WU13 UPDATE: A fix included with WU13 Oceania appears to have resolved the issue introduced with SU12.

SU12 UPDATE: Please be advised that SU12 has at least partially broken water masks in the sim. As a result you may experience erratic texture behavior when using this mod. I understand that MS/Asobo are aware of the issue. So hopefully a fix is forthcoming.

WARNING! THIS MOD REMOVES A LOT OF WATER MASKS FROM THE AREAS MENTIONED BELOW, EVEN FROM LAKES THAT DO CONTAIN SOME WATER VISIBLE IN THE AERIAL IMAGERY, INCLUDING THE GREAT SALT LAKE [UPDATE: YOU NOW HAVE A CHOICE!]. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE RESULT. BUT TRY IT BY ALL MEANS. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, SIMPLY DELETE THE sltcreations-sw-us-salt-lakes-fix FOLDER FROM YOUR COMMUNITY FOLDER TO REVERT TO THE DEFAULT WATER MASKING.

Ah well, here we go again. This was meant to be just a little project because a few people requested a couple of wet spots in the U.S. to be added to my Mexico project. But then I got carried away and pretty much did the entire Southwestern U.S. Seeing that's no longer Mexico, I split the projects in two.

Coverage, as mentioned, is the Southwestern United States, whatever that means. But basically, I've looked at all of NM, AZ, UT and NV, as well as CA east of the Sierras. But I also went a bit further north into N-CA and OR, because that's where the Basin and Range (and a lot of dry lakes) extends to. There's probably a few spots of TX, CO and ID in there too.

My methodology was as follows:

  • I've excluded all water masking from areas that are obviously dry, duh.
  • I've also excluded water masking from some very shallow water bodies to allow the underlying textures to become visible.
  • I've excluded water masks in some cases where those masks simply don't match the water body's outline. MSFS is unfortunately replete with these. Microsoft/Asobo seriously need better hydrology data!
  • I've deliberately left some water masking, even though the water body is actually dry (or almost dry), where the underlying textures are hideous (there were only a couple of cases, e.g., Goose Lake in N-CA/OR)
  • Lastly, I've excluded the water mask for the Great Salt Lake. Underlying textures are definitely not great, but the default implementation (a bland lake full of water, with grossly incorrect shorelines) brings tears to my eyes...

Enjoy!

Update: I've included a separate file that does not modify the default Great Salt Lake. Use either one, but don't have both in your Community folder concurrently.