PHNL Development Thread

[olexia]

Terrific project, Colin S! Can't wait to see the end result

Olexia

[Colin S]

I'd get started on CYVR but I can't download the images from the BC WMS server via Earth.

[Colin S]

Who would like to see a "lite" version (just an apt.dat) released with perfectly accurate layout but no objects or imagery to slow your computer down, for those of you with computers like mine?

 

[Colin S]

Announcement: PHNL by PNWS has been Terminated due to Legal Action against Colin Stepney

 

Today at 0830 I was awoken by my father telling me there was a person on the phone looking for me. I answered the phone and a voice spoke.

 

"My name is Carl Trenton from the USGS. You have been downloading and maliciously utilizing our orthographic photography illegally, as you are a Canadian."

 

My family and myself are now responsible for $1.2 million USD for reparations to the USGS for violation of Part 3, section C of their terms of use on their website. The court date has been set to June 2nd, 2013. Due to extradition agreements between Canada and the United States of America, I will be removed from my residence with my legal guardian at noon today to be taken to a temporary holding location in Bellingham, WA.

 

With this I sincerely apologize for all anticipation I may have created with a highly-detailed version of PHNL to be released. The government ordered that no files be modified on my computer or my hard drive for evidence.

 

Yours truly,

Colin Stepney

Former Leader, Pacific Northwest Scenery Project

Langley, British Columbia, Canada

[Orcair]

Gosh o gee! Typical - they do not want us "northerners" to have anything. Silly  Manifest Destiny

 

 

 

 

 

 

(playing along)

Edited April 1, 2013 by Orcair

[Colin S]

OK everyone, I need your opinions in this matter:

 

I really don't want to cover up all the skid marks and cool textures on the runway with my ugly white runway markings, do you WANT me to? My biggest problem is the little black outlines and the skids and the numbers being oh-so-right and stuff...

 

 

Oh and a little preview of another Pacific Northwestern Airport I've had simmering quietly in the background for a month now... Guess what airport it is. And it's not CYVR, I'm still collecting resources for that.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2013 by Colin S

[GrahamH]

CYYX Abbotsford Intl! Great news! HNL is coming along nicely too. 

 

Personally I'd like the orthophotos to remain uncovered. 

[i<3xplane10]

Looks nice, however I can't wait for YVR.

[Colin S]

Looks nice, however I can't wait for YVR.

 

Me neither. It will probably be mid-summer before my first release of that (just simple buildings and the included airport layout and basic orthos, nothing special).

 

CYYX Abbotsford Intl! Great news! HNL is coming along nicely too. 

 

Personally I'd like the orthophotos to remain uncovered. 

 

Uncovered meaning no ugly runway lines? You got it. Looks like your viewpoint got the majority vote on that one. Yes, it's YXX and I hope to have it done by June 1st. Just a little side project so I don't go bonkers trying to layout the 32-some odd taxiways of PHNL.

[Colin S]

So I have run into yet another little roadblock - Airnav doesn't say that Honolulu has centreline (I'm Canadian) lights... nor does it specify that it doesn't. Anybody know the truth?

 

EDIT: Also, what would you folks like me to do with Hickam? Should I just include that all with Honolulu or should I make it designated as a separate airport (which could be interesting since it utilizes the same runways)... It's up to you guys: for the people, by the person.

 

Cheers.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Colin S

[Colin S]

So I'm screwing around fixing up the rwy hold lines to make them look right (aka removing them from orthophotos) and I run across this little bugger. Anyone want it to stay? It'll make fun landings, fun as in fun with fire and loud noises.

 

[Colin S]

Some pretty development screenshots (it's almost at a usable stage, I've gotten four quads done this week).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dradecki]

Couple of questions Colin.  What techniques do you use in photoshop to clean up and sharpen your images?  Also the airport I converted looks good, but the default runway and taxiways I can't seem to get rid of.  I even readjusted where in the scenery.ini the airport is located with no success.  Any idea of what to do next?

 

Thanks,

Dave

[scubajuan_new]

To dradecki, You can move, make transparent or even delete the default taxiways with WED, this is not possible with Overlay Editor.
I like the images, looking forward for this to be released. One comment on the general tone of the orthos: Why do they look a bit like a vintage sepia photos? Hawaii is pretty humid and the lush green is abundant in the whole archipelago.

[chris k]

Put "LAYER_GROUP runways +1" into your orthophoto .POL file to place it higher than the runway in the draw order.

[Colin S]

I included that in the tutorial, second to last page. (get the updated tutorial)

[Colin S]

To dradecki, You can move, make transparent or even delete the default taxiways with WED, this is not possible with Overlay Editor.

