[1.9.x] Textures Unlimited - PBR-Shader, Texture Set, and Model Loading API

[Nightside]

5 hours ago, captinjoehenry said:

So when I tried to force Directx11 my computer gave me a blue screen of death.  I'm not really sure I want to risk that happening again to get the full use of this mod ._.

Maybe research if your graphics card supports DX11.

[captinjoehenry]

2 hours ago, Nightside said:

Maybe research if your graphics card supports DX11.

Oh my graphics card for sure supports DX11.  It's the GTX 2080

[Stone Blue]

55 minutes ago, captinjoehenry said:

Oh my graphics card for sure supports DX11.  It's the GTX 2080

Could try running DirectX Diagnostics, just to make sure your Dx is all up to snuff... vOv
Also verify your Nvidia driver is up to date

[Shadowmage]

On 5/5/2019 at 1:35 AM, captinjoehenry said:

So when I tried to force Directx11 my computer gave me a blue screen of death.  I'm not really sure I want to risk that happening again to get the full use of this mod ._.

If your computer BSOD's when enabling DX11, you have some serious issues at hand -- either driver or hardware problems exist that should be solved before continuing.

I would start by updating drivers everywhere; motherboard chipset, graphics.  Next, run the game while monitoring temps to check for overheating.  Beyond that?  RMA time.

[captinjoehenry]

2 hours ago, Shadowmage said:

If your computer BSOD's when enabling DX11, you have some serious issues at hand -- either driver or hardware problems exist that should be solved before continuing.

I would start by updating drivers everywhere; motherboard chipset, graphics.  Next, run the game while monitoring temps to check for overheating.  Beyond that?  RMA time.

Well I'll look into that but is KSP still unstable when running DX11?  Because from some of the research I've done it seems in the past at least DX11 has caused a fair few bugs with KSP.

[Shadowmage]

2 minutes ago, captinjoehenry said:

Well I'll look into that but is KSP still unstable when running DX11?  Because from some of the research I've done it seems in the past at least DX11 has caused a fair few bugs with KSP.

Perfectly stable for me, has been for many releases (1.1 / 1.2 era?).  In the past, yes, there were stability issues; those were resolved when KSP updated to using the newer Unity versions that fully supported those APIs.

[captinjoehenry]

1 minute ago, Shadowmage said:

Perfectly stable for me, has been for many releases (1.1 / 1.2 era?).  In the past, yes, there were stability issues; those were resolved when KSP updated to using the newer Unity versions that fully supported those APIs.

What's the command to force DX11 again?  

[Shadowmage]

26 minutes ago, captinjoehenry said:

What's the command to force DX11 again?  

Check one page back:

 

[captinjoehenry]

Alright seems to be working fine.  Not sure if it's just because I fixed my mod list or because I updated my graphics driver

[gap]

Hi Shadowmage  and other forum mates,

I am a new KSP player having KSP v 1.7.0 (x64) installed on a laptop with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M graphic card and 4 GB of DDR3 VRAM.

I have recently installed this mod (v1.4.7.21) together with the unofficial stock configs by 0_0_1, and I must say that they make a huge difference ! Unlike stock game, specular reflections and other lighting effects are at their best now, and every metal part looks as shiny as it should. The reason I am writing here is saying thank you for your amazing work on this mod, but also  reporting a visual glitch that I am experiencing; in short, since I started using TU, the suspension lines of the Mk 16 parachute are connected by solid yellow triangular surfaces, forming an inverted cone when the chute is fully open.

Spoiler

Curiously, the problem doesn't apply to all the chutes among the ones I have tested so far.  A way around to it, as far as the Kk 16 chute is concerned, is commenting the part out in the config file, but obviously that also totally removes any metallic reflection from chute's metal cover.

My questions for you guys are: is there any other TU user who is experiencing this glitch? What can be cause it and do you think that a better fix than the one I have devised is going to be possible?

P.S: my graphic drivers are updated and I have tried launching the game both in DX11 and OpenGL API mode, but that did not make any difference.

Edited May 15, 2019 by gap

[Shadowmage]

2 hours ago, gap said:

in short, since I started using TU, the suspension lines of the Mk 16 parachute are connected by solid yellow triangular surfaces, forming an inverted cone when the chute is fully open.

