Transparent rotor mast and wheels

Hi guys,

A couple of people that downloaded the LET paint scheme have had the rotor mast and wheels disappear (show transparent). I don't have that issue on my machine, can anyone point us towards an answer on how to fix it?

Thanks!

I've got that particular problem (the screenshot came from my machine).

I'll be happy to supply more info (OS, graphics card, driver versions etc), but I don't think it's useful if I spam this post with anything I could think of.

Some basic info: I downloaded and later redownloaded the paint scheme, that didn't change anything. It was installed via ModMan 7.2. After the 1.0.2 patch came out, I uninstalled and reinstalled Black Shark and added the patch over the fresh 1.0 install.

That led to all parts of the skin becoming invisible as described in the corresponding thread. I solved that problem by copying Config/graphics.cfg to grahpics_bs.cfg, but now the paint scheme is broken again just like it was on 1.0.1c.

Some help or hints would be much appreciated.

You haven't completelly uninstalled blackshark I guess. Uninstall and delete the folder, then reinstall. Don't use modman to put the skin because version 7.2 is incompatible with 1.0.2 (now it uses graphics_bs.cfg instead of graphics.cfg)

Check your TempTextures directory. When I had partial textures like this it was because my CDDS in graphics_bs wasn't there but the BMPs were in TempTextures.

Is it safe to completely delete everything in TempTextures?

This has helped some people before, I hope it helps you too:

If you run Windows 7 and installed BS in the standard (Program Files (x86)) directory (which is not recommended anyway), the windows UAC creates a folder at

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Eagle Dynamics\...

 

This folder contains all personalized cfgs and some other stuff, make sure to backup your logbook and delete that folder as well before reinstall (And reinstall in something else like D:\Games).

Yeah, UAC and complicated video games are a poor mixture. I have UAC off and installed in the C:\Games\ just to be sure.

It seems I found a partial solution. First of all, thanks for the suggestions.

@Distiler: I did rename the old DCS installation directory prior to reinstalling. Besides, the graphics problem is identical in 1.0.1c and 1.0.2.

@Frederf: What exactly should I look for in the TempTextures directory? I didn't find any texture names that even remotely appeared related to the prey scheme.

@Garfieldo: I've got WinXP 32 bit, so no UAC. My DCS:BS path is "e:\progs\dcs black shark\", but I doubt that's anything to do with it because...

I used ModMan's CDDS Explorer and found a mismatch between the names of some of the .bmp files contained in Prey.cdds and the files listed in skin.lma7. I couldn't completely resolve the problem by fixing names in skin.lma7, but after some manual tampering with ka-50.skins in Bazar\World\Shapes and adjusting the names of the bitmap files, I could get some of the missing graphics back - parts of the rotor attachment and the (rubber) wheels.

Apparantly some filenames mismatch like this:

skin.lma7 contains a line reading

l13 = material = {"KA-50_Lifting_rotor_mast", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_LET.bmp"};

In Prey.cdds there is no

KA-50-LRM_LET.bmp

But there is

KA-50-LRM_LET-BR.BMP

(with an extra "-BR").

Miguez, could you have the paint scheme author double check the paths and filenames?

For now my working theory is that the paint scheme available for download on the LET website is actually broken, but that users of previous versions of the paint scheme didn't notice because they have temp files remaining from previous versions so that their skins appear okay. Which, in a way, would indeed be a temp-file problem. :-)

I found those mismatches too. Oddly enough I installed the skin using the standard CDDS method (manual edit required) and it works fine. I'm at a loss for explanation. I'm using a absolutely fresh install of 1.02, nothing leftover. I'm using the zip file exactly as it comes from the LET website so I know it's possible for it to work straightaway.

TempTextures method is extracting the BMPs from the CDDS and placing them in that directory. You can also do the same thing with ModMan 7.2 by deselecting the "install via CDDS" checkbox prior to enabling which is probably more reliable and easy.

