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Holger Sandmann

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    Orbx Region updates for Prepar3D v5

    in PREPAR3D® V5.x Support Forum

    Posted

    Hi all,

     

    starting today we're releasing updates for our FTX Regions that primarily deal with the larger airports in each region. The underlying issue is that the default airports in Prepar3D v5 have received new generic terminal buildings and layout updates. Our airport enhancements, at these larger airports, incorporated some of the v4 versions of these features, which then ended up missing or misaligned in P3D v5.

     

    These small service packs make the necessary adjustments. Also, some airports within the FTX Regions have had their ICAO changed and those will be updated as well.

     

    April 26, 2020 release:

    • FTX Southern Alaska:  PANC, PAJN, CYXY adjusted
    • FTX Pacific Fjords:  PAKT, PANT, CYBD, CYYD, and others adjusted
    • FTX Pacific Northwest:  CYVR, CYYJ, CYXX, KSEA, KPDX, KEUG adjusted

     

    May 9, 2020 release:

    • FTX Central Rockies:  KBIL, KBOI, KBZN, KGTF, KHLN, KIDA, and KPSC adjusted ; also Driggs-Reed Memorial ICAO changed from U59 to KDIJ
    • FTX Northern Rockies:  CYEG, CYLW, CYXD, CYYC, KFCA, KGEG, and KMSO adjusted

     

    June 18, 2020 release:

    • FTX Northern California:  KFAT, KMFR, KMRY, KOAK, KRDD, KSFO, KSJC, and KSMF adjusted; also ICAO changed for Nevada County from O17 to KGOO, for Mariposa-Yosemite from O68 to KMPI, and for Westover Amador County from O70 to KJAC
    • FTX Southern California: KBFL, KLAS, KLAX, KONT, KPSP, KSAN, KSBA, KSBD, KSNA and MMTJ adjusted; also ICAO changed for Boulder City from 61B to KBVU

     

    June 27, 2020 release:

    • FTX Germany North:  ETNL, EDHL, EDDH, EDDW, EDDT, EDDB, EDDV, EDDG, EDLP, EDLW, EDDL, EDDP, and EDBH adjusted.

     

    August 1, 2020 release:

    • FTX Germany South:   EDDC, EDDE, EDDF, EDDK, EDDM, EDDN, EDDS, LFSB, and LSZH adjusted.
    • FTX Norway:  ENBO, ENBR, ENGM, ENTO, ENVA, and ENZV adjusted.

     

    October 5, 2020 release:

    • FTX England:   EGBB, EGCC, EGKK, EGLC, EGLL, EGNM, EGNT, and EGSS adjusted.
    • FTX Scotland:  EGPF and EGPH adjusted.

     

    September 8, 2021 release:

    • FTX New Zealand South Island: NZCH, NZCI, NZDN, NZNS, NZNV, NZQN, NZRT, NZTI, NZTU, NZUK and NZWL adjusted.

     

    --------------------------------------------------------

    • Like 26
    • Upvote 2
    • Thanks 8

    Lion's Gate Bridge missing

    in PREPAR3D® V5.x Support Forum

    Posted

    Hi Michael,

     

    indeed, it currently is missing. In P3Dv5 the old default model got replaced by a generic extrusion bridge (!?!), which the PNW exclude files (thankfully) remove.

     

    The good news is that we're working on a custom solution for not just the Lions Gate Bridge but also all the other landmark bridges in PNW's Vancouver area -- stay tuned!

     

    Cheers, Holger

    • Like 6

    Terrain Elevation Discrepancies | Landing Glitches | Orbx Addon Conflictions (KSFO)

    in PREPAR3D® V4.x Support Forum

    Posted

    Hi guys,

     

    very weird, I've never seen a report of this before. The thing is that landscape components, like mesh or flattens, are passive meaning they can't reach up and grab an airplane out of the sky. Thus, I'd think that it must have something to do with the coding of the aircraft, in particular what ground data it reads (and when) while close to the ground. As far as I know a lot of the flight modelling with these complex aircraft is computed externally and thus they (intentionally) behave differently from aircraft relying on the default flight model.

