Hi guys,I have been reading many forum posts about the cities and airports in XP 10 and have been very worried about what I have read. The cities part does not overly concern me as it is probably something the developers will fix in the course of time but the airports issue really concerns me. If i was to design 3D airport buildings in something like blender and then export them to the relevant file format, would it be possible to use these buildings as generic terminal buildings (ect...ect...) in x plane to make the generic airports more...realistic.I would be really grateful for any help and advice you guys could offer.Thanks in advance,NathanP.S. I would be happy to share any finished models and files with the community as freeware if it is possible.

Nathan, yes of course! Just google 'Xplane2blender' and any objects can be shared in the forums, xplane.org is the main one currently.The same place has many freeware airports, and Opensceneryx already has quite a few objects and more coming I know.Can't wait to see them.

would it be possible to use these buildings as generic terminal buildings (ect...ect...) in x plane to make the generic airports more...realistic

Hi Nathan,If you created buildings, they could be used as 'generic' terminal buildings yes, but only if you were to take the time to place each building manually using the scenery editor, WED. There is no mechanism for automatic population of generic airports yet. And when I say 'yet', I mean that eventually, we'll populate simple airports with basic scenery that you can customize with a bit of effort.. The more complex the airport, the more unlikely it is to have it 'auto-populated' in such a way that you can create generic buildings that could be used. The 'system' we have come up with user-contributions (including ourselves at laminar), though loathed by some, will really be the best mechanism for the highest quality over time...and I believe it won't take terribly long myself; however, the infrastructure to train folks to populate airports (it's really easy) and then manage the work that gets done is currently what's on our plate. I think this will happen in the first half of 2012 and it won't be long before so many airports are customized that the 'naked airport' issue will be a thing of the past. -Tom KylerV10: Baron / KingAir / F4 Phantom / F22 / KSEA

The 'system' we have come up with user-contributions (including ourselves at laminar), though loathed by some, will really be the best mechanism for the highest quality over time...and I believe it won't take terribly long myself; however, the infrastructure to train folks to populate airports (it's really easy) and then manage the work that gets done is currently what's on our plate. I think this will happen in the first half of 2012 and it won't be long before so many airports are customized that the 'naked airport' issue will be a thing of the past.

I gotta agree with Tom on this one. Letting the community from around the world populate their respective airports/areas does seem like the best way that will yield the best/most accurate result, albeit it will take time for the airports to be populated. I've always wondered why past flight simulators don't actively involve the community in the scenery development department, as I've always thought that this would give the best result. Now it seems that XP10 is finally going down this path, and I'm very excited about the path that lies ahead of XP10.

Totally agree. Community participation will be the best route to take. Better quality than a generic approach and a way for non-techie people to get involved. Very much looking forward to WED.

Thanks for that advice guys, really helpful as usual. Do you by any chance know how many airports there are in XP 10 by default. Thanks again,Nathan

With buildings, 1Without buildings, all the rest until 3rd party or autogen comes along. Aerosoft are working on making a few detailed airports like KSEA for the demo. When WED comes along in Feb with the auto-commit to Sandy for broadbase distribution, there will be a lot more in the works, I am sure. I plan on doing at least the North East Florida airports I regularly fly out of.

I am curious to know if in XP9 the airports where bare too?If this was the case then I don't really agree with this process mentioned above because with every version, the whole process of users customization will be started all over again? And one must wait for the time that the new version will have usable airports buildings and not to forget parkings assignements...Idealy Laminar should have placed basic elements straight out of the box and users will improve...Sounds odd...

it was like that in version 9, but no to your second statement, because scenery from versions 8 and 9 is compatible with version 10.

Rather no default airports than FS unrealistic and random created building