TempTextures method is extracting the BMPs from the CDDS and placing them in that directory.

Thanks, I might try that tomorrow or so. After I spent two hours on that issue already, I'd just like to fly a mission or two right now. :-)

Works for me: Transparent rotor mast and wheels

I solved the problem by editing the file skin.lma7 in the archive and repacking the archive using ModMan. That works fine for me. Frederf, could you check whether it works for you too? The archive is available for download on the LET forum.

I didn't try the TempTextures method, don't know if that would have solved my problem - I'm just glad the paint scheme is now complete. :-)

You know I thought I had been running Prey just fine... I swear I loaded it up once 100% no errors all CDDS. But now I have missing bits. I'll work on it later as I won't have time for hours and hours and hours.

EDIT: I think I've fixed it. skin.lma7 files compared here before and after the edit.

Old .lma7 file

[skin]

file = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50.skins

argument = 70

otherfile1 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-BLADE.skins

otherfile2 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-NOSE.skins

otherfile3 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-TAIL.skins

otherfile4 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-L.skins

otherfile5 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-R.skins

l1 = material = {"KA-50-lamp", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l2 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-Prey.bmp"};

l3 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1_M", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-Prey.bmp"};

l4 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT2", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l5 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-DEF-03.bmp"};

l6 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT4", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-DEF-04.bmp"};

l7 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT5", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-DEF-05.bmp"};

l8 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT6", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-DEF-06.bmp"};

l9 = material = {"KA-50-Vtulka_met", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l10 = material = {"SOPLA_KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-DEF-03.bmp"};

l11 = material = {"KA-50-gear-rubber", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-DEF-05.bmp"};

l12 = material = {"KA-50_ST-rm_paint1", "Standart", "Ka-50_St_Paint2.bmp"};

l13 = material = {"KA-50_Lifting_rotor_mast", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_LET.bmp"};

l14 = material = {"KA-50_LRM_Part", "Standart", "KA-50-LRMpart_LET.bmp"};

l15 = material = {"KA-50_LRM-CENTRE", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_centre_LET.bmp"};

l16 = material = {"KA-50-LRM_B", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_B_LET.bmp"};

l17 = material = {"KA-50_BORT_NUMBERs", "Standart", "empty.tga"};

l18 = material = {"KA-50_Turkey_Numbers", "Standart", "TactNumbers-USAF-black.tga"};

 

[color_scheme]

country = {B2A43A73-E650-49B0-98B9-F67A53DA95FD}

cnt_unit = {3457BB1E-523F-4C24-BBEA-58D028623F05}

color_scheme = {1E48A380-4A2C-11DF-8765-542756D89593}

color_name = Leading Edge Training - Prey

file = Scripts\Database\helicopters\Ka-50.lua

New .lma7 file

[skin]

file = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50.skins

argument = 70

otherfile1 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-BLADE.skins

otherfile2 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-NOSE.skins

otherfile3 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-TAIL.skins

otherfile4 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-L.skins

otherfile5 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-R.skins

l1 = material = {"KA-50-lamp", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-PREY.BMP"};

l2 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-PREY.BMP"};

l3 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1_M", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-PREY.BMP"};

l4 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT2", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-PREY.BMP"};

l5 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-03.BMP"};

l6 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT4", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-04.BMP"};

l7 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT5", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-05.BMP"};

l8 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT6", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-06.BMP"};

l9 = material = {"KA-50-Vtulka_met", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-PREY.BMP"};

l10 = material = {"SOPLA_KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-DEF-03.bmp"};

l11 = material = {"KA-50-gear-rubber", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-05.BMP"};

l12 = material = {"KA-50_ST-rm_paint1", "Standart", "Ka-50_St_Paint2.bmp"};

l13 = material = {"KA-50_Lifting_rotor_mast", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_LET-BR.BMP"};

l14 = material = {"KA-50_LRM_Part", "Standart", "KA-50-LRMPART_LET-BR.BMP"};

l15 = material = {"KA-50_LRM-CENTRE", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_CENTRE_LET-BR.BMP"};

l16 = material = {"KA-50-LRM_B", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_B_LET-BR.BMP"};

l17 = material = {"KA-50_BORT_NUMBERs", "Standart", "empty.tga"};

l18 = material = {"KA-50_Turkey_Numbers", "Standart", "TactNumbers-USAF-black.tga"};

