P3D v5 Custom Land Class textures not showing up

[FLEX_45]

Hi all,
I am trying to create a custom land class texture but in P3D (v5) but the default one still shows instead of the new one.
Here is my work flow, any advice as to where I am doing the mistake?

1) I create in ADE a land class polygon and I choose "Dirt"
2) I compile my airport and end up in my scenery folder with 2 bgls (one is the cvx one)
3) Via Sdk I find that "Dirt" is value 131 and locate all (five) textures from World\Texture folder which I copy in my local texture folder and edit the textures.
4) Loading P3D, land class polygon appears but with default dirt textures not my edited textures.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[arno]

Hi,

Landclass textures always have to be placed in the global texture folder, they can't be read from your local texture folder. So that's why your new ones are not used.

 

[FLEX_45]

Hi Arno,
Reading in the forums I came across the method of having the custom textures in the local texture folder and provided they are all of that set and with the same filenames, the sim will load those in priority to the default ones. Is this something that stopped working after FSX?

If yes, then what is the best P3D way to create a landclass polygon with custom texture?

Thanks

 

[arno]

As far as I know that never worked for landclass files, but I might be wrong, it's a long time ago I tried.

 

[FLEX_45]

Looking a bit more I came accross this discussion https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/t...custom-landclass-textures.442626/#post-797310 which is dated April 2018 and Holger suggests that it's possible with this way. Not sure though where I am wrong in the workflow - maybe I am missing some textures for the local texture folder?

For "Dirt" I include 5 textures, the ones starting with 131*.bmp....should there be any more that I miss and the sim reverts to the default ones?

Thanks

 

[arno]

Did you make a new raster landclass file as well then? I had the impression you only made a landclass polygon in ADE.

 

[FLEX_45]

Hi,
I open the stock airport in ADE and do a landclass polygon basically. I guess I am missing the new raster landclass step then.
How do I do this? Is it simple workflow to outline here?

Thanks

 

[arno]

Hi,

I am not sure if you can do that from ADE as well. Either with resample or with SBuilderX you can make these files.

What you basically do is define which type of landclass is shown for the different terrain tiles.

 

[FLEX_45]

Hi Arno,
Issue was indeed with the missing landclass raster. I managed to create one with resample and the custom textures loaded!

Many thanks for the help!

 

[arno]

Glad to hear you got it working now

 

[FLEX_45]

Also another quick question. Is there a way the landclass raster to have a not square/rectangular shape? ie. with a blend mask or something to avoid affecting landclass that I don't want to be changed?

Thanks

 

[arno]

I believe you can use a no data value to indicate that certain pixels have no data, then the simulator will use the default landclass there.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

With FSX you can draw a polygon of a landclass type. I would assume you could do that with P3Dv5

 

[GaryGB]

This is an interesting approach not discussed very often since FSX was released; a less complex workflow was used by some in prior FS2Kx FS versions.

IIRC, this would be able to avoid the need to (very carefully !) edit the active Terrain.Cfg to add a new definition for a custom Land Class (aka "LC") ?

And, IIUC, by use of the NO_DATA attribute for certain pixels in the Raster LC image source, one can avoid a re-map of LC values from underlying LC BGLs ?

Would one find this to be a viable alternative to use of a LC tile pixel value of ex: 253 for 'transparency' instead ?


FYI: Some obscure details regarding the FS LC terrain 'tile' sub-system are discussed in this thread:

FS2004 - PTSim - Larger Maps ?

Hi Folks, Question - I've downloaded maps from PTSim and can get them to work with both SBuilder and Resampler... My project is 3200x2400 which - at the zoom level I used - gives me a project area of about 9 tiles... Say for example I wanted to increase that to say 25 tiles - what's the best...

www.fsdeveloper.com

Hmmm... it will be interesting to see if is also possible to 'customize' LC in MSFS-2020; for the MS-Store version, the active Terrain.Cfg is located in:

[MSFS-2020 Packages install path]\Official\OneStore\fs-base\terrain.cfg



One might also wonder what may be achieved using scenery created for FSX / P3D via MSFS' "retro-compatibility" mode in light of these prior discussions:

RE: modified FSX Terrain.Cfg by LFT & rhumbaflappy

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/terrain-cfg-fix.3290/ Hi all. Luis Féliz-Tirado and I have devised an alternate terrain.cfg file that fixes a few terrain problems, and adds some more functionality to our sceneries. It can be found at AVSIM...

www.fsdeveloper.com

On manipulating the FSX terrain.cfg file

Hi all, not surprisingly, the issue of manipulating the global terrain.cfg file keeps coming up. Below are my thoughts and ideas about this matter, meant to continue discussion and exchange of ideas and approaches for dealing with the cfg file. Primarily, I'd like to focus on design features...

www.fsdeveloper.com

GaryGB

 

[FLEX_45]

I am not sure if I am missing something but can the landclass raster be non rectangular? On top of the landclass raster I draw the landclass polygon (of any shape) in ADE but outside the landclass polygon the landclass raster remains with default texturing/landclass.

I also tried with resample to compile the landclass raster as a .gdb polygon (VectorGDB layer option) but I get Unsupported source type error during the compile. Any ideas on this?

Thanks

 

[GaryGB]

I am not sure if I am missing something but can the landclass raster be non rectangular? On top of the landclass raster I draw the landclass polygon (of any shape) in ADE but outside the landclass polygon the landclass raster remains with default texturing/landclass.

I also tried with resample to compile the landclass raster as a .gdb polygon (VectorGDB layer option) but I get Unsupported source type error during the compile. Any ideas on this?

Thanks

Hi Chris,

your current approach is the correct one. Your raster landclass file will determine the extent of your coverage area, with the typical blending to the surrounding scenery by ~1/2 of a landclass QMID15 tile, meaning a few hundred yards. Adding custom entries to terrain.cfg will not change this behavior.