That is an issue with an incorrect shader assignment for the meshes in that model.  Whichever patch set you are using (stock configs?) needs to be updated to use the TU/TransparentMetallic shader for those meshe(s).

In theory should be a very simple change/update to the patches; potentially as simple as a single-line change to a single file.  If the model wasn't done with specific mesh-targets previously, or was included in a larger patch for multiple models, it might be necessary to write a patch specifically to target that model with the proper shaders, but even then it should still be a 'relatively simple' fix.

Glad you are otherwise enjoying the mod and the potential enhancements it has to offer

[gap]

12 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

That is an issue with an incorrect shader assignment for the meshes in that model.  Whichever patch set you are using (stock configs?) needs to be updated to use the TU/TransparentMetallic shader for those meshe(s).

In theory should be a very simple change/update to the patches; potentially as simple as a single-line change to a single file.  If the model wasn't done with specific mesh-targets previously, or was included in a larger patch for multiple models, it might be necessary to write a patch specifically to target that model with the proper shaders, but even then it should still be a 'relatively simple' fix.

Glad you are otherwise enjoying the mod and the potential enhancements it has to offer

Thank you for your feedback Shadowmage, that was quick!
The config file I am using with TU is the one below, which by the way is the only one also available via CKAN:

https://spacedock.info/mod/1841/Textures Unlimited Default Stock Config - Unofficial

I chose to install it because its release notes state expressly that it is compatible with stock parts. Considering that I have no part mods installed, what other config files would you recommend in its place?

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by gap

[gap]

Please ignore this post

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by gap

[Shadowmage]

7 minutes ago, gap said:

The config file I am using with your mod is the one below:

If you wanted to post a link to the forum thread where you got the configs, I can find them from there.  Likely it is one of the two stock patches from authors I've worked closely with in the past, so I can potentially provide you a temporary solution, and provide the author with the fixes to their patches.

[gap]

1 minute ago, Shadowmage said:

If you wanted to post a link to the forum thread where you got the configs, I can find them from there.  Likely it is one of the two stock patches from authors I've worked closely with in the past, so I can potentially provide you a temporary solution, and provide the author with the fixes to their patches.

Sorry, as you might have noticed I made a mess with my previous reply. 
Please find my actual answer here: 

10 minutes ago, gap said:

Thank you for your feedback Shadowmage, that was quick!
The config file I am using with TU is the one below, which by the way is the only one also available via CKAN:

https://spacedock.info/mod/1841/Textures Unlimited Default Stock Config - Unofficial

I chose to install it because its release notes state expressly that it is compatible with stock parts. Considering that I have no part mods installed, what other config files would you recommend in its place?

 

 

[Shadowmage]

13 minutes ago, gap said:

Sorry, as you might have noticed I made a mess with my previous reply. 
Please find my actual answer here: 

 

Thanks for the link.  Interestingly, that is not a patch-set or author that I'm familiar with.  Do you know if they have a forum thread here somewhere?

I'll take a look over the patches and see what all needs to be changed.  As I'm not already familiar with it, might take a bit to sort it all out.  Will let you know what I find out

[gap]

26 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

Thanks for the link.  Interestingly, that is not a patch-set or author that I'm familiar with.  Do you know if they have a forum thread here somewhere?

I'll take a look over the patches and see what all needs to be changed.  As I'm not already familiar with it, might take a bit to sort it all out.  Will let you know what I find out

That's odd actually: as I said before this is the default config mod suggested by CKAN for working together with TU. In my first post here, I didn't offer much detail about it because I thought it was a popular mod with you and with other TU users.

In any case, I thank you very much for bothering to look into the problem. Please let me know if you think that using another config mod would be a better alternative than fixing the one I am currently using.

On a side note, I am amazed how well Texture Updater works on my system. With most of the stock graphic settings maxed out, the game actually plays smother with TU and DX11 API enabled than in standard API mode without TU! 

Edited May 15, 2019 by gap

[AverageUser54]

I am using directX12 but when I load KSP it says "graphics api detected: direct3d9

And it says it is unsupported by textures unlimited

[Shadowmage]

13 hours ago, spacefreak said:

I am using directX12 but when I load KSP it says "graphics api detected: direct3d9

And it says it is unsupported by textures unlimited

Because when TU was developed DX12 had other serious issues, such that it wasn't even worth the time to include it in the API test (as in, didn't work, at all).

