SSU Development thread (4.0 to 5.0) - Page 94 - Orbiter-Forum

DaveS · 02-28-2018, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS

Ok, I'll make what is missing.
BTW: how did you make the numbers? Sculpting them seems a hard task...

I just used the text tool in AC3D, so it wasn't a difficult task at all.

GLS · 02-28-2018, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveS

I just used the text tool in AC3D, so it wasn't a difficult task at all.

OK, I'll see if blender has something similar.

GLS · 03-02-2018, 04:00 PM

Ok, so I'm making the markings for the Edwards lakebed runways at their current configuration, which means, e.g., our RWY23 markings won't match the ones when STS-1 landed there.
The only way around this would be having several Edwards base files (in different folders) each having a different version of the lakebed markings... but that would require correct knowledge of how it looked and when...

DaveS · 03-02-2018, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS

Ok, so I'm making the markings for the Edwards lakebed runways at their current configuration, which means, e.g., our RWY23 markings won't match the ones when STS-1 landed there.
The only way around this would be having several Edwards base files (in different folders) each having a different version of the lakebed markings... but that would require correct knowledge of how it looked and when...

I think we should just stick with the current configuration as I don't think anyone will notice that they're off.

GLS · 03-02-2018, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveS

I think we should just stick with the current configuration as I don't think anyone will notice that they're off.

If one looks close enough, the previous markings are still visible: longer versions of the runways, old aim points, etc...

Although runway 17/35 is currently unmarked, I'm adding it as it was used several times.
Currently only 2 runways remain to "paint", leveling the lakebed runways so the markings don't sink/rise, and the big one: making the numbers look +/- like the real ones, some of which look like they have been hit by a plane...

GLS · 03-03-2018, 06:53 PM

... and problems

It seems I forgot one small detail: the Earth is curved

, and so a 10Km long mesh doesn't sit fully on the ground.

A way to solve this issue is to break up the runway sides every 1000m or so, and then tilt them so they +/- follow the local curvature of the Earth. It's a total PITA, but IMO it would work wasn't a feature/bug in the base definition that makes the objects horizontal to the base location. So an object far from the base will be tilted, relative to the local surface, to match the base center surface. This makes the position and direction of the runways, relative to the base, important when deciding how much it curves.
I'm tempted to file a request/bug report for this...

**Urwumpe** · 03-03-2018, 06:59 PM

AFAIR, there is a parameter in the surface base cfg to map it to the existing elevation...

GLS · 03-03-2018, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urwumpe

AFAIR, there is a parameter in the surface base cfg to map it to the existing elevation...

Yes "MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE", which when false places all objects on the base plane, so something far away from the base center will be up in the air. When true, as we have it, the objects will be moved vertically to match the local terrain, but their orientation will not change to match the location, so objects far be tilted in respect to the terrain.

**Urwumpe** · 03-03-2018, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS

Yes "MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE", which when false places all objects on the base plane, so something far away from the base center will be up in the air. When true, as we have it, the objects will be moved vertically to match the local terrain, but their orientation will not change to match the location, so objects far be tilted in respect to the terrain.

That sounds like a bug, it should be local vertical.

GLS · 03-03-2018, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urwumpe

That sounds like a bug, it should be local vertical.

It also makes sense to me. I'll file a bug report, the thing is that this will make us depend of the next Orbiter release... whenever that might be.

GLS · 03-07-2018, 08:12 PM

Almost done with the lakebed runways: the mesh work is done (the numbers were an absolute total PITA

), and I'm now "extracting" the runway coordinates for the GPCs.

On this final process I noticed that some parts (actual runway threshold and aimpoints) aren't currently painted (both Orbiter and GoogleEarth only have the runway outlines), and so I haven't "painted" them in the meshes. I'm inclined to add them, as they existed once and still are noticeable today, but I'd like more opinions before I embark on another day of work...

DaveS · 03-07-2018, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS

Almost done with the lakebed runways: the mesh work is done (the numbers were an absolute total PITA

), and I'm now "extracting" the runway coordinates for the GPCs.

On this final process I noticed that some parts (actual runway threshold and aimpoints) aren't currently painted (both Orbiter and GoogleEarth only have the runway outlines), and so I haven't "painted" them in the meshes. I'm inclined to add them, as they existed once and still are noticeable today, but I'd like more opinions before I embark on another day of work...

