. Hope it worked ok for Ryan too.

Got your pics aok. (also laughed myself silly at the Guinness advert in your later email).

Will have the uploads ready later today for you testing the new Fat Albert. Will drop you an email.

Catch you later,
- Voodoo

[Intrepid]

Cheers 

[Razgriz]

I've managed it with Windows XP.

FA_18_05_C.bak
FA_18_05_NIGHT_C.bak
FA_18_fresnelhud.bak
FA_18_Hud_Glass.bak
Fresnel_Ramp.bak


Those are my files that I've made .bak so FSX cannot read them.

[ryanbatcund]

Yeah removing/and or renaming said files under Win XP worked, see my dusk picture (middle post)

It's like Vista acts differently than XP when it comes to reflections....  odd...

Changing that #5 texture and its associated night texture works, well sorta, it gets rid of the dynamic reflections but it's still not the same as XP.  You see it now makes the view darker...  (left side of pic is canopy, right side is no canopy)



EDIT:  Here's a HUD closeup in the daytime with the said file renamed (hud glass whatever its called)

[Voodoo]

I am wondering if we are seeing some property of the material in the model?  Showing in Vista but not in XP. Could the video card drivers be handling this material property differently between the two O/S's.

Virtuali, could you perhaps comment on what we are seeing? Could it be a video card/OS issue that is displaying model materials slightly differently?

[Voodoo]

FYI, here is what the SDK has to say about Fresnel Ramps:

"Fresnel Ramps and Cubic Environment Maps
When assigned and engaged in a material, the Fresnel Ramp defines incident-angle opacity and colorization for a given channel on an object. The reflection characteristics of a material will be affected by any Fresnel Ramp assigned to that channel in the material. As a general rule, any Fresnel Ramp assigned to a channel on a material will mitigate that channel’s opacity. Channels (Reflection, Specular and Diffuse) will almost always appear stronger and more opaque if a Fresnel Ramp is not present as an adjunct to that channel. Unmitigated channels can appear overly forceful, so it is not recommended for most applications that Fresnel Ramps be removed altogether. If a user wishes to reduce the effect of a Fresnel Ramp on most materials it is recommend that they edit it rather than attempt to remove or disable it.

However, for some very specific materials, it is useful to remove the Fresnel Ramps from certain channels (the Glass and Chrome materials used for aircraft, for example). Fresnel Ramps generally reduce the effect of a channel which they are assigned to, but if you are looking to maximize the reflective qualities of such materials as glass and chrome, then remove the Fresnel Ramps. For most materials, those that are not highly reflective, this is not recommended.

As cubic environment maps are what is displayed as the reflections on an object and reflection channels are affected by Fresnel Ramps, developers should remain aware of them and their effect."

[Razgriz]

So we'd need to tone it down..  :O