MSFS20 [WIP] CA21 - Limberlost Ranch

[Rotornut44]

Do any of you remember Limberlost Ranch from FSX & P3D? It's a little airstrip on a hill that was covered by ORBX's Blue Canyon scenery. It wasn't super detailed, just a basic hangar, fence, some clutter and a small ground-poly.

Screenshot from ORBX's version taken in Prepar3D with the Milviz (Black Bird) Beaver. >>> Screenshot of my WIP in MSFS with the Milviz (Black Bird) Beaver + Got Friends 40th Mod.


I always enjoyed the challenge of flying into that airstrip and I have missed it so much that I decided to take it upon myself to build a version for MSFS that will blow the FSX & P3D version out of the water.
The airstrip is located 3.5 NM (6.5 KM) to the West-Southwest of the town of Rough and Ready in California (Yes, that's actually the town name - No, there is not a saloon - Yes, I am slightly disappointed), immediately South of Lake Wildwood, and ~10 NM (20 KM) to the Northeast of Beale AFB.

Or alternatively, instead of reading all of this and trying to put it together in your head - you could have also looked at this map...

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

However, since you read the other part first, we'll just call it a supplemental resource.

Anyways...

My goal, as always is to push the bounds of my current skillset and create something quite detailed. I am planning to do interiors for nearly all of the buildings, my usual suite of dynamic objects & effects, some WWISE audio, and more TBD.
This seems like a good segue into talking a bit about the models I currently have made...

​

Ground Poly
Limberlost Ranch has a short stretch of asphalt on the hill above the grass runway. I have opted to not go the Projected Mesh route, but to use a FSX/P3D style groundpoly object which has been manually formed to the ground, sloping downhill a decent bit at the end. I went this direction because I was not happy with the resolution achievable by a Projected Mesh in this area. Somewhat satisfactory results were given when the terrain resolution slider was maxed out, but with the limitations of ground detail textures and the fact that high terrain detail settings tank performance, it was just not worth it. And while adjusting every vert is a pain, being a smaller area, it only took a few hours to do.

The ground poly (currently) uses a single 8k PBR texture sheet painted with Substance Painter. It does utilize LODs to cull the memory load, but I am also considering breaking it up into smaller texture sheets just to make it easier to load. Though, this means I will pretty much have to redo all of the textures, so I'm back and forth on it at the moment. Moving forward though, I will be breaking things up more as the sim seems to handle more texture drawcalls better than a single heavy 8k texture.

​

Animated Hangar
The Hangar at Limberlost Ranch was actually the first model I completed in the scenery, and it has already been through several revisions since then. Much like with my recently released Forwood Farm scenery, the hangar door is animated and user controllable. Currently, I'm using a trigger system Worldscript to achieve this, but due to some sim limitations, I am currently looking into a better method. However, until I can figure my way through that non-documented mess (or if I can get it working at all), it will continue to use the current system.

The interior and exterior of the Hangar also features night lighting with all emissives now casting light bloom when that option is toggled on in the sim's settings. Now, this isnt any groundbreaking tech or anything. I just never thought to edit the model files to bump up the emissivefactor until recently... (It's not currently supported by the official Blender Exporter)

Although it is pretty bare-bones at the moment, the hangar will be getting some clutter to fill it out some, but that will come much later down the line.

​

Poolside
It is a bit on it's own right now - kinda sticking out like a sore thumb, but the Pool has to be one of my favorite models that I've created so far. This one was a struggle to do initially, because I wasn't quite sure how I was going to handle depth and I didn't want to make it shallow like most pools are in other addons. So, I made a compromise. As I was playing with parallax for Forwood at the time, I had a big brain moment and decided to try parallax for the pool. I'm not going to lie, it took a lot of jank and tweaking to get it to look halfway decent, but the result is that the pool actually feels like it has some depth to it and the drains in the bottom of the pool will move as the camera gets near or further away from the edge of the pool, so it doesn't just feel static.

