Just in case anyone missed it, this was filmed with this scenery https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/ir4ood/out_of_fuel_what_would_james_bond_do/

Nice.

I had a nice flight from 6CL4 then North to the valley for a look-see and then landed at O24 at Mono Lake. Hope it's not catching.

Thanks for this.

Incredible scenery. Looks very life-like. But it absolutely kills my frame rate. Takes me from mid 30s down to 14-15 FPS when looking anywhere near the direction of the valley. Have to delete this unless I'm specifically cruising the valley because it'll destroy any westbound flights into the Bay Area.

4 hours ago, VFXSimmer said:

(Devil's Tower - didnt release it tho because I think the single object doesnt really break anyone's GPU bank). 

Devil's Postpile would be incredible too!!

1 hour ago, FlyingInACessna said:

Incredible scenery. Looks very life-like. But it absolutely kills my frame rate. Takes me from mid 30s down to 14-15 FPS when looking anywhere near the direction of the valley. Have to delete this unless I'm specifically cruising the valley because it'll destroy any westbound flights into the Bay Area.

Copy that.  I've started working on various levels of detail for the models (both for low res in the distance and higher res close up).   Spent the day working on El Capitan.  It will take a while but it shows promise.  Once I have that set up it will actually be fairly easy to also create a version of the entire scenery that caps out at a middle range of detail.  If I can figure out how to link it to the scenery level selection (i.e. low, medium, high, ultra, etc) that would be even better 🙂

As for the Devil's tower, I have actually released that (see below) - what I meant was I havent released a version with LOD efficiencies.

Try this out - see how it works for you

https://flightsim.to/file/186/devil-s-tower

1 hour ago, VFXSimmer said:

Copy that.  I've started working on various levels of detail for the models (both for low res in the distance and higher res close up).   Spent the day working on El Capitan.  It will take a while but it shows promise.  Once I have that set up it will actually be fairly easy to also create a version of the entire scenery that caps out at a middle range of detail.  If I can figure out how to link it to the scenery level selection (i.e. low, medium, high, ultra, etc) that would be even better 🙂

As for the Devil's tower, I have actually released that (see below) - what I meant was I havent released a version with LOD efficiencies.

Try this out - see how it works for you

https://flightsim.to/file/186/devil-s-tower

That's a huge problem for all freeware scenery released so far by people who just took meshes from Google maps - the missing LOD transitions/groups. It just tanks the framerates. LOD setups are done for every game released, also native FS2020 assets, and are also at work for Bing/Google Maps photogrammetry. The FS2020 SDK features them, ie. features multiple versions of a mesh and the lowest poly version is loaded at distance while the highest poly version is only loaded in when getting real close. In between those meshes transition into each other.

People just HAVE to learn what LODs are and how to set them up in FS2020 SDK. So far there has been nothing but overexcited kids who ripped 3D models from Google maps and put them straight into FS2020, which is something nobody with experience in real time rendering would ever do.

https://docs.unity3d.com/560/Documentation/Manual/LevelOfDetail.html

Edited September 13, 20205 yr by M-Air Bush Deliveries Ltd

42 minutes ago, M-Air Bush Deliveries Ltd said:

That's a huge problem for all freeware scenery released so far by people who just took meshes from Google maps - the missing LOD transitions/groups. It just tanks the framerates. LOD setups are done for every game released, also native FS2020 assets, and are also at work for Bing/Google Maps photogrammetry. The FS2020 SDK features them, ie. features multiple versions of a mesh and the lowest poly version is loaded at distance while the highest poly version is only loaded in when getting real close. In between those meshes transition into each other.

People just HAVE to learn what LODs are and how to set them up in FS2020 SDK. So far there has been nothing but overexcited kids who ripped 3D models from Google maps and put them straight into FS2020, which is something nobody with experience in real time rendering would ever do.

https://docs.unity3d.com/560/Documentation/Manual/LevelOfDetail.html

Thanks for the advice, but the "overexcited kids" comment isn't exactly a way to win friends and influence people...

Remember, these "KIDS" - myself included (thought the mass of grey hairs on my head would say otherwise) -  ARE doing this in our spare time and donating the results.  I agree LODs are very important (hence my previous post), but they do take a fair bit of time and no one's getting paid for the fruits of their labor.  Those who release professional scenery without an LOD strategy ARE committing a strategic error - I certainly agree with that - but I cant really fault someone putting out a 3D model of an area they are passionate about for FREE and not going through the time consuming process of building up several levels of detail.  No one is forced to download it, and in many cases it won't even net a significant bang for the buck on modern gaming hardware if all you're adding are a few buildings.  As I also mentioned in my OP, I built this package initially for myself and it runs pretty great on my system as is.  Regardless, I am absolutely continuing to invest some time with additional LOD layers for several reasons, one of which is to actually allow even higher detail when I get close - and paying for that increase by swapping in lower res versions in the distance.  I work in the visual effects industry (hence the sig) and you are preaching to the choir here.

