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Bridge Objects

A

artmartin

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us-arizona
This subject is being discussed at Avsim.com but I'm really looking for something in particular on this topic. FS and other programs such as Rwy12 provide bridge section objects that can make some very nice looking bridges but I've found they are particularly difficult to assemble on scenery if they are not aligned NS or EW. We certainly have the ability to place the sections anywhere we want and to angle them in whatever orientation one desires but when putting together an up ramp, 10 or 12 middle sections, and a down ramp, the finished product is almost impossible to make look contiguous if that horiz/vertical alignment isn't in place.

I'm simply not a GMAX object designer yet and it's going to take awhile before I can find the time to get into that. I'm sure though that if I had a basic and complete bridge object, that I could alter its dimensions to my desired amounts in GMAX and save it back out. It would then be very easy to place the single object bridge exactly where you wanted it manually or with Rwy12 or Arno's ObjectPlacer. Anyone know a source for GMAX objects such as bridges, elevated freeway ramps, traffic lights, that sort of thing?

Art Martin
 
Hi Art,

No, I have not seen GMax source files for bridges. But I guess that if you use the textures MS has already provided for their own bridges it should not be too hard to create a few segments. At the moment I am a bit busy, but else I would try to create a few objects for you.

On the other hand, a small tool that would do all the calculations needed to align the different segments might also be useful. Something like you select the bridge type, length and orientation and this tool creates the XML code to make the bridges for you.

But, humm, now that I write this, I just remember that that is exactly what a VTP line does :). Maybe it is easier to place the bridges with a VTP line in that case.
 
Ah, very sly Arno. You know that throwing out an idea for a program to a programmer starts the wheels rolling. Actually I'm already getting requests for a straight line multi object GUI tool for my program that allows the user to very precisely set the distance between objects. That would work as long as those bridge segments I can get to with Rwy12 are addressable in the Default.xml. Haven't toyed with those yet. Maybe this weekend.

Art
 
Wow, did some programming last night and a solution is at hand and much easier than I thought. Added in an Angled Multi GUI Object creation tool where a user defines an angled rectangle defining the orientation of the multiple objects and the length of the line on which to create the objects and inputs the number of objects to be drawn in that space. The objects are defined in either the pre-setup classes in the Default.xml or user-added classes with one object in them. I created a bridge segment class and added in one of the FS bridge segment objects. Created my definition rectangle and viola - it created a bridge with all the segments lined up. Now it didn't have the ramps for the end. They'll still have to be placed individually but it sure wiped out a ton of work. I'll be uploading the new program version tonight or tomorrow to the VFR Autogen site.

Now if only I'd gotten some sleep.

Art
 
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