X-Plane Scenery Gateway

[zengei]

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

Thanks, I hadn't actually seen that before, should be very useful for making taxi signs. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I've already memorized the syntax for taxi signs through sheer repetition.

[Geoff]

So now that I've flown into KGCN (Grand Canyon National, not West Grand Canyon), I've noticed that it's overrun with trees. The airport does have Lego bricks, and it's in the Gateway, but for some reason the author didn't exclude trees from the runway or ramps. Maybe my version of X-Plane has more trees than most because (1) I have tree-hugger enabled, and (2) I have W2XPlane, which uses OSM data for stuff like trees. It's actually quite appropriate that the airport is surrounded by trees, as the airfield is indeed tree-lined, but the real airport doesn't have trees on the tarmac!

To my surprise, I found I could import the existing Lego airport right into WED 1.4 (not 1.3). I applied your tip of making lots of little rectangular exclusion zones. Presto! It worked! I've chopped down the trees covering the runway etc., for the most part. (A few strays remain.) So my own personal copy of KGCN is a lot better now. I noticed a couple of fields with similar issues during the Poker Run. I could fix those pretty fast too. (And add buildings, etc. The work never ends!)

The Grand Canyon airport also has some shimmering textures, like z-fighting. I see it on roofs and on some trees. It's kind of annoying. I'm not sure what causes it. Anything I can do to fix it?

I'd be curious whether anyone reading this has trees on their version of KGCN. If so, I'll consider uploading this slightly tweaked version to the Gateway. (Although perhaps I should consult the original author first, if I can figure out how to find him/her.)

[tshuff]

The idea of the Gateway is that the community will update continuously. I would say upload this updated version, no need to reach out to the original author.

[zengei]

Maybe my version of X-Plane has more trees than most because (1) I have tree-hugger enabled, and (2) I have W2XPlane, which uses OSM data for stuff like trees. It's actually quite appropriate that the airport is surrounded by trees, as the airfield is indeed tree-lined, but the real airport doesn't have trees on the tarmac!

It's almost certainly because of W2XP, I think 0.7.x is better about excluding forests from airports. Although that's not currently available for download atm.

So now that I've flown into KGCN (Grand Canyon National, not West Grand Canyon), I've noticed that it's overrun with trees. The airport does have Lego bricks, and it's in the Gateway, but for some reason the author didn't exclude trees from the runway or ramps.

I typically don't add exclusions unless there's an explicit need for them, and in default XP there aren't any trees on the airport. No harm in adding them though.

To my surprise, I found I could import the existing Lego airport right into WED 1.4 (not 1.3).

Yep, that's the big new feature in 1.4.

The Grand Canyon airport also has some shimmering textures, like z-fighting. I see it on roofs and on some trees. It's kind of annoying. I'm not sure what causes it. Anything I can do to fix it?

Probably not, no. Although since you're using W2XP, it may be a case of W2XP not properly removing OSM buildings in airport areas. In which case there are probably two objects inside each other.

I'd be curious whether anyone reading this has trees on their version of KGCN.

I'm pretty sure I had trees on the field when I had W2XP scenery installed, yes.

If so, I'll consider uploading this slightly tweaked version to the Gateway. (Although perhaps I should consult the original author first, if I can figure out how to find him/her.)

The idea of the Gateway is that the community will update continuously. I would say upload this updated version, no need to reach out to the original author.

Agreed.

[Geoff]

Thanks for the replies, guys. There are a few stubborn trees on the runway and ramp that I can't eliminate, no matter how many exclusion zones I draw. Perhaps this is the doing of W2XP too. It's still much improved as is.

OK, I will upload my new version of Grand Canyon eventually, but I think I'll spend a bit more time tweaking it first. A couple things seem off -- e.g., a windsock in the middle of nowhere. I've "patched" it well enough for my immediate purpose -- to allow me to fly on PE between Grand Canyon and West Grand Canyon, the other field I'm working on in WED. But I do want to share my modest improvements with the community eventually.