I like the images, looking forward for this to be released. One comment on the general tone of the orthos: Why do they look a bit like a vintage sepia photos? Hawaii is pretty humid and the lush green is abundant in the whole archipelago.

 

Please note the greenness. PHNL 08R/26L is built on a non-fertile coral-dredge island. Look in the background carefully, there are plants. The south side of pretty much all the Hawaiian Islands (I've been to almost all of them now) are pretty barren of plant life as the the mountains cause convection rain to fall on the northern coasts. Don't worry, I've already gotten the ortho colours correct. Google what it looks like from the sky.

[Teddit]

Hello good sir.

How is the development coming along?

What phase of the project are at now?

Are we expecting a lego brick adaptation of the terminals, facility buildings, etc?

Looking forward to this bad boy coming out!

Tedd

[Colin S]

Hello good sir. How is the development coming along? What phase of the project are at now? Are we expecting a lego brick adaptation of the terminals, facility buildings, etc? Looking forward to this bad boy coming out! Tedd

 

Phase? Well, at the moment, I'm still alying out taxiways - PHNL is very large and I am working alone. The airport buildings will be lego brick based, as well as almost all the objects - however, I plan to create a few custom builings, notably the control tower, the old airport building, some smaller components such as electrical boxes, military buildings and some trees.

 

I will be releasing a non-ortho version for people with computer's like mine (that bag 2fps if you have more than 2nm of vis).

 

Thanks for your interest.

[Colin S]

Tomorrow morning I'll be getting on board a bus with all the other idiots (I am one of them, hence the 'other') from my school choir and band, heading to Banff National Park. Ok, seriously, who cares?

 

People have been messaging me lately - however, over the next five days (until Sunday) I will be away. Don't message me. I will be working on PHNL, I have about 21 hours of bus time to waste with something (although my computer might die after 5 hours), so I'm not using it as an excuse.

 

Adios!

Edited April 24, 2013 by Colin S

[scubajuan_new]

Please note the greenness. PHNL 08R/26L is built on a non-fertile coral-dredge island. Look in the background carefully, there are plants. The south side of pretty much all the Hawaiian Islands (I've been to almost all of them now) are pretty barren of plant life as the the mountains cause convection rain to fall on the northern coasts. Don't worry, I've already gotten the ortho colours correct. Google what it looks like from the sky.

Thta's right, the south sides of the islands are much dryer than the north shores. keep up the good work. Looking forward for a trip to Hawaii

[Colin S]

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT

Again, I had a hardware malfunction. I am never again going to start a major project with a computer in the twilight of its service live. My hard drive crapped out on me yesterday morning, meaning I lost the WED.xml file again. I am going to start backing that up. Anyways, it essentially means I have all my project still but I need to put it back into WED, and with final exams just around the corner, this puts release somewhere in August, not July. The good news is, I'm almost done the taxiways. This airport is a huge son of a mother. I have had to start from scratch with my computer, meaning that it will be at least 4 days until I can actually do anything, as I'm reinstalling my 300GB of applications onto my MacBook Pro - again.

 

I need some help in one area: Currently, the project measures almost 5GB (that is without the very few custom buildings, like the control tower, the old terminal, etc). This is all from the orthophotos. They are already compressed into DDS format, most of which are using 1-bit Alpha as they only converge with land, not water, meaning that they are only 11.2MB. They are all 4096x4096 and a drop in quality means the craps for my project. Any suggestions? I've thought of a DropBox link in the download, but that would take up the better part of my DropBox and I need it for a future project. 

 

Suggestions?

[Sethesus]

At ISDG we downsample only the tiles that are not that important.  I don't think people care too much about it, as long as it's not a slideshow   It saves a little memory, and a little per tile is quite a lot in the long run.  Chris or Ropeless can elaborate on this.

[Colin S]

At ISDG we downsample only the tiles that are not that important.  I don't think people care too much about it, as long as it's not a slideshow   It saves a little memory, and a little per tile is quite a lot in the long run.  Chris or Ropeless can elaborate on this.

 

The only tiles I have are important I wish I could do this, but my work is only airport area, not the surrounding scenery. I understand what you're talking about, but every little last tile is important. Thanks for the help though!

[Colin S]

Hey Everyone:

 

I have been gone one month. I will be moving to Kamloops for University now. Things have changed. HOWEVER, I will be working on PHNL again (I haven't been for OVER a month), and I should be able to release it BEFORE August. I haven't even been online for a month, so I need to check out what's new... and see if my X-Plane will even still run. 

 

I'm back! (Unfortunately)