Minmis goes black below 180,000 meters

[linuxgurugamer]

I've been running a heavily modded version. Most of the mods were installed using CKAN.

System is:

Windows 7

16 gig memory

KSP 32 bit

Video & Graphocs settings:

Anti-Aliasing 8x

texture Quality: Full Res

Pixel Light Count: 64

Shadow Cascades: 64

Aerodynamic FX Quality: Normal

Edge Highlighting (PPFX): disabled

I did try turning off the antialiasing, reducing the texture quality to 1/8, and turning down both the Pixel Light Count and Shadow Cascades. Didn't seem to make a difference

I was going to Minmus, and saw that it was totally black when I was close. So, I tried to do some debugging:

1. I removed ALL mods

2. I recopied the two folders in the GameData directory from the install zip file: NASAmission and Squad

3. I reinstalled the KSP_Data directory from the zip file

4. I loaded new sandbox game

5. I created a simple ship (capsule, 3 tanks and an engine), used the alt-12 to get infinite fuel, and blasted off to Minmus.

I got the ship in an orbit, and observed Minmus as it went around. Above a height of about 180,000 m, it shows normally. When it goes below that height, it goes black, but with the edge lit up, kind of as if it was between my ship and the sun, however, I am on the sun side when I see this.

Another thing I noticed, was that at this "edge", when I flipped back and forth between the map mode and the normal view, it shows Minmus normally for about 1/10 second, then it gets blacked out. It seems that this gets worse the closer I get to Minmus.

So, I've tried to reduce this as much as possible, and have gotten to the point where there is nothing left to remove

So, I created a new install, copied the save into it and started it up. The basic startup without changing any options. It worked, Minmus is there. I then turned on all options to their max, restarted the game, Minmus was still there.

Any suggestions? I don't mind debugging, but need a direction.

thanks in advance

Edit: I copied ALL of my mods into the new install, and started it up. Minmus was there.

Thinking about this, I remembered that a few days ago I had used Hyperedit to get a lander close to Minmus for a test. That's when I first noticed this. I dismissed it assuming that Hyperedit had screwed up something, but am now wondering if it might have corrupted a file. My big problem is that I have no idea which file, I've replaced all the ones I can think of.

Edited January 18, 2015 by linuxgurugamer
Not solved

[linuxgurugamer]

Now we go into the rabbit hole!

I renamed the directory of my old install, then took my new install, with all the mods, and moved it to the same place as the old directory, so that it was in the same logical location. Started it up, loaded my test file and Minmus was GONE!

Moved the directory back to where I had first put it (for this new install), Minmus was back!

Now I took the original install with the problem and ran it without renaming it back, so the directory name is now KSP_win.bad. Minmus was back!

My conclusion is that this may be in the Windows registry, or possibly a file elsewhere. My only other guess which I'll look into is that I have an nVidia GTX 760, and I suppose that the nVidia drivers may be doing something

- - - Updated - - -

And I found the problem!

I must have modified the settings in the nVidia control panel for the game. I reset them back to the global default, and it now works.

So for anyone else who may be having texture problems like this, check your video settings, specifically of the driver.

[linuxgurugamer]

Now we go into the rabbit hole!

I renamed the directory of my old install, then took my new install, with all the mods, and moved it to the same place as the old directory, so that it was in the same logical location. Started it up, loaded my test file and Minmus was GONE!

Moved the directory back to where I had first put it (for this new install), Minmus was back!

Now I took the original install with the problem and ran it without renaming it back, so the directory name is now KSP_win.bad. Minmus was back!

My conclusion is that this may be in the Windows registry, or possibly a file elsewhere. My only other guess which I'll look into is that I have an nVidia GTX 760, and I suppose that the nVidia drivers may be doing something

- - - Updated - - -

And I found the problem!

I must have modified the settings in the nVidia control panel for the game. I reset them back to the global default, and it now works.

So for anyone else who may be having texture problems like this, check your video settings, specifically of the driver.

Well, it started again, and I verified that all the nVidia settings were defaulted.

Anybody have any ideas?

- - - Updated - - -

Well, it started again, and I verified that all the nVidia settings were defaulted.

Anybody have any ideas?

Facepalm!

I was starting KSP with the following option:

-force-d3d11

Deleting it solved the problem