Why are all the airports so barren?

[Janov 2,383]

... because they haven´t been populated with buildings...YET.

 

Hi Everyone,

 

As most of you will know, most airports in default X-Plane are just barren runway, taxiway and apron layouts of various quality. The basic level is just a runway and a default, computer generated taxiway. A more realistic layout will only appear if someone worked on and submitted a better layout to Laminar Research for inclusion in the database.

 

For a while it has been possible to enhance these layouts with objects from Laminar Researchs´ object library, submit them to LR and have them included in the database for everyone. These are called "global airports" and not very many are there  (YET!) If you want to see one already included, go for example to EDHM Hartenholm airfield in northern Germany.

 

For years X-Plane users have circumvented this problem by creating, uploading and downloading "custom airports". Some are made with custom 3D Objects, but most are using the vast library of OpenSceneryX or RuScenery to make the airports look good. The downside of this approach ist that to see this custom airport you have to:

A.) Know about this and know where to find these airports

B.) Download them one by one,

C.) Download and install the corresponding scenery librarys correctly.

 

As a result, most novice users are greeted by the "barren airports" problem, and many turn away from X-Plane in disgust (LAX and no buildings? Really? In 2014?)

 

To help with this, I have set out on a crusade to populate the X-Plane world with correct airports, using ONLY the default library objects. The scope of my project is to provide all airports of Germany with an ICAO ID, plus some smaller glider-fields and most fixed helicopter landing sites (hospitals, etc.).

 

I will upload these airports (roughly 600 of them) to Laminar Research once the new scenery-gateway-website goes live. In the MEANTIME I provide these packages, state by state, for download and manual installation. The idea is to get some feedback and bug-reports from users before I upload to LR and make them available to ALL X-Plane users.

 

Do these airports replace real "custom" airports? In most cases no. But download and see for yourself.

 

The content can be found here:

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?s=96a9383aef4627d348bcd1fc9be1f988&app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&search_app=downloads&mid=56718

 

The corresponding thread is here:

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=73235

 

I would also upload the scenery packages here at avsim if there is interest, I already registered for uploading stuff, but the whole process seems to be a bit intimidating to me with the strict rules about documentation etc.

 

I am currently working on "Nordrhein-Westfalen", the package should be done in a few weeks.

 

All the best, Jan

 

 

 

[ryanbatc 12,775]

What do people use to make them? I used ADEX for FSX with ease but I'm not sure how to use the XP maker....

[SpoonerFLIGHT 10]

My XP10 setup is not barren....lol my folder is over 100gb of Payware and Freeware.

[ryanbatc 12,775]

He's talking about default airports - most have no buildings etc

[User72 28]

When I'm making airfields I use a combination of WED (World Editor manual here) for runway, taxiway and ramp layouts and for positioning those properly, with Overlay Editor for placing objects from the various available libraries or from libraries created from FSX sceneries with FS2XP. Very often I'll have WED and OE open together on separate monitors because OE displays the photoscenery I use in its window which allows me to use WED to move the hard surfaces and check their new position by refreshing OE until I've got it right.

Overall the task of scenery creation is really easy once you get the hang of it and for me it's just another aspect of my simming, one where I get to create and see those creations in the sim which is quite satisfying.

My XP10 setup is not barren....lol my folder is over 100gb of Payware and Freeware.

 

Mine stands at 610 gigs at the moment Had to get a 3TB drive just to accommodate XP.

[ryanbatc 12,775]

610 holy moly?!

 

What does that encompass?

[ohsirus 241]

I fly mainly on the East Coast and have collected all available along with my own creations, but last check I have 400 Airports, mainly US. Alot of them are really nice renderings as most people try to get it as close to reality as able. My XPX is 200GB at the moment.

[User72 28]

610 holy moly?!

 

What does that encompass?

 

It's mostly photoscenery done with G2XPL at ZL18. Each tile is around 30 gigs in size but the extra definition you get is well worth the cost of a dedicated drive. I just do the airfields myself as I fly to them if they've not been done already.

[Janov 2,383]

Well, my project is certainly not aimed at advanced users that are able to find, download and install 100s of MBs of custom airports. In fact, if you find your way into this forum you are probably not the target group, you are just too X-Plane savvy .

 

One nice side-effect of using the "Lego-brick" approach is that download size is very small. One of my scenery packages contains typically around 50 airports, and weighs in at less than 12 MB. Much less if you don´t need the .xml file for editing it in WED.

 

Another nice effect is that it contains ALL airports, even the smaller ones that no one ever does. So you can fly around a large area, using a real map, and if you decide to land at some small backwater airfield, it will be nicely fleshed out.

 

Jan

[Airfighter 150]

Laminar is already working on their Airport Gateway and probably will be out soon as the WED 1.3.

 

http://developer.x-plane.com/2014/05/the-what-and-when-of-x-plane-10-30/

 

You can build your "Lego-brick" airport through WED and after checked that is ok (I think that WED will provide a preliminary check if it ok), they will be published as part of default scenery with updates. This is very good not only that we have airport that will definitely work, but also they are going to be part of the default scenery, meaning less clutter on Custom Scenery. 

[Janov 2,383]

Another batch is finished. Just over 50 airports of northwestern Germany, see the file description for more details.

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=23345

 

Enjoy, Jan