     

    Have you shown the video to the respective developers? Maybe they can elaborate how their aircraft determine their position in the final moments prior to touchdown and how a sudden change in ground elevation can confuse the aircraft's flight model; perhaps something related to computing ground effect? (i.e., in this case the effective height of the air column underneath the aircraft suddenly decreases by 12ft, which could make a big difference in the calculations).

     

    The default altitude for KSFO is 13ft (3.96m). With NCA we change this to 3.69m = 12.1ft, not because we wanted to but because, for whatever reason, Flightbeam's KSFO team had done so and many NCA customers wanted the two products to be compatible. However, the difference is less than a foot, much less than the drop experienced by your plane, so I don't think this really is a factor. Moreover, Tristan has stated that the issue occurs with both default scenery and NCA meaning default and altered airport elevation.

     

    Given that reducing the mesh resolution setting makes a difference it seems to me that the critical factor is the slope of the step, which is controlled by the adjacent flattens (ocean water and airport ground, respectively) and the spacing of mesh points as set by the mesh resolution slider. Does the issue still occur if just the NCA mesh entry is deactivated? If not perhaps the successful test with just Global Vector also was without an added terrain mesh file (the default mesh is coarser meaning less steep slopes).

     

    Either way, unless we know what actually triggers the change in the aircraft's flight model it wouldn't make much sense to attempt to make any adjustment to NCA files.   

     

    Quote

    If I disable Orbx NorCal, is there a way you know off the top of your head to fix the grass on the runway?

     

    You'll also need to deactivate ADE_FTX_NCA_KSFO_elevation_adjustment.BGL in scenery\world\scenery as it enforces the NCA elevation change.

     

    Cheers, Holger

     

    • Thanks 3

    Antennas all over the northern US East Coast

    in FSX Support Forum

    Posted

    Hi again,

     

    Global Vector doesn't exclude, place, or alter antennae, so that cannot have been the issue or trigger.

     

    Any particular reason all of your screenshots are taken at night? Makes it difficult to cross-check. Also, coordinates blended in with all screenshots would help to find the same location. I did check the area south of KCDW and there are lots of default antennae in the area (more noticeable when temporarily deactivating all autogen). However, they all have different heights, which is different from the display issue in the referenced threads where all antennae show their full length of ~300ft. Difficult to say from your night screenshots whether you're just looking at the default scenery or whether you do have the display issue. 

     

    Cheers, Holger

    Antennas all over the northern US East Coast

    in FSX Support Forum

    Posted

    Hi there,

     

    as mentioned in the threads you're referencing the issue isn't with the objects but rather some camera or view .cfg that interferes with this particular kind of extrusion objects.

     

    The default masts and antennae are part of the "hazards.bgl" library, located in  \Scenery\Global\scenery. However, deactivating that file isn't a good idea. For one, you'd lose quite a few other objects also included in that library. More importantly, the many default placement files for those extrusion objects (the OBX... files in the numbered default folders)  remain active, which will cause the sim to repeatedly search for the missing library file.

     

    I'd suggest trying to figure out what specific setting in the camera/view is causing the issue. Have you checked whether this occurs with any aircraft, including default?

     

    Cheers, Holger

     

     

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    Neil Hill is no longer with us

    in The Neil Hill Memorial Lounge

    Posted

    Dear all,

     

    I'm very sorry to have to let you know that our colleague and friend Neil Hill passed away on Nov 12th in Lynwood, WA, from complications with MDS, a blood illness. According to his daughter his final days were peaceful, with his family by his side. He was 80 years old. 

     

    As you may or may not know Neil was our ultimate "airport enhancement machine", tirelessly working on transforming the lifeless and often incorrect default airports into much more realistic renditions. We don't have a full tally of his work for Orbx but we're talking many thousands of airports for the FTX Regions alone. And when he wasn't working on the payware commitments he completed yet more content for the ever-growing FTX Global Airport freeware package.

     

    In short, if you're visiting any of our FTX Region or freeware airports you're looking at Neil's work. 

     

    Neil first approached me in February 2009 after learning that I was working on a small FSX landscape project covering the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. In his email he wrote "... I would like to let you know I would VERY MUCH like to help in reworking the airports. [...] I am retired so I have plenty of time". I gladly accepted his offer. The Olympics project later morphed into Orbx's FTX Pacific Northwest and included more than 400 airports enhanced by Neil, not a bad start...

