ADE generated files not showing correctly in FSX

[Derek H]

Hello, hopefully someone can answer this or point me to a thread...

I have trying to make scenery files with Airport Design Editor for a friend, these fail to render in his FSX in entirety. These issues seem to relate to Horizon VFR scenery and Horizon Trees 1,2,3. On my own machine which uses ORBX scenery there are no problems in getting ADE to make scenery that correctly displays in FSX. The issues are two-fold:

1. Landclass ground polygons fail to show but library objects, generic buildings, and runways show correctly on top of his Horizon VFR scenery.

2. Trees generated by Horizon Trees 1,2,3 are not being supressed and show up though runways despite there being an airport ground polygon that supresses everything else okay when rendered in FSX using ORBX scenery.

These problems have only cropped up since Horizon VFR and Trees scenery has been installed. Any ideas on how to correct this?
Derek H.

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

First, make sure that your addon airport is in a higher scenery layer than the Horizon stuff in the Scenery Library. Second, realize that if Horizon is using ground polygons of its own, yours may not show if they have a lower layer number.

 

[Derek H]

Hi, thanks for responding. Part of the problem is that I am working with someone else's scenery so I have to get him to test it to see if it works on his machine. At my end everything is fine. To the best of my knowledge the ADE generated files are going into his Addon Scenery and that directory is at the top of his list - or so he says! I'm going to have to actually see if this is the case, and will confirm if that is the case. In the meantime please do mention anything else you can think of.
Derek H.

 

[scruffyduck]

You might find this article of interest: https://scruffyduck.screenstepslive.com/s/help_docs/m/20268/l/199760-priority-matters and/or pass it on to the user. The thing to be aware of is not just the priority of folders but also how FS treats files in the same folder

 

[Derek H]

Hello Tom, Jon,
Thanks for responses so far. To clarify matters somewhat... Using ADE I have resurrected a disused airfield and extended the original runway. On my own machine this Addon works well and renders nicely using ORBX scenery. However, the airfield was originally designed for a friend and he too used ORBX. But he has since added Horizon VFR photographic scenery. This too worked well - until Horizon Trees 1,2,3 was added as well. The airfield is still seen on his machine but the Horizon Trees software has cluttered up the runway with trees. To the best of my knowledge the steps detailed in other threads have been followed. So in short, how can I, or can I get, ADE to supress those trees?
Derek H.

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

Perhaps this scenery is using photoreal tiles? If so, perhaps you must edit the AGN files to remove the trees? I don't really know...

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

Hi all,

This seems to be a difficult problem to solve. I have Horizon VFR photo scenery and am working on a revision of EGHI. The photos show it as at 2000; I want it to show as 1964.....as you can imagine, the airfield has changed a lot. The aerial photography is quite obtrusive and shows jets on the ground, new aprons etc, all of which I'd like to cover up. There is also a motorway at the southern side of the field which was not there when I was flying....the ramparts can be flattened, but it still shows as a great scar where once was green fields.

The flatten polys work well, even with undulating terrain you can get a good fit if you put in enough vertices and adjust the heights. The REAL problem comes with covering up the photos. What will work is the custom ground polys, aprons. What I can not get to show is a land class poly, no matter what I do. EGHI has priority 1 in the add-on scenery library list. As an experiment, I put in a Airport Background poly with a tag of Flatten Mask Class Map Exclude Autogen and then superimposed a landclass poly with a tag name of glacier ice (something to stick out!)

However, these polys are not showing when over flying - the photos are not changed. If I go into the Scenery Library and "Untick" the Horizon scenery, they show up! Even ticking just one of the dozen files will cause the polys not to show...and these Horizon files have priorities of 89 to 100.

So while I understand the principles of layering, there doesn't seem to be anything to be done to disguise the land around the airfield. It's a real shame - I have designed a nice version of RAF Newton using ADE and Instant Scenery but the ground photo image didn't need to be changed at all.

It's difficult when you try to recreate history!

If anyone has any further suggestions, I'll try anything......

Cheers,

Rick

 

[edphipps]

Rick,

You need to place your EGHI above the Horizon VFR in your Scenery Library list. From your description Horizon VFR is loading after your modified EGHI and you are getting exactly what would be expected. The last scenery loaded is what is displayed in FSX. Your EGHI with it's landclass polys needs to load after the Horizon VFR so that it becomes the scenery that is displayed. Check out this link for info on FSX scenery. https://scruffyduck.screenstepslive.com/s/help_docs/m/20268/l/199760-priority-matters

Ed

 

[scruffyduck]

The current ADE Release Candidate has a new feature called the File Priority Analyzer. It cannot handle terrain polys but it handles airport and scenery and will show you the order that bgl files are loading.

 

[GHD]

Photo scenery always trumps landclass irrespective of scenery priority.

