Waterclass (sbuilder and ground2k4)

[scott967 62]

I'm trying to develop some waterclass and I'm running into some problems.1. The SDKs don't really cover it, except the list of textures.2. It appears that waterclass bgls compiled with the Fs2002/2004 resample won't display in TMFViewer. It gives "can't open file"I note that the file size is about 1 or 2 k, about the same as for a landclass passed throught fs2k2 resample.3. By experiment, and searching the old messages, I ran the same raw and inf through the old fs2000 resample, and it generates a file of about 66k (includes the entire raw file data) and after tmf2bgling it, it will display in TMFViewer.4. Waterclass compiled by ground2k4 works, but that from sbuilder won't. Looking at things, it appears ground2k4 is using the old resample and sbuilder the new.5. I see ground2k4 is putting a LOD = 5 line in the inf. sbuilder isn't doing that, and the fs2002 SDK suggests that it isn't required (at least for landclass).6. Sbuilder (at least ver 2.03) has a separate bug and is putting bad values into the raw file (ex. waterclass 03 is being output as 7D).7. Unfortunately, LWMViewer won't show waterclass. I wish it could!8. I haven't tried to load any of these into the sim; it takes too long to constantly restart it. I assume that anything that shows in TMFViewer will play in the sim and also the converse, but haven't confirmed that.Any thoughts, clarifications, or corrections on any of these points appreciated. scott s..

[Guest jimkeir]

Hi, Scott.> 1. The SDKs don't really cover itRead the landclass sections, but mentally translate "land" to "water". They're identical. Basically, landclass gets applied to everywhere that isn't water (or photo-real etc.), waterclass gets applied to everywhere that is water. That is, not just the sea but lakes and some rivers too.> [2, 3 and 4]. It appears that waterclass bgls compiled with the> Fs2002/2004 resample won't display in TMFViewerYep :) I know I keep on banging on about this, but those versions of resample do have problems. They work OK most of the time, but not always.> 5. It's not technically required, since all class data is resampled to LOD5. It shouldn't do any harm though - if it does, it's a resample bug.> 7. Unfortunately, LWMViewer won't show waterclass.It's already on the hitlist, watch this space :) (Or rather, [a href=http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=123&topic_id=23469&mesg_id=23469&page=]this[/a] one)Cheers,Jim

[scott967 62]

>> 1. The SDKs don't really cover itRead the landclass sections, but mentally translate "land" to "water". They're identical. Basically, landclass gets applied to everywhere that isn't water (or photo-real etc.), waterclass gets applied to everywhere that is water. That is, not just the sea but lakes and some rivers too.:) .scott s..

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Scott.Just for the sake of clarity:The entire FS world is covered by a waterclass, and the entire world is also covered by a landclass.Sometimes, the landclass assignment is of a type that resembles water ( and acts as water ). When we advise designers to extend the landclass into the water, we are actually overriding the already present landclass that has the appearance of water. MS did it this way as a shortcut... otherwise all the oceans of the earth would need an LWM mask that covered the water areas. I think that's what they should have done! Maybe FS10. FS9 will display landclass if no LWM mask is present... but remember, sometimes the landclass is of a type that resembles water.Dick

[Guest luissa]

Hi Scott,I must confess that I never tested Sbuilder generated waterclass scenery. As Jim pointed out waterclass is identical to landclass and I simply "copied and pasted" the landclass code into the waterclass code. In doing that I made a mistake that was causing water classes being wrongly coded ("the other bug" that you refer to).After correcting this error I expected to see the waterclass BGL in TMFViewer. But I could not. I was using resample1 for both land class and water class. I was using resample0 for mesh scenery only. I made a test with the same INF and RAW. With resample1, TMFViewer refuses to load the BGL. With resample0, tmfcompress and tmf2bgl, TMFViewer reads the file without problems. So I changed the water class code. Now I use resample0 for water class and mesh. For land class I kept resample1 as it is OK as far as I could test.Before writing this answer I changed the file sbxxx.zip. If you download again you will be able to see water class BGLs in TMFViewer.Hi Dick,The error with 2-point VTP lines crossing LOD8 borders is now fixed (I hope so). A further note to your comment is that the "landclass of a type that resembles water" is landclass type = 100.Regards, Luis

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Luis.Yes, the LOD8 crossing works great, now. I may experiment with 2-point autogen bridge lines that cross the LOD8, as that is the way MS does it.:)Dick