hovering airport buildings

[Guest soberon]

What is wrong when buildings hang like balloons in the sky on several locations in de world, even in continents where I never have put addons? Erik Soberoneriksoberon@hotmail.comHomecockpit flightsimulatorSPECS PC:Vista64 Ultimate on HD1 & Win XP on HD3Motherboard: MSI P35 platinumProc.: Intel Core2 duo E6750 coolerMem: 2x 1 GB DDR2 Twin 800 Mhz Corsair HD 1: Western Digital 750GB SATAII 16MBHD 2: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MBHD 3: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MB Graphic Card 1: Point of View Nvdia 8800 GTS 640MB POVGraphic Card 2: Asus 8400GS 256 MB Case: Anec performance OneP182Voeding: Corsair HX 620 W

[FalconAF 213]

Several things can cause this. When you say you haven't put any addons in some of the places this is happening, does that include any Terrain Mesh addons? Something that would affect global terrain elevations, like FS Genesis? If the ground elevations have been changed by a more accurate terrain mesh, then sometimes the buildings in a local or specific area might "float" above the ground. This happens especially around airports where the "generic" FSX autogen buildings may appear to float above the ground outside the airport boundary, because the airport "flatten" parameter doesn't cover the surrounding terrain where the generic autogen buildings are being placed.If you could give an example of an area where you are seeing this, and a list of ANY addons you are using, it would be easier to track down why it is happening to you. A screencap would also help, but isn't necessarily required.FalconAF

[Guest soberon]

Thank you for your detailed input. I will try to answer to this in detail. Meanwhile I wish to add something I forgot. When I took off from that airport (San Fran Intl) , made a holding pattern and landed again, all building were back on the ground. Does this say anything? Erik Soberoneriksoberon@hotmail.comHomecockpit flightsimulatorSPECS PC:Vista64 Ultimate on HD1 & Win XP on HD3Motherboard: MSI P35 platinumProc.: Intel Core2 duo E6750 coolerMem: 2x 1 GB DDR2 Twin 800 Mhz Corsair HD 1: Western Digital 750GB SATAII 16MBHD 2: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MBHD 3: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MB Graphic Card 1: Point of View Nvdia 8800 GTS 640MB POVGraphic Card 2: Asus 8400GS 256 MB Case: Anec performance OneP182Voeding: Corsair HX 620 W

[FalconAF 213]

I've seen this if some addons to the Scenery Library are "out of priority order". Or if there are conflicting AFCADs for the same airport (which could also be caused by out of order Scenery Library entries).If you post a list of your addons, include any ones that pertain to KSFO (San Francisco International), including any separate third-party AFCADs you may have added.FalconAF

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Eric,This is most likely not a problem with the altitude mesh, but rather a lack of hardware resources.When the hardware is overloaded, it does not get around to setting the objects on the mesh in a timely fashion. You don't mention your slider settings, but you might try turning down some of them, particularly the autogen slider and see if the problem persists.Best regards.Luis

[Guest soberon]

I must correct my previous remark. the buildings stay hovering in the air, they only looked like they were on the ground when seeing them from high altitude.I do not have addons for the USA, nor Afcad, nor global mesh files. I have put the autogen slider to the left, but the problem persistthe airport in case here is san francisco intl, but I had the problem with others too. animations and simobjects are no problemErik Soberoneriksoberon@hotmail.comHomecockpit flightsimulatorSPECS PC:Vista64 Ultimate on HD1 & Win XP on HD3Motherboard: MSI P35 platinumProc.: Intel Core2 duo E6750 coolerMem: 2x 1 GB DDR2 Twin 800 Mhz Corsair HD 1: Western Digital 750GB SATAII 16MBHD 2: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MBHD 3: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MB Graphic Card 1: Point of View Nvdia 8800 GTS 640MB POVGraphic Card 2: Asus 8400GS 256 MB Case: Anec performance OneP182Voeding: Corsair HX 620 W

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Eric,Your settings are quite reasonable, even conservative for your hardware. So, this does not seem to be the cause of the issue.This problem came up a number of times during the beta testing and it was always either a case of: - insufficient hardware: the altitude mesh is rendered and then the objects are rendered, after which the objects are set on the mesh. If the hardware cannot keep up with the excessive workload, then objects float in the air for a while. - a video problem of some sort, perhaps a driver issue.However, will you please confirm that the only objects floating in the air are the airport terminals? That is, does autogen also stay up there or is it firmly planted on the ground?Best regards.Luis

[Guest soberon]

Hi Luis, Yes, only the airportbuilding- and terminals are floating, surrounding buildings in the landscape do not, nor planes, cars, trees etc.I discovered oddly enough that when I load the airport again (alt- world- go to airport)everything is fine. So I can live with the problem, although she hasn't theoretically been solved.Erik Soberoneriksoberon@hotmail.comHomecockpit flightsimulatorSPECS PC:Vista64 Ultimate on HD1 & Win XP on HD3Motherboard: MSI P35 platinumProc.: Intel Core2 duo E6750 coolerMem: 2x 1 GB DDR2 Twin 800 Mhz Corsair HD 1: Western Digital 750GB SATAII 16MBHD 2: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MBHD 3: Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MB Graphic Card 1: Point of View Nvdia 8800 GTS 640MB POVGraphic Card 2: Asus 8400GS 256 MB Case: Anec performance OneP182Voeding: Corsair HX 620 W

