FSX-MS Taxi2Gate KSEA with PMDG questions

[trisho0 23]

Hello to all: After loading any PMDG aircraft on KSEA (FSX) at night I noticed that the runway has edge lighting and centerline lights have an enlarged halo/bloom effect. It is as if they are hovering over the runway. Just wondering if someone else experiencing this and if there is a fix. T2G support says they are normal lights (lol). 

Screenshots using FSX Trike Ultralight aircraft to show scenery better:

http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkMl
http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkMn
http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkM1
http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkME
http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkMR
http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/GkMW
 

Any thoughts, ideas, etc?

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

I think that's just how they were designed. Some developers do the lights differently than others which results in some not looking very good and others looking really good. Just depend on the developers technique.

There is a tweak you can use in the FSX.cfg to make runway, approach, VASI lights smaller or larger but it only works for lights that use the default FSX lighting system. Since these are custom lights that tweak won't work for these.

[charliearon 3,017]

Were there any instructions for this airport to make changes in your Graphics settings.  I've seen

effects like yours in an older version Of an ORBX freeware airport after I goofed around with the

Graphics sliders.

[trisho0 23]

16 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Some developers do the lights differently than others which results in some not looking very good and others looking really good.

I know that but TAXI2GATE - SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT KSEA FSX P3D gives in FSX awful runway lights flying on air not normal.

Found the issue is from the scenery file: KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl I changed the extension to ".off" and those funny lights are gone but dark runway. Now, I need to find a way to get the runway lights of FSX default. Any way how to do that?

[trisho0 23]

11 hours ago, charliearon said:

Were there any instructions for this airport to make changes in your Graphics settings.

Changes from FSX graphics settings will not remedy those flying souls (rwy lights). The KSEA scenery file KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl is the issue that needs repairs.

[Jim Young 2,356]

21 hours ago, trisho0 said:

at night I noticed that the runway has edge lighting and centerline lights have an enlarged halo/bloom effect. It is as if they are hovering over the runway.

I use UTX Lights for FSX/P3D (it comes with UTX2 for FSX/P3D) and this is the results at Taxi2Gate KSEA.  I didn't take images down the runway but they look the same.  I used the settings suggested by NickN, developer of GEX/GEP3D at SimForums.  I'm not an expert on runway lights but these look a little better IMHO.

EDIT:  If you right click the image and select "View Image" I think you will get a better quality image.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

1 hour ago, trisho0 said:

I know that but TAXI2GATE - SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT KSEA FSX P3D gives in FSX awful runway lights flying on air not normal.

Found the issue is from the scenery file: KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl I changed the extension to ".off" and those funny lights are gone but dark runway. Now, I need to find a way to get the runway lights of FSX default. Any way how to do that?

I just loaded up FSX and T2G KSEA and position myself at the end of 16L and mine look exactly as your screen shots, so nothing is wrong with the product.

As I originally stated, that's just the way T2G made the runway and taxiway lights for this airport.

As you mentioned, removing the KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl will remove the lights, but you can't make the FSX default lights appear without essentially punching holes in the ground textures so that FSX default runway lights are able to render, which is what some developers have done to use the default lighting system.

The other options would be to track down the texture used for the lights and use a graphic editor to make them smaller in size or write to T2G and see if they can provide you an alternate set of lights, good luck with that option however.

I have a few older Aerosoft airports like Gibraltar and Dublin that have similar style oversized runway lights like this but there's not much you can do when they use their own custom lighting system.

[trisho0 23]

51 minutes ago, Jim Young said:

EDIT:  If you right click the image and select "View Image" I think you will get a better quality image.

I can't find "View Image" but that's OK. I can see the image posted here and it looks like to me the file KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl is "off". Same view as I get but no runway lights. Only still the green lights from ground well designed. The problem is the flying gems lights not normal as per screenshots link I placed here at the beginning.

I have the complete UTX from ScenerySolutions (Canada, Europe and USA) included the UTX autogen lights which doesn't care of KSEA runway lights.

1 hour ago, Jim Young said:

I used the settings suggested by NickN

Please, can you help me to find those settings to give a try?

[trisho0 23]

48 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

As I originally stated, that's just the way T2G made the runway and taxiway lights for this airport.

I understand, T2G should edit their file KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl to make it more realistic.

 

50 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

I just loaded up FSX and T2G KSEA and position myself at the end of 16L and mine look exactly as your screen shots, so nothing is wrong with the product.

I am not happy with this product not only because of such runway has edge lighting and centerline lights with enlarged halo/bloom effect.

Also, found runway turns as squares .......(lol) some details need attention.

http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/Gkl7

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

26 minutes ago, trisho0 said:

Also, found runway turns as squares .......(lol) some details need attention.

http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/image/Gkl7

Actually you'll only want to edit the squares if you want to make it unrealistic. The airport is actually paved like that. Go to google maps and   find KSEA, click on satellite view and you'll see that T2G did an accurate representation of the ground texture making them square.

[trisho0 23]

3 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Actually you'll only want to edit the squares if you want to make it unrealistic. The airport is actually paved like that. Go to google maps and   find KSEA, click on satellite view and you'll see that T2G did an accurate representation of the ground texture making them square.

I can't believe it but if that it is then I apologize, indeed. My mistake. I am still finding a way to edit the KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl scenery file which is not even near to real to those edge runway lights. Many thanks for that picture showing unfinished paved runway.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

2 minutes ago, trisho0 said:

I can't believe it but if that it is then I apologize, indeed. My mistake. I am still finding a way to edit the KSEA-OBJ-RWY-LIGHTS.bgl scenery file which is not even near to real to those edge runway lights. Many thanks for that picture showing unfinished paved runway.

Only simmers would find the squares off putting. People who actually fly the airplanes into and out of here probably don't even notice or frankly don't care, lol. The pavement serves its purpose no matter its shape :-)

So, how are you trying to edit the lights bgl? You'll need to decompile the bgl using a free tool like Arno's from FSDeveloper, then you will see what texture files are responsible and you can then try to edit those files graphically to make the lights smaller. However, be aware that if you are successful to make them small at close range that they might be too small from 5 miles out and won't be able to see them.

One thing I've learned though all the years of simming and fiddling with things like this is that sometimes it better just to live with small faults of developers design decisions rather than spend hours of frustration trying to fix or change them and sometimes not even be able to make it better.

Unfortunately not all add airports are perfect and it's easy to find faults with almost all, but sometimes it's easier and less stressful to try to just enjoy them the way they are than become fixated over design flaws. 

Just my opinion of course but you're free to fiddle with it until your hearts content.

[trisho0 23]

10 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Just my opinion of course but you're free to fiddle with it until your hearts content.

Definitely you gave me a peace of mind. Really I learned more from your experience and you are right!

As I am not ready to give up yet (lol) with those runway lights at least for fun I am going to use scruffyduck stuff to see what happen. So far, I found 3 different parameters to edit but don't know which one to edit and what. I will see on that later.

Again, plenty of thanks for your help and advices. Cool!

[trisho0 23]

11 hours ago, trisho0 said:

So far, I found 3 different parameters to edit but don't know which one to edit and what. I will see on that later.

It seems that is illegal to decompile files from T2G so better leave them alone but renaming such intruder file.

[Jim Young 2,356]

14 hours ago, trisho0 said:

Please, can you help me to find those settings to give a try?

Try this link - http://www.simforums.com/forums/setup-utx-all-versions-update-new-lights-settings_topic46147.html.  Look down in the thread for "UTX 2.0 and the New Light System.

Best regards,

Jim