chris_eve

The only "mipping" experience I've got is using DXTBmp Texture tool (mwgfx.co.uk) , which has a comprehensive analysis of the different types of "mips" as used by different versions of FS and CFS. I'd suggest grabbing a copy and at least browsing through the help files, if not use the program ... there's far more info there than I've ever needed I seem to remember from my days using FSDS to make a few AI aircraft that some "viewability" parameters can be included in the models themselves, so there maybe some interaction between the mips setting and these parameters which might give noticeable artefacts. The various Settings | Display settings from the Options menu within FS can/will also affect how subjects in the middle and far distance are shown ... this is where you'll notice "older" models not having any mips standing out starkly against a generally low-resolution background!

Wondering which version of Windows you're running? I recently ran into a couple of "weird" issues under W10 which required generating a new (different) Registry key. I'm running W10 64-bit, fully updated, so this may not apply to other systems, but I've found (more by luck than judgement) that there needs to be a registry entry such as this :- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0] "EXE Path"="C:\\Flight Simulator\\FS9" for things to more or less "return to normal". Do note that the path presented here reflects the installation on my machine ... you may need to edit to suit. I posted this in the "Installing FS2004 into Windows 10" thread above, but it won't do any harm to mention it here.

Have things changed? All of a sudden AFCAD2 started reporting that FS9 wasn't installed on my computer then promptly exited, and a couple of other applications exhibited similar symptoms or at least needed to be "reminded" of where FS9 was installed. The RegistryRepair utility no longer provided a suitable solution! I'm running W10 64-bit, fully updated, so this may not apply to other systems, but I've found (more by luck than judgement) that there needs to be a registry entry such as this :- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0] "EXE Path"="C:\\Flight Simulator\\FS9" for things to more or less "return to normal". Do note that the path presented here reflects the installation on my machine ... you may need to edit to suit. I've got a couple of other minor issues, like FS9 re-starting by itself when it's closed down from within the program ... I've taken to using Task Manager to close FS9, at least then it stays closed Whether that relates to the other problem I don't know ... it certainly only started happening recently! I'll be interested to hear of any other similar experiences.

The textures "used" by AFCAD are just the default textures supplied with FS9. All AFCAD does is generate a bgl file which complies with the FS9 "standards" for airport layout, then the simulator itself applies the appropriate textures as required. Is it possible you've applied some kind of "enhancement" which purports to improve performance by replacing original textures with smaller files, or even a scenery download which has replaced the default files without asking permission? I remember it being fashionable to resize textures for trees and such, where the originals were possibly of unnecessarily high resolution for a feature which was only ever likely to be seen in passing. One would ideally need to compare the contents of your FS9\Texture folder with the default textures from an unmodified installation to be able to recognise if there are any noticeable differences. or even just copy all the textures from a fresh install to your FS9\Texture folder and hope to over-write the culprit(s). Good luck.

I see the original posting was related to (mostly?) American airfields, but if anyone is using photo-scenery of the UK you might find the "Disused Airfields" section of my "Private Strips Revisited" upload to be of interest. Very few have any detail, but they all act as markers on the map which you can refer to when passing.

I was only getting the problem before I updated several other programs, at least one of which I suspect uses the same modules as SceneGenX, so once they were re-installed/re-enabled the problems went away for both programs ... so now, of course, I can't generate the errors, neither am I sure of which program rectified the issue All part of the hassle of having to find and install all the apps I had on the old drive before it crashed ... fortunately my data is on a separate disk and regularly backed up to external devices As for the TPM, my HP Z230 is over seven years old, it was Windows 7 when purchased ... I retired seven years ago and bought the machine before then. It only has TPM 1.3 (I think) which is enabled. I did look into it but having found I needed TPM 2 I didn't look any further. No big deal, W10 runs out of support next year so I'll probably need a replacement machine anyway

SceneGenX is exactly what I used (and still use) to generate my "Private Strips", "Irish Airstrips" and "100 Irish Runways" (all uploaded here) plus a whole hatful of other bits and pieces, many originally under XP 32-bit, so W7 64-bit should be no issue The guy who wrote SceneGenX was previously responsible for the "Airport for Windows" programs for the earlier versions of FS, so he had a good idea of what he was doing! I do have the advantage of using EZ-Scenery for building and object placement, once the airport layout is completed, which really speeds things up, but SceneGenX can do object placement, as can some other programs, which I've not bothered to familiarise myself with. One feature SceneGenX incorporates, possibly uniquely, is the ability to generate "default" buildings from scratch. These are relatively low detail and very low performance-hit, great for an industrial estate or military barracks where you may want dozens of similar buildings - see attached Catterick and Longtown facilities, shown here in the UKVFR photo scenery. As with many shareware programs, SceneGenX can be a bit "quirky" in places ... it always was "in development", but I got to grips with it quite readily and have never felt the need to use anything else. If you're not working on photo scenery, I'd also suggest getting to grips with sBuilder, which can do a really nice job of generating airport backgrounds that blend in well with the surrounding scenery as well as creating very impressive fencing and a few other tricks Enjoy!

As far as I'm aware these are the final iterations of SceneGenX ... if I remember correctly they were never actually released! I struggled to find these very many years ago ... take good care of them SceneGenX Distribution.zip SceneGenX Update for FSX.Zip

Hope I haven't sent you on too much of a "wild goose chase", but when similar symptoms occurred with another (old) application I performed a re-install and the problems went away! I'm guessing there was some kind of DLL or OCX registration that got "broke" during an update and needed to be reinstated. I'm familiar with using regsvr32 from an elevated Command Prompt to register files, if I know which file is required, unfortunately there wasn't any indication in the error message as to which module was causing the problem. These things happen

My Druine D.62 Condor (unfinished) passing Mont St. Michel (from French-VFR (free.fr) ) re-aligned to the UT Europe scenery.

Not sure if it comes under your remit, but SceneGenX under W10 now gives "Run-time Error '380' : Invalid Property Value" when trying to create a new scenery, probably after a recent W10 update, but I'm not sure which one. I had a hard-drive crash a couple of weeks ago, (fortunately all my data was backed up), but I'm still re-installing all my programs after re-installing and updating W10 on a new drive ... my PC is unsuitable for upgrading to W11, apparently Having established I could still load, edit and re-save existing files, I've figured a crude work-around by creating a "dummy" file, which I can load and re-edit to suit, but if you fancy a challenge, being able to operate "normally" would be a bonus