Could you guys tell me, what are the best, in terms of low inpact on fps, the best textures for ground, water clouds.
It doesnt need to be freeware, also payware.
My ob jective is just tknow what are the ones that have less impact on performance, and still make it look good.
Many thanks all

757200ba wrote on Sep 1^st, 2009 at 9:20pm:


Not sure I can help you much with ground textures, though I know that Real Environment Pro helps bring out the terrain a little bit (also adds new textures to your runways and taxiways--they're pretty good I think).  Quite honestly, in all the past four or five years I've messed around with FS9, I had been unable to find any freeware textures that really beat the default.  I once tried a package called "blue sphere" which was kind of nice, and had no impact on FPS either, but discovered a few issues in different seasons and places.  There is also the payware Ground Environment Pro, which most people would argue is pretty good.  Don't have the package so I wouldn't know.  On the payware route, there is also REX which is still under development and have yet been released.  Looks fantastic if you ask me (see http://realenvironmentxtreme.com/forum/index.php?topic=4823.0), though I can see that having an impact on framerates.  Something to consider saving your money for though.

Since propwash mentioned it, I figured I'd suggest some grass textures anyway if your into that kind of stuff.  I personally use the freeware REX textures, that can be found here: http://realenvironmentxtreme.com.  It says it only works for FSX, but in truth, it works well for FS9.  Its slightly bigger than the default textures, so it may affect performance.  Even on my 3-4 year old laptop, however, I hardly noticed any difference in FPS.

Best water, in my opinion, is the package called waterzone, which you should be able to find in most major flightsim sites.  I've tried pretty much every major water package out there:from real environment pro, to Holgar's package, to other compilations and even payware alternatives.  Always I go back to waterzone for its realism.  From my real-life experience of seeing water from the air, I think this package looks the closest. 

For clouds, and even the sky in general, I use the ones included in the payware Active Sky 6.5.  There are a lot of good textures included in the package which you can select and modify to your choosing.  Because you can modify the size of the textures and stuff, you can probably find something to your liking without hurting your FPS.  The freeware FS Skyworld is another alternative that you might want to look into, which also has some nifty textures.