 

[color_scheme]

country = {B2A43A73-E650-49B0-98B9-F67A53DA95FD}

cnt_unit = {3457BB1E-523F-4C24-BBEA-58D028623F05}

color_scheme = {1E48A380-4A2C-11DF-8765-542756D89593}

color_name = Leading Edge Training - Prey

file = Scripts\Database\helicopters\Ka-50.lua

And just for kicks I noticed that you yourself have posted a fixed .lma7 file. Let's see how close our fixes were :P

[skin]

file = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50.skins

argument = 70

otherfile1 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-BLADE.skins

otherfile2 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-NOSE.skins

otherfile3 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-TAIL.skins

otherfile4 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-L.skins

otherfile5 = Bazar\World\Shapes\KA-50-WING-R.skins

l1 = material = {"KA-50-lamp", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l2 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-Prey.bmp"};

l3 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT1_M", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT1-Prey.bmp"};

l4 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT2", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l5 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-03.bmp"};

l6 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT4", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-04.bmp"};

l7 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT5", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-05.bmp"};

l8 = material = {"KA-50-PAINT6", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-06.bmp"};

l9 = material = {"KA-50-Vtulka_met", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-Prey.bmp"};

l10 = material = {"SOPLA_KA-50-PAINT3", "Standart", "KA-50-PAINT2-DEF-03.bmp"};

l11 = material = {"KA-50-gear-rubber", "Standart", "KA-50-LET-BR-DEF-05.bmp"};

l12 = material = {"KA-50_ST-rm_paint1", "Standart", "Ka-50_St_Paint_LET-BR.bmp"};

l13 = material = {"KA-50_Lifting_rotor_mast", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_LET-BR.bmp"};

l14 = material = {"KA-50_LRM_Part", "Standart", "KA-50-LRMpart_LET-BR.bmp"};

l15 = material = {"KA-50_LRM-CENTRE", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_centre_LET-BR.bmp"};

l16 = material = {"KA-50-LRM_B", "Standart", "KA-50-LRM_B_LET-BR.bmp"};

l17 = material = {"KA-50_BORT_NUMBERs", "Standart", "empty.tga"};

l18 = material = {"KA-50_Turkey_Numbers", "Standart", "TactNumbers-USAF-black.tga"};

 

[color_scheme]

country = {B2A43A73-E650-49B0-98B9-F67A53DA95FD}

cnt_unit = {3457BB1E-523F-4C24-BBEA-58D028623F05}

color_scheme = {1E48A380-4A2C-11DF-8765-542756D89593}

color_name = Leading Edge Training - Prey (modified)

file = Scripts\Database\helicopters\Ka-50.lua

And just for kicks I noticed that you yourself have posted a fixed .lma7 file. Let's see how close our fixes were :P

Yeah, a diff (case insensitive) shows only two different lines, one of which contains the name I altered to read "color_name = Leading Edge Training - Prey (modified)".

It's really quite obvious how to fix it. The downside is, it took me some 6 hours or so. :-)

Then again, I now know a few things about Black Shark's internals, which makes the sim look even better, because so many things can be adjusted using a simple text editor. It's not quite obvious where to look for beginners like me, but I love the fact that we (as in: the community) don't need compilers/decompilers, 3D software or anything. IMO that's a brillant choice by ED.

I realize later that .bmp vs .BMP is no difference to the software but I think it's a great flag to say "Hey, files ending in .BMP are in the new CDDS package and the .bmp files are the ones that were already on the system." It shows which ones are new and which are old references.

Having the majority of the game text-editable is great.