AeroFly FS 2 support in scenProc

[arno]

Ok, I'll have a look. That might make the auto completion harder to do, if the options are not fixed.

 

[Vogel]

Thanks Arno,
Right the option couldn't be fixed, (the "group" too)... may be could be better to unlock autocompletion for group and species... and keep species as optional.
at that time it's impossible to launch script with other group than broadleaf or conifer...

 

[Christian Bahr]

Hello everybody.

Is there a way my self-created building data, which are in the shape format (.shp) and which serve as the autogen for the FSX/P3D, to get into the AeroflyFS2? There, the my building and vegetation data should serve as cultivation.

I know that Scenproc can import OSM data to make the cultivation. Unfortunately, I do not have OSM data because the area (Nannhausen) is so badly populated with data. I only own .shp files. From this I would like to do the cultivation for the AeroflyFS2.

The buildings are polygon features. The trees are point features, but can be converted to polygon features.

One last question. Is there a link to an simple AeroflyFS2 ScenProc script?

 

[arno]

Hi,

Scenproc can read shp just as well as osm files. The rest of the processing stays the same, you only might need to check the attributes.

I think the manual should contain a sample script for Aerofly.

 

[Christian Bahr]

Yes, we've gotten that out that shapefiles can also be used for aerofly-cultivation. Our script works so far that the featueres are read. There is still a hiccup in the generation of cultivation. It will be up to the attributes as suggested by you. Thank you for answering anyway

 

[Sasa]

no documentation but experimentation

depend of plants filename, for example:
"plant_broadleaf_01_1650_color.ttx" -> group: "broadleaf" and species:"01_1650"

may be : 01 for type ? and 1650 is about the height of the plant (16,50 metrer) and it seems that if species are not specify, this work like FSX grouping and the simulator get species randomly...

have a look here: Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator\scenery\plants

Same question here, Arno. Would it be possible to have an individual selection of trees implemented there?
I'm currently working on a scenery that spans all vegetation zones between 0 and 8800 meters. For some of those zones I'd like to apply a certain mix of shrubs and conifers, for others a certain mix of conifers and broadleaf types and so on... The shrub class from AFS2 is missing entirely but anyway: Having the possibity of an individual selection of the following vegetation types would help a lot:

plant_type_broadleaf_T00
plant_type_broadleaf_T01
plant_type_broadleaf_T02
plant_type_broadleaf_T03
plant_type_broadleaf_T10
plant_type_broadleaf_T11
plant_type_broadleaf_T12
plant_type_broadleaf_T13
plant_type_broadleaf_Txx
plant_type_conifer_T00
plant_type_conifer_T01
plant_type_conifer_T02
plant_type_conifer_T03
plant_type_conifer_T10
plant_type_conifer_T11
plant_type_conifer_T12
plant_type_conifer_T13
plant_type_conifer_T14
plant_type_conifer_T15
plant_type_conifer_Txx
plant_type_shrub_T00
plant_type_shrub_T01
plant_type_shrub_T02
plant_type_shrub_T03
plant_type_shrub_T10
plant_type_shrub_T11
plant_type_shrub_T12
plant_type_shrub_T13
plant_type_shrub_T14
plant_type_shrub_Txx

Bests,
Sascha

 

[arno]

Hi Sascha,

I would love to implement this, but with lack of documentation it's hard to know which values should be available. I didn't have the time yet to investigate the details.

 

[Rodeo]

Hi Arno,

will it be possible to unlock both the group name and the species name?
In this case we will be independant from changes in aerofly like adding more species and groups.

You could read the values from the SPC file like this:

# Create trees of the group broadleaf without specifying the species (as it is now). This will give a mix of all available species.
CreateAF2Plant|natural="tree"|8;25|conifer|*
#
# This will create only a single species.
CreateAF2Plant|natural="tree"|8;25|broadleaf|plant_type_broadleaf_T13
#
# When we add the FRAND parameter we can define some more species
CreateAF2Plant|landuse="meadow"And FRAND >= 0.4|5;12|shrub|plant_type_shrub_T00
CreateAF2Plant|landuse="meadow"And FRAND >= 0.4|3;8|shrub|plant_type_shrub_T01


We have currently also shrub and palm as group words. But as I suggested above, read this word directly from the SPC.

Thanks for all your assistance.
Rodeo

 

[arno]

Adding the argument would be easy. Tricky part is to implement the auto completion with all possible values.

 

[Sasa]

It would be great if we can predefine a set of plants before calling them. The same would also be very useful for FSX/P3D. Here's what I thought this could look like:

# Define vegetation set with 40% conifers of type 11, and 60% broadleaf of type 11. More than one definition possible. All plants listed need to total 100%.
CreateAF2PlantDefinition|name="myVegetationZone_1"|plant_type_conifer_T11=40%|plant_type_broadleaf_T01=60%
#
# Randomly place from given group in given quotas each (here 40/60, between 8m to 14 meters tall)
CreateAF2PlantGroup|name="myVegetationZone_1"|8,14

Not sure if something like this would be possible but it certainly would be something great to have to deal with inter platform compatibility between FSX/P3D and Aerofly FS2 and would make it easier to define a set if vegetation that looks similar in both sims.