Your message is fine, just 'fine tune' the tone if your goal is to promote better community practices.

p.s. Unity is bunk, the industry is fully embracing Unreal for realtime in production

Edited September 13, 20205 yr by VFXSimmer

1 hour ago, VFXSimmer said:

Your message is fine, just 'fine tune' the tone if your goal is to promote better community practices.

Well said, let’s not forget this.. It’s pretty simple really. You like, you download, you install, you don’t like, you uninstall. 
 

Thank you VFX looks great. 

Hi VZfXSimmer

Just my twopence worth

I fly P3Dv5hf2 and XPlane 11.50 as well as MSFS2020

I enjoyed your download-certainly some beautiful rock effects

I noticed some rather random spiked rocks on the valley floor under the cliffs plus some overlaps on mountain areas of large patches of scenery 

Coming up close to the cliffs showed  the rock construction effects  which looked good from a distance

I uninstalled for the moment 

I think it’s a terrific area to model and you made some great improvements and I look forward to v1.1

xxd09

10 hours ago, M-Air Bush Deliveries Ltd said:

So far there has been nothing but overexcited kids who ripped 3D models from Google maps and put them straight into FS2020

I try to avoid calling people out directly, but I just can't let this one slide.  Because, wow, condescend much?

Unless you know the person individually you have no idea what the age, experience, or motivations of anyone creating add-ons for this community are.  Perhaps they are newcomers who are just starting to learn and pick up new skills.   Or perhaps they are experienced designers who are working within the limits of the tooling currently available to share stuff with us now, rather than in 6 months when it is "perfected".  Or somewhere in between.   You have no way of knowing, nor do I.

What I *do* know is that excited newcomers are the lifeblood of any community and vital for its continued growth and health, and that treating them with the haughty scorn you show here when they do not meet your personal lofty standards is a spectacular way to drive them off to the detriment of us all.  If you want to productively help folks develop the way to do it is to explain how improvements can be made and guide them through their growth..

Or you could dismiss them sneeringly as you have here, and end up with them not contributing at all.  Or, perhaps, doing it in a more welcoming community that can show appreciation for their work, imperfections and all.

10 hours ago, M-Air Bush Deliveries Ltd said:

That's a huge problem for all freeware scenery released so far by people who just took meshes from Google maps - the missing LOD transitions/groups. It just tanks the framerates. LOD setups are done for every game released, also native FS2020 assets, and are also at work for Bing/Google Maps photogrammetry. The FS2020 SDK features them, ie. features multiple versions of a mesh and the lowest poly version is loaded at distance while the highest poly version is only loaded in when getting real close. In between those meshes transition into each other.

People just HAVE to learn what LODs are and how to set them up in FS2020 SDK. So far there has been nothing but overexcited kids who ripped 3D models from Google maps and put them straight into FS2020, which is something nobody with experience in real time rendering would ever do.

https://docs.unity3d.com/560/Documentation/Manual/LevelOfDetail.html

Reading this I knew people were going to get offended in this day and age where it seems everyone takes offence to everything. I knew what you meant but I see people can't help but get triggered and come piling in to let you know they are offended. 

9 minutes ago, B777ER said:

Reading this I knew people were going to get offended in this day and age where it seems everyone takes offence to everything. I knew what you meant but I see people can't help but get triggered and come piling in to let you know they are offended. 

It's not about being "triggered".  It's about coming in half cocked with an opinion without bothering to read the entire thread.  If "M-Air.." had bothered to read the whole thread, he would have seen that the whole LOD issue was being addressed and discussed.  Hence no need for the back handed swipe at the OP.  

Being "triggered" because someone has a difference of opinion is one thing.  But rudeness, which is exactly what M-Air demonstrated should be a universal "trigger".

13 minutes ago, B777ER said:

Reading this I knew people were going to get offended in this day and age where it seems everyone takes offence to everything.

Ah, yes, the good old days... when no one spoke up and it was so much easier to get away with being an a-hole.  Folks like that these days are so sensitive, you point out what they are and they all get triggered. 😄

1 hour ago, B777ER said:

Reading this I knew people were going to get offended in this day and age where it seems everyone takes offence to everything. I knew what you meant but I see people can't help but get triggered and come piling in to let you know they are offended. 

Sounds like that’s really triggered you.

Edited September 13, 20205 yr by 2reds2whites

Wow, this sure went sideways! Back to flying.