People like myself who concentrate on scenery have a God complex - we want to recreate the world with as much realism and detail as we can. An impossible task; only God could do that, but we try and try.

 

When Gerrish Gray (R.I.P.) came out with his fabulous trees library all the way back in the year 2000 (how time flies!), many of us were delighted. He brought a lot of great detail to the game when there was none to speak of; autogen had not yet been invented!

 

I loved his trees, but they were generic, although quite varied. He inspired and encouraged me to make some of my own. So, I embarked on an extensive research project to learn about trees and vegetation for the different parts of the world where I had scenery projects

 

I did make my own library of trees based on real vegetation. And I also put together autogen texture sheets later when FS added that feature.

 

Here is my texture sheet from a decade ago for the Caribbean:

 

 

 

 

 

Mango, Royal Poinciana (Flamoboyant), Royal Palm, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, and even Bananas! This changed my FS experience completely and made everything more colorful, realistic, more engaging and enjoyable. I also made a texture sheet for buildings so that they too were colorful and typical.

 

I had other trees as well, for Australia, Madagascar, the Mediterranean Basin... Here is what my autogen trees for the Sonoran Desert (and Southwest USA) looked like:

 

 

 

 

 

Fan Palms, Cottonwood, various typical cacti and other xerophytes, and the Joshua Tree, so strange.

 

As you can see, I am very sensitive to vegetation and believe that it is one of the most important elements of scenery. FS X made great strides and brought lovely textures, and a canopy (so that there was an impression of volume when seen from above). But, the same California Fan Palms were displayed in my part of the world, so the selection was limited and used in a generic manner.

 

Flight has progressed a lot. The trees are all generally typical of Hawai'i, the are lovely, and of course, very dense. The placement is done in an intelligent manner, and I love the way the golf courses are landscaped and how conifers are lined up to form rows. Here are some of the new beautiful trees:

 

Araucaria

 

 

 

 

 

Something that could be Casuarina

 

 

 

 

 

Another that might be Kapok (Ceiba Pentandra)

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps some variety of Pritchardia Palms

 

 

 

 

 

There are even trees with blossoms - Red flowers on this one

 

 

 

 

 

And another with yellow flowers

 

 

 

 

 

And then I flew into Molokai and had not noticed the Bananas!

 

 

 

 

 

I am not really sure about some of the trees, and perhaps somebody who has lived in Hawai'i and knows the vegetation would be kind enough to correct my mistakes.

 

There is still a way to go concerning the vegetation. It is lacking in color - the Jacaranda, the Flamboyan, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, and many other colorful trees and shrubs would add a lot to the scenery. And perhaps this will all come in future versions if we just have the patience - the game is 30 years old and it has come a long way.

 

And there is the vegetative cycle to take into account and that is not represented. The only seasonal variants are essentially Fall textures for temperate climates. But, all vegetation flowers, and fruits, and it would be great to see that in the correct seasons as well.

 

Of course, in a flight simulator, the flight model is of the essence. And I agree with José that the engine variables are extremely important. But, I am very happy to see the great progress in vegetation and scenery in general ever since the days of Gerrish's wonderful trees.

 

Best regards.

Luis

Hi Folks

 

Luis -

Check your screenies against their technology supplier's detailed versions catalog.

 

HTH

ATB

Paul

I don't know the Hawaiian foliage by it's proper names, only the common ones such as Cook Pines and Monkeypod trees, but I was quite pleased with the familiarity of it all from having lived there. The only thing I've really noticed as missing is the large cactus clusters on the dry leeward side of Oahu.

Thank you, Paul, I should have suspected you would have answers to this.

 

So, what looked to me like Ceiba is an Acacia variant, according to them, but their Kapok does not look like any I have seen (I have a couple on the farm). The red flowers would be cherry? That doesn't seem right.

 

In truth, I have looked through all those textures and they are very nice, but the trees in Flight are quite different from what is on offer there. The Araucaria in my image is A. columnaris and they don't have that at SpeedTree, nor do they have any Pritchardia, and their banana is very different also.

 

Still, thanks for the link, I love looking at vegetation, thanks to Gerrish and this long-term tree project.

 

And thanks to Ray for the comments. That Cook Pine is quite common here as well and is often bent to one side because of the constant trade winds, very spectacular with its height. And the Monkeypod is a Latin American tree that has spread to the rest of the world.

 

I think that vegetation travels just as much as people and what is originally from one place can now be found everywhere.

 

Best regards.

Luis

Here's the subject that really fascinates me, and is giving me delightful flights around Hawaii, even if I do not make the slightest idea about what I see :-)

 

Thank you Luis for your great explanation, and for giving us all additional reasons to consider the FLIGHT project as probably the most promissing of the MSFS legend...

Hi Folks

 

Luis -

I'd just looked at the credits.

 

 

 

The link I'd posted was to a hi-res veg library, (see their triangle counts),

suitable for ground-level games, e.g. FPShooters.

 

SpeedTree is a technology provider,

supplying both prebuilt libraries, and SDKs to grow your own.

 

 

 

FLIGHT's likely using SDK created lower LOD versions.

 

Looks like they're procedurally generated

and display in a variety of height/width/orientation.

 

FLIGHT's core ~37 veg models include -

Acacia (might cover monkeypod)

Koa

Kiawe

Cook Pine = A. columnaris

Fan Palm = Pritchardia

 

Anyone spotted cactii, corn coffee, pineapple, sugar-cane, wheat ?

 

 

 

PS

Think your cherries are probably

either Ohia, or from size, red apples.

 

PPS

Might your Pritchardia screenie be a Date Palm ?

 

 

 

HTH

ATB

Paul

Edited May 20, 201214 yr by basys

Oh, don't start talking about Kiawe... you can do some fine BBQ over Kiawe wood. Man, I can smell the smoke right now. <drool>

Couldn't agree more and great post Luis!

 

I was really surprised to find cactus on Niihau

 

Oh, cool! Maybe I just missed them on Oahu, as I have not specifically scoured Waianae and Makaha looking for them. The real ones do resemble the ones in that image.

 

I do remember seeing cactus out there now. I forgot all about those, as I haven't been low over Niihau since early explorations in March. Thanks for reminding me that there are interesting things on islands that don't have airports.

 

Thanks, Paul, I think you got it. I did think that palm was Phoenix dactylifera (date) at first, but Hawai'i seemed too humid for it so I opted for Pritchardia, a common palm genus there

 

And thanks for pointing to all that info, just fascinating stuff.

 

Best regards.

 

Luis

One of the cool things I miss about Hawaii (Oahu) was locating and then hiking through some of the incredible bamboo forests that can be found on the island.

I love bambusa too, Frank, have got quite a lot of it on the farm. There are some small culms in the screenshots above, but I haven't seen any large clumps much less bamboo forests in the game. But then, I haven't been looking - no slew!

 

Best regards.

Luis

I've been in a couple of bamboo forests up in Oahu's Ko'olau mountains. Can't recall seeing any in Flight, though... will have to go looking.

 

Where is my helicopter?

 

Beware da kine cane spiders when hiking Oahu.