Project KXNA

[TruNorthSim]

Hey guys and gals!

My name is Jack, and I am currently working on KXNA Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport located west of Bentonville, Arkansas. I would like to call it KXNA 2017, but as of right now, it's just Project KXNA.

As some of you may already know, a very nice freeware of this airport is already available, called KXNA 2012. Unfortunately, it does not have all-season ground scenery, the jetways are static, there is a crashbox in front of the tower that can only be avoided by turning crash realism off, and the fps hit is significant.

Regardless of it's shortcomings, the reason I got interested in this project is that I have lived in Northwest Arkansas most of my life. I got involved in flight sim only a short time ago when it was released on Steam, and immediately became interested in designing my own scenery. Skip almost two years, and here I am still working on this project, albeit with more knowledge and experience.

I wasn't able to put as much time toward learning how to create scenery or objects due to military duty. I've only recently made a lot of progress.

Here is a compilation of screenshots of the projects so far, from oldest to most recent...

All-Season Photoreal Ground Scenery Color-Matched To OrbX Global
Used SBuilderX and Gimp to pull satellite scenery, created blendmask, watermask, and color-matching.
Used the SDK to set the months for each photoreal image and compiled into BGL
Used ADE to create the runways, taxiways, tarmacs, aprons, approaches, and parking

Began working on the terminal Feb 8, 2017

Feb 8, 2017

Feb 9, 2017

Feb 9, 2017

Feb 9, 2017

Feb 10, 2017

Feb 10, 2017

Feb 13, 2017

Feb 15, 2017

Mar 15, 2017

Mar 17, 2017

Mar 25, 2017

Mar 25, 2017

Mar 26, 2017
I had to rework the roof lights for optimization, and as you can see from this picture, the finished product looks almost the same.

Mar 26, 2017

Mar 26, 2017
Added jetways to Concourse A. They are properly labeled with the gate numbers and are coded for the airline that use each gate.

Mar 28, 2017
Testing gate number textures

Mar 29, 2017

Mar 30, 2017
Added white apron markings, revised the Concourse B apron markings now in HD, and revised all parking areas.

I will post more screenshots as this project develops. Thank you for taking a look!

 

[Hangar32]

I wasn't able to put as much time toward learning how to create scenery or objects due to military duty.

What? That's no excuse. I was in the Navy during which time I learned gMax, SbuilderX and ADE! Of course that took me something like 8 years…so I concede your point…it took me well over a year to build my Svalbard-Longyear (ENSB). I'm retired now…much more time.

Thank you for your service.

From you screen shots, it is clear to me that I need to learn SketchUp. Your terminal buildings are fantastic - the detail is awesome. The light stands are incredibly realistic.

You mention an FPS hit - possibly a high polygon count. Can you do a poly count in SketchUp? When I do an airport scenery and the poly count starts to get too high, I look what I call the "ground side" (the side where you enter the terminal, as opposed to the "air side" where the airplanes are and where we see the most in FSX). I have found that one can "dumb down" a lot of the ground side–thus reducing the poly count–without much loss of visual realism since you are airborne at hundreds to a few thousand feet when you see ground side. Just a thought.

Again, fantastic work. Can't wait for the finished project.

 

[TruNorthSim]

I just checked out that website. Wow! Very nice work! I hope to, at some point, reach that level. Until then, I'll continue to work on my list of projects.

As far as I know, there isn't way to do a poly count in Sketchup. I export it to a .dae, then load it into ModelConverterX. Once the magic happens to convert it to a .mdl, I'm pretty sure any poly count you did before the conversion wouldn't be accurate anyway. As long as it performs fine in FSX, I don't worry about it!

There are several things I've learned recently about using Sketchup and keeping the performance high in FSX. I did a bit of testing, and this is what I've found...

1. Once you complete a model, view the model from underneath, and delete every surface that will not be viewed. For example, the floor inside a building, or, in the case of the light poles, the ceiling were the pole connects to the building. You model will be completely hollow inside. When viewed from underneath in ModelConverterX, some surfaces will look transparent.

2. Unless you really want your model to have a crash box, don't use it.

3. Only use platforms for helipads. If you wouldn't land on a building in real life, don't make a platform for the roof. The FPS hit on this is significant.

4. Do not use the circle tool. It creates entirely too many polys, especially if you extrude it to a cylinder. I found that out when making the light poles. Instead, use the pie tool. It will create a circle with large, flat sides. When extruded, the poly count will be much, much lower. Take a look at Concourse B in the images above (the white side). The roof ventilation is a very large cylindrical object. The shape ended up being a dodecagon, but I found that Sketchup doesn't cooperate when trying to put a top on those. Instead of extrude, draw the entire object, add the top, and it will work just fine.

