White Square & Water Blinking problems

[Marat 1]

Dear friends,

 

Can anyone tell how to resolve the problems with white squares in Suez 2 and Persian Gulf terrains? There was a file to update something for Suez 2 or Perian Gulf in order to eliminate these white squares, but it did not help, they are still there. How to resolve this issue?

 

Another problem is with blinking of water in many terrains like Greece, Kamchatka, Black Sea etc. when changing the water graphics to high resolution mode. Only GermanyCE water is OK in this case. What is to be done? Any ideas? Please help!

[+Gepard 11,288]

The best would be if you would post a screenshot here.

 

So i can only guess, that the white squares could be missing tiles. Suez2 and Persischer Golf are made for use with desert.cat file as basic. Desert.cat is included in stock desert terrain by TK.

[+Geary 1,889]

Gepard,

 

Using the desert.cat file worked for me.

 

I had originally used the IsraelME.cat file and had the white squares. 

 

Changing to the desert.cat file fixed that problem in both the Suez2 and Persischer Golf terrains.

 

Thanks for the terrains and fix.

[Marat 1]

Hello, Gepard

 

Well, as to the Persian Gulf and Suez2 terrains, i tried to change the cat file to desert\desert.cat and got this picture: runways dissapeared at all and white squares became much more greater. When chaning back to CatFile=..\GermanyCE\GermanyCE.cat, runways were returned back, and white squares became less. I do not understand why this problem dissapeared with Geary when he changed the cat. Please see attached images.

 

One more issue is with the water graphics only when I switch the water quality to medium or high mode. No problem when in low mode. This problem occurs with the following terrains: Black Sea 2 (with water and grouns), Greece (water), Kamchatka (water and ground), Bering Straights (water), CubaOTC (water and ground). No problem at all with GermanyCE (upgraded to patch October 08), Black Sea and British Isles.

 

As to my graphics cards: Intel® HD Graphics 4000 with the latest drivers 10.18.10.4425 dated 04.04.2016 and NVidea GeForce GT635M with the latest drivers 378.66 dated 09.02.2017. Other more heavier games performance is much more better than my favorite WOE SF1. I do not understand why these problems occur and performance is lower than of other games.

 

Pls see the attached images, probably they will tell smth and we'll find the way out.

 

Many thanks!!! 

[Marat 1]

Is there anyone to help? :-(

[+Geary 1,889]

Try working with only one terrain for the moment.  Try the Suez 2 terrain.

 

Copy the desert.cat file from the Strike Fighters Gold / Strike Fighters Project 1 terrain folder.

 

Copy it into the Suez 2 terrain folder.

 

Change the line entry in your Suez 2.ini file to look like this:  CatFile=Desert.cat

 

Fly that terrain and see if it helped.

[Wrench 9,846]

no one has asked the obvious question:

 

are you trying to make SF2 terrains work in SF1???

[+Geary 1,889]

Suez 2 is SF1.  Why I suggested it.

 

But ...  not sure about his Persian Gulf terrain.

 

One step at a time.

[Marat 1]

Dear Geary,

 

Sorry, I'm just an amateur, so I dod not understand what is the Strike Fighters Gold, where I can find the desert.cat. I looked through the terrains for SF1 and did not find it. Could you please give the exact link so I could make it the way you described.

[+Geary 1,889]

Which Strike Fighters games do you have?

 

The desert.cat file comes with Strike Fighters Project 1 and/or Strike Fighters Gold.

 

In the Strike Fighters game folders you will find a Terrain folder.

 

In the Terrain folder you will find a folder named Desert.  In the Desert folder you should find the file desert.cat file.

 

If you do not have Strike Fighters Project 1 or Strike Fighters Gold you will not have the desert.cat file.

[+Gepard 11,288]

The strange looking water with the flickering, appears, IIRC, at some terrains which were developed befor one of the latest WoX patches.

There was a fix for it. I will try to find it.

 

It has something to do with the xxx_data.ini of the terrain.

 

 

For the missing tiles problem you could use one terrain tileset, which is basing on the desert.cat.