Bests,
Sascha

 

[arno]

For FSX I have a feature that can randomly select between different guids. But I need to check if I have percentages in there.

Does anybody have more info on how I could find supported types for the auto completion in AeroFly?

 

[arno]

Hi,

I have implemented the change. In the CreateAF2Plant step there is an extra argument for the species now. From reading the earlier discussions I have assumed that the T00, T01, etc. are the species as they should be specified in the TOC file. Let me know if that is not correct, then I can change the default configuration.

Besides that I have added a configuration file in the scenProc folder, AF2_config.ini, that contains the possible values for the plant group, plant species, building usage and building roof. So by adding new values there you can extend the auto completion. The values are not validated anymore, so you can enter anything you want (it's your own risk if you make a typo there ).

The new build should be online in a few minutes.

 

[Sasa]

I have implemented the change.

Great! Thank you so, so much! This will definitely help a lot!

Next question would be how to scatter various species over a given criteria/vegetation zone.

I checked for the vegetation and percentage types again and found this in your scenproc documentation: SetAGNVegetationSettings
This seems to be limited to FS2004 and a maximum of two types per setting. If this could be expanded to FSX/P3D/Aerofly and a larger number of possible GUIDs/types (more than 2) to be defined, this would certainly help a lot.

Otherwise this would have to be done in the SHP/DBF files. Which is certainly possible but not as straightforward as using scenproc. I'd gladly test this with a few million trees to be placed.

Bests,
Sascha

 

[arno]

Hi,

Would the FRAND random attribute help you to scatter them?

 

[Sasa]

Would the FRAND random attribute help you to scatter them?

Hmm... wouldn't that enable me to scatter a given number of species just randomly? What I'm looking for is a way to control how they are "randomly" scattered.
If I have for example 4 species I want to use in a certain vegetation zone, I do not want to scatter them like 25%,25%,25%,25% but rather something like 50%,30%,15%,5% or so. I'm a bit lost how to achieve that with FRAND but maybe I'm missing something.

Bests,
Sascha

 

[Sasa]

Hi Arno,

Ok, I tried it again after some sleep and a good coffee. And what can I say? You pointed me into the right direction!
FRAND doesn't work as randomly as I thought but does a perfect random scattering over a given percentage of you want to call it like that.

Here's a sample that works perfectly for me with a scattering of 25% each (which is adjustable in any direction):

#Alpine (4000m to snowline)
#100% scrub T01 to T10
CreateAF2Plant|Height="> 4000.00" And FRAND <= 0.25|3;9|shrub|T01
CreateAF2Plant|Height="> 4000.00" And FRAND > 0.25 And FRAND <=0.50|3;9|shrub|T02
CreateAF2Plant|Height="> 4000.00" And FRAND > 0.50 And FRAND <=0.75|3;9|shrub|T03
CreateAF2Plant|Height="> 4000.00" And FRAND > 0.75|3;9|scrub|T10

Next problem is that Aerofly FS2 doesn't display all objects although they are all in the TOC file but I think that's another story and will lead to limitations on how many objects Aerofly FS2 can handle. Still investigating.

Bests,
Sascha

 

[arno]

Hi Sascha,

That's indeed the approach I meant. Glad to hear it's working.

 

[Trespassers]

Dear Arno,

I have 2 more requests for AFS2 support in ScenProc:

Request #1:
It would be great if you could add an optional argument in CreateAF2Building and CreatAF2Plant steps to set up the Z value (so far always 0) of Position based on an attribute in the data.

This would allow us placing cultivation in absolute height instead of relative when the appropriate information is available in our sources.

Example of code for a building, the 0 in <[vector3_float64][position][6.2444349 46.1939194 0]> is the elevation.

<[building][element][0]
    <[vector3_float64][position][6.2444349 46.1939194 0]>
    <[float32][direction][51.97]>
    <[float32][length][40]>
    <[float32][width][15]>
    <[int32][floors][5]>
    <[string8][roof][gable]>
    <[string8][usage][residential]>
>

Request#2:
Would it be possible to automatically increase the element[0] value while Exporting TOC files (instead of always remaining 0)? => element[1], element[2], etc.

This would make items identification much easier when manually troubleshooting or simply cleaning up TOC files.

Thank you for your support.
Cheers

Antoine

 

[arno]

Hi,

Sure, that can be done. Is just changing the z value enough? Or is there another setting that specifies absolute or relative height?

I can make the element number auto increasing.

 

[Trespassers]

HI Arno,

Thanks for that prompt (and positive) reply.

Just changing the z value is OK.
For information, TOC files must be declared in AFS2 by the mean of a TSC file, in which there's a switch for absolute or relative heights.

BTW when using relative height, giving Z a value will also move the object relative to the mesh, e.g. setting -4 will ensure each object is slightly burried into the ground....

Cheers
Antoine