NZ Autogen project?

[Adamski]

QUOTE (Timmo @ Jan 12 2009, 02:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a quick play on the weekend trying to replace the large 'jungle' autogen texture with one showing NZ native bush as well as replacing one sheet which contains two types of palm with one showing a cabbage tree and a punga....

But they didnt show (that is they still showed the old texture)......Maybe the static objects and autogen objects use different texture sheets? (I haven't tested by placing a library tree yet)

So yep, I'm quietly pottering away in the back ground although most of that was due to holidays

I've often had problems when playing with scenery (this is just installing other peoples' work) and wondered whether there's some scenery cache that needs to be cleared? eg. I'm totally confused as to whether "load scenery from disk" (or use cache) is a good or bad thing.

[TheoGregory]

Hey there,

Im currently developing Christchurch for X-Plane. Almost every landmark including the the inner city...

Well anyway, this is for X-Plane. But in X-Plane, the autogen buildings for NZ are the same ones used for the US and they have a distinct San Francisco feel. Which is why i'm going to try and change the Autogen using the library format (X-Planes scenery design can be VERY complicated)


Anyway getting to the point, Would it be ok to change the ENTIRE New Zealand auto gen buildings (objects and textures) using your textures?

All credit will be given to you for the textures and i would be eternally grateful as this would save quite a bit of time... (A month or possibly more)

Will be checking back often to see your reply

Cheers, -TheoGregory (Fellow Cantabrian just wanting to bring a GOOD New Zealand to X-Plane simmers worldwide )

[Njbb1995]

I have got my house on Trade Me Right here

[2fst4u]

is anyone getting started on this? i would but im useless and i also had a suggestion to make...

it would be GREAT if you could make the autogen more frame rate freindly. ie, less types or easier textures to draw.

[toprob]

QUOTE (2fst4u @ Feb 21 2009, 05:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

is anyone getting started on this? i would but im useless and i also had a suggestion to make...

it would be GREAT if you could make the autogen more frame rate freindly. ie, less types or easier textures to draw.

I'm aware of a few people who are currently studying the autogen system, and one or two are taking photos.

Just be aware that my original suggestion was to redo the textures only, to make them more appropriate to NZ. There are other ways to improve the performance of the autogen, you should take a look at the Avsim forum for some tweaks etc.

The sort of project I imagine would not change the placement/density/models at all. That is really beyond what we can expect to accomplish.

[2fst4u]

QUOTE (toprob @ Feb 21 2009, 07:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm aware of a few people who are currently studying the autogen system, and one or two are taking photos.

Just be aware that my original suggestion was to redo the textures only, to make them more appropriate to NZ. There are other ways to improve the performance of the autogen, you should take a look at the Avsim forum for some tweaks etc.

The sort of project I imagine would not change the placement/density/models at all. That is really beyond what we can expect to accomplish.

thats fine. good luck to everyone working on it. im sure it will turn out great

[2fst4u]

I hate to dredge up an old topic but, has there been any progress on this? I've been trying to find the textures but i can't find where they're located, any help please? haha.

I reckon this project would be well worth its while. It would make New Zealand really seem like New Zealand. I could give it a go if I knew where the textures where

[creator2003]

Well i though id give this ago last night ,im sure this is looking more and more like NZ agn ,what do you think ?




the photos are Auckland and Hamilton type houses so i dont know how well this would work in other citys other than the ones i live in ,still of course in its early stages but you can see the differences im sure

[2fst4u]

the colours look better, but the textures look a bit jumbled. one of those houses looks like it has garage doors on all four sides It's a start though. Maybe the models need to be altered also. might be a huge undertaking but not every house in the country is two-storeys tall aye?

[creator2003]

Im not sure if they can be remodeled at all as they a written to size and shape by the agn tool when placed ,
that jumbled look is also on the default textures they are far from perfect the way the are drawn on ,the garage door for exsample is in the same placed as the default tex garage door i even matched the windows/storys up so there isnt much difference in the placement ,i could do something else with that garage door part of the texture if ya think it stands out to much ..

the roof textures have also been changed to alot of longrun roofing with color instead of just dull tiles ,i suppose with all the color now its ezy to see the horrblie way these textures and agn where done in the begining by MS ..

[2fst4u]

Now that I look again, the first pic looks alright (aside from the one with the garage doors. It looks kinda funny actually). But more generic textures might blend in a bit better. The ones you have look a bit like the lower end of the upper market housing bracket. Looking out my window now (with quite a big view so there are quite a few houses i can see), I can see about:

1/3 houses made of wood/weatherboard and tiled roofs
1/3 houses made of wood/weatherboard and corrugated iron roofs
1/6 houses made of brick with tiled roofs
1/6 other. Some weird looking plaster houses and A-frame etc.

