HJG McDonnell Douglas MD-82_V1.1 FSX Night texture Issue

[alex]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new in this forum and I really appreciate HJG models.

But, while i find perfect made Boeing 717, I have an issue with Mcdonnel Douglas Md80 with its night textures.

When I run the simulator, I find aircraft without night textures. When i activate landing lights those appears.

This problem is not present in B 717, first I checked the presence of night textures, but i found them, and compared to 717 one's, are pretty complementary.

Thank you for your appreciated help.

Best reguards

Alex

P.S. I've got FSX Steam version

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

When you say "Night texture Issue" .... are you talking about a specific aircraft texture file/airline livery ? "IF SO" then you need to say precisely what texture file you're using (state aircraft type, airline livery and date, and aircraft registration too) so we can check it.

Or .... are you talking about external night lighting effects .... such as ground illumination when viewed from a panel only.

We need clearer information from you here before we can do or advise anything properly.

Mark C
BOG/CO

[Nathan Ford - HJG]

Yes please, a little more info as Mark pointed out will be great so I can have a look in Steam.

Cheers,
Nathan

[hornit - HJG]

A screenshot is worth a thousand written posts! My guess is he is not getting the effects OR not seeing the window lights along the fuselage.

[alex]

Thank you for reply, I was talking about the activation of night textures of every livery of the aircraft:
When i run the simulator logo lights and windows lights are off. But when i turn landing lights on, night textures appears, and logo and windows lights are turned on.
How can i post a screenshot?
Thank you very much.
Alex

[alex]

Hello gentlemen, I found the cause of the problem and I solved the issue.
Mark suggested that could be about a specific aircraft texture file/airline livery. So I downloaded some in HJG website and I found an American Airlines one where the problem is absent. Then i replaced night texture of the working livery to others and problem was solved.
Apparently it was caused by some liveries with corrupted night textures.
Thanks so much for your courtesy and patience.
Have nice flights!
Alex

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

When i run the simulator logo lights and windows lights are off. But when i turn landing lights on, night textures appears, and logo and windows lights are turned on.

In FS .... the like of fuselage cabin window lighting will normally auto-engage/auto-disengage in FS "at a certain point" during dusk and dawn lighting scenarios.

The like of landing, navigation, strobe, and logo lighting will normally manually engaged per panel switches .... using whatever add-on or default panel you've opted to employ.

We still need to know what particular texture you were using and which, you think, your original texture night lighting issues applies to in order for us to be absolutely sure though .... and which we "DO" need to know in the interest of inspecting it, and correcting it .... if necessary .... in order to aid other people.

Mark C
BOG/CO

[alex]

Hello Mark, liveries affected by this issue are:
- Meridina 2013 - I-SMEP - MD-82 Textures by Evaristo Porto Last Updated: 20 Dec 2016
- Bulgarian Air charter 2010 - LZ-LDW - MD-82 Textures by Evaristo Porto Last Updated: 20 Dec 2016
- Alitalia 2010 - I-DANU - MD-82 Textures by Thomas Lo Gerfo Last Updated: 14 Dec 2011
- Spanair 2007 - EC-HFP - MD-82 Textures by Evaristo Porto Last Updated: 20 Dec 2016
- ATI 1989 - I-DAVG - MD-82 Textures by Thomas Lo Gerfo Last Updated: 14 Dec 2011

But those are liveries I tried. Could be others with this problem.
Greetings,
Alex

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

I think I can shed a little light on the issue here:

It would appear that the night textures of at least some of the affected textures (Alitalia and Spanair for sure; I haven't checked the others, though I suspect this applies to all of them) are missing the alpha channel. The alpha essentially allows them to be turned on and off independently of the lights (this is a very simplified explanation; I don't know all the technical details behind this, just that it works); consequently, if this is missing, they become tied to them as you're seeing.

You can use DXTBmp to figure out which textures are affected and which ones aren't. The ones for the HJG MD-80 will look like the one below, with the preview shown in the upper right corner:



If the alpha is missing, as it is on the textures I checked, it will just be white.

That alpha can be exported for use in other lightmaps; under the 'Alpha' tab at the top, there's an option for 'Export Alpha Channel'. Simply save it as something like 'MD-80_00_L_alpha' or however you choose to identify it. To add it to a texture, click the 'Import Alpha Channel' option and select the file, and it should appear in the preview window. Save the texture as a DXT3 bitmap, and you should be good to go- the windows should then light up like normal at night. I would advise you to do this instead of simply copying over textures from another folder, as different airframes may (and likely do) have various configurations of windows that are plugged or otherwise missing, which may result in plugged windows being lit up at night, unless you're willing to live with that. DXTBmp is free, and fairly intuitive once you get into it. Good luck!

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

OK .... I've had a look at this (supposed) issue now .... and conclude as follows

I acknowledge some variance of detailing "is" apparent in respect of the way cabin window night lighting illumination is represented among some of our MD-81/-82/-83/-88 textures, but, this variance may in accordance with the "differing personal preferences" of some of our texture artists

Allow me to explain .... and demonstrate .... as follows ....

Some of our texture artists opt to replicate cabin window night lighting details quite subtly and as follows ....



.... whilst others like to represent these features a little more obviously and as follows ....



Either way, and so far as I can determine, the cabin window night lighting effects are all there .... albeit represented obviousdly or less obviously in accordane with the personal preferences of our artists.

Each (PAX version) MD-81/-82/-83/-88 texture folder should contain a total of 19X individual texture BMP files .... covering both standard detailing and night lighting illumination elements.

As I mentioned within one of my above postings .... wing, beacon, landing, and tail logo lighhting are all usually engaged per panel related switches, but, how well these function in the event that some people aren't using the panels we recommend is an unknown quantity .... since we can only comment in regard to what we know and recommend.

In regard to other texture related night lighting features .... such as the like of cabin window night lighting .... such night lighting features are sometimes auto-activated only "after or before" certain post dusk and pre dawn FS time of day scenarios .... whilst in some cases these details may also be triggered by panel related lighting switches too .... all quite normal.

I won't be recommending any changes or edits.

If some users wish to try swapping texture night lighting BMP's in order to standardize certain night lighting details .... then .... that's entirely up to them of course. Those whom do opt to undertake any such procedures need to be aware though .... that due to cabin window configuration differences which may apply to some of our aircraft subjects .... this acton might not always be entirely successful or result in the desired effect.





Mark C
BOG/CO

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Sorry Erik .... looks like we were both responding at around the same time

Mark C
BOG/CO

[epp1995]

As those are some of my repaints, I have to say that this problem with the alfas is something I overlooked (I forgot to add them to the night textures), sorry.

Regards,

Evaristo Porto

[hornit - HJG]

The Alpha issue can cause EXACTLY what the OP is describing.