NZFF

toprob wrote:

QUOTE (toprob @ May 1 2014,1:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A decade is a long time in flightsim. Thinking back to the developers back then, it seems like I've been playing a game of 'last man standing', so I guess I deserve a prize for perseverance...

Through the magic of the WayBackMachine, here's a look at the Windowlight site back in 2003.

How times have changed:
The Netherlands 2000 is a particularly effective addon, and is available free. It is a large download, about 50 megabytes, so be prepared for a lengthy download time if you use a dial-up connection

NZ255 wrote:

QUOTE (NZ255 @ May 1 2014,2:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How times have changed:
The Netherlands 2000 is a particularly effective addon, and is available free. It is a large download, about 50 megabytes, so be prepared for a lengthy download time if you use a dial-up connection

Yes, considering the latest version of NL2000 is 49GB, or 1000 times the size, and we don't even baulk at downloading it... No, wait, that's more than my month's allowance. Dial-up, eh. Nobody harks back to the good of days of dial-up, that's for sure.

And I thought that was last week .. nah , ... dial-up, I still recall a duffess at the Wanaka Airshow 1998 and he was raving about the internet and the fact you could get everything off it, even today it still in the build stage but just fortunate now NZ is waking up and follow other, you still can't get every fact and detail nor is it correct, still requires someone to collect the facts and data ..... least the cost has come down.

Ive got both of Robs first discs ..... very special , and delivered by hand. Your the man big R.

Hey Rob, what a great idea, looking FWD to it.
Out of interest, you mention VLC, and Orbx compatibility in some way, I was thinking of dipping my toe in the FTX Global stuff (global and vector?) and was wondering how it would play with that? Any idea if you can selectively enable/disable FTX global regions?

deeknow wrote:

QUOTE (deeknow @ May 1 2014,8:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Rob, what a great idea, looking FWD to it.
Out of interest, you mention VLC, and Orbx compatibility in some way, I was thinking of dipping my toe in the FTX Global stuff (global and vector?) and was wondering how it would play with that? Any idea if you can selectively enable/disable FTX global regions?

I'm not too sure about Global, but I wouldn't expect to be able to disable bits and pieces. However one of the good things about photo scenery is that it'll sit on top of just about anything. The issues will be with the blends, and the autogen. Blends are always going to be an issue, I'll be making a single version of the photo scenery, so the blend assumes something close to actual colour/tones, and only VLC handles this well. So I can colour-correct an aerial image simply to get it looking good, with no reference to any landclass textures, and the colour/tones will match quite well with VLC, but Orbx has a very different, darker palette. There are ways around this -- for example, on the coastal airstrip areas I blend out the native bush, so that the landclass shows instead -- whether default, VLC or Orbx. That way you don't get an abrupt change of colour and tonal range within a single block of bush or forest.

Global has it's own autogen, I think, which is a bit of a wild-card, but I can't see it being an issue, it'll just mean that whichever base you use -- VLC, Orbx NZ, Orbx Global, or default FSX, you'll probably see different trees in some places.

EDIT: autogen buildings are another matter, and I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

nice, thanks for the reply

Do orbx have their own autogen? Not just texture replacements? Or is that what your mean about working out later?

NZ255 wrote:

QUOTE (NZ255 @ May 2 2014,11:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do orbx have their own autogen? Not just texture replacements? Or is that what your mean about working out later?

A good question. I don't really have a lot of Orbx scenery to test, except for NZSI and NZNI. With these regions, and I suspect all Orbx regions, some new autogen is added, and some default autogen textures are altered. I don't know whether Global adds autogen classes, or simply alters textures. Not that it makes much difference, except that if they alter textures, then my autogen will 'take on' the new textures. When I talk about FTX Global, I really mean the base package, rather than the Landclass and mesh, as photo scenery happily lives on top of just about anything.

When I place autogen, I only place default autogen, for two reasons -- first, this is the only way to get a single result which works with everything to some extent, and secondly, Orbx don't allow outside developers to use their autogen classes.

It sounds trickier than it is, but it is something which can be an issue with photo scenery. Since this project will not involve any changes to landclass or any other simulator default definitions, it can't control all aspects of how it will appear.

The important difference can be summed up like this:
Say there are two trees, both defined as autogen vegetation, so to all intents and purposes they act the same way in the sim. One is an oak tree, and one is a money tree. The oak tree is defined in the default autogen definitions, and comes with a default texture. The money tree is defined by Orbx's definitions, and they supply new, custom textures.

Now Orbx can put as many money trees as they want into their scenery. They also might (and do, in NZ's case) supply custom textures for the default oak tree, and many others. Vector Land Class uses ONLY default autogen vegetation, definitions, but supplies custom textures for a couple of the default tree types -- mainly Rainforest, which is used in VLC for native bush.

You won't see any Orbx money trees in my photoscenery, but you might see a lot of oak trees. (Well, not an awful lot...) So if you have Orbx NZ installed, you'll see the altered Orbx oak tree, and with VLC you'll see the default oak tree. I can't change that.

With the rainforest autogen, you'll see the default rainforest trees if you use default FSX, custom VLC bush textures if you use VLC, and altered Orbx rainforest textures if you use FTX NZ. I'm not sure what you'll see if you use Global. But whatever you have, you'll see a lot of these particular trees in my photo scenery.

Just reading through the FAQ page on the GVF page. I'll be subscribing when i get home.... Orbx NZAA was on the roadmap for 2015, have they made an announcement since then? The FAQ says they've cancelled all NZ airports.

NZ255 wrote:

QUOTE (NZ255 @ May 2 2014,1:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just reading through the FAQ page on the GVF page. I'll be subscribing when i get home.... Orbx NZAA was on the roadmap for 2015, have they made an announcement since then? The FAQ says they've cancelled all NZ airports.

It's still on the roadmap, just not in development.
The FAQ really refers to planned airports -- NZAA was already in development, so I would think that they would be keen to salvage the work already done. But everything else was cancelled.

Here's a Prepar3D video peep at one of the first areas -- Mt Cook. This shows the cloud shadows nicely. They move because of the time-preview function, rather than the clouds themselves moving, but it is quite a nice effect.



As always, best to click through to Youtube and view it in 720 or 1080p, depending on your monitor.