Is it okay to draw overlapping exclusion zones? They seem to work fine, and it's a lot easier than trying to make sure the zones are exactly contiguous.

[zengei]

Is it okay to draw overlapping exclusion zones? They seem to work fine, and it's a lot easier than trying to make sure the zones are exactly contiguous.

Overlapping is perfectly fine.

[zengei]

I've uploaded my initial version of KSBP to the Scenery Gateway. It's currently pending moderator approval before it's available for download. I assume at this point it's probably too late for the v10.40 cut-off, so this is likely appear in whatever version is after that.

I've made a small screenshot gallery showing some of it off.

Not sure which airport I'll do next.

[Geoff]

Looks terrific! How did you make that compass rose? I don't recall seeing such a thing in the Lego library. It looks like you've placed it exactly where it is in real life. (You also nailed the taxiway markings around it.)

I'm not a real-life pilot, so I'm curious: is it common to include a rose at a runup area? What's it used for -- a last check on the pilot's avionics?

How much adjustment did you have to make to taxiways, runways and runway lighting (i.e., the "2D" stuff that X-Plane already generates)? For KLAR, I was able mostly to rely on what X-Plane had provided. For Grand Canyon West, not so much.

Also, I don't have Skymaxx Pro, and now I want it. Does it hit your framerates noticeably?

Anyway, great job.

[Peter Grey]

I'm not a real-life pilot, so I'm curious: is it common to include a rose at a runup area? What's it used for -- a last check on the pilot's avionics?

I wouldn't call it common, but it wouldn't be uncommon either.

It's used by mechanics to "swing" the compass. Basically the avionics in the aircraft interfere with the compass and a calibration card is next to the compass for corrections. The compass rose is used to make that correction card.

[zengei]

Looks terrific! How did you make that compass rose? I don't recall seeing such a thing in the Lego library. It looks like you've placed it exactly where it is in real life. (You also nailed the taxiway markings around it.)

Thanks, it's done through careful arrangement of snow and gravel "taxiways" or polygons, you can see it in WED in this screenshot. One of the tricks of the trade, which allows you to make some pretty complex ground markings. I did a similar thing for the compass rose in KEMT and the airport name and segmented circle in KTSP. It's a PITA to do, so I'm going to request Laminar include a stock object in future versions of X-Plane. A few variants, different sizes, different colorations, should be enough to cover all airports.

How much adjustment did you have to make to taxiways, runways and runway lighting (i.e., the "2D" stuff that X-Plane already generates)?

In this case, runway 11-29 and the norther-east ramps were pretty misaligned, so I threw it all out, but I tend to do that anyway.

Also, I don't have Skymaxx Pro, and now I want it. Does it hit your framerates noticeably?

Not really no, my GPU tends not to be maxed out anyway (I'm CPU limited). People generally cite better framerates over the stock clouds, but I haven't seen that. SkyMaxx is lovely, the cloud shadows and crepuscular rays really add to the immersion of the sim. It's really awesome when the sun moves from behind a cloud and the world suddenly gets a whole lot brighter. My biggest gripe though is that the default range for the clouds is fairly small and can look obvious (and bad) at higher altitudes. Increasing the cloud distance is a huge performance hit though.

I'm not a real-life pilot

Nor am I, we should have a club with a sign "No Real Pilots Allowed", where we can pretend to know what we're doing all day long.

I wouldn't call it common, but it wouldn't be uncommon either.

It's used by mechanics to "swing" the compass. Basically the avionics in the aircraft interfere with the compass and a calibration card is next to the compass for corrections. The compass rose is used to make that correction card.

Thanks Peter, good to know.

Another thing to note is that I actually found a map of the tie-downs for the west ramp, so those should all be there (except where there's a static aircraft). I call dibs on H6 ("Hotel 6").

EDIT: I've also updated the spreadsheet with all the latest data from the FAA and Gateway.