I use Sketchup, because it was very easy to learn and use. It's also a lot of fun! I'm still learning new techniques every day. I think you should give it a try!

Thank you for the kind words and motivation!

 

[scotth6]

Great start to your project!

 

[Hangar32]

Great tips all. I use gMax…it is a "can't teach an old dog new tricks" thing (my brain exploded when I tried to figure out Blender) - although, I have experimented with SketchUp so I think I can give it a shot.

these were interesting…

2. Unless you really want your model to have a crash box, don't use it.

4. Do not use the circle tool. It creates entirely too many polys, especially if you extrude it to a cylinder

For #2 gMax works the opposite way. Everything is a "crash box" - you have to tell it what not to make a crash box - important to remember if you are making custom runway or taxiway lights.

For #4…you bring up a really great discussion point! I think, "How many sides to put into this cylinder?" is a design question with no correct answer except something that looks good but doesn't kill your FPS.

My rule of thumb is, "the smaller the diameter, the fewer sides" - a thin radio antenna on the top of a building that is maybe an inch or so in diameter? There is pretty much no way to tell the difference between a 16-cylinder and a 3-sided cylinder form the normal distances a plane will park or taxi…3 sides it is (for me). Ship's railings - 2-3 inches? usually 4 sides, rotated to be seen more as a diamond. for 6-plus inches, it can get a bit tricky. Usually, I don't like 5, 6, or 8 sided cylinders because to me it seems that the human eye will pick up a pentagon, hexagon or octagon shape (I blame stop signs for the last ) I normally go with 7, 9 or 10 sided cylinders for something like that. But again, that's just me

This is all great work. Looking forward to flying out of/in to the finished airport!

 

[TruNorthSim]

Sketchup is free, and I think you'll find it very simple to use. There are also many tutorial videos on youtube to help get you started, so you really have nothing to lose.

Once the .dae file is exported from Sketchup to ModelConverterX, it will have a crashbox, but it can be disabled in the ModelConverterX settings before it's exported to a model file.

When it comes to the flat sides and textures used, it's really all a matter of perception, which is subjective. It's only wrong if it looks really bad and people take notice!

 

[wideloadwhitford]

Good evening!

I am the original creator of XNA2012. I'm happy to see another developer taking on this airport as it has changed so much. I live in Florida and have never visited XNA I mainly created it for an AllegiantVA, but if you need any pictures I'll be happy to help!

As for the crash box I'm sorry to hear that as nobody has brought it to my attention until now.

Ryan

 

[FatCat]

Hi! Nice modeling and very useful tips!!! I faced with crashboxes yesterday while testing my scenery, and thanks to your thread I solved my problem!!!

 

[TruNorthSim]

Good evening!

I am the original creator of XNA2012. I'm happy to see another developer taking on this airport as it has changed so much. I live in Florida and have never visited XNA I mainly created it for an AllegiantVA, but if you need any pictures I'll be happy to help!

As for the crash box I'm sorry to hear that as nobody has brought it to my attention until now.

Ryan

Your scenery was an inspiration for me more than anything, so thank you for creating it. Especially considering it's an airport that almost no one would consider creating addon scenery for. Any assistance on the project is always appreciated, such as photos, textures, etc. It only helps the project move along and the end result look better.

 

[TruNorthSim]

Hi! Nice modeling and very useful tips!!! I faced with crashboxes yesterday while testing my scenery, and thanks to your thread I solved my problem!!!

Glad it helped you!

 

[TruNorthSim]

Apologies for no recent updates. I got caught up doing a lot of outdoor activities. I may start focusing on this project again soon, as I don't like to gain a reputation for not finishing what I start.

 

[TruNorthSim]

Seems I've won the lottery. I recently moved all of my files over to a new, larger SSD. Unfortunately, it seems some of my files became corrupt, so I lost my photoreal group scenery. I had made a backup, but the external HD that I used can no longer be read. Outstanding.

No worries, though. I can recreate that ground scenery in less than a day's time. Also, the source files for the models are still good, so that time wasn't wasted. I can still continue work on them.

This project has grown, and I'll now be doing 14 more airports in the Northwest Arkansas area. So, looks like this entire thing won't be done til sometime in 2018. I'll begin posting pictures of the scenery for you guys, if you're interested.