EGPB Sumburgh and Horizon GenX photoscenery

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Has anyone else tried using the recently released EGPB Sumburgh with PlayHorizon GenX photoscenery of the Shetland Isles, and also Scotflight? It seems that one file (cvx_ORBX_EGPB_EXCLUDES.bgl) causes an issue whereby a large rectangle of default terrain is displayed around the airport and peninsula. I have also noticed one or two mesh issues associated with the headland that has the lighthouse on it. If the file mentioned above is removed, the airport itself suffers serious mesh issues.

 

I know that ORBx state that FTX Scotland is required to use EGPB Sumburgh, but I am hoping that some clever AVSIM member will be able to work out how to use it properly with the PlayHorizon GenX photoscenery :smile:

 

[Christopher Low 5,352]

So, I guess nobody else has tried this?

[GaryGB 10]

Has anyone else tried using the recently released EGPB Sumburgh with PlayHorizon GenX photoscenery of the Shetland Isles, and also Scotflight? It seems that one file (cvx_ORBX_EGPB_EXCLUDES.bgl) causes an issue whereby a large rectangle of default terrain is displayed around the airport and peninsula. I have also noticed one or two mesh issues associated with the headland that has the lighthouse on it. If the file mentioned above is removed, the airport itself suffers serious mesh issues.

 

I know that ORBx state that FTX Scotland is required to use EGPB Sumburgh, but I am hoping that some clever AVSIM member will be able to work out how to use it properly with the PlayHorizon GenX photoscenery :smile:

 

Hello:

 

Could you post a link to some screenshots showing what you are describing in your text message above ?

 

Also, when you state "default terrain", are you referring to terrain TEXTURES ?

 

And when you refer to "mesh issues", are you referring to terrain  SHAPE ?

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on this ! :smile:

 

GaryGB

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Gary,

 

Several screenshots illustrating the problem that I have with FTX EGPB Sumburgh and the Horizon GenX/Scotflight combination.....

 

http://www.mediafire.com/view/clcjginypvpt970/fsx_2014-06-12_19-13-37-06.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/d8c269jqsa688b1/fsx_2014-06-12_19-15-07-12.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/r48m0la0hl9jdvl/fsx_2014-06-12_19-14-53-63.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/9q6d6odopou1t8g/fsx_2014-06-12_19-14-35-78.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/ox0g7m00pgb2yf7/fsx_2014-06-12_19-15-38-80.jpg

[kevinfirth 1,393]

Chris..boy oh boy am I glad I let you test this one for me this time k

Pic 1 looks like a similar issue I had after purchasing Southampton. It appears like a water poly has been replaced in a single QMID 13 (I think?) square. I fixed this fairly easily by disabling one file with Southampton IIRC.

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Which file was that, Kevin? I have tried disabling various cvx files, but disabling the only one that solves this problem results in other serious mesh issues. In fact, I will try to remember to post another screenshot later today that illustrates what I mean.

[kevinfirth 1,393]

Can't honestly remember mate, have a vague recollection I needed to have at least one of the FTX scenery layers on as well for things to work properly. I'd need some time to go back and look at how it worked... (I spectacularly failed to document it at the time ) K

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Screenshots showing some of the mesh problems if I switch off the cvx_ORBX_EGPB_EXCLUDES.bgl file. This gets rid of the unwanted default scenery, but clearly doesn't resolve my issues!

 

http://www.mediafire.com/view/qz8yirkyo3g8hwo/fsx_2014-06-13_15-59-11-43.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/sqlttr5nayl9sza/fsx_2014-06-13_15-57-56-61.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/view/qiodj5d99819xx6/fsx_2014-06-13_15-56-59-55.jpg

 

It would be nice to think that ORBx would try and help, but even thinking about that would be a spectacular waste of time!

[GaryGB 10]

Hi Christopher:

 

[EDITED]

 

Are you using the (latest ?) version of "Scotflight - Scotflight for FSX: Vol 1 - Highlands & Islands" ...as described here? :Thinking:

 

http://www.flightsimstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=472

 

 

BTW: Product descriptions / announcements on developer's  webpage...

 

" Welcome to Scotflight Scenery

 

Since 2003, Scotflight has been the leading supplier of
high-quality Flight Simulator add-on scenery for Scotland

 

NOW AVAILABLE - Scotflight for FSX V3.0

 

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/EGPB.htm

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/ImageCall2.php?Code=EGPB-001

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/ImageCall2.php?Code=EGPB-002

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/ImageCall2.php?Code=EGPB-005

 

 

STANDARD licence (no photoscenery) adds or enhances 63 airports

PHOTO licence (works with ANY combination of photoscenery volumes) adds or enhances 78 airports

 

Patch A for Scotflight for FSX V3.0 (Standard or Photo) is now available

 

ALSO AVAILABLE - Scotflight for ORBX V1.0

 

Enhances 18 airfields in FTX Orbx Europe Scotland "

 

http://www.scotflightscenery.com/

 

 

Do you also have add-on vector scenery such as Ultimate Terrain Europe, OrbX FTX Vector, Pilots FS Global Vector, Taburet - FSX Vector Europe loaded, and/or do you have any higher resolution add-on terrain mesh installed, which geographically covers the Sumburgh airport area ?