For this reason, I also decided against doing any sort of waves/ripples normal map as I personally think it takes away from the experience when something is static like that. So, I went with a calm, glassy look. Though, I did bake a bit of caustics into the parallax just to break things up a bit, even if it is a bit of a contradiction to my prior statement.

I also have some additional dynamic features planned for around the pool, but I'm keeping those to myself for now!

The House
Last but not least is the model for the Ranch House. This one is still very early on in the modeling process, so there's not a lot to show right now, but it is being worked on.
I am planning a nearly full interior based on Real Estate photos from a few years back, but other than that, who knows just how far down the rabbit hole we will go with this model.

Until then, enjoy the above photo of where I will put my door mat when I get around to inserting another box into the scene...
Oh, yea. And I almost forgot about the photos below as well.

Until next time!

 

[Rotornut44]

 

[ibanez737]

Hey Chris, big fan of your work and this looks really incredible. Love the little details like grass in the pavement cracks; stuff like that adds a lot. I made some airports for Orbx back in the day; wading slowly back into MSFS scenery development and these are giving me some inspiration. Kudos!

 

[Marc L]

Happy new Year

Nice work !!!! looking forward to it

 

[Rotornut44]

Hey Chris, big fan of your work and this looks really incredible. Love the little details like grass in the pavement cracks; stuff like that adds a lot. I made some airports for Orbx back in the day; wading slowly back into MSFS scenery development and these are giving me some inspiration. Kudos!

Thank you! I did a batch of (I think 6?) Global Airports back in the day. I ended up continuing the solo venture though and fell out of contact when Neil passed. Good experiance though, and it makes me excited that MSFS is finally introducing a Scenery Gateway (Worldhub). I like doing full-fledged addons, but a nice simple facelift for a basic airport that you can knock out in a day or two is a nice break!

 

[Rotornut44]

Happy new Year

Nice work !!!! looking forward to it

Happy new year!! Thanks for following along with the journey, as always, Marc!

 

[ibanez737]

Thank you! I did a batch of (I think 6?) Global Airports back in the day. I ended up continuing the solo venture though and fell out of contact when Neil passed. Good experiance though, and it makes me excited that MSFS is finally introducing a Scenery Gateway (Worldhub). I like doing full-fledged addons, but a nice simple facelift for a basic airport that you can knock out in a day or two is a nice break!

Neil was a wonderful guy. We worked on FTX Northern California together, and once we realized we both live in the Seattle area he invited me over to his house, where we talked flight sim for a couple hours and his wife baked me cookies haha. Just great people. His work ethic was just tremendous; I could never understand how he was able to knock out hundreds of airports for each FTX region and make them look as good as he did! Really breathed a lot of life into each of those regions and made them the great sceneries that they were.

I wasn't aware of the "Worldhub" for MSFS, I'll have to look into that. Between a full-time aviation career and separate (non-FS) side business these past couple of years I haven't had much time for full-fledged FS addons, although lately I've been experimenting with importing my old 0S9 Jefferson County and S93 Cle Elum into MSFS and adding some details. Having fun with that, so I'm hoping to make more time for it here in the new year.

In any case, keep up the good work, it's looking great!

 

[Severin]

This looks good,Chris

 

[Rotornut44]

OK. After over a year hiatus, I've journeyed back down to the lower 48 and have began work on Limberlost Ranch again!

I have learned a lot in the last year and it's making me rethink a lot of the choices I made on this project. So, I will be taking it back a few steps and redoing a bit of my work. This will mostly be textures and UVs, as this project currently relies on a few 8K textures which are just slow to work with, and a major memory hog above all else. So, this project will take advantage of tiling and detail textures where possible to keep a lot of good detail in, but for far less texture memory overall.

To start down that path, I have been working on the ground poly for the last few days here. I am still going with a model mesh over using a projected mesh (baked into the terrain) as I can achieve a much higher resolution. Last time I worked on the project, I got the elevations pretty dialed in, so I have only seen some clipping in one area, even with potato terrain settings.

