The A2A Simulations Community

Hey guys,

it seems I have slightly varying sim performance when using different repaints although they seem to have the same resolution. Is that possible?

At first glance with the P-51 civ I have the best performance with the stock repaints. Do the stock repaints actually perform a bit better in average?

That's an important question for me because I have a quite modest PC system and I'm using FSX:SE.

Thanks in advance,
Zacke

Standard A2A textures are DXT5, with 8 bits per pixel. That's a pallet of 256 possible colours for every pixel. Some custom painters, like me, do some textures in the lossless 8.8.8.8 format, with 32 bit colour depth which is, theoretically and not counting colour opacity, a colour pallet of 4,294,967,295 for every pixel. The lossless texture is 4 times the size of compressed DXT5. So rendering an 8 bit texture of 16MB is far easier on resources than rendering the 32 bit one of 64MB. Also, the more textures the model has the greater the load. It all mounts up.

Steve

Thanks for your response.

Did I get that right the sheer size of the texture folder (in comparison to the stock texture folders) doesn't show me the type of texture [format] and then for me the possible performance?

Hi,

Zacke wrote: ↑04 May 2020, 23:32 Thanks for your response.
Did I get that right the sheer size of the texture folder (in comparison to the stock texture folders) doesn't show me the type of texture [format] and then for me the possible performance?

Yes, you can see it in the filesize, if it either full 32 bit or DTX5 or even mipmapped or not.

DTX5 -> 16.777.344 bytes
32BITS -> 67.108.992 bytes

Marcel

Ok, thanks!

Yes. As Marcel said.

This is for a 4096 texture
Steve.

Edit: This site has a nice explanation, with a visual representation. As you can see, 32 bit is really 24 bit with transparency (opacity).
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutor ... -depth.htm

Thanks for your responses.

@ bladerunner900: Which one applies to the stock repaints? They are running best with my modest pc system. Are they DXT5 textures without mindmaps?

Yes, I think I can give me the answer myself: My preferred repaint has files with 21 mb files and runs a little bit worse than the stock repaints with 16 mb files.

You are right. The old, or stock textures are the 16 MB DXT5 ones and they have no mipmaps.

The new standard, PBR albedo textures are DXT1 with mipmaps and are 10.6 MB. They are smaller because they have no alpha channel. On the other hand, the metallic texture is still DXT5 with mipmaps and is therefore 21.3 MB.

Steve.

I've found a repaint I would love to use with a 16 Mb (p51d_t.dds) AND a 21 Mb (p51d_t_bump.dds) file. The author says there're no mipmaps (!?).

This repaint runs a bit worse than the stock ones. Any chance to get that custom one running smooth like the stock ones?

What is this bump file good for? (p51d_t_bump.dds)

The standard bump file (in the texture folder) is 16 MB, so the one you have must have mipmaps, if it is 4096 and 21 MB. All files in the texture folder take precedence, so you could delete the custom bump file if you wish.

The bump file adds a fake 3D depth effect to things like panel lines, rivets and screws etc. The one in the texture folder is used by all the paints by default and should be sufficient. Sometimes painters make their own because they feel that something has been left out, or may be wrong in the standard one.

The texture.cfg file defines the fallback folders for each paint. If a file is missing, the .cfg file tells it where to look for the default one.

Steve.

Another question: What does the spec file?

I've found some good looking low res repaints (also one with 8 MBb texture files running very smooth), but they seem to be incomplete: In the texture files the parts for the gear strut textures, propeller marks etc. are partly missing. I can't imagine the guys creating such cool repaints miss that part. What am I doing wrong? And could that be fixed in an easy way? See here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApE-TzPN8h7r4lWUzO5 ... o?e=QuNmXY

The texture.cfg looks different than the stock one. There's a path to a folder called "texture_PW" in the first line. Don't know if it has to do with the problem mentioned above.

If you are serious about re-painting read this thread for information about the paint kits and what each file does. it's as good a place to start as any. There's a load of stuff you will have to master.
https://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vi ... 98&t=45108

I believe texture_PW refers to a folder in the military version. It contains files specific to that model. I don't have it installed at the moment. Only the civilian. Also, how the aircraft looks is up to the painter and not all had the makers stamp on the prop. Especially during wartime. You could add it yourself and any other changes with some work.

Steve.

Edit: Just occurred to me. You mentioned the civilian version at the start. With the texture_PW folder, it sounds like you are trying to use a military skin with the civilian. They should be compatible but there may be some subtle differences. It's been a while since I ran both.

Thanks a lot.

Just a last wish: Is there a simple way to edit the text on a repaint? I would like to have my own name on the canopy. The style or font of the text doesn't matter. Could somebody help me or do that job for me?