     

    And so it continued: with each new FTX Region I would send him a spreadsheet of all airports within the coverage area and he'd start pumping out the airfields by the dozen, usually finishing well ahead of deadlines and asking us for more ;-) 

     

    Put another way, without Neil's initiative it's quite likely that the Orbx Regions would not have included greatly enhanced default airports, at least not every single one within a given Region.

     

    Neil was assisted by other Region team members but he certainly laid the foundations for this particular component and his energy never waned. Even during his last months, being in and out of hospital, he kept on working on our current project, Australia v2, and managed to complete more than 600 airfields and airstrips, with the last batch submitted at the end of October. Judging by his file's date stamps the final airport he worked on was YIFY, Iffley, a small airstrip in Queensland.


    We'll miss you, Neil, rest in peace.


    291667525_NeilHillforumpicture.jpg.fc9f52267ef05b08dc50c415a16d0562.jpg


    If you have stories or photos of Neil that you'd like to share with the community feel free to do so in this thread.


    For the entire Orbx family,

    Holger 

     

    P.S. An online obituary has been posted at http://www.whidbeymemorial.com/book-of-memories/3661404/Hill-Neil/obituary.php

    There will be a memorial service for Neil on December 14th, at 6:30 PM, at the Alderwood Baptist Church in Lynnwood, WA. 

    • Like 16
    • Sad 35

    Double Bridge San Mateo

    in Vector Customer Report Archive - Please do not post support requests here

    Posted

    Hi Mike,

     

    indeed, the FSX/P3D world is divided into a regular, nested grid; see http://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv4/sdk/world/terrain/terrain_overview.html#Base File Information

     

    Using that map it's relatively easy to find the name of the numbered default folder for your area of interest. However, those folders are based on the QMID 4 level (the red lines in the map) while both the default and Vector's file sets are based on the smaller QMID 7 level (the black lines), which is the column/row number you need to determine.

     

    If you have ADE (Airport Design Editor) installed you can locate a nearby stock airport and the selection screen will also list the default file it's in, which contains the local grid cell number in its name. For example, start ADE, search for city Detroit, then select KDTW, and its file name gets listed as "APX25160.bgl" meaning you're looking for QMID 7 grid cell "2516".

     

    Alternatively, if you have the P3D/FSX SDK installed, you can open its TMFViewer.exe tool, activate the QMID7 grid display, and then use Jump > Lat/Long to center the display on the local grid cell and to read its number (File#) from the bottom of the screen. The local coordinates can be copied from Google or Bing Maps or the sim's map or coordinate displays.

     

    Cheers, Holger

    Double Bridge San Mateo

    in Vector Customer Report Archive - Please do not post support requests here

    Posted

    Hi there,

     

    if you uncheck the "Bridges" option you will lose all 3D "extrusion" bridges globally (no road vectors across rivers, just gaps), which may not be desirable. Instead, you could re-activate the checkbox(es) and then just manually deactivate Vector's bridges file for the San Francisco area, named "1518_OBJ_ExtrusionBridges_Highway.bgl", located in "\ORBX\FTX_VECTOR\FTX_VECTOR_OBJ\scenery". Renaming its .bgl extension to .OFF should do the trick.

     

    Make sure to pick the correct file as there are many with similar names.

     

    Cheers, Holger

    ORBX VECTOR stutters in EGSQ

    in Orbx Global Vector Support

    Posted

    Hi there,

     

    aside from the fact that we don't support mixing&matching that file isn't interchangeable with anything in Global Vector because it's limited to southeastern England whereas the Vector water/shoreline file for QMID7 48x13 also includes a good chunk of Belgium and France.

     

    Cheers, Holger

     

     

    "FTX Global Lights" topic on Steve's blog

    in DX10 Discussion

    Posted

    Hi all,


     


    I don't use DX10 Preview mode in FSX and thus am not familiar with the particular of Steve's shader coding. However, I just stumbled across a new entry on his blog that appears to provide a work-around to correctly display our 3D lights by adding some code to his original freeware patches. If true this should be of interest to those who have been unable to purchase his (currently discontinued) payware add-on. 


     


    https://stevesfsxanalysis.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/ftx-global-lights/


     


    Perhaps people can experiment with this and let us and Steve know whether it does lead to positive results?


     


    Cheers, Holger


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