active Buildings in water OLC NA Caribbean area update.

[Jon Clarke]

After several posts relating to buildings in the water in many coastal areas around the islands of the Caribbean we got a definitive answer from Stefan of Pilots regarding the cause. He also stated that Vector cannot resolve this issue. The explanation was that it is default simobjects being placed based on the inaccuracy of the default coastlines data versus the "accurate" data within Vector. This tends then to be a worldwide potential problem especially in coastal areas.

I will remain focused for now though on the Caribbean since it is covered in OLC NA.

JV said in a post that the Caribbean was being looked at again for further development( can't find the quote but he did say it!). My question then is can this problem be resolved. It appears we have two conflicting sets of data regarding the default data and Vector data in relation to the coastlines and buildings appear to have a default placement regardless of the Vector data. When Orbx do a LC product I am assume it is based on the Vector data and not the default data. Correct me if I am wrong. So is or can the placing of default building simobjects be corrected.

The alternative current option is to use another product ( you know which one) where non of these conflicts occur. However this is not an option that I prefer considering the availability and purchase of the 2 FTX products which were supposed to be compatible.

 

[lthendrix]

I just turn off autogen

[Jon Clarke]

Well yes that clearly is way of resolving the issue, but hardly a satisfactory resolution in reality. You may as well just buy photoscenery which will have all the correct vector and OLC details and no autogen. My comments are more based on those users who wish to experience greater accuracy being displayed via the 2 FTX products ( Vector & OLC NA for which they paid over US$100 for) in the Caribbean which was advised as an integral part of OLC NA and to increase accuracy and further benefit OLC NA  was to be used in conjunction with FTX Vector.

 I am unclear as to what exact further developments are planned in OLC NA Caribbean area other than possibly airport enhancements, but am really hoping that they also look at eliminating these distracting buildings in the sea. Either that or do a Full Fat Caribbean, which has been on my wishlist for years now.

As a true Orbx fan and supporter I don't particularly want to use the "other" product. I do use it at present but only because I was frustrated at the current coverage of the Caribbean in OLC NA. I would ditch it in a heart beat if OLC NA Caribbean area matched it.

I am just asking the devs if it is possible to rectify the situation without a full fat or will we be stuck with the current situation due to the coastline vector data sources being different between the other product and Vector, or whether the Vector data can be manipulated to remove the problem.

[dave302]

The solution to this issue involves making scenery exclusion files to eliminate the mislocated default objects and then making replacement scenery files that put them at the right location based on the FTX Vector coastlines. The same thing has to be done for the incorrectly located airports.

 

This kind of scenery doesn't really fall within the purview of openLC, rather it is more in the realm of what FTX Vector does, especially consdiering that these objects are now mislocated because of the more accurate FTX Vector coastlines.  I don't think that the FTX developers are obligated to fix it, however.  This is analogous to more accurate terrain mesh causing lakes and rivers to now be at the wrong elevation. Yes, the more accurate terrain mesh caused the problem, but is it the mesh developer's responsibility to fix the lakes and rivers?  I don't think so.

 

Having said all that, the other vector product mentioned here does indeed address these mislocated objects and airports. Consider, however, that it covers a much smaller area and is significantly more expensive than FTX Vector which covers the entire world.

 

This is going to require a separate product, call it "FTX Objects" if you will, that addresses these misplaced objects and airports, and perhaps also adds new objects and POI's. I'd love to see a new product that fixes this problem and adds power plants(hydroelectric, coal, wind, solar, natural gas), universities, hospitals, govt. buildings, important landmarks, radio and TV towers, dams, large hotels and resorts, large factories, shopping malls, etc.

 

Dave
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[Jon Clarke]

Thanks Dave for your input and I respect your apparent technical knowledge. 

I would still like a response from the Orbx devs in regard to clarifying if the buildings in water is a rectifiable problem or if it requires too much cost inhibited work or if only a full fat will solve the issue.

In regard to mesh and airport elevations. lakes etc is there not a method currently available to deal with this already within Vector. I know you use Ult mesh as i do and I find I can resolve most issues but not all via either the AEC or the Ult flattening bgls in their AFM files. Those airports that do not appear in the AEC data base are usually rectified by placing the appropriate AFM bgl in scenery\world\scenery, as you know.

My minimal knowledge of the work of addons like the OLCs is that the OLC is telling the system where to place autogen and with what texture. Correct me if i am wrong. Therefore if OLC is based on using Vector to enhance the covered region of the OLC product then is it not a reasonable layman's conclusion to think that it should not be placing buildings in water but should be placing them in the correct place based on the coastline data within Vector. Stefan said that Vector could not resolve the problem because the buildings were default simobjects. I must admit that I don't understand the explanation because I don't understand the connection of a default simobject with the correlation of where that object should be placed. It appears to me, again as non technical user, that the object is being placed based on some data that says it should be 100 mts from the Vector data perceived coastline. This is not a simobject problem but a placement problem.

I would appreciate your response to my uninformed based "logic".

I would also appreciate Orbx to respond.

With the announcement of OLC South America as the next OLC and considering that the whole of that continent has a huge coastline with major cities on the coast, that we will again see buildings in the water around Rio and dozens more.

[dave302]

The default objects are not autogen; I think that's where the confusion might be.  These buildings and other types of objects you are seeing in the water are coded in custom scenery files instead of being imbedded in the textures themselves as autogen is.

 

Although I don't think that the FTX Vector developers are obligated to fix this, I do think it would be a nice gesture on their part to at least exclude these objects, which wouldn't be too difficult.

 

Otherwise, we'll just have to wait for someone else to make some exclude scenery to correct this problem. I support a new objects and POI scenery product that both fixes this issue and adds new objects.

 

Dave

[Jon Clarke]

Understood now. Many thanks for your informative responses.