General Question Can I use custom archives (.tree) instead of .tex?

[NonHumanOnboard]

Hi everyone! I'm new here, so please bare with me.

My questions are:
Is it possible to use the new archive (.tree) format instead of .tex for planets that use .tex by default? Is the format/location pre-defined in the planet modules?

I intend to use higher resolution textures and other layers for these planets, but also for my own custom-made (cfg) planets. I know how to create these archives and everything else. All my planet textures reside in a seperate repository location and I'm using symbolic links. The normal planets work all fine, except... when I tested the planets which use the .tex format, they didn't work (got snowballs). Nor with the .tree archive, nor with the seperate .dds tiles, placed according to the folder structure. There's nothing wrong with my textures, because I renamed the planet folder to "Earth" to test them, and they worked fine (my Pluto enjoyed a blue sky for a while).

I figured, if Orbiter (2016) doesn't find the .tex files in the .\Textures\ directory, then maybe it will look in the planet folders, just like the others. I removed the .tex files and created symbolic links to the folders in my repository. My rendering options are "Try cache first, then archive".

So, does anybody know how it works, or am I limited to the .tex format for custom planet textures?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Face]

My questions are:
Is it possible to use the new archive (.tree) format instead of .tex for planets that use .tex by default? Is the format/location pre-defined in the planet modules?

Check the documentation:

To configure a planet for use of the new surface texture format, its configuration file
Config\<planet name>.cfg
must contain the following line:
TileFormat = 2
If missing, the legacy format is assumed. Likewise, if a cloud layer is present and is defined in the new format, the configuration file must contain
CloudFormat = 2
otherwise a cloud layer defined in the legacy format is assumed.

 

[NonHumanOnboard]

Of course :facepalm:

Thank you very much. That's what I get for staying awake for 36 hours, and going through every byte of Orbiter. I can close my hex editor now.