Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Guest NPreston

Reccomendations for a newcomer

Recommended Posts

Guest NPreston

Greetings everyone, A few days ago I decided to take a challenge and create some scenery for FS2002. I took a little time to decide what my subject airport was going to be but in the end it came down to my first choice. My local airpark has been very neglected in terms of flight sim scenery so that became my subject. Skyhaven Airport is not a large airport but it's great for most GA flyers in the north east. It offers services for it's usual members as well as transient aircraft, and the 4001 by 100 foot runway serves for the occasonal large aircraft that come in. Below you can see an aerial pic of the airport, which is very simple in layout but effective for traffic. It' consists of three large steel hangars and one "open air concept" hanger and of course the main office and two smaller hangers as well.http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e757ce3388246b3.jpg Also below are two preview shots of the main offices, modelled in gmax after about three hours they are 80% complete in terms of modeling. All of my buildings will be textured using photo's that I will soon be taking and I probably attempt to create an AFCAD file for the airport since there isn't one already.http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e757d0439435981.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e757d0e39962135.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e757ced38cc0244.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e757cf538e6a836.jpg Now keeping in mind that this is my first project are there any recommendations that the veterans and other scenery designers have for me? Also am I correct in assumeing that I can create API macros from objects created in gmax by using fsRegen or am I pushing my luck? :-roll Thank you for any information you may be able to offer me and I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the progress :-hah Nick :-abduct

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think we can only give you usefull tips if you indicate what your problems are. But your first screenshots look nice :).And yes, you are correct, with FsRegen you can create an object library and API's from GMax objects.Arno


Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[link:home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]Arno's FlightSim World for scenery design hints, tips and other tricks...

Arno

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

FSDeveloper.com | Former Microsoft FS MVP | Blog

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest NPreston

Well I think my first question is: on the front of the main office you can see that i have created a ramp for the entrance door. That ramp has a metal hand rail on both sides. Would it be more econimcal to create a transparent texture for the rail or should it be made out of a few cylinders and shaped to make it into the railing? I ask this because one of the things I want to conserve will be frame rates, so that lower end users can use this scenery as well. I just don't know which will use more framerates.Nick :-abduct

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it depends a bit on how big the airfield is. For smaller airfields I prefer to make it with a simple 3D structure. That give a more realistic shadow for example. Also scenery made with GMax doesn't seem to be that hard on the frames, so a few polygons don't make that much difference. But I think there are also other designers who prefer to work with transparant textures, it's a bit of personal taste.Arno


Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[link:home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]Arno's FlightSim World for scenery design hints, tips and other tricks...

Arno

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

FSDeveloper.com | Former Microsoft FS MVP | Blog

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest NPreston

Thanks for the tip arno, I managed to make a pretty good looking railing out of a few cylinders. I have another simple question as I noticed this when I tried some texture mapping. When I created the basic shape for the office I constructed it out of one box. Now when I applied a test matieral which was a small picture of some siding it was applied to the entire box. Is there a way I can apply the texture the a face and not the entire polygon or should I create the walls out of several polygons and not just a box?Nick :-abduct

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you first select the polygons (or faces) you want to adjust the mapping for, then you can afterwards adapt only the mapping for those polygons. That way you can give any side of a box a different mapping for example.Arno


Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[link:home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]Arno's FlightSim World for scenery design hints, tips and other tricks...

Arno

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

FSDeveloper.com | Former Microsoft FS MVP | Blog

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

hey Nick, I have to say you've picked a marvelous first project. I love the airport, and its just the right complexity. My first piece of advice is to have fun, and avoid the mindset that you are going to produce output quickly. The tools can be very fun to use, and to see and be able to fly around your creation is so much fun, even when the work is half done.Also be aware that nothing in design is really precise. The tools all have silly little pecadillos that you'll learn, even the sim itself can't be counted on reliably refreshing changes to your textures...just always remind youself to take it light...This forum has been the top place to learn technique for a long time now...both in the current threads and the archeived threads, you'll find information on most topics. The search engine works...read, read, read.The fs2002 sdk on the microsoft site is another important resource: http://zone.msn.com/flightsim/FS02DevDeskSDK00.asp There is a gmax sdk that describes the texturing process. Of course much more is there also!cheers,Bob Bernstein

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest NPreston

Bob, Thanks for pointing out the SDK's I have found them and the tutorial on how to create the house in gmax as invaluable resources and they answer a lot of the question I was asking myself. :-hahNick :-abduct

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest EdrickV

Interesting, do you have to have FS2k2 Pro in order to use FsRegen to make APIs from GMAX objects? I know the Pro version includes an export plug-in that's needed for aircraft design but don't know much about the scenery design side. EoD has some big limitations, but I have a 3D modeller I'm familliar with that I could work in and probably import files from it into GMAX for finishing touches. :)"Let me help you out. You're cleared to taxi any way you can to any runway you see."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, you need the Pro version of Fs2002. Otherwise you can't get the object out of GMax (in BGL or ASM source code).Arno


Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[link:home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]Arno's FlightSim World for scenery design hints, tips and other tricks...

Arno

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

FSDeveloper.com | Former Microsoft FS MVP | Blog

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...