Go ahead and add them. This is what the SCOM says: https://www.dropbox.com/s/girbjrh7tx...Point.jpg?dl=0

GLS · 03-08-2018, 12:02 PM

Another issue I'm working is the temporary runway only appearing on the high-resolution tiles, which makes it only visible at about 2000 ft.

Instead of working quite a few tiles and replacing the whole area, I'm only blending the new runway into the tile level above. Not perfect but much faster.
Here is the first tile worked:

GLS · 03-08-2018, 01:31 PM

Edwards is open for business!!!
I'd like to post an image covering the whole thing, but the area is so large that the details aren't visible.

Things to note: the runway meshes are pretty much correct horizontally, but in some areas they don't look so because they still don't follow the curvature of the Earth, which I'll do once this issue is worked one way or another.
Another thing is that there are 4 .elv files at level 12 (didn't check but I'm almost sure they are from the Antelope addon) that for some reason were deleted by tileedit, even though I didn't touch them and they don't cover the edited Edwards area but are actually around the tiles I touched (yes I know about the margins and it shouldn't be that). Anyway, as our method of instalation doesn't allow for file deletions, and as they are level 12, I'm inclined to leave this as is.

DaveS · 03-08-2018, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS

Edwards is open for business!!!
I'd like to post an image covering the whole thing, but the area is so large that the details aren't visible.

Things to note: the runway meshes are pretty much correct horizontally, but in some areas they don't look so because they still don't follow the curvature of the Earth, which I'll do once this issue is worked one way or another.
Another thing is that there are 4 .elv files at level 12 (didn't check but I'm almost sure they are from the Antelope addon) that for some reason were deleted by tileedit, even though I didn't touch them and they don't cover the edited Edwards area but are actually around the tiles I touched (yes I know about the margins and it shouldn't be that). Anyway, as our method of instalation doesn't allow for file deletions, and as they are level 12, I'm inclined to leave this as is.

Looks great here! I added a hi-res runway texture for the main concrete runway (04R/22L) along with a correction to the runway lights and checked that in: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3lsqja1jgk...U_EDW.jpg?dl=0

03-08-2018, 12:02 PM	#1408
GLS Addon Developer	Another issue I'm working is the temporary runway only appearing on the high-resolution tiles, which makes it only visible at about 2000 ft. Instead of working quite a few tiles and replacing the whole area, I'm only blending the new runway into the tile level above. Not perfect but much faster. Here is the first tile worked: Attached Thumbnails

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02-28-2018, 04:33 PM	#1396
DaveS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by GLS Ok, I'll make what is missing. BTW: how did you make the numbers? Sculpting them seems a hard task... I just used the text tool in AC3D, so it wasn't a difficult task at all.

02-28-2018, 04:35 PM	#1397
GLS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by DaveS I just used the text tool in AC3D, so it wasn't a difficult task at all. OK, I'll see if blender has something similar.

03-02-2018, 04:00 PM	#1398
GLS Addon Developer	Ok, so I'm making the markings for the Edwards lakebed runways at their current configuration, which means, e.g., our RWY23 markings won't match the ones when STS-1 landed there. The only way around this would be having several Edwards base files (in different folders) each having a different version of the lakebed markings... but that would require correct knowledge of how it looked and when...

03-02-2018, 05:07 PM	#1399
DaveS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by GLS Ok, so I'm making the markings for the Edwards lakebed runways at their current configuration, which means, e.g., our RWY23 markings won't match the ones when STS-1 landed there. The only way around this would be having several Edwards base files (in different folders) each having a different version of the lakebed markings... but that would require correct knowledge of how it looked and when... I think we should just stick with the current configuration as I don't think anyone will notice that they're off.

03-02-2018, 06:13 PM	#1400
GLS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by DaveS I think we should just stick with the current configuration as I don't think anyone will notice that they're off. If one looks close enough, the previous markings are still visible: longer versions of the runways, old aim points, etc... Although runway 17/35 is currently unmarked, I'm adding it as it was used several times. Currently only 2 runways remain to "paint", leveling the lakebed runways so the markings don't sink/rise, and the big one: making the numbers look +/- like the real ones, some of which look like they have been hit by a plane...

03-03-2018, 06:53 PM	#1401
GLS Addon Developer	... and problems It seems I forgot one small detail: the Earth is curved , and so a 10Km long mesh doesn't sit fully on the ground. A way to solve this issue is to break up the runway sides every 1000m or so, and then tilt them so they +/- follow the local curvature of the Earth. It's a total PITA, but IMO it would work wasn't a feature/bug in the base definition that makes the objects horizontal to the base location. So an object far from the base will be tilted, relative to the local surface, to match the base center surface. This makes the position and direction of the runways, relative to the base, important when deciding how much it curves. I'm tempted to file a request/bug report for this...

