Hawaii HD Mesh

[Colin S]

Hi all, this is essentially a referendum, and I need at least fifteen people to respond positively if I am to take the "yes" path.

 

In the last two weeks I went from "what the heck is GIS" to "I can pretend to understand QGIS." In doing this, I acquired the skills needed to create HD Meshes. You might say "but that just needs DEM..." and I will say "but you also need coastline data that is accurate. Which doesn't exist. Even from the US Census." I have drawn the entire outline of Niihau perfectly to match the mesh, as oppose to cutting its dramatic cliff faces in half. This was originally (and still is) for the purpose of the Hawaii Photoreal project, which is still going. However, I realize that not everyone's computer can render HD Mesh and orthophoto scenery. Below I have included a picture what the relief of the HD mesh looks like. I have already run a quick export through MeshTool (not perfect yet, a bit of touching up, so no screenies of that yet). However, I guarantee that the mesh is splendid and makes flying over and around the island spectacular. This will soon be a major update to the island of Lanai - I will be completely re-releasing the project, as the existing Lanai contains more than one type of mickey-mousing. I also didn't have the official coordinates of the imagery (both myself and Javier, the FSX guy, are still teaching ourselves everything to do with scenery as we go), meaning I had to guess at the location - which I did pretty well - but it meant that things aren't quite snug - valley edges don't match up with the terrain, etc.

 

So the question is, do you want a UHD mesh for the islands as they are released separately from the photoreal scenery (do be installed just like Andras' HD Mesh) or should they be included (they would still need installation into their own scenery file like alpilotx mesh). All feedback is welcome. Some questions I can answer before they are asked:

1. What is the resolution of this new mesh? 10m/30ft.
2. Will it be compatible with other scenery? Yes, except for Andras' HD Mesh.
3. Is it the same thing as alpilotx HD Mesh? No. In honesty, aplilotx is better. The only thing I have done better is a higher resolution and lined up the coastlines with the USGS DEM, so you won't have the awkward vertical cliffs that result in stretched textures. Meaning it may melt your GPU. It doesn't have fixed things like forest boundaries, cities, etc., like alpilotx stuff has. It's basically just an upgrade of mesh leaving the same textures on the surface. If you want default scenery that looks like custom scenery, get the alpilotx stuff. Andras works black magic, I just Google QGIS tutorials. 
4. Will it be one massive package for all the islands? No, it will be each individual/set of islands. For instance, Niihau, Kaula, and Lehua will be one pack, as a Kahoolawe and Molokini will be in one basket. Lanai and Molokai may be together, but it depends on file size as X-Pilot has limits. 
5. Is this vapourware? It is Colin S posting this, so this question deserves to be put forward. However, as it stands, at least part of this is not vapourware, meaning I could actually click upload and publish the Niihau/Lehua/Kaula portion right now if I wanted. Nothing else is done yet. I am rather well known for getting excited about doing something and then never finishing it due to its scale. However, I have a partner and the occasional cash incentive (and a mention in the Laminar Research newsletter). Anyways, short answer, no, this is done already. Not vapourware. This is PHNL. This isn't KBLI V4. This is actually possible.
6. Will it be freeware? Yes. But frankly, the only reason that I decided to kickstart my X-Plane work this week was because all of a sudden we got an influx of donations spawning from the Laminar Research newsletter, meaning that donations actually do affect how much work I am willing to do and how good my work is.

All feedback, positive or negative, is welcome. Also, don't forget to "follow" Lanai if you downloaded it since it will receive an important overhaul (complete rebuild) in the next few months).

 

 

PS - yes, that lake near the top left will be modified so it doesn't climb up a hill.