[Mace 1,902]

There is a known issue with buildings not clamping to the ground. Typically it affects GenericBuildings. This is probably what you are seeing. Slew up close to them and they'll be several feet off the ground.I've heard that this is due to round earth code and the fact that MS did not have time to tweak the GenericBuildings to clamp properly with the round earth model.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Thank you for the information, Rhett, I had not known this at all. During the beta testing, the only issue that arose concerning the new Round Earth was a z-buffer problem at night. It was only a display issue - objects seemed to be under ground when they were really firmly on it. This was immediately fixed. There were no reports at all of Generic Buildings floating off the ground that I can remember. Nor have I seen any reports here since then, nor even seen any Generic Buildings floating in my flights. So, this leads to me suspect that this is just another of the many misconceptions that exist in the community, even among developers.It is interesting that Erik only has to re-load the scenery for the problem to resolve. If the problem were due to some inability of Generic Buildings to sit on the Round Earth, then they would not do so after a scenery re-load. This might make one suspect that it is, as so often, a problem with the video subsystem, the usual culprits being: - heat; - driver; - defective or inadequate video card.In any case, the objects that Erik reports as floating high in the air are not Generic (Advanced) Buildings, but custom buildings using generic textures. They are models within object library bgls, not coded instructions in scenery bgls. Therefore, we could imagine that all scenery models, even third-party objects, would float off the ground if this were true.This is pretty much the limit of my knowledge on this matter, and all that I can recommend is that Erik run some of the available benchmarks on his video card and see if they turn up any incongruous results.Best regards.Luis

[Mace 1,902]

>There were no reports at all of Generic>Buildings floating off the ground that I can remember. Nor>have I seen any reports here since then, nor even seen any>Generic Buildings floating in my flights. Luis It was reported by several users at FSDeveloper.com last year.http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/showthrea...=building+floatSeveral of those guys are experienced designers too; attributing it to round earth is obviously conjecture, but it does seem plausible to me.I also know the (separate) issue of items hopping and not clamping during memory starvation/stress times. This is not that issue.It does not seem to affect placed SceneryObjects. It only seems to affect xml GenericBuildings. I do not know if it is universal across the FS world, or if it just occurs under certain conditions.I also do not know if this is what the original poster was talking about, but it is something that some people have reported in the past.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Thank you for your reply, Rhett. If the Round Earth somehow prevented Generic Buildings from sitting on the ground, then all Generic Buildings everywhere in the Flight Simulator world for all users would be floating in the air. Since this is not so, simple common sense leads me to believe that the Round Earth is not doing this.If only some users report the problem, then the cause must be specific to their system and/or settings. This seems the most logical approach.Anyway, the Round Earth does not displace objects vertically by hundreds of feet, but only by a few inches, and as you can see from Erik's screenshot, this is not the case. So, once again, it is hard to believe that the Round Earth has anything to do with this matter.As to the others who have reported this problem, as I mentioned, even developers have incorrect ideas as to how FS works. Certainly, I would urge extreme caution to all users and advise them not to take anybody's word at face value, not even mine. None of us knows anything about FS code, nothing at all. So, many assumptions as to how it works are bound to be incorrect.In any case, as I also mentioned, Erik's screenshot clearly shows the buildings that are in the air, and they are not Generic Buildings at all, so some other explanation must be found for the problem.Nota bene: I notice that Erik (and Rhett) is using Vista 64 Ultimate Edition, and I have seen numerous reports of different problems with FS under this Operating System. Perhaps this would be a fruitful area of investigation.Best regards.Luis

[Mace 1,902]

Well that is true--that seems to be logical. If it were round earth you would think it would be all over, and it is not happening all the time everywhere.I have never seen the original posters screenshot(s) of hovering buildings, and I don't see them in this thread (??) (but I would like to see them)I first noticed it at MPTO, where I was doing some work early in '07. That was with my old (read = relatively slow) computer and furthermore this was with SP1/SP1a. Certainly it was pre SP2/Accel when I noticed it.I have not checked to see if it does this with my new computer or SP2. That's something to check for sure.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[Guest soberon]

Someone pointed out that I am a vista user, but the problem is on a HD on which XP is installed. I have vista on a different HD installed and will try out if the problem occurs there too. Erik Soberoneriksoberon@hotmail.comBelgiumHomecockpit flight simulator(photo or visit on demand)SPECS PC: Vista64 Ultimate on HD1 & Win XP pro on HD3. Motherboard: MSI P35 platinum PROC.: Intel Core2 duo E6750 cooler MEM: 2x 1 GB DDR2 Twin 800 Mhz Corsair HD 1,2 & 3: Western Digital 750GB SATAII 16MBGraphic Card 1: Point of View Nvdia 8800 GTS 640MB POV for 2x Acer 24'Gr. Card 2: Asus 8400GS 256 MB for 1 x Samsung 20' CASE: Anec performance OneP182 with feed of Corsair HX 620 W