Ok, boring committee meeting is over, now to the good stuff :p
After a couple of quick modifications to two texture files, it *seems* I have squashed the performance hit problem once and for all. I resized DamageNoise to 512x512 and saved dmg_new01 as DDS1 with no alpha, since it didn't use one anyway. Tested it to death on a Yamato, a Kongo, a Hiyo, a Huge European Liner, a Large Oil Tanker, and my sub as test subjects, and got no performance hit at all. I also reinstated Jake's Seafoam textures in their original size, and had no performance impact on 9m/sec wind (didn't test with any stronger winds, because I'm getting side-effects from the scene.dat, which I've mentioned to Kriller2).
Having established positive results, I reworked the Special Effects a bit. I added more fire effects, and a few explosions as well. I also reworked the Effects I had added to the player subs, as I was getting some strange side-effects (pun intended).
Kriller2, expect a PM
Dutch, a Guinness or two wouldn't be all that bad, actually!
Wait, you said you're from Texas...? Hm, ok, I'll settle with some bourbon then. Sorry mate, but American beer isn't very high on my list!
ETA: A few more "teaser" pics of what's coming from the Special Effects department
Nisgeis has surely added some punch to the shell explosion effect