03-03-2018, 06:59 PM	#1402
Urwumpe Certain Super User	AFAIR, there is a parameter in the surface base cfg to map it to the existing elevation...

03-03-2018, 07:22 PM	#1403
GLS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by Urwumpe AFAIR, there is a parameter in the surface base cfg to map it to the existing elevation... Yes "MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE", which when false places all objects on the base plane, so something far away from the base center will be up in the air. When true, as we have it, the objects will be moved vertically to match the local terrain, but their orientation will not change to match the location, so objects far be tilted in respect to the terrain.

03-03-2018, 07:47 PM	#1404
Urwumpe Certain Super User	Quote: Originally Posted by GLS Yes "MAPOBJECTSTOSPHERE", which when false places all objects on the base plane, so something far away from the base center will be up in the air. When true, as we have it, the objects will be moved vertically to match the local terrain, but their orientation will not change to match the location, so objects far be tilted in respect to the terrain. That sounds like a bug, it should be local vertical.

03-03-2018, 07:54 PM	#1405
GLS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by Urwumpe That sounds like a bug, it should be local vertical. It also makes sense to me. I'll file a bug report, the thing is that this will make us depend of the next Orbiter release... whenever that might be.

03-07-2018, 08:12 PM	#1406
GLS Addon Developer	Almost done with the lakebed runways: the mesh work is done (the numbers were an absolute total PITA ), and I'm now "extracting" the runway coordinates for the GPCs. On this final process I noticed that some parts (actual runway threshold and aimpoints) aren't currently painted (both Orbiter and GoogleEarth only have the runway outlines), and so I haven't "painted" them in the meshes. I'm inclined to add them, as they existed once and still are noticeable today, but I'd like more opinions before I embark on another day of work...

03-07-2018, 08:21 PM	#1407
DaveS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by GLS Almost done with the lakebed runways: the mesh work is done (the numbers were an absolute total PITA ), and I'm now "extracting" the runway coordinates for the GPCs. On this final process I noticed that some parts (actual runway threshold and aimpoints) aren't currently painted (both Orbiter and GoogleEarth only have the runway outlines), and so I haven't "painted" them in the meshes. I'm inclined to add them, as they existed once and still are noticeable today, but I'd like more opinions before I embark on another day of work... Go ahead and add them. This is what the SCOM says: https://www.dropbox.com/s/girbjrh7tx...Point.jpg?dl=0

03-08-2018, 01:31 PM	#1409
GLS Addon Developer	Edwards is open for business!!! I'd like to post an image covering the whole thing, but the area is so large that the details aren't visible. Things to note: the runway meshes are pretty much correct horizontally, but in some areas they don't look so because they still don't follow the curvature of the Earth, which I'll do once this issue is worked one way or another. Another thing is that there are 4 .elv files at level 12 (didn't check but I'm almost sure they are from the Antelope addon) that for some reason were deleted by tileedit, even though I didn't touch them and they don't cover the edited Edwards area but are actually around the tiles I touched (yes I know about the margins and it shouldn't be that). Anyway, as our method of instalation doesn't allow for file deletions, and as they are level 12, I'm inclined to leave this as is.

03-08-2018, 08:27 PM	#1410
DaveS Addon Developer	Quote: Originally Posted by GLS Edwards is open for business!!! I'd like to post an image covering the whole thing, but the area is so large that the details aren't visible. Things to note: the runway meshes are pretty much correct horizontally, but in some areas they don't look so because they still don't follow the curvature of the Earth, which I'll do once this issue is worked one way or another. Another thing is that there are 4 .elv files at level 12 (didn't check but I'm almost sure they are from the Antelope addon) that for some reason were deleted by tileedit, even though I didn't touch them and they don't cover the edited Edwards area but are actually around the tiles I touched (yes I know about the margins and it shouldn't be that). Anyway, as our method of instalation doesn't allow for file deletions, and as they are level 12, I'm inclined to leave this as is. Looks great here! I added a hi-res runway texture for the main concrete runway (04R/22L) along with a correction to the runway lights and checked that in: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3lsqja1jgk...U_EDW.jpg?dl=0