For a quick and dirty solution of the missing tile problem try this:

 

http://combatace.com/files/file/3778-desert-tileset-beta/

 

It is not perfect. Give it a try.

Dont let overwrite tiles, that you have already installed.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Gepard

[Marat 1]

Ok, many thanks for help, Gepard. I will try!

 

Many thanks for help, Geary! I use Wing over Europe (patch Oct 2008), may be that's why I have no desert terrain and did not know where to find it for having desert.cat file

[+Gepard 11,288]

For the flickering water problem try this quick and dirty fix.

 

First step: make a backup of the _data.ini of the terrain

 

Second step: open the file xxx_data.ini    (xxx stands for the terrain)

 

Third step: Overwrite the relating lines at the top of the file with following lines: (all lines from TerrainMesh till NoiseTexture blocks)

 

[TerrainMesh]
TextureThreshold=0.80
LowDetailMeshThreshold=0.50
MedDetailMeshThreshold=0.30
TileToHeightGridRatio=4
RenderMeshVertexCount=4096
RenderMeshIndexCount=6144
SolidObjectVertexCount=12288
SolidObjectIndexCount=18432
AlphaObjectVertexCount=8192
AlphaObjectIndexCount=12288

[HeightField]
DetailScale=1.0
DetailFrequency=1.0
MaxHeight=1000
MinHeight=0

[HeightOffset]
LowDetailMesh=-1.0
WaterMesh=0.8

[NormalTextureMaterial]
UseEffectShader=TRUE
EffectShaderName=TerrainEffect.fx
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=TRUE
RenderedInOrder=FALSE
AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE
CullMode=CLOCKWISE
LightEnabled=TRUE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=TRUE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.0000000
ZBufferOffset=0.000000
BlendOp=ONE
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP

[WaterTextureMaterial]
UseEffectShader=TRUE
EffectShaderName=WaterEffect.fx
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=FALSE
RenderedInOrder=TRUE
AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE
CullMode=CLOCKWISE
LightEnabled=TRUE
SpecularEnabled=TRUE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=TRUE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
SpecularColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
SpecularPower=10.000000
Reflectivity=1.00000
ZBufferOffset=2.000000
BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA
NumTextureStages=2
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE
TextureStage[02].TextureName=
TextureStage[02].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[02].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[02].ReflectionMapping=TRUE
TextureStage[02].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_BLEND_TEXTURE_ALPHA
TextureStage[02].StageAlphaOp=DIFFUSE

[backgroundMaterial]
UseEffectShader=TRUE
EffectShaderName=FarTerrainEffect.fx
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=TRUE
RenderedInOrder=FALSE
AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE
CullMode=CLOCKWISE
LightEnabled=TRUE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=TRUE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.0000000
ZBufferOffset=0.000000
BlendOp=ONE
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP

[NoiseTextureMaterial]
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=FALSE
RenderedInOrder=TRUE
AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE
CullMode=CLOCKWISE
LightEnabled=FALSE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=FALSE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
ZBufferOffset=1.000000
BlendOp=MODULATE_INV_SRC
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].TileU=TRUE
TextureStage[01].TileV=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP

[solidObjectTextureMaterial]
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=TRUE
RenderedInOrder=FALSE
AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE
CullMode=CLOCKWISE
LightEnabled=TRUE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=TRUE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
ZBufferOffset=0.000000
BlendOp=ONE
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=FALSE
RenderedInOrder=TRUE
AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE
CullMode=NO_CULL
LightEnabled=TRUE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=TRUE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
ZBufferOffset=2.000000
BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE

[NoiseTexture]
Size=256
MinColor=229
MaxColor=255
Frequency=1.7
ResolutionFactor=4.0
StartFadeDistance=200.0
EndFadeDistance=500.0

[Marat 1]

Hi, Gepard! 

 

I have done everything you said, namely downloaded and installed the tiles and made changes in the data.inis of the Persian Gulf and Suez 2 terrains. Now they work perfect! Fantastic. Then I made changes in the data.inis by your info for the same to rectify the water issue when in high water resolution mode! This now works too!!! Many thanks to your help!!! I very appreciate for your help!

