Jump to content

Monterey: A Quick Look Under the Hood


Recommended Posts

MCE9.jpg


 


G'day Everyone,


 


Thanks for the great feedback on Monterey so far. Work is continuing at a hectic pace behind the scenes; we're starting to get close now. 


 


Talking of behind the scenes, I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to explain in a bit of detail some of the new features that will be included "under the hood" with Monterey. I know that most of us (including myself!) are fly-and-forget kind of simmers; that is, we don't want to waste too much time playing around with settings. However, there is always a good deal of thought that goes into both the design layout and control panel for all our airports, and after listening to various feedback on several of my last airports, I have come up with a couple of new options.


 


1. The Control Panel


 


neK9r.jpg


 


As you can see, there are many different options for you to play with to get the best balance on your machine. Of note are the Static Aircraft - rather than a "nuke all" switch, I have divided these up, so that you can, for example, disable all airline statics (in lieu of airline AI), whilst still retaining other types around the field. Of course, our APX and traffic has been plumbed to ensure you ca still enjoy plenty of AI in addition to the full suite of static aircraft.


 


2. The Ground Textures Resolution Switch


 


This is the most important addition to the control panel. By default, the textures for the ground polygon apron will be set at the extremely-crisp 7cm resolution - and don't forget that with noise and detail layers (lines, asphalt noise etc) this is technically much higher. As long as you have your P3D2/FSX settings enabled for 4096 textures - by the "texture resolution" slider in P3D, or the appropriate line in your FSX.cfg, you can enjoy the 7cm textures with a considerably reduced performance load compared to 1024 sheets. 


 


Of course, if you would prefer to allocate your system resources elsewhere, this option also enables you to downsize the base textures to 2048 or 1024 textures - note that the high-res noise layers are not effected. As a benchmark, the ground textures at Redding on the runways and taxiways are the equivalent of the 1024 option at Monterey. 


 


As we move towards more P3Dv2-centric design techniques, using this 4096 in various elements will allow greater resolution for far less performance hit. But don't forget, if using FSX, you will need to ensure your FSX.cfg is manually edited, as this will not be automatically changed by the ORBX control panel. 


 


gzh5N.jpg


 


xUsuz.jpg


 


3. Runway and Taxiway Light Intensity


 


Now I can guarantee with every airport I've ever released, I have always received requests to change the brightness of the lights, usually in both directions! The .fx system in FSX/P3D2 is a little fickle, and based on a host of variables, the same effect can look quite different on different setups. I've endeavored to alleviate this by offering four different lighting options, with the default set at my preference - 85%. Please note: due to peculiarities with the new P3D2 engine, these options will not effect the runway 10R/28L in this sim. 


 


4. AI Traffic and Parallel Runway Operations


 


We have decided to create a special layout for Monterey; AI traffic has the ability to concurrently use the parralel runways at the airport. GA traffic is more likely to use the secondary runway (10L/28R), whilst heavier commercial traffic stick to the main runway. Should you wish to use the second runway for yourself, you should select "Monterey Aero Club" from the ATC menu; both share the same tower comms and are easily interchangeable. 


 


We have also included a minor update to the NA AI Traffic with Monterey - ensure you have the latest NA AI traffic patches installed to enable a variety of FPS-friendly aircraft. 


 


5. The "Gold" Parking Spots


 


There is nothing fancy about these; I just added a little extra flair to two sections of the airport to give a nice aesthetic to arrivals and departures, should you choose these I would recommend calling up "Ramp Parking 1" (GA/Corporate) or "Gate Parking 3" (Airline) from the airport menu to get the best view at the start of your flight :)


 


uDf0S.jpg


 


yWxAz.jpg


 


 


And without any more descriptions, some more screenshots from Monterey. Most are areas that have been requested; please enjoy :)


 


Jarrad


 


P862k.jpg


 


ecQZK.jpg


 


rnHPj.jpg


 


UjbKL.jpg


 


RDi3r.jpg


 


xPRzM.jpg


 


zn5hQ.jpg


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very good work, mate! Espcially like the details that are so well explored by you! And - here's a deserved cuddle - I really like your commitment to excel and always do your best!


Congratulations Mr. Jarrad for another masterpiece!


 


Cheers


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good idea to add more options to the control panel, I always liked that Orbx has these options so I can tweak them to get the best performance out of each airport where neccesary:).+++


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jarrad, your airport seems to become a new milestone! I like your screenshots without any ENB-effects! With ENB the scenery sometimes is much too dark like in late evening or thunderstorm. (I feel that ENB in some cases is used to correct the black-level of simple displays.) I like also the opportunity to adjust the size of the lights. Will the frames be as good as Redding?


Looking forward to a "must have airport"!


Fritz


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jarrad


 


Does AI traffic show with aircraft ground shadows enabled? I'm hoping that this limitation in Sumburgh was just a rarity among ORBX airports and not a new norm.


 


Monterrey looks great.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jarrad,


 


impressive large surrounding area including many specific details,


and the airport is portrayed incredible detailed: The how-to to include atmosphere and smell.


The panel controller including the rwy light density switches are much appreciated.


Maybe this can be adopted into the SP1´s of KRDD and KBZN ;-)  ?


 


Wulf


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic! As a Navy guy and alum of the Naval Post Graduate School, glad to it made the cut.

Also glad to see you got the golf course that is on the northwest to west side of the airport. It used to be the Navy golf course, I don't know if it still is.

The close proximity of the airport made playing golf at the Navy course exciting. The Teebox for the sixth hole (par five dogleg left) is directly under the approach to runway 10 R. When the 737s came in you could clearly see the aircrews faces, practically tell the pilots eye color. We had to wait for the wake turbulence to subside before teeing off. Seriously. Additionally, the extended runway lighting poles were obstacles on several of the holes.

Anyway, I will certainly be a adding this airport to my inventory, if for no other reason than to fly around the golf course searching for all the balls I lost there. ;-)

R/ Hangar 32

Sent from my iPhone using Tapata

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great I have to say. I like the constant evolution of options and the previews of quality at different settings. very nice, congrats :)

Some day I might even be tempted to fly outside of the Uk, (but first I'd like it if you did at least another major UK regional airport, if nothing else to keep the competition on their toes :P ) Cheers K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also glad to see you got the golf course that is on the northwest to west side of the airport. It used to be the Navy golf course, I don't know if it still is.

Oh you know, I thought that was the case! Thanks for mentioning this. Never set foot on a golf course over there but I drove by there dozens of times...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks very much everyone, I was very chuffed to read this feedback :) 

 

Hi Jarrad

 

Does AI traffic show with aircraft ground shadows enabled? I'm hoping that this limitation in Sumburgh was just a rarity among ORBX airports and not a new norm.

 

Monterrey looks great.

 

 

It does indeed - there are no issues with AI ground shadows in either FSX or P3D2. 

 

Is Monterey going to feature an option where you can switch from sloped and flat runway/taxiways like Sumburgh.

 

Unfortunately not I'm sorry. I made the decision early not to, as the logistics involved would have meant essentially creating two unique versions from scratch. I'm super impressed at what the guys did with the sloped runway at Sumburgh, perhaps it's something to look at for a future airport. 

 

Fantastic! As a Navy guy and alum of the Naval Post Graduate School, glad to it made the cut.

Also glad to see you got the golf course that is on the northwest to west side of the airport. It used to be the Navy golf course, I don't know if it still is.
The close proximity of the airport made playing golf at the Navy course exciting. The Teebox for the sixth hole (par five dogleg left) is directly under the approach to runway 10 R. When the 737s came in you could clearly see the aircrews faces, practically tell the pilots eye color. We had to wait for the wake turbulence to subside before teeing off. Seriously. Additionally, the extended runway lighting poles were obstacles on several of the holes.
Anyway, I will certainly be a adding this airport to my inventory, if for no other reason than to fly around the golf course searching for all the balls I lost there. ;-)

 

Thanks for the feedback :) To me, the Navy Course is one of the main features of the scenery. The short finals approach is definitely one of my favourites, the approach light masts in particular were one of the most interesting parts of the airport to model. When I was there last May, we stayed at a hotel across the road from the Showgrounds, so we managed to witness a few of the low approaches from a couple of bizjets :) 

 

Cheers,

Jarrad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Unfortunately not I'm sorry. I made the decision early not to, as the logistics involved would have meant essentially creating two unique versions from scratch. I'm super impressed at what the guys did with the sloped runway at Sumburgh, perhaps it's something to look at for a future airport.

Thanks for letting me know. I never thought making a sloped runway/taxiway requires more work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jarrad, your airport seems to become a new milestone! I like your screenshots without any ENB-effects! With ENB the scenery sometimes is much too dark like in late evening or thunderstorm. (I feel that ENB in some cases is used to correct the black-level of simple displays.) I like also the opportunity to adjust the size of the lights. Will the frames be as good as Redding?

Looking forward to a "must have airport"!

Fritz

I agree with Fritz, better without ENB or anything else that darkens the shots too much. I am glad that you thought of this new panel and hope that it will become the standard. This a another beautiful, or shall I say exceptional creation. I guess the only one that is going to complain is the golfer playing on the green near the final for 10R. I never expected that golf courses were built so close to huge runways. Great job. My only hope is that Orbx does not abandon FSX too quickly, as there is still work to be done on P3D before running on only one platform.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jarrad,


 


Just downloaded this scenery and took a spin around the area.


 


Simply put, Sir, it is spectacular.


 


My feedback after one short flight.


 


The coastal rocks should be darker shades of gray. Most of the coastal rocks in the area are closer to the shade of those


that surround the "Lone Cypress" in the scenery.


 


I was delighted to see your treatment of the harbor, Fisherman's Pier and Cannery Row although I'd have liked to see the lighthouse as well.


 


Hopefully you'll be able to address this in a future update.


 


I'll be happy to provide photographs if they would be helpful.


 


Thanks again for your work on this.


 


It truly is an excellent package.


 


Regards


 


Rex

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Used to be stationed there and KMRY is actually my main airport now that you have presented us with this jewel.  Other renderings were just irritating in their lack of fidelity to the place.  Only one tiny criticism, at a bit of altitude the planking on the Fisherman's Wharf vanishes and you have a watery canal between the shops, very Venetian. Hugely pleasant to fly from a place that was home for a long time.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...