2D shockwaves missing is a code issue. I did a little test with older build (in fact, the one which introduced "Enable 3D shockwaves" -option) and it worked correctly - not selecting the option showed the 2D shockwaves. Conclusively, the MediaVP's doesn't have anything to do with this particular problem. Obviously something has changed in the code since the introduction of this cmdline flag that makes the option unworking.
Although FSUpgrade has no control over this kind of issues, it obviously makes it clear that r4985 nightly build is, after all, not as recommendable as it should have been, but it's basically an SCP issue, not a problem with the VP's. The best solution is probably to wait for a nightly build where the issue is fixed.
The issue with nameplates blacking out is related to shaders, which - although a set of them is distributed within the MediaVP's - aren't exactly something that belongs on FSUpgrade turf either. They are basically snippets of code that the engine uses to modify lighting based on the actual game media. It's possible that if a good solution is achieved, there'll be a set of shaders that can simply be used to override the ones inside the MediaVP's, but that solution needs to be found first. Apparently there might also be some differences in how different drivers and hardware work together with the shaders and the FS2_Open code, as for example Zacam apparently hasn't encountered this problem with these shaders... and there's been some other graphical issues that appear on some systems and are absent on others, depending on different settings - which makes troubleshooting a tad bit difficult, understandably.
Talking of strange elusive bugs - if and when you see flickery flecks hanging in space after thrusters, they are not FSUpgrade issue either. We don't actually know for sure what causes them to appear; on my PC they appear if I enable full screen anti-aliasing on NVidia control panel, while on Zacam's PC they appear when he enables anisothropic mip filter optimization, so it's a bit inconclusive what exactly makes them appear but it would appear that it's not a media issue but instead something related to graphics drivers, the FS2_Open code, or both. I believe I speak for the whole FSU team when I say that it is one of the more frustrating glitches we've encountered when ironing this stuff out...
Anyway, it's a good sign that there has apparently not been anything gamestoppingly horridly wrong in the VP's... yet.