 

I have one more question to you. There's Afghanistan terrain created by you. In fact there are three or four of them available for SF1 series. Namely it was mentioned thare that it was intended for WOI, but should work with WOE too without some effects. I downloaded and installed the latest version of it. It works with one or two aircrafts and does not work with many other aircrafts (for example Su-25,Mi-24, Mi-8, MiG-21, MiG-23 etc.). Whenever I select these aircrafts for any mission the game crashes. The size of Afghanistan terrain in my terrain folder is 16 Mb only. I'm afraid I did wrong with downloading of it. Is there any chance to have Afghanistan terrain for use of the abovementioned aircrafts and helicopters in my WOE?

[+Gepard 11,288]

When does the game crash exactly? Crashs it during briefing, or while you are looking on the map? Or does it crash during the loading screen? If last, at which percent of loading the game crash?

The planes do you use are working fine with other terrains?

[Marat 1]

The game crashes when I select any aircraft and proceed to start. All of them work fine with other terrains. I think I made many mistakes with Afghanistan terrain when downloading it. The total terrain size in my game is 16 Mb only. I think it should not weigh so light. I donwloaded only Adghanistan terrain 1.0 beta. Maybe here I am wrong?

[+Gepard 11,288]

The size of the terrain with 16.6 MB is okay. But only if you have WOI. With WOE you must download the WOI tileset which you will find in the downloadarea. Without this tileset you will see only white mountains.

In the Afghanistan.ini you must change the line

 

CatFile=..\IsraelME\IsraelME.cat

 

into

 

CatFile=..\GermanyCE\GermanyCE.cat

 

perhaps it will work.

[Marat 1]

Gepard, it works! I downloaded the Afghanistan tileset and everything started working! It works excellent with GermanyCE.cat! But I've noticedone thing now! Only those aircrafts can be used in this terrain, which are set as friedly in the WOE Flight folder! All friendly nations! Not a single enemy nation can be used. Neither Soviet nor other enemy nations can be used set as enemy in the nations.ini in the Flight folder of WOE. There's a nations.ini inside Afghanistan terrain, where Soviet nation is set as friendly. I do not understand what to do. What do you thing about this?Very strange. I need your help with this issue now :-)

Ah, there is another nations.ini in the flight folder that should be put infor the flight folder of the game! I will try now this!

[+Gepard 11,288]

E'm, the Afghanistan air war was always one sided. Only one side had had planes. The other not.

Thatswhy the airfields are all only FRIENDLY. If there would be ENEMY airfields, you would have a taliban air force, which never exist.

In the readme of the terrain, you will find the suggestion, to make Afghanistan as a single installation, with no other terrains.

If you install the changed nations.ini, you will have all nations as friendly, only Afghanistan is enemy. (But this setting would mix up the behavior of other terrains, where soviets and americans are in war with each other. Thatswhy make a separate installation for Wings over Afghanistan)

The soviets are Friendly, the americans are friendly. The timeframe of the planes should be adjusted soviet from 1979 till 1989 and western planes from 2001 up today.

 

 

The designation ENEMY and FRIENDLY in WoX world is confusing. It has nothing to do with reality, it is only the designation of a side. FRIENDLY is the blue side, ENEMY is the red side. You can set all nations FRIENDLY or ENEMY. It depends only in which "team" you want to see the single Air Forces.

[Marat 1]

But how to make a separate Wings over Afghanistan?

[+Gepard 11,288]

Its not difficult. Create a new game folder and call it whatever you want. For instance WingsOverAfghanistan.

Then copy all files (without the not needed terrains and planes) from WoE to WoA.

Install Afghanistan terrain and the needed planes.

Then run the game and enjoy Taliban or Mudjaheddin hunting.

 

And one hint for Afghanistan terrain. Dont use area bombing or oversized ammo. There are a lot of civilists in the area. And killing them gives massive minus points.