The textures are now made from a base layer of old asphalt, which is a 1K tiling texture. On top of that is a decal layer with another tiling texture to add in the darker asphalt patches. This is currently 4K, but the pattern repeats numerous times in the texture, so I should be able to cut a single tile from it, re-tile it in Blender and get that file size down a bit more. For now, I just need it to work...

Everything else on top of that is a decal, which I painstakingly pulled from the original Substance project file (I am never dealing with 8K textures again). Using decals and separate materials for the layers also allowed me to take advantage of blending factors to blend with the textures beneath and draw order offset to stop flickering. It's all worked out pretty well and I only need a 1cm physical offset between my base asphalt texture and the decals.

Now that a lot of the experimentation is over with, it's just a matter of putting my head down and working on adding the rest of the decals to the apron.

Next I'll be taking another look at the hangar, redoing all of it's textures, as well as (probably) a little bit of remodeling to the hangar doors. After that, the pool, and then on to finishing the rest of the models.

 

[FlynZSky]

Chris, have to say, your work is top notch and always stunning to look at. I love your choice of fields, also.

 

[Rotornut44]

Thank you!

 

[Rotornut44]

Will I ever finish this project? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z...

Seriously, this seems to be the backburner project of all backburner projects. Almost a year again since I worked on it last. But maybe it's for the best as since the property itself has undergone some changes, and that just means that I will be creating the most up-to-date representation of the airfield and property (Within creative reason, of course)!

Some of these property changes include demolishing one of the barns and adding a horse paddock in it place, adding an airsteam camper and pad near the pool where one of the sheds once were. As well as some water storage tanks alongside the hangar.

These changes also mean updated aerial imagery and a completely redone color palette for the airstrip. I have recolored things to not be a rich green anymore, but to have more yellow. This matches the area a bit better and blends better with some of my custom ground vegetation.

I have also tuned the custom apron colors to better match this as well. The asphalt patches have also been toned down as they were way too prominent when compared to real photos.

The pool has also been retextured with tiling textures since it was using an 8K before to not look like water colors. I have also added an (experimental) fun feature. A pool float that will move around the pool depending on what the wind direction is. It's kinda janky, but maybe it will behave... This isn't exactly Pool Float Simulator. haha

More updates coming in the near future as I work my way through the rest of the modeling for this project. The current plan is to build it for 2020 first and then work on the 2024 version after. No idea how I'm going to do the release yet, but I'll plan that out further down the road!

 

[Rotornut44]

I had to put a brief pause on this project when MSFS 2024 Sim Update 2 came out in order to push out some updates and finish up my native release for Bald Eagle Airfield. However, with all of that behind me now, I have continued to push forward on this project.

A lot has happened in the last month, and with this project being ongoing off and on for the last 3 years, I had to spend some time getting back into the flow of things. The biggest task by far has been getting the Ranch House done. I'm still not there, but it's getting closer. The model is about 90% complete. It needs some missing details added and the interior still needs some polishing still. I now have it in the sim with some paint on it just to see how things look and to fit it to the terrain. All subject to change of course.

I had been debating for a long time on this model if I wanted to do an interior or not. Doing Parallax in Blender is a bit of a pain, and I also don't have any Parallax textures that would work for this building. Which means they would have to be modeled out and rendered anyways. So, if I'm going to do all of that work, I decided I might as well make a low poly 3D interior.

It doesn't need to be high poly and the textures don't need to have super high texel density. I'm also not filling it up with clutter, but trying to do just enough to fill out the space. It's not being made with interior navigation in mind, but to be seen from just outside the windows. To give a bit of true depth behind those big glass windows and sliding doors. Although, I still textured everything so that it looks good up close (for those who like to wander through interiors).
I'll save interior screenshots for when all that starts to come together a bit more. There are still a handful of interior models I want to make, and thus the living area is a bit sparse right now, with only a sectional couch. I will throw in a day/night shot of the master bedroom though as it is the most complete area of the interior!

Since I have started back on this project, I also failed to report on the updates to the Hangar door. This change was actually made over a year ago. The last time I worked on the project. I'm just now remembering to show it off.

