Autogen GUID numbers?

[Guest cwright]

Hello all, I would like a list of all the "ordinary" autogen object library GUID numbers. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm aware of default.xml and the list in the BGLC SDK, but these are not for the standard autogen objects (default.xml has lots of things such as restaurants with giant chickens, but not the standard autogen buildings etc). The reason is this: AutoAsm can add enormous numbers of buildings, trees etc linked to VTP lines, so large numbers of buildings can be used to create towns and villages etc. The most convenient method for adding many simple buildings is to use the old FS2000-style buildings. However, when the building density goes above a certain point, FS2004 crashes! Hopefully autogen-type buildings will not crash, hence the need to find the GUID numbers. Many thanks. Best regards, Chris

[Guest sapper42]

Gday ChrisI think you will find that the standard autogen buildings are created with XML code and textures dependant on the region that the texture resides.I have created several custom buildings with Gmax and used them with no problems but ou must keep them to a simple LOD or you will see a drop in FPS very quickly.The other issue will be the restriction of the default annotator for the footprints for the GUID objects however there is Arts sensational little program that give you more control over GUID placement.rgds jeff

[arno 1]

Yes, I think Jeff is right here. Just like the autogen trees, I think also the default buildings are created by the scenery engine directly. So they are not stored in a library or so.

[Guest cwright]

Hi Arno - and Jeff. Thanks for the information, guys. So 'ordinary' autogen objects can't be used as library objects, unlike the default.xml objects. I'll look for an alternative solution.... Best regards, Chris

[Guest cwright]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the info. If I can't use ordinary autogen objects then simple gmax textured boxes would be fine. The one requirement is that large numbers can be used without crashing FS2004 or causing low frame rates. Many thanks. Best regards, Chris

[Guest sapper42]

Gday again,I think Arno would agree, if you keep the Gmax Custom houses as simple as possible so they maintain a low polygon count and rely on textures for detail i cant really see that it would have anymore impact than default XML generated houses/buildings.I would however try to place as many elevation shots of each building onto one texture as possible and try to keep the textures at 512*512 and as DXT1 to keep the processing as low as possible as high end large textures can also be a frame rate hitter.good luck !rgds Jeff

[Guest cwright]

Hi Jeff, I'm not actually looking at creating autogen as such. Mu AutoAsm program can add large numbers of objects linked to VTP lines, so it is a bit like vector autogen (but a lot more flexible). The actual object scenery is generated in Airport for Windows, using files automatically created by AutoAsm. You can use any objects compatible with Airport, such as Gerrish Gray's excellent trees, but FS2000-style buildings are very convenient to use. Problem is, above a certain density FS crashes. I thought the problem was due to this type of building, hence the thought of using standard autogen buildings instead. But you and Arno seem to have shot down that idea in flames! (thanks for the info). Best regards, Chris

[Guest cwright]

Hi Arno, I wonder if I could slip in another related question.... I originally found that large numbers of FS2000-style buildings make FS2004 crash, hence the thought that autogen buildings might solve this. But yesterday I did some further tests. I changed the FS2000-type buildings to an ordinary object api - and it still crashed! This raises an ominous question about the maximum object density supported by FS2004. So my question is: is there an arbitrary limit to the object density in FS2004 and if so what is it? If the limit is precisely known then it could possibly be programmed into AutoAsm. It causes the worst possible type of crash: the screen goes black and the only way out is to reboot. It did seem, though, that reducing the vis distance to 1 km did help, but then buildings pop up very close to you. Many thanks. Best regards, Chris

[arno 1]

Hi Chris,> So my question is: is there an arbitrary limit to the object>density in FS2004 and if so what is it?I have never heard of an object limit causing a crash. So I can't tell you if there is a hard limit. To do some framerate testing I placed 10000 objects in a not too big area lately and that worked fine.Would it be an idea to forget the old style APIs and Fs2000 buildings and use XML and Fs2004 MDL objects instead? Maybe the old code is part of the problem.

[Guest sapper42]

Intresting about the crash, i used the default Annotator a few weeks ago and got carried away with the total number of allowable objects ( trees and buildings with a smatter or GUID placments ), didnt get a crash but did get missing objects and strange behaviour of building objects in various places !rgds Jeff

[Guest cwright]

>Would it be an idea to forget the old style APIs and Fs2000>buildings and use XML and Fs2004 MDL objects instead? Maybe>the old code is part of the problem.Arno, yes, that may be necessary at some stage, particularly with a next-generation FS version. Currently AutoAsm generates scenery files for Airport for Windows, so I'll be looking at the newer XML alternative program. Best regards, Chris

[Guest artmartin]

Did some reading in the documentation that came with the FS2004 Autogen SDK and Microsoft clearly says that there's a limit to the number of houses that display per square kilometer. Don't have the document in front of me but think it was 400. They also stated that they have no limits on how many can be defined within the autogen (.agn) file since they may up the displayed total on future versions. Perhaps that limit is what your were seeing.Art Martin