To ensure compatibility of your own add-on with those surrounding it it's best to include a complete set of landclass textures in your texture subfolder of all the classes you're using, including classes that appear (=auto-switch) on steeper slopes, assuming the terrain isn't completely flat. Also, any landclass polygons you place will need to be fully covered by your raster landclass file otherwise the sim will pick for those areas the poly textures from the active landclass file at the next lower display priority.

Cheers, Holger

Perhaps you may also wish to review the SBuilderX documentation on "Class Maps" in the included *.CHM Help file (search for "land class")?

FSX - SBuilderX v315

Hi All. Luis_Sá has completed his update of SBuilderX as Version 315. The new version address some issues with Windows 10, and is a true AnyCPU version, so both x86 and x64 operating systems are supported. Luis has rewritten several core elements to improve the speed and memory usage of the...

www.fsdeveloper.com

Additionally, to learn procedures to make more accurate 'land class' scenery in local FS world areas, you may wish to review this tutorial:

Terrain Design

File Description:
Terrain Design for Flight Simulator X

This simple illustrated document explains the basic concepts in Flight Simulator X terrain, and how to change them using SBuilder for FS X. Make new water bodies, roads, vehicle traffic, airport flattens, remove autogen, add more detail - anybody can do it easily and quickly.
My most sincere apologies - I am unable, for lack of free time, to offer support of any kind. For questions or problems, please post in the Avsim scenery design forum.

Filename: terrain_design_for_flight_simulator_x.zip
License: Freeware
Added: 14th December 2009, 13:29:15
Downloads: 16648
Author: Luis Feliz-Tirado
Size: 3991kb

https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxsd&DLID=141643



To make more accurate FS scenery, you are likely to also encounter these topics at some point, as draped photo-real imagery is a form of custom land class:

Make photo-real ground textures

File Description:
It is very easy to create your very own high-resolution, custom (photo-real) ground textures. This document explains the concepts and techniques and illustrates the use of SBuilderX with which you can quickly and easily download aerial images and make this type of scenery. So, why hesitate? Make Flight Simulator scenery as real as it gets! Very sorry - no support of any kind is offered. Please do not write. For any questions, please post in the Avsim Scenery Design Forum.

Filename: make_photo-real_ground_textures_in_fs_x.zip
License: Freeware
Added: 21st November 2009, 23:20:06
Downloads: 17714
Author: Luis Feliz-Tirado
Size: 2143kb

https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxsd&DLID=140539


Using the Autogen Annotator

File Description:
The Autogen Annotator is a powerful tool for modifying the autogen of default ground textures or adding autogen to custom (photo-real) ground. This document illustrates the use of the tool, and includes a pictorial guide to all autogen object types. Very sorry - no support of any kind is offered. Please do not write. For any questions, please post in the Avsim Scenery Design Forum.

Filename: using_the_autogen_annotator_264833.zip
License: Freeware
Added: 21st November 2009, 16:18:51
Downloads: 4220
Author: Luis Feliz-Tirado
Size: 8930kb

https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxsd&DLID=140537


GaryGB

 

[FLEX_45]

Thanks for the sources Gary, I had some further reading and many things are much clearer now.
What I still can't find/understand is for the underlying landclass raster that I need to have in order to create my landclass polygon on top and use the custom textures, is there a specific color/RGB value I can use during the compilation, so that in the sim it will be "transparent" and only show the landclass polygon that I create on top of it?

Thanks

 

[GaryGB]

Hello:

Bearing in mind Holger's other caveat here:

Hello Pierre,

custom textures with vector land class will only show if the area of the polygon is fully covered by a raster land class file that resides in the same folder tree. It doesn't matter what classes you use for the raster file it's the coverage that matters.

Cheers, Holger

...I am not certain if you are concerned with an issue of 'granularity' in the size of areas defined by each Raster LC pixel within each 257 x 257 Area / Cell / tile extent of coverage on the ground, and/or if you are trying to identify whether / how "masks" may be implemented with LC.


Perhaps the goal might become more clear, and may be communicated here with more specificity, after review of these search results ?

NZFF • FSX Vector Landclass

www.nzff.org

SBuilderX Forum - Information

SBuilderX Forum - Information

SBuilderX Forum - Information

Custom textures for landclass?

Hi I created 1024x1024 DXT1 Bmps with Mip mapping (same format as default landclass textures) Now how do I create a blending mask for each (any specific name for the file) and where do I put the textures to become a landclass I can use in tiling (i.e: in SBX) Any tutorial ? Thanks...

www.fsdeveloper.com

FSX - SOLVED - Autogen for new land class poly type - How to?

Hi there, I recently created a new type of land class polygon (experimental state ATM) by fiddling with the various parameters in the terrain.cfg and creating an according texture. Then I opened the texture in annotator and randomly added a few buildings. When saving a file namend [texture...

www.fsdeveloper.com

https://www.google.com/search?q=FSX+"raster+landclass"+site:www.fsdeveloper.com&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC4py6paXtAhUq1lkKHbu6DPsQrQIoBHoECAQQBQ

GaryGB

 

[arno]

Hi,

The remarks that the classes used don't matter is interesting. Does that mean the custom raster could just be a segment of the default landclass, so that visually you don't see a difference in the landclass, while you can use the polygon on top then with your custom texture?

 

[FLEX_45]

Hi Arno and Gary,
What Arno is asking is exactly what I am after.
ie. The underlying raster layer to be invisible and just have it there to fulfill the requirements and then draw the landclass polygon that I want on top and only the landclass polygon to be visible.
At the moment all of my attempts cause default landclass to be affected from raster layer, so I guess I am doing something wrong or missing something.