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

Rick,

You need to place your EGHI above the Horizon VFR in your Scenery Library list. From your description Horizon VFR is loading after your modified EGHI and you are getting exactly what would be expected. The last scenery loaded is what is displayed in FSX. Your EGHI with it's landclass polys needs to load after the Horizon VFR so that it becomes the scenery that is displayed. Check out this link for info on FSX scenery. https://scruffyduck.screenstepslive.com/s/help_docs/m/20268/l/199760-priority-matters

Ed

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your reply. EGHI is top of the list! Number one....all of my Horizon stuff is way down , starting at 89 (I have a few other add on airports added!) Theoretically you are correct, and certainly that how it behaves, but it was always put at the top for the very reasons you state.

I would use aprons to cover the bits of the photos...for example, there is a great big car park showing on the photos that wasn't there in '64. I'd love to cover it with "grass", and probably will with an orphaned apron. However, the grass colour is really noticeably "fake" when placed on top of a photo...

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

The current ADE Release Candidate has a new feature called the File Priority Analyzer. It cannot handle terrain polys but it handles airport and scenery and will show you the order that bgl files are loading.

Thanks Jon (and many, many thanks for a great product....)

The thing is, even if I know the order that the .bgl files are loading, could I do anything about it?

It's really odd, because the VFR software priority is way down my scenery library list, so after having read the manual about layering, you'd think that they would almost be first to load. They can't be last (Priority 1), otherwise I wouldn't be able to place and see my "Instant Scenery" models. In the manual (p281) it shows that terrain polys are first to load (Priority 7), then terrain vectors (Priority 6)....then aprons and taxiways (Priority 5). If I can see aprons and taxiways (and I can) it seems that the photo scenery must load somewhere between the 5th and 6th layer...after the terrain polys (because they do conform to the topology) and yet the Custom ground polys are added in at priority 2, and I can see those, so I suspect that the land class polys must go in BEFORE the photos. That seems to be borne out my experiment.

A lot of my problem could be solved if it were possible to add in user defined textures and or colours to the custom ground polys. Then it might be possible to load it with an image based on the land shown in the immediate vicinity and match it that way? I suspect, though, you're limited by the dictates of the FSX software.....

Cheers,

Rick

 

[scruffyduck]

The thing is, even if I know the order that the .bgl files are loading, could I do anything about it?

Of course you can. You can change the order of scenery areas or file names to change loading order in a single folder. Also the new File Priority Analyzer allows you to disable bgl files to check the effect of them on FS. However if the problem is related to photo scenery or terrain polys such as land class then the FPA can't help with that.

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

Hi All,

Thought I might share a couple of snaps!

First is RAF Newton which I built on top of Horizon VFR Scenery using ADE and Instant Scenery. Happy days, around about 1967 I didn't have to change the groun very much, it was still very much the same in 2000 when the VFR photo scenery was taken.....not like that now, though.....

Next is EGHI (Southampton) showing the green arrow shape to the right (which is an apron) and a custom ground poly (the brownish square) Both are really unconvincing due to the "block" colour. If this was to be Southampton in 1964 that rear-engine jet wouldn't have been seen! I need something to disguise these areas....

not to mention that ruddy great motorway!

Cheers,

Rick

 

[GHD]

There are various ways to achieve what you want. but they all require that you replace part of the Horizon textures.

You also need to be very artistic and proficient in the use of an image editing program.

Here is an example at EGGI:

Horizon:



After downloading photograph using FS Earth Tiles, (very rough0 editing in Paint Shop Pro and resampling at a higher resolution than the Horizon photo texure:

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

There are various ways to achieve what you want. but they all require that you replace part of the Horizon textures.

You also need to be very artistic and proficient in the use of an image editing program.

Here is an example at EGGI:

Horizon:


After downloading photograph using FS Earth Tiles, (very rough0 editing in Paint Shop Pro and resampling at a higher resolution than the Horizon photo texure:

Hi Golf-HotelDelta,

D'you know, that's not a half bad idea. I've never heard of FS Earth Tiles but yes, actually changing the photos might be the way to do it! I'll check it out. I suspect there may be a few tricks to it, as there are many files for the same area (1.2m mesh 2.4m mesh etc....) but it's worth considering.

I'll look up FS Earth Tiles first......

Thanks for the idea...

Rick

 

[Tomt478]

I have probably a stupid question. Why is it that some (forests and what not) land class polys work and show perfectly in FSX, but if I try to use a rocky type of land class (Lava, Non mountain rock, or just plain rock), it does not show up in FSX. Will FSX just not display those types of land class, or is something wrong with either ADE or my FSX. I've attempted a repair on FSX, but still the problem remains. Am I doing something wrong or is it a software issue?