I had originally painted a yellow stripe on the front of the doors, but after going over references again, I discovered that the stripe I was seeing wasn't paint, but those semi-translucent panels that let a bit of light through. So, the doors got completely remodeled for that and the backlighting inside of the hangar now adds quite a bit to the ambience!

Alongside that change, I also added a door that I had missed on the left side of the hangar, and the general exterior also got some more detail added. Floodlights were added to the left and right exterior walls, a small addition on the back wall, and on the right side some electrical conduit and a sliding door that was missed when I originally created the model several years back.

My project over the weekend here has been starting on some of the additional building models I need to complete for the project. The first one on the list was the old barn on the property.

I was originally flirting with the idea of doing an interior as well, but I ultimately decided to keep this one low poly. I only had a couple source photos to work with and none of them showed an interior. Not even a glimpse from the outside. Now, I could have made something up, but also, does it really need an interior? Not really. I'll pull my creative freedom card on this one.

Besides all this, I have started to place some models around the scenery. Trees, some clutter, fences (which take a bit of effort since this is all on the side of a hill). I have also been adjusting the terraforming to fit all of the models I have placed. An ongoing process...

Lots of little things which will eventually bring the project together.

That's all for now though. It's time to get back to work!

 

[KL791]

I had to put a brief pause on this project when MSFS 2024 Sim Update 2 came out in order to push out some updates and finish up my native release for Bald Eagle Airfield. However, with all of that behind me now, I have continued to push forward on this project.

A lot has happened in the last month, and with this project being ongoing off and on for the last 3 years, I had to spend some time getting back into the flow of things. The biggest task by far has been getting the Ranch House done. I'm still not there, but it's getting closer. The model is about 90% complete. It needs some missing details added and the interior still needs some polishing still. I now have it in the sim with some paint on it just to see how things look and to fit it to the terrain. All subject to change of course.

View attachment 96646

I had been debating for a long time on this model if I wanted to do an interior or not. Doing Parallax in Blender is a bit of a pain, and I also don't have any Parallax textures that would work for this building. Which means they would have to be modeled out and rendered anyways. So, if I'm going to do all of that work, I decided I might as well make a low poly 3D interior.

It doesn't need to be high poly and the textures don't need to have super high texel density. I'm also not filling it up with clutter, but trying to do just enough to fill out the space. It's not being made with interior navigation in mind, but to be seen from just outside the windows. To give a bit of true depth behind those big glass windows and sliding doors. Although, I still textured everything so that it looks good up close (for those who like to wander through interiors).
I'll save interior screenshots for when all that starts to come together a bit more. There are still a handful of interior models I want to make, and thus the living area is a bit sparse right now, with only a sectional couch. I will throw in a day/night shot of the master bedroom though as it is the most complete area of the interior!

View attachment 96643View attachment 96644

Since I have started back on this project, I also failed to report on the updates to the Hangar door. This change was actually made over a year ago. The last time I worked on the project. I'm just now remembering to show it off.

I had originally painted a yellow stripe on the front of the doors, but after going over references again, I discovered that the stripe I was seeing wasn't paint, but those semi-translucent panels that let a bit of light through. So, the doors got completely remodeled for that and the backlighting inside of the hangar now adds quite a bit to the ambience!

Alongside that change, I also added a door that I had missed on the left side of the hangar, and the general exterior also got some more detail added. Floodlights were added to the left and right exterior walls, a small addition on the back wall, and on the right side some electrical conduit and a sliding door that was missed when I originally created the model several years back.

View attachment 96649

My project over the weekend here has been starting on some of the additional building models I need to complete for the project. The first one on the list was the old barn on the property.

I was originally flirting with the idea of doing an interior as well, but I ultimately decided to keep this one low poly. I only had a couple source photos to work with and none of them showed an interior. Not even a glimpse from the outside. Now, I could have made something up, but also, does it really need an interior? Not really. I'll pull my creative freedom card on this one.

View attachment 96648

Besides all this, I have started to place some models around the scenery. Trees, some clutter, fences (which take a bit of effort since this is all on the side of a hill). I have also been adjusting the terraforming to fit all of the models I have placed. An ongoing process...