The real question is.... does it work now?

[AverageUser54]

it made the stock parts a little darker so I guess it does work

[Ithirahad]

Welp, after several hours of messing around: attempting to force opengl (with -force-glcore or -force-opengl) causes a memory access violation error on startup, and forcing DX11/DX12 causes RSSVE and KS3P to stop working, results in glitchy rendering (screwed-up clipping plane for some textures and geometry) and inability to move the camera after a short time in KSC view, and ends up in total rendering failure (black screen) in flight.

I'll rebuild my KSP install just in case, but I'm guessing I'll just have to live with crappy-looking black or mis-shaded parts in SSTU given no choice to disable the advanced rendering... unfortunate, as I loved the visuals and functionality of that mod way back when and have no particular desire for all the fancy stuff.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Ithirahad

[Shadowmage]

16 minutes ago, Ithirahad said:

forcing DX11/DX12 causes RSSVE and KS3P to stop working

So.. other mods having issues with DX11 is somehow my problem?

(and BTW, KS3P should work fine with DX11 as long as you grab the newest DX11 compiled shader bundle from the thread; can't say anything about RS*** as I stay the hell away from all things RO/RSS related, nothing but problems)

17 minutes ago, Ithirahad said:

attempting to force opengl (with -force-glcore or -force-opengl) causes a memory access violation error on startup,

You've likely got some serious driver or hardware issues if something like that is occurring.  Likely drivers if it is causing an access-violation.  I would start there...

 

[gap]

19 minutes ago, Ithirahad said:

forcing DX11/DX12 causes RSSVE and KS3P to stop working,

The main version of KS3P is not compatible with the DX11 API, but @jrodriguez has posted a DX11 version of the mod and a new set of DX11 shaders:

P.S: the DX11 version is said to work with KSP 1.6.0, but it works well for 1.7.0 too.

[Ithirahad]

22 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

So.. other mods having issues with DX11 is somehow my problem?

(and BTW, KS3P should work fine with DX11 as long as you grab the newest DX11 compiled shader bundle from the thread; can't say anything about RS*** as I stay the hell away from all things RO/RSS related, nothing but problems)

No, it's not your problem; I was just wondering if anyone around here had any idea what's up, as it's Textures Unlimited that had me switch DirectX versions to begin with, which resulted in the issues I am having. Apologies for the hostile tone; I'm just frustrated after a few hours of waiting for my install to boot up repeatedly only to find that stuff is still broken.

Quote

You've likely got some serious driver or hardware issues if something like that is occurring.  Likely drivers if it is causing an access-violation.  I would start there...

Alright, I'll take a look at that, thanks. As it turns out, my GPU driver package may or may not be several years old, and if so has persisted through at least one major hardware swap. Updating and/or reinstalling is probably advisable either way.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Ithirahad

[Shadowmage]

11 minutes ago, Ithirahad said:

No, it's not your problem; I was just wondering if anyone around here had any idea what's up, as it's Textures Unlimited that had me switch DirectX versions to begin with, which resulted in the issues I am having. Apologies for the hostile tone; I'm just frustrated after a few hours of waiting for my install to boot up repeatedly only to find that stuff is still broken.

Alright, I'll take a look at that, thanks.

Understood, and no offense taken.  I know how frustrating it can be trying to get some of these odd mod combinations working.  I can't count how many hours I've lost restarting KSP, tweaking some settings, restarting again, etc.  Hundreds of hours at least.

Please let me know if the driver update doesn't resolve the OpenGL issues for you.  This will likely be the most compatible graphics API for other mods, as OpenGL is a requirement for Mac and Linux support, and is one of the more stable and reliable APIs from my experience.  If the driver update doesn't help change the situation there may be some tweaks that could be done to fix it.

(Notably, I do remember there being an issue with OpenGL and KSP's fullscreen mode that would cause an 'access violation' on startup, though I don't offhand remember what I had to do to solve it;  IIRC it was something in the windows registry that had to be edited to fix it, as the setting is normally only changable from in-game)