This is residential Wellington mind you. And not to put a huge workload on you, but the trees would look better as more native looking types. Shame about the models being fixed.

[deaneb]

I'm really impressed and I think the houses look a lot better than default textures. As you say the default autogen buildings are fixed models, and most of those are two storied as well. Lets face it, it will never be perfect, but I think you have done a great job. Not sure anyone will worry too much about seeing garage doors on all sides - think of it as a fire station or garage or small business warehouse !!
Oh and I want a corner dairy on every 4th street corner - LOL !!

Deane

[creator2003]

Thanks deane and 2fst4u for your productive comments ,i think they are as close as i can get for the houses as there are only 10 to choose from in the texture sheet ,the shots below are the highrises and industrial textures that mite not be perfect ether with the shops added though different all the same to the boring default ,

trees at the moment im staying away from ,there are tree addons for changing default AGN trees so it is fully possible to do a similar thing ,but would be alot of hard yacker ..

Im going to spend another day or so cleaning up the textures after comments about parts of the sheets plus a night texture to go with each ,and will fully try to get them out in a timely manner ,i was wondering about a switch to install and uninstall ,so not to mess things up ,though i figure if you dropped these files into the texture folder and over write the old ones the orbx switch would still work with there textures as long as it made another backup of the default texture folder again ,hope you follow ..
im not sure a switch would help any but if someone know of a program that will do this like the orbx switch let me know ,id still want to play with the switch idea and see if anything would work on that side of things ,
the pics are large so you can see clearly sorry if it doesnt fit your tiny monitor

the color is really showing up in Auckland as you can see it seems to enhance the photo with the colorful rooftops


there were no shop fronts at all on the default textures so now there is with a spash of colour plus i re did all the building textures ..


looking back at the supercity with new agn textures




Ps if your wondering why i have no water sliders on ,its because the tide is out

[NZ255]

Hey....that is very cool! Great work...the holidays are always the time to get design done

Tide is out? Another little project lol or FEX?

Now lets see some before and afters

[creator2003]

Lol i have though about the tide in tide out thing and how it could be done ,i think it could be to be honest ,but only with a photoreal tile like this one ,it would be a water masking timing thing ,one in one out and exported with the main tile ,kinda like the same timing involved with how the night maps are active at 6pm etc ,like i said this was a thought and you just never know until ya try it ,FSX can of course do some amazing things with its SDK and i tell you now we are only just tapping into it ..
anyway the answer is that i turn water right off in Auckland ,this turns the watermask off the main texture leaving me with a tide out look like the older FS2004 version,i really do like this option with this Supercity scenery,

Is it the Holidays ,Wow i wouldnt have known ,i havent been out of my cave for awhile now ,the world just goes by and im sitting here trying to design it

oh and before and afters ,lol i hardly keep to my own advice and saved a backup of the old set ,i had no need for them until you asked ,but im sure from your own install you can see what yours looks like and how mine is starting to look ..

[NZ255]

Need a beta tester?

[Ian Warren]

I think that is the right temperate , the Hospital is photoreal this texture sheet really gives it some life ... i think it grabs more from the photo and en-chance,s both , two story housing , well if you want single dwellings i think every house would have to be place to give the affect then of course the shrubs that are required would to small to place or give any feeling of a lived in community .

I think the benifit would be the little farming res and groups , yet to check those out , thing is ..it looks far better than default and very much NZ .

[2fst4u]

Those pics look better. I like the roof colours now. Really makes it pop

[creator2003]

QUOTE

Need a beta tester?[/quote]

FSX only
I do infact need some feedback from these files to hurry up the process to get these up on the web .ie flightsim.com ,so ive put together a complete beta copy to download for those users wanting to have a go and see how it works on there system ,plz read the readme text doco as it explains what files you will want to quickly back up before dropping these one in ,if you overwrite your default textures without backing up first you wont be able to change back to default if not liked ..

ive uploaded the beta to my SKYDRIVE DOWNLOAD HERE

please let me know of your results ether posting here or PM ,after i review whats been said ill fix alter maybe and put together a final version ..
cheers mike

Last edited by creator2003 on Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

[2fst4u]

How long will the file be up? I can download it on the 2nd Dec i think. I'll defiantly give you a hand and check it out in-depth (just another excuse to be on the computer for a bit longer )