FSArchitect - photo texture grids visibility range...

[Shaka 2]

I've been using FSArchitect primarily to place photo texture grids down. I've noticed that in FS2002, the grid is not visible until the aircraft is within 10 miles, and then it loads all the textures at once. I've tried changing the visibilty setting on the grid to 36 miles, but it still loads the textures at 10 miles. The effect isn't too bad, but it's noticeable when they all load in all of a sudden, and I think it looks "sloppy". Otherwise, once it is all loaded in, it can create a very nice effect.I checked the Scasm source, and the bitmaps are loaded into the grid using the "LoadBitmap" command.I realise that this may not be because of Architect, but rather it is probably because of the way Scasm/FreeSC handles the polygons. ANyway, is there a way to increase the range that the polygons will appear at?- Martin

[arno 1]

What kind of range (v1) is entered in the RefPoint? Is this more then 10 miles (the value is in km btw)?

[Shaka 2]

>What kind of range (v1) is entered in the RefPoint? Is this>more then 10 miles (the value is in km btw)?It's 65535, which roughly jibes with the 36 miles that I originally set it to. Well, the more I think about it, the less I am bothered. It is really only notceable on larger projects - my smaller airports don't have this problem since they are still pretty small at 10 miles. Thanks,- Martin

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Martin.I believe FS2002 is limited to about a 10 mile visibility for objects ( 16km ? ).. and I think this is 10 miles to the refpoint.Dick

[Shaka 2]

>Hi Martin.>>I believe FS2002 is limited to about a 10 mile visibility for>objects ( 16km ? ).. and I think this is 10 miles to the>refpoint.>>DickNo, because I have other objects that appear at greater distances, including the runway. But perhaps textures aren't loaded until 10 miles? The objects and runway which are visible from a greater distance don't have the resolution for me to be able to tell if they have textures or not. But this makes sense to me, so maybe that's the limitation of the method I am trying to use.Thanks.- Martin

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Martin.You might look at this thread:http://forums.avsim.com/dcboard.php?az=sho...e=&topic_page=3I just checked a large Gmax-created cube that uses colors( no texturing )... It disappears at 17721 meters ( using geodetic "greatcircle" calculation of the lat-long from viewpoint to refpoint ).17.721 km = 11.0115 milesThe above thread noted I found the disappearance of objects differing in a NS direction from an EW direction. I haven't checked to see if there is a difference based on latitudinal placement... but it wouldn't surprise me if the EW distance changes according to latitude.If that were true, that would indicate the sim's view distance for objects is based on lat-long degree separation, rather than on just meters of distance.Around 11 miles, not 10 , would seem to be the max for viewable object distance. Looking through ground haze, 10-11 miles would be pretty good in the real world, for viewing a huge object.================== editedI also just checked the effect of altitude on the viewing distance... no effect I could tell. So it's not a 3-d radius, at any rate, but a 2-d distance at ground level.Dick

[Shaka 2]

Sure enough - I tried the same test, and I got the same results as you did. My runway and othe objects were visible from a farther distance - sort of... The difference was due to different reference points, so that is why it seemed that they were visible from a farther distance. I guess I'll have to learn to live with this problem.- Martin