active Vector displays tidal mudflats incorrectly

[Gestacon]

I've recently installed Vector for the first time and upgraded to V1.52 tonight. While simming out of CYVR I noticed a farmland directly west of the airport that doesnt exist in real life, nor is it depicted that way in P3Dv4 without Vector.

 

I think Vector is looking at the tidal flats on various coasts and deciding that it's farmland and ignoring the actual contours of the coast. If one deselects two Vector files, ORBX!VECTOR_CVX and ORBX!VECTOR_EXX in the scenery library you can see the difference. With the files active the mudflats are depicted as farmland and the coast in the area is not correct. If the files are inactive the coastline is correct.

 

One way to check out mudflats in different areas of the world is to look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudflat#Selected_example_areas , go to a nearby airport in P3D, go to overhead/satellite view and take a before/after screenshot with the above files selected and deselected.

 

Here are some examples:

 

CCQ3 near Minas Basin Nova Scotia

 

CYVR, mudflats west of airport and city of Richmond

 

KNUW, Skagit Bay east of airport

 

Here is the album: https://imgur.com/a/Psfbf

 

Is there a fix for this? If so what is the timeline?

[John Dow]

I'm pretty sure most of the Vector data is extracted from public geodata, so if a surveyor or compiler has determined that there is farming activity on a particular piece of land then it will be registered as that category for landuse.

 

The Vector devs will hopefully pick this up and put corrections in for the next update or release, but unfortunately I think areas like this will never be able to be guaranteed to reflect different interpretatios of the land categories, landuse etc

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

 

thanks for this.

It would appear that there are two problems here.

 

The first is that flight simulators do not have the means to correctly display mudflats.

The result is that one must choose between either land or water and neither choice

is going to look like a mudflat.

 

The topic you originally posted in dates from August 17th 2015 and it contains an undertaking by

a Vector developer to do something about the mudflats off CYVR.

Clearly this has not taken place, despite repeated requests.

There may be a good reason but if so, it has not been shared with FTX or its customers.

 

There is available a very good rendition of the same mudflats in FTX NA PNW but like the author of

the 2015 topic, who owns that product, you may prefer not to use it.

 

[Michael Copp]

7 hours ago, Gestacon said:

I've recently installed Vector for the first time and upgraded to V1.52 tonight. While simming out of CYVR I noticed a farmland directly west of the airport that doesnt exist in real life, nor is it depicted that way in P3Dv4 without Vector.

 

Here are some examples:

 

CCQ3 near Minas Basin Nova Scotia

 

Is there a fix for this? If so what is the timeline?

 

 

Gestacon,

 

I think if you want accurate coastlines (at least for the CCQ3 area) you may want to take a look at UTX Canada. I've posted messages on the Orbx forums over the years concerning the inaccurate coastline issues within Vector, and nothing was ever done about it:

 

https://orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/86682-barnabe-island-abeam-cyxk/?tab=comments#comment-1027648

 

[Gestacon]

7 hours ago, John Dow said:

I'm pretty sure most of the Vector data is extracted from public geodata, so if a surveyor or compiler has determined that there is farming activity on a particular piece of land then it will be registered as that category for landuse.

 

The Vector devs will hopefully pick this up and put corrections in for the next update or release, but unfortunately I think areas like this will never be able to be guaranteed to reflect different interpretatios of the land categories, landuse etc

 

 

Hi John,

 

I wonder if the Vector team could simply code the low lying coastal waters in the same way as the original P3D developers did. P3D actually does a great job handling these coastal areas, why not emulate them? The way it looks in the simulator:

1. P3D assumes its high tide and the mudflats are hidden. That works for me as it displays an accurate shoreline.
2. Vector assumes its low tide and the mudflats are exposed. This is also fine with me. However where the process breaks down is Vector then fills the exposed mudflats with farmland and rural buildings. That is not accurate.

 

There are two choices:

1. Code the mudflats the same way P3D does, assume it's high tide and all you see is shallow water with an accurate high tide shoreline, or
2. Add an additional texture "mudflats" and depict mudflats as they would be seen at low tide.

This isn't only a CYVR problem, it exists wherever there are tidal mudflats, so buying another scenery pack won't hide it unless you buy scenery packs for all coastal areas. 

 

[Gestacon]

1 hour ago, Nick Cooper said:

Hello,

 

thanks for this.

It would appear that there are two problems here.

 

The first is that flight simulators do not have the means to correctly display mudflats.

The result is that one must choose between either land or water and neither choice

is going to look like a mudflat.

 

The topic you originally posted in dates from August 17th 2015 and it contains an undertaking by

a Vector developer to do something about the mudflats off CYVR.

Clearly this has not taken place, despite repeated requests.

There may be a good reason but if so, it has not been shared with FTX or its customers.

 

There is available a very good rendition of the same mudflats in FTX NA PNW but like the author of

the 2015 topic, who owns that product, you may prefer not to use it.

 

 

Hi Nick,

 

P3D does a fine job displaying mudflats without Vector. They assume it's high tide and display shallow water. 

 

It's not a NA PNW problem. The problem exists wherever there are mudflats anywhere in the world. Do you want more examples? I've posted one from Eastern Canada but I'm sure I can find some in Europe also. 

 

This is from the Vector sales page: 

Key Features

• Accurate coastlines, rivers, lakes and other water bodies. Vector uses new shoreline and beach textures to add more realism which provides a more integrated and natural appearance

There is an opportunity to make the product better here. Why not make the product better?

 

Cheers, G

[Nick Cooper]

Thanks.