165 replies to this topic

[pwheeler]

Hi,

As we draw near the release of FS Water Configurator I just wanted to show you some of our presets in action. Below are two screenshots taken over a lake in Canada. All I have done between the two shots is change from our 'Calm Inland Water' profile to our 'Rough Inland Water' Profile so you can see the difference:




And here are our 'Calm Ocean' and 'Rough Ocean' presets:




I also wanted to demonstrate how subtle you can make the reflections using FSWC. Here is our 'Rough Ocean' profile again. If you look closely you can just make out the reflections of the Beaver. Of course how subtle or strong the reflections are is completely up to you.



We have lots of presets for you to try out. We have ones that have been specifically tailored to FSX missions, more general ones like those above and a few extreme presets like 'Glass Water' and 'Black Water'. Of course you can also make and save your own presets. Oh, nearly forgot, we also have a 'Default FSX' and a 'Default FSX with no moonglow' preset too!

Cheers,  

Paul

Edited by pwheeler, 09 June 2008 - 06:16 PM.

[badboyz777]

nice job

How about the FPS ?

[pwheeler]

FSWC has no effect on FPS at all. The shader effects work at all water 2x settings. Obviously at 2x low it will only effect the sky reflections as thats all FSX renders at this setting.

The interface is very intuitive and no messing about is requried. Just install and go!  

Paul

[Jakarta Captain]

If visability is high I get that annoying repetitive water pattern to the horizon

Does you product remove that ?

[pwheeler]

No our product does not change water textures. It manipulates the water shader effects to give the user control of reflections, sun specular reflections, moonglow and many more.

However, the nature of the shader enhancements means the repetitive nature of the underlying textures is a lot less noticable at many settings. You can also reduce the intensity of the base textures if you wish.

Checkout our website www.fswaterconfigurator.com for more info.

Paul

Edited by pwheeler, 09 June 2008 - 07:26 PM.

[Ashton Lawson]

Those screenies are stunning Paul .

I suppose you all think that of course I'd say that considering it's our project .

[Alter_Boy]

good work guys

im in a hurry trying to fix my FSX before the next stage of testing starts xD

[Super Six Three]

I really hated how reflective the water is in the default FSX. I can't wait to download this. I can make oil in the water!

Can you change the color of the water?

[pwheeler]

In order to change the colour you will need a water texture addon such as FEX or REX.

You can change the intensity of the base texture, so you can make your water more grey (or black!!).

Due to the nature of the new freznel enhancements there is much more variation in the colour of the water as it varies from no sky reflection beneath you to lots of sky reflection near the horizon - just like in the real world!  

Paul

[Ashton Lawson]

What Paul said .

There was a period, actually, where we were thinking about being able to change individual RGB saturations of the base texture, which would allow you to change the colour of the water to a certain extent.  We couldn't find out how to do this, so just a general saturation slider was chosen.

Besides, we wouldn't have enough room for the sunlight and moon reflection sliders, and they're far more important than possibly turning your water pink (which would be possible had we thrown in the RGB sliders ).

Oh yeah, we've reached 7000 hits on the website, and counting .

[Mr Palmason]

Looks amazing !

Cant wait to see this product in action  

[WF10]

Looks like default water to me...

[pwheeler]

The water textures themselves are from FEX in the screenshots. FSWC is not a texture addon. It manipulates the 2x water shader effects.

Its the reflections, specular lighting and shading that FSWC is changing in the screenshots.

If you look at the first and second images there is a clear change in the intensity of the reflections. The 'calm' preset is much more reflective than the 'rough' preset.

If you look at the last image of the Beaver the reflections are very subtle. In default FSX these would be very strong - fine for calm water but no good in a thunderstorm!

FSWC has the ability to distinguish between vertical and horizon reflections. In the default FSX shader the reflection intensity is the same if you look vertically down as if you look to the horizon. In reality this is not the case. If you look vertically down in reality water reflections all but dissapear. If you look towards the horizon they are much more prominent. FSWC adds this distinction to FSX in a user controllable way.

This has the added bonus of enhancing the wave animation effects too.

FSWC also gives you the ability to reduce the sun and moon specular reflections and also to reduce or remove the 'moonglow' that makes the water appear 'milky' at night under a full moon.

(many people do not realise this but the 'moonglow' affects the water during the day aswell!. If the moon is up during the day the water takes on a much more 'milky' apperance. In the real world the moon has a very subtle effect on the water shading at night and certainly no effect on the water shading during the day).

Hope that all made sense!  

For a better explaination and for more screenshots, check out our website - www.fswaterconfigurator.com

Paul

[Ashton Lawson]

WF08, on Jun 11 2008, 10:13 AM, said:

Looks like default water to me...

A couple images from a couple of our presets:









Additionally, please check out the Default/FSWC comparisons viewable on The FS Water Configurator Screenshot Gallery.

Edited by Str!ker, 11 June 2008 - 11:34 AM.

[Lemming_]

wow.. that glass water is beautiful!

We have loooooots of water here in Nevada, so I should know

[Ashton Lawson]

Only four of many you will be seeing in FSWC .

[pwheeler]

Hey,

Some more preset shots...

Firstly Thunderstorms.

Here's the 'Default FSX' profile. As you can see - far too many reflections for a thunderstorm.



So change to our 'Rough Inland' preset and voila!





Next up is some night shots.

There's a full moon over lake Geneva. Just look at that over-the-top moon glow in 'Default FSX'



Change to our 'Calm Inland' preset and dial down the moonglow to more realistic levels.




We have a special preset for night time boating expeditions - 'Night Water'. Fancy a slow boat ride down the Thames?





And for maximum late night reflections try 'Glass Water.





Here is 'Default FSX' just off the coast of St Maartin. There's a bit too much reflection for an ocean and, well, its a bit bland...



Give the water a bit more depth by changing to our 'Calm Ocean' preset:



And for a bit of crazyness, get some extreme reflections in 'Glass Water':



As you can see there is a huge variety of effects that can be produced with FSWC and it's all completely controllable by you!  

Cheers

Paul

Edited by pwheeler, 11 June 2008 - 07:58 PM.

[VFR_Pierre]

Tis' a beauty.   

[Peter Wilding]

Great work guys very impressed.  

[toby23]

this is looking soooooooooooo good guys...
i can't wait to get this up and running...
good luck!
toby

errm... where did you get that boat from?
that's a fantastic idea... late night mucking about in boats down the thames...
or perhaps enjoying a sunset in the canals of venice?

please let me know where you got that boat from... google couldn't help this time...