X-Plane Scenery Gateway

[Geoff]

I didn't realize the requirements for exclusions were that strict. Does that apply to our lego-brick airports too? I recall making a rather complicated polygon outline of KLAR when I created its exclusion zone. In our case, we're merely drawing exclusion zones to keep out autogen trees and such, not other scenery, so perhaps the requirements aren't so stringent for us?

Also, by "cardinal directions," do you mean the rectangle must face exactly north, south, east and west exactly? I.e., does the top leg have to run exactly 90-270 degrees? Or is it enough that each corner of the rectangle is a 90 degree angle?

[zengei]

I didn't realize the requirements for exclusions were that strict. Does that apply to our lego-brick airports too? I recall making a rather complicated polygon outline of KLAR when I created its exclusion zone. In our case, we're merely drawing exclusion zones to keep out autogen trees and such, not other scenery, so perhaps the requirements aren't so stringent for us?

Exclusion zones work the same for all scenery. I think you may be thinking of the Airport Boundary which can indeed be polygonal, but currently only acts a slight hint to X-Plane's terrain terrain system as to what area should be flattened. This image shows the exclusion zones in the lego-brick KSNA, they're the green boxes layered all over the airport. Note the class of the object in the right hand pane is Exclusion Zone.

Also, by "cardinal directions," do you mean the rectangle must face exactly north, south, east and west exactly? I.e., does the top leg have to run exactly 90-270 degrees? Or is it enough that each corner of the rectangle is a 90 degree angle?

The former, all sides have to be aligned north-south-east-west. WED won't allow anything else. This makes checking if a point is contained within the exclusion a trivial constant time check:

Code: Select all

Is longitude > west boundary?
Is longitude < east boundary?
Is latitude > south boundary?
Is latitude < north boundary?

[Geoff]

Fair enough. Why does KSNA have so many small exclusion zones instead of one giant one? My guess is to make a more "granular" exclusion area that more closely follows the shape of the airport.

[zengei]

Fair enough. Why does KSNA have so many small exclusion zones instead of one giant one? My guess is to make a more "granular" exclusion area that more closely follows the shape of the airport.

Yeah, for granularity. Also, different exclusion zones exclude different types of objects.

[Geoff]

Hmm, so I'm guessing I used just one giant exclusion zone for KLAR (Laramie), which worked okay as it's not smack in the middle of a city or anything. But it sounds a better practice is lots of smaller exclusion zones, even for lego airports. I notice there are a couple roads next to my little Grand Canyon field. I imagine I'll want to keep my exclusion zones small ("granular") so that I don't nuke those roads?

[zengei]

Hmm, so I'm guessing I used just one giant exclusion zone for KLAR (Laramie), which worked okay as it's not smack in the middle of a city or anything. But it sounds a better practice is lots of smaller exclusion zones, even for lego airports. I notice there are a couple roads next to my little Grand Canyon field. I imagine I'll want to keep my exclusion zones small ("granular") so that I don't nuke those roads?

Exclusions require selecting 1 or more class of objects, so roads will only be nuked if you select Road Network as one of the exclusion types. I wouldn't do that unless there's a road visibly encroaching on a runway or taxiway, which is actually the case at KSBP.

[Geoff]

Ah, okay. Actually, as I look again, my problem may be the opposite: X-Plane draws one of the roads near Grand Canyon West, but not all of them. I may have to add the service roads east of the field myself. I recall having lots of trouble doing that sort of thing with Laramie; I recall experimenting with pavement/taxiways to generate "roads." Anyway, I'll start tackling it tomorrow.

[zengei]

As an update: runways, layout, markings, ramp positions, and taxi signs are done for KSBP. I actually find doing taxi signs the most frustrating part, since it's a lot of guesswork. It would also be really nice if X-Plane had some pavement markings for taxiways, runway hold-shorts. It would also be nice to have an EMAS object since KSBP has two of those at either end of runway 11-29.

Next up is lighting, unfortunately I can't find any good video of KSBP at night, so that'll also be a bunch of guesswork.

[Geoff]

Yep, I find the taxi signs time-consuming and total guesswork. Still, as a user, I really appreciate when the airport designer has included lots of taxi signage.

I've done some basic layout work for Grand Canyon west. Found a reference photo, started reworking the taxiways, etc. Even a simple little field like this is a lot of work.

[BluesmanEP]

Just wondered if you guys had seen this tool. It's incredibly helpful for making airport and taxi signage.

Enjoy!


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