NZTU to NZTL in X-plane
Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:08 pmI did mention that I took a test flight TL to TU, and that in X-plane the immersion becomes a major factor for me, compared to Prepar3d. I've been thinking about this, and I suspect that part of it is that I have a lot of baggage in Prepar3d, and MSFS in general, with 15 years of fighting for better visuals. So I know what the issues are in Prepar3d. In X-plane, though, I am going in as a newbie, so I can view it as such -- I think I see it as any user would, without the developer goggles.
But I will mention some of the things which work for me in X-plane. With this particular flight, I 'knew' where I was going from the time I got airborne. In Prepar3d, I tend to get lost easily, and part of this is due to fighting with my knowledge and control of the aircraft. In X-plane, I don't have any of this, so it flies like I would expect it to, and I can see what I would expect to see. Sure direct to Tekapo is a short hop from Timaru, and it's a big blue lake which you can't miss, but sometimes in Prepar3d I would miss it....
I'll post these shots here, rather than on my own site or the Kickstarter page, as they don't represent anything finished, or what you would expect from a Real NZ X-plane scenery, they are just quick conversions of the two airports, plus initial work on photoscenery, minus water masking in this particular area.
This is something I really like, zooming in on detail doesn't go to mush like with MSFS. It looks like a road and farm, and the actual hills in the distance.
There' the edge of my photo scenery to the left, it still needs a blend mask, but it works ok through the haze.
Another zoomed shot, showing the Mt John observatory, which is from the Real NZ Tekapo conversion
The lake doesn't yet have a water mask, so this is just photo water. One issue for me is that this part of the country is really renowned for its clear, crisp skies, and vibrant colours. I can sort of represent this in Prepar3d, but X-plane just dulls everything down. There is probably a solution...
The airport minus ground textures at the moment
The Real NZ Tekapo airport conversion
But I will mention some of the things which work for me in X-plane. With this particular flight, I 'knew' where I was going from the time I got airborne. In Prepar3d, I tend to get lost easily, and part of this is due to fighting with my knowledge and control of the aircraft. In X-plane, I don't have any of this, so it flies like I would expect it to, and I can see what I would expect to see. Sure direct to Tekapo is a short hop from Timaru, and it's a big blue lake which you can't miss, but sometimes in Prepar3d I would miss it....
I'll post these shots here, rather than on my own site or the Kickstarter page, as they don't represent anything finished, or what you would expect from a Real NZ X-plane scenery, they are just quick conversions of the two airports, plus initial work on photoscenery, minus water masking in this particular area.
This is something I really like, zooming in on detail doesn't go to mush like with MSFS. It looks like a road and farm, and the actual hills in the distance.
There' the edge of my photo scenery to the left, it still needs a blend mask, but it works ok through the haze.
Another zoomed shot, showing the Mt John observatory, which is from the Real NZ Tekapo conversion
The lake doesn't yet have a water mask, so this is just photo water. One issue for me is that this part of the country is really renowned for its clear, crisp skies, and vibrant colours. I can sort of represent this in Prepar3d, but X-plane just dulls everything down. There is probably a solution...
The airport minus ground textures at the moment
The Real NZ Tekapo airport conversion
... but bloody good shots. 