FS2004 Method to Overcome Apron and Vertex Limitations

[tgibson]

Hi,

We are completing a large airport project (London Heathrow in 1962), and it has become so complex that the FS9 BGLComp will no longer compile if we add any more nodes or apron vertices. We decided that one way to avoid this limitation would be to replace some of these aprons with Ground Polygons, using a copies of the default concrete texture (taxi_concrete.bmp)placed into our ADE/Textures and Textures_Dpy folders. We then added that texture using Tools/GP Texture Editor, created our ground polygons, and compiled the airport. However, we quickly discovered that if we released our airport with a given taxi_concrete texture in our airport's texture folder, it often did not match the texture that a given user had decided to use in place of the default texture.

The solution was deceptively simple. If we deleted the taxi_concrete.bmp file that ADE had copied into our airport's Texture folder, then FS9 reverted to using the existing taxi_concrete.bmp file present in the main FS9/Texture folder. This means that no matter what concrete texture a user would decide to use, our GP aprons will use the matching texture.

The only thing we need to remember is to delete the taxi_concrete.bmp file in our airport's Texture folder just before release, since ADE keeps pasting another copy into that folder during every airport compile.

BTW, the values in the GP Texture Editor that worked well for us was Sizes - 82.5 and 82.5 feet, Uniform = Yes.

Hope this helps,

 

[fsintegral]

...one way to avoid this limitation...

Hi.
For those reading and wondering.. the other ways : I can share one, as I happenned to face the same problem yesterday, halfway on a quite ambitious (and silly) rework of defaut Istres-Le Tube AB (LFMI)
1) You first make one BGL layer of the airport with at least one runway (that's the trigger to activate this layer), with 254 apron polygons, no taxiways, no taxi links, no parkings, and use the deleteAirport parameters accordingly to erase whatever you don't want from stock airport.
2) You repeat the process as many times as you require to overcome the aprons limit, but from this point on, you make sure you set the following :
deleteAllAprons="FALSE"
deleteAllApronLights="FALSE"
deleteAllHelipads="FALSE"
deleteAllRunways="TRUE"
deleteAllStarts="TRUE"
^^ that's the intended behavior : you remove runways to be able to use them later with taxi path and start locations, but you keep apron polygons and lights.
3) The last BGL is where you put everything (most likely "else than aprons", but you can add aprons aswell, as long as you don't go over 254). BTW, if you don't need double 254 polys (less or equals 508), you can skip step 2), but you still apply the delete params from this step.

Problems are :
1) You can't put all BGL in the same scenery folder, they must stack in the proper order via multiple active scenery folders. I believe I'll soon need 3 BGL for LFMI.
So the first one AF2_LFMI_SubLayer1.bgl goes into Addon Scenery/scenery.
The second, AF2_LFMI_SubLayer2.bgl into Addon Scenery/Default Airport Layouts/scenery, with an higher priority where I put my AF2/ADE bgls intended for default sceneries.
The third with actual taxi, parkings, etc. AF2_LFMI.bgl goes into Addon Scenery/Addon Airport Layouts/scenery, with an even higher priority, where I put AF2/ADE bgl for extensively improved sceneries.
2) When you open LFMI (or your work using this method) with Afcad/ADE, you won't get the other aprons from underlying layers.
3) Furthermore, if you make edits and save (Afcad/ADE), then KABOOM !
4) Of course, ground polys is now the way to go... though, on a realistic perspective, it's highly unlikely you'll ever find and install 40000 reworked airports, all with ground polys..

This is much more of "254 max ? but how can I overcome it" information than anything else I thought I could share for those wondering.