Problem Level 11 Moon textures - how to blend in the seams?

[Amzolt]

OK, I'm new to Orbiter but greatly appreciate all the effort and creativity packed into the program.

I've gotten far enough that I took off in a Delta-glider from Brighton Base and went up to about 38 km then kicked in the main engines. Took the glider to about 880 m/s and cut engines--having fun seeing how long I coast before applying a bit of thrust to get back to my chosen speed...

Issue: I have Level 11 graphics loaded for the Moon and the detail is just shy of what I'd like (still, "good enough").

I'm seeing various swaths of terrain that are obviously mismatched with the overall graphic impression.

Question: Are there settings I can use to even out these areas that break the illusion that I'm flying over the moon and make me feel I'm only in a simulator where the different graphic areas don't quite match? (soem of these mismatches are fuzzier, some slightly different illumination)

Question Two: There's another issue that's not so bothersome but I'd like to remove it, if possible.

The view of the surface, in front of the spacecraft, off near the horizon, shows the graphic "panels" as slightly darker; then, as the craft approachs the area, they pop into the same level of illumination as the rest of the terrain.

Is there any way to make Orbiter "rezz" these areas sooner??

 

[TSPenguin]

Could you post some screenshots?
I do not experience what you are describing (I think), so seeing the issue might shed some light, pun intended.
I am assuming you have maximum resolution level set to 14, if not, do so.

 

[Amzolt]

TSPenguin,

I set max rezz to 14 and do notice a slight overall resolution improvement but...

Still having the two problems I mentioned :-(

 

[Bloodworth]

the question is, do you have the higher level lunar graphics installed? The Graphics that come with the base install is only, I believe, level 8. In order for the higher resolution settings to take effect you have to have the higher rez graphics package installed.

 

[Amzolt]

Bloodworth,

I had already installed Level 11 graphics, with Level 11 in the Moon Config., before I noticed the problems and wrote the first post in this thread...

 

[TSPenguin]

I am still requesting screenshots, videos or scenarios to replicate the effects.
I just came from the moon and it was quite uniform up there

 

[Amzolt]

TSPenguin,

The restrictions on attachments made me think the effects might not be easily seen, so I've linked to better images on my blog...

The first shows a "seam mismatch" just behind and to the right of the glider.
http://nfaa.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=3140

The second shows the darker swaths of on the horizon (which go away when I get closer).
http://nfaa.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=3141

The third shows the darker swaths again and, to the left of the glider, the fuzzy "tile" of terrain...
http://nfaa.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=3142

 

[orb]

Level 11 Moon was made from version 2 of USGS Clementine mosaic, which is accurate with the last measured topography of the Moon, but on the other hand contains seams and missing high resolution data for some regions.

The visible seams, other than the brighter/darker patches, are caused because of that, and just changing Orbiter settings won't change anything in that matter.

Currently there are no other level 11 Moon textures released, which would contain the missing data from Clementine mosaics (for example from LRO data), but if you don't want to see seams, and instead have inaccurate location of Moon features, you can use version 1 of Clementine mosaics as Moon textures, but they were released only in level 10 max. (see my add-ons at OHM).

The second shows the darker swaths of on the horizon (which go away when I get closer).
http://nfaa.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=3141

Did you try to use other sets of Moon textures before you have installed level 11 Moon? Such changes in color/brightness of tiles can be caused by different sets of low resolution (levels 1-8) textures, and the high resolution (levels 9-14).

The restrictions on attachments made me think the effects might not be easily seen, so I've linked to better images on my blog...

I can't see what restrictions could prevent uploading 3 1600x900 px JPEG images with file sizes around 100 KB. The set restrictions for members I see are: 8 attachments, 1920x1200 px and 500 KB file size for .jpg image files. :shrug:

Anyway, you can also upload images to your albums on Orbiter-Forum.

 

[Amzolt]

orb,

Thanks for all you expert advice

 

[Mandella]

I recently noticed the same thing while running the AMSO missions. All that time spent in low lunar orbit really makes the texture seams on the 11 set quite noticeable.

So basically the only real answer is to drop down to one of the level 10 sets? I hate to lose the visual quality, but it might be worth it to lose the lines.

Orb, how "inaccurate" are the level tens? Is it really something that would cause a problem?

 

[orb]

So basically the only real answer is to drop down to one of the level 10 sets? I hate to lose the visual quality, but it might be worth it to lose the lines.

To compare those textures, you can take a screenshot of some region that interests you, do a backup of the current set of Moon textures, i.e. "Textures\Moon.tex", "Textures2\Moon_tile.tex" and "Textures\Moon_tile.bin", then extract my "Luna L10 Textures" and take another screenshot of that region. The difference in resolution between level 11 and level 10 is only that 4 pixels in the former are 1 pixel in the latter, but visual quality isn't only the resolution.

There were rumors that a new version of Moon textures is being worked on, which will replace the current default Moon textures, but last time I heard about it was something like a year ago.

Orb, how "inaccurate" are the level tens? Is it really something that would cause a problem?

My level 10 Moon has the same locations of craters as Orbiter 2006-P1 had. Orbiter 2010 updated the map of Moon to more topographically correct version of Clementine from year 2008.

Anyway, you can see difference between version 1 and version 2 on a global scale below. You can see that some parts of the Moon have been "moved" in version 2 (the images aren't from Orbiter):

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