Lots of little things which will eventually bring the project together.

View attachment 96645
View attachment 96647

That's all for now though. It's time to get back to work!

I've heard you shouldn't keep orcas in small pools, but maybe this one is big enough

 

[Rotornut44]

Limberlost Ranch for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 & 2024 has been progressing nicely since my last development update!

I wanted to wait a bit before posting another update because there hasn’t been a ton of visual progress until recently. I’m just now getting to the point where all of the major models are starting to wrap up, and I’m shifting my focus a bit more towards all of the smaller models that clutter things up and really start to tie the scenery together.

With the exception of a few models, most buildings and structures here at Limberlost Ranch have been modeled to conform to the terrain around them. Almost everything at this airport is on a hill. Some hills are shallow and I don’t need to consider it much in my model design, but most are on or cutting into steeper grades. So, accounting for that, this project is taking me a bit more time to get through.

However, the results of that extra effort are starting to show. My favorite example being this retro mobile home that has been based on the Vagabond brand trailer that is parked here IRL. The design is based on one exterior photo and a handful of interior photos which I used to figure out window placements and such. Surprisingly, even knowing the brand, I couldn’t find a single photo of the same style trailer online.

With my to-do list of major models down to just a single house, I have been putting more focus into creating some of the smaller assets. Switching tasks really helps keep motivation on the project, as it leads me into being able to place models in the sim. All of the small clutter and environment models that help to tie things together visually.

The mansion (does it qualify?) near the end of the runway has this really nice garden island in the middle of the driveway. I spent a bit of time creating some new garden specific vegetation as I wanted some more diversity. This also gave me an excuse to go the extra mile and play around with the fountain a bit.

If you’ve followed my work before, then you know I’m big into dynamic features, and adding random detail that the average user probably doesn’t notice. The fountain shown here is just another example of having fun with that.

I spent some time creating a basic visual effect for the fountain which is pretty close to what I saw in my reference photos. I might make some adjustments still, but overall I think I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It was a good excuse to brush up on how to use the visual effects editor.

And of course, no fountain is complete without some sounds to tie it all together, so I found a nice one to go with it. You can find a short clip of how it all came together below!

And that’s pretty much a wrap on dev update 5. A lot more has happened in the background since my last dev update, but none of it really worth mentioning. My longest running project is still progressing forward, and I’m now shooting for a release sometime this summer!

However, there is still a lot to do before I get to that point, so back to work!

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Wow. Nice models. How are you creating the AO? Is it burned into the albedo or using a separate map or vertex painting?

 

[Rotornut44]

Wow. Nice models. How are you creating the AO? Is it burned into the albedo or using a separate map or vertex painting?

Thanks! It just depends. Most of the models are just packed to their own sheets, so AO is just baked and packed into the COMP through Substance. I have tried doing AO in the Albedo in the past, but I stopped since it can look off in different lighting conditions. The COMP AO seems to adjust it's strength depending on if it's taking on lighting or not whereas the Albedo does not. The Ranch House is using some tiling textures, so it just relies on the sim generated AO mostly. Except for whatever AO is built into the tiling textures. For the interior textures, I typically just darken the AO channel a bit to help make the interiors darker. It's not perfect, but it works for when I need to do that.

I think you can have AO specific UVs + texture for 2024 native models now, but I haven't tried any of that yet.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Thanks! It just depends. Most of the models are just packed to their own sheets, so AO is just baked and packed into the COMP through Substance. I have tried doing AO in the Albedo in the past, but I stopped since it can look off in different lighting conditions. The COMP AO seems to adjust it's strength depending on if it's taking on lighting or not whereas the Albedo does not. The Ranch House is using some tiling textures, so it just relies on the sim generated AO mostly. Except for whatever AO is built into the tiling textures. For the interior textures, I typically just darken the AO channel a bit to help make the interiors darker. It's not perfect, but it works for when I need to do that.

I think you can have AO specific UVs + texture for 2024 native models now, but I haven't tried any of that yet.

Ambient Occlusion in MSFS2024
Your texturing is really first class!