 

 

 

NOTE: IIRC, the OrbX FTX England and/or Scotland scenery region packages use 10-Meter resolution (aka "LOD-12" or "QMID-14") terrain mesh.

 

The Horizon / Playsims Scotland terrain mesh terrain mesh which accompanies their photoreal scenery is based on a 5-Meter resolution Level of Detail (aka "LOD-13" or "QMID-15").

 

The OrbX FTX Sumburgh terrain mesh reportedly is based on a maximum of 0.3-Meter resolution Level of Detail (aka "LOD-17" or "QMID-19").

 

 

All the above terrain mesh BGLs when set active will be read and internally given a display priority by the FSX terrain rendering engine... according to their internal resolution AND according to how your FSX GUI Terrain mesh Complexity and Terrain mesh Complexity sliders are set.

 

IMHO, to enable the display of OrbX FTX Sumburgh the way the scenery is capable of being displayed (based on internal resolution of the BGL files), the FSX menu GUI terrain mesh complexity and resolution sliders must appear to be maxed out to the right and your FSX.Cfg file would need to be manually edited ...to enable that extreme terrain mesh resolution:

 

[TERRAIN]
MESH_COMPLEXITY=100
MESH_RESOLUTION=27

 

15-Centimer (aka 0.15 Meter) photoreal terrain textures for FTX Sumburg may not display on top of other add-on (ex: Horizon / Playsims Scotland) custom photoreal or default terrain textures ...unless the FSX GUI Terrain Texture Resolution slider is maxed out to the right and /or your FSX.Cfg file is edited to enable that terrain texture resolution:

 

[TERRAIN]
TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=29

 

However, reportedly other textures for airport surfaces at FTX Sumburgh utilize a setting of 7-Centimeters (aka 0.075 Meters) to enable display at full resolution; this is achieved by having the FSX GUI Terrain Texture Resolution slider maxed out to the right and /or your FSX.Cfg file edited as stated immediately above ...to enable that terrain texture resolution.

 

 

FYI: OrbX FTX Sumburgh scenery objects have apparently been modeled and/or placed to fit the "shape" of the ground surface provided via special terrain mesh BGLs supplied by that specific FTX airport scenery package, and would not normally be expected to show the anomalies you reported (regardless of whether either the OrbX FTX Scotland scenery region package or the Horizon / Playsims terrain mesh are loaded) ..."IF" display of the high resolution terrain mesh is fully enabled in FSX during flights at / near Sumburgh. :Idea:

 

[END_EDIT]

 

GaryGB

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Gary,

 

I use the version 2.5 Scotflight Photo package. This is the latest version for users of PlayHorizon GenX VFR Scotland photoscenery. In fact, the problems appear to be worse when I have Scotflight disabled. I will post a few more screenshots shortly to illustrate what I mean.

This is what happens to the lighthouse when Scotflight is disabled.....

 

http://www.mediafire.com/view/4cm3gqc1a3h351q/fsx_2014-06-13_18-23-33-95.jpg

 

This is another anomaly that appears when the cvx_ORBX_EGPB_EXCLUDES.bgl file is disabled....

 

http://www.mediafire.com/view/ajpac8oqyttcz6l/fsx_2014-06-13_18-27-03-26.jpg

[kevinfirth 1,393]

GaryGBs analysis re the terrain mesh issues makes sense Chris (and Gary's posts over at FSDeveloper are well known as being packed with info and detail!) I guess the first question is (since I don't own Sumburgh) what are it's recommended settings? And are you using them? K

 

Edit: any fix/workaround is likely to be different to Southampton because I don't think such a hi-res mesh was used there?

[Christopher Low 5,352]

My detail sliders are already at maximum, but I increased the MESH_RESOLUTION value from "25" to "27". This did not change anything at EGPB Sumburgh. I have no idea what the recommended settings are, but I think we both know that the ORBx guys would say "install FTX Scotland" :wink:

[kevinfirth 1,393]

Oh Chris I'm disappointed...I'd have expected you to RTFM even if you had no intention of following it . perhaps JV has had something inserted into newer sceneries to prevent us from making them compatible? K

[Christopher Low 5,352]

I don't bother with manuals, Kevin. I know everything already :lol:

[Christopher Low 5,352]

There is nothing in the manual that can help me work out how to get FTX EGPB Sumburgh working properly with PlayHorizon photoscenery. I had assumed that others would have tried this combination, but maybe everyone else prefers not to burn money for the fun of it? :biggrin: