Jump to content

It's Always Sunny in Palm Springs: KPSP Preview Part II


Recommended Posts

min1U.jpg


 


G'day everyone,


 


Thank you all for the massive response to the first preview shots of Palm Springs - I'm very excited about this project and am looking forward to sharing it with you all soon :) Whilst our team is busily testing the latest updates behind the scenes, I thought I would take the opportunity to look a little more in-depth at some of the aspects of this expansive package. 


 


1. Special Points of Interest:


 


First up, I'd like to draw attention to three special points of interest; The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the Animated AI Helicopter and the Animated Train. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was a ground-breaking feat of engineering when it was built in the early 1960s', and has been upgraded several times since then. Rather than being just a POI, the Tramway offers helicopter pilots some very difficult landing opportunities - each of the five support towers along the route have helipads on top. With almost 6000ft elevation difference between the two stations, this is a dramatic and beautiful area to explore. 


 


hevj.jpg


 


The Animated AI helicopter offers a unique flying hazard - during the two drive-time peak hours of the day this Bell Jetranger can be spotted over central Palm Springs reporting on the traffic conditions of many arterial roads. The route is unique and takes approx 16-20 mins to complete, so be sure to try your luck chasing this aircraft down (it's much harder than you'd think!). Lastly, the animated train was a special request from friend, particularly following on from the static train I included at Redding. The train runs a route parallel to the I-10 roughly adjacent to Desert Hot Springs. 


 


[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUVFkyk8eXg&feature=youtu.be


 


2. General Points of Interest


 


Given the enormous coverage area, there are literally dozens of landmarks to explore around the city and valley area. Aside from those mentioned above, check out my first preview shots for a shortlist of some of the highlights. Of particular interest to me are some of the wonderful examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture, including some famous landmarks in their own right. Already previewed was the Palm Springs City Hall, below are a couple more of note. 


 


Y51n.jpg


 


3. Custom Vegetation Autogen Classes


 


Whilst nothing particularly ground-breaking in it's own right, I (along with another unnamed developer working on a similar task for his own project) created fourteen new tree types exclusively for use at at Palm Springs. The shot below is a good example of these types in action - of note are the quintessential California Fans lining many of the avenues and streets of Palm Springs. A big advantage of making these types from scratch was the ability to consolidate materials as much as possible - something pioneered with the New Zealand regions - which in turn helps enormously with performance. 


 


WSQ1P.jpg


 


 


4. Control Panel Options


 


Much like what was developed for Monterey, there are many customization options for users to get the most out of their Palm Springs Experience. Beta testing feedback so far has indicated great performance figures, however for those with more modest systems there are plenty of options to select to get the best performance. In addition to these, several other noteworthy options include the ability to select runway lighting intensity (as seen at KMRY), select hazard lights as night-only or visible at all times, and the ability to switch off customized animations. Lastly, for those that prefer AI-only aircraft, all statics at the airport can be disabled by type; Airliner, Charter Operators (Allegiant 757, Air Canada E-170), Corporate and GA. 


 


5. Outdoor Terminal Now BOB-Compatible!


 


JV has mentioned several times in the past his enjoyment of walking around and exploring a scenery by foot - the catalyst for the original incarnation of our freeware BOB product. Building on this, all outdoor levels of the airport (including the elevated concourse) are fully explorable with BOB. This also includes the pedestrian bridge over the sunken baggage-truck underpass - you can walk both over and  under this section! 


 


6. NA GA AI Freeware full compatibility


 


Palm Springs ships with a customized APX and AI traffic file to enable plenty of traffic to fly into and out of the airport. If you have the latest version of our NA AI pack installed, you will automatically see plenty of bizjet and GA aircraft using both runways in parralel operations. It should be noted that a different method was used to make the parralel runway operations possible compared to KMRY - therefore users experiencing some clashes with KMRY will not have the same problems at KPSP. Likewise, I have ensured the airport uses the default FSX altitude, purely so that there are no clashes in multiplayer sessions (a known limitation of the FSX/P3D2 scenery engine)


 


Lastly, I have included some screenshots of areas requested by you guys in the previous thread - highlights from the Museum, some night lighting, the famous golfers (on a weekender from Monterey), a couple of the other casinos and hotels, the regional terminal, and a few others.


 


Please enjoy :)


 


5B4HQ.jpg


 


dak0x.jpg


 


CZUT.jpg


 


dPpVG.jpg


 


bS1y.jpg


 


Jz9Cy.jpg


 


63Du8.jpg


 


joQJ.jpg


 


d2v5x.jpg


 


pD2CN.jpg


 


8XmpQ.jpg


 


5WMdH.jpg


 


3wIco.jpg


 


wgGol.jpg


 


klXQI.jpg


 


7RFQG.jpg


 


CxoPc.jpg


 


xcmPi.jpg


 


1qwnY.jpg


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couple things...This is one of the most (if not the record holder) massive addon airports to date.  Such a huge undertaking, it makes one wonder, on a project like this where does one start...So I ask Jarrad, what was the first 3d object you made for this project?


 


Second, this is going to be a huge hit for Pilot Edge pilots, Might I make a recommendation if it hasnt already been thought of, to include in the manual a map of each GA parking spot and where one would refer to that parking spot to Ground as there location on the field.  Like:


GA Parking 6-Million Air


GA Parking 7-Signature


GA Parking 8-Near the Museum etc


 


Perhaps work with someone from PE to generalize the parking spots so the manual matches what their controller would know?


 


Lastly, what are you going to do with all those millions after this beast is released?!


 


"Hey,hey...remember that time when the internet crashed worldwide.."


"Yeah , that was when some guy made something for those computer pilot nerds!"


"Yeah that was it, They called it something like the Jarrad Marshall virus...I think he owns his own island now and dating super models!"


Link to comment
Share on other sites

impressive work, Jarrad. I like is the scenery atmosphere on the one side the desert dried up, hot and poor and on the other side directly adjacent the urban area with the opulent vegetation. I guess many water pumps are running day and night in Palm Springs to maintain this .... ;-) 


 


Wulf


Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks good Jarrad. Hopefully it blends "ok" with default FSX textures as Global/Vector is out of my reach as of now.

 

If it's a global airport, then global is probably required as with any other Orbx products.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks good Jarrad. Hopefully it blends "ok" with default FSX textures as Global/Vector is out of my reach as of now.

Jarrad answered this in the first preview thread about compatibility with Megascenery so the same probably could be said for default scenery.

 

"2. It will indeed. Whilst I strongly recommend using Global as this is what it is designed to work with, the only minor drawback I would expect you to experience is  mis-matched colour blending at the edges of the coverage zone."

 

Mike Cameron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much guys :) I'll reply to all your comments and questions in more detail after I've had a bit of sleep, but I just wanted to re-iterate that Palm Springs is designed to work seamlessly only with FTX Global Base - we do not test for use with any non-ORBX products nor with default textures - and whilst we don't foresee any issues beyond those already discussed, we can't attest for any unforeseen issues with a non-Global setup.


 


Cheers,


Jarrad 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks very much guys, always very nice to hear such feedback. 

 

With these shots, there was nothing to do for the "Comunity Screenshots!" LoL  :lol:

 

Haha don't worry Voyager, there is quite a lot of scenery and more than a few landmarks that I haven't taken proper screenshots of - there will be plenty more to check out. Plus I didn't announce a few of the eye-candy "extras" - I wanted to keep a couple of things a surprise :) 

 

Couple things...This is one of the most (if not the record holder) massive addon airports to date.  Such a huge undertaking, it makes one wonder, on a project like this where does one start...So I ask Jarrad, what was the first 3d object you made for this project?

 

Second, this is going to be a huge hit for Pilot Edge pilots, Might I make a recommendation if it hasnt already been thought of, to include in the manual a map of each GA parking spot and where one would refer to that parking spot to Ground as there location on the field.  Like:

GA Parking 6-Million Air

GA Parking 7-Signature

GA Parking 8-Near the Museum etc

Perhaps work with someone from PE to generalize the parking spots so the manual matches what their controller would know?

 

Thanks Kilstorm, yes I wanted to do something a little special for my tenth product. In answer to your questions:

 

1. I started this project in mid-June, and to be honest some sections have been very hard work to finish. My very basic plan of attack for most airports goes along the lines of:

a) Edit, colourise, blend and create seasons/LMs for the ground PR's

B) Annotate all the autogen for the entire project (definitely the most boring, and quite often one of the longest, components) 

c) Create all landmarks and points of interest outside of the airport

d) Make the ground poly and movement area components (rwy lights/signs etc) 

e) Create all 3D components for the airport

f) Render the night lighting, and all the extra components that don't fall under the main task items. 

 

So that being said, the first 3D object I made was actually my first landmark - the Morongo Casino. As for the airport, I started the 3D work at the Museum and finished up with the Terminal. 

 

2. That's a great idea, however I have already finished up the user guide so it might need to be a project for the forums after release. 

 

I take it this is for global?

 

That's correct - KPSP is designed to work with Global. 

 

Jarrad, super stuff, one tiny detail, the light blue golf bag is too big, the club heads are almost up to his shoulder. Hope you don't mind.
Best regards
Ken

 

Nicely spotted Ken - I was just thinking the same thing myself. 

 

Do you use ENB and DirectX 10 ?

 

 

Thanks Filou, much appreciated :) I use DX10 for the majority of my shots, but for a few of the terrain shots I took early in development (for example, the golf course shot demonstrating the Autogen Vegetation Classes) I used either SweetFX or DX9 with an old HDR file I have. 

 

Thanks again everyone :) 

Jarrad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

That's correct - KPSP is designed to work with Global. 

 

 

Thank you so much Jarrad! This looks fantastic and will definitely be a must have!

 

I assume it was also designed with the upcoming release of SCA in mind?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As mentioned previously, this will be great for PilotEdge and visa-versa.

Maybe that's a good hint for other airports for that Region? PilotEdge is great and growing fast for proper high quality actual radio training for real student pilots, refreshers (and for those wanting to get onto VatSim, etc). Just imagine having a range of high quality airfields to go with, it rather than the bleak FSX rubbishe. What a winning combination.

Just a thought in case the connection hasn't been thought of yet byway Orbx developers wanting a project or two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Upcoming release?  I believe Norway is next, then the rest of Alaska before SoCal is even started.

 

Are you sure, Bruce? I really thought, the realise of SCA is imminent. This probably  was one of my (rare) senior moments then! :D 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much guys :) I'll reply to all your comments and questions in more detail after I've had a bit of sleep, but I just wanted to re-iterate that Palm Springs is designed to work seamlessly only with FTX Global Base - we do not test for use with any non-ORBX products nor with default textures - and whilst we don't foresee any issues beyond those already discussed, we can't attest for any unforeseen issues with a non-Global setup.

 

Cheers,

Jarrad 

Jarrad,

 

This will no doubt be a day of release purchase for me. What will be the download and install size of this monster airport?

 

Sorry if this has been answered.

 

Jose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't mind a 4 gig download, just means more eye candy to enjoy.  :P

 

The size difference between KJAC and KPSP can be a little deceiving - the resolution and coverage size is very similar, however KJAC has a lot more seasonal source components (six) compared to KPSP (two). 

 

Cheers,

Jarrad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a nice surprise to wake up to this morning.  RELEASED!  Thank you again Jarrad for your work and personal dedication to making our flying enjoyment so much better.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

This is the Ultimate Scenery!


 


Jarrad has really outdone himself and that isn't an easy thing to do...yet he sure makes it look that way! Always doing big and new things in new places and in different environments and always innovating ideas...That is the hallmark of Jarrad Marshall that I love in his sceneries. This scenery has every magical ingredient possible to make it practically perfect at every level and in every way!


 


Does Orbx fancy making a car (perhaps a Range Rover or Jeep Wrangler or something) for Bob. Not only is this masterpiece a wonder to fly and explore but its so good I'd love to go for what must be an enormously scenic drive and experience it from the ground too... ::)


 


Thank you for such a leap forward...This scenery feels very special and is so fitting for Jarrad's No. 10. A huge congratulations to him and a massive thank you to Orbx for the foresight of introducing such spectacular sceneries such as KPSP and KYPY to the FTX Global portfolio!!! Keep up the stellar work guys! Your changing the world like no-one else!  :D  :D  :D


 


All the best,


Sid


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...