FS2004 terrain LOD limited to no more than 10?

[Guest]

I posted this earlier, but it didn't show up (not sure if I accidentally hit the wrong button or what) so very sorry if it ends up double posting.I had made a LOD 12 .bgl of the Crater Lake area using 1/3 arcsec data, and even though the TmfViewer shows the resulting .bgl files to be correct and at the proper detail, FS2004 shows it at only LOD 10 resolution. I have the TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL set to 23 too, so that shouldn't be the problem. Any ideas or hints as to what the problem might be?LOD 9:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/LOD9.jpgLOD 10:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/LOD10.jpgLOD 11:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/LOD11.jpgLOD 12:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/LOD12.jpg

[Guest sgreenwood]

>FS2004 shows it at only LOD 10 resolution. Not entirely true, but the difference between 10, 11, and 12 is very small to non-existent, depending on many factors. At least in FS2002. I haven't tried LOD11 in FS2004 yet, but some documents suggest using a TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL setting of 21 for 19m (LOD11) mesh. I do seem to see more detail in my mesh, so they may have increased the maximum practical level from 10 to 11 in this version. Because LOD12 (and LOD11?) mesh are virtually indistinguishable from LOD 10, especially while flying, there is really no benefit to using an LOD higher than 10, unless you need to insure a higher priority than other mesh covering the same area.In case you are not convinced yet, here are a few other reasons for avoiding LOD12 mesh:* LOD12 mesh is only rendered within a radius of about 6-7nm from the aircraft, while LOD10 mesh extends to about 30 or 40nm. * When LOD12 mesh is used in an area where the surrounding mesh is of much lower resolution, you will often see cliffs or walls along these boundaries. (Which was one source of suspended trees in FS2002.) If those cliffs still occur with LOD10 mesh, they are too small and far away to be a problem!* LOD10 mesh files are much smaller. Less disk space and lower processing demands!>I have the TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL set to 2321 is the largest effective value in FS2002. This seems to be true for FS2004 as well. Should do no harm however.Good luck,Stevewww.fs-traveler.com

[Guest]

I reinstalled FS2k2 to compare, and it really does seem that FS2k4 won't go over LOD 10, regardless of any real advantage LOD 11 might actually have. With both sims TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL set to 21, and using 1/3 arcsec data of Meteor Crater in Arizona, 2004 manages to display both LOD 10 and 11 meshes the same but with, strangely enough, slightly different texturing. And the mesh doesn't match the mesh 2002 displays, even though both the LOD 11 and 10 meshes are the same file in both 2k4 and 2k2.2k2 LOD 11:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/2k2_lod11.jpg2k4 LOD 11:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/2k4_lod11.jpg2k2 LOD 10:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/2k2_lod10.jpg2k4 LOD 10:http://members.cox.net/rotareneg/images/2k4_lod10.jpg

[Guest sgreenwood]

>I reinstalled FS2k2 to compare, and it really does seem that FS2k4 won't go over>LOD 10, regardless of any real advantage LOD 11 might actually have. And despite the implication of this information for FS2004, posted a number of times recently:...TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19This control the DEM resolution: 18 = 150m DEM, 19 = 75m DEM, 20 = 37m DEM, 21 = 19m DEM...>With both sims TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL set to 21, and using 1/3 arcsec data of>Meteor Crater in Arizona, 2004 manages to display both LOD 10 and 11 meshes the >same but with, strangely enough, slightly different texturing. >And the mesh doesn't match the mesh 2002 displays, even though both the LOD 11 >and 10 meshes are the same file in both 2k4 and 2k2.That doesn't surprise me too much, since there seem to have been some changes in the engine. TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR, TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA, and TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA now all work together to determine how the terrain is rendered, so the default settings may also account for the difference.I've just repeated your tests and get the same results. The highest mesh resolution supported by FS2004 seems to be LOD10 (38.2m). Nice work.Steve

[Guest]

Oh well, at least we'll all save time making new scenery, LOD 10 compiles much quicker than 11 or 12. :) And the scenery engine in FS2004 is so much faster than 2002 that it's hard to really complain (unless you've bought some 10m terrain meshes I suppose ;) .)