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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/08/2013 in all areas
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The Value of his post are to inform people of what can be expected in the update. I see no reason to be upset by this. I am flying my Saab with 660gtx with HRD on with FPS's running 20-25. Also a Titan will not help, Its your CPU not GPU fyi. You are comparing running a 13 year old flight sim to X-plane 10 with an add-on that is equivalent to a program, on it's own, running inside another program. My old setup which was 6 years old ran FSX -Orbx etc etc with no problems also, but had a hell of a time with X-plane 10. So comparing the 2 is irrelevant. It sad that we live in the "I want it now" age. This is the cause of so much crap that is put out on the mark before it ready. Just be glad he is giving you any kind of update. Which is a lot more than I can say for most publishers / Devs in the gaming industry. I find it funny that you are mentioning spamming f5 to find out about an update. That is just pure insanity to me and I believe these people have a slight problem. This reminds me of people waiting for beta key invite emails from blizzard (by refreshing their inbox) and crying on the forums when they don't get one. LOL!5 points
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Hi PhM, Well lets put some things straight first. I have to admit, that I am NOT the one who works on the rendering engine, nor did I ever see that code from inside. What I have is a more generic understanding of how it works in general (and yes, I have some knowledge of OpenGL and computer graphics ... even though I don't code it) AND I have a very good understanding of the underlying data structures of the scenery (how it is) and especially how (and why) the scenery is generated from raw data (which is a quite complicated process on its own). I do also have - at least I think so - a very good idea of why many things are the way they are (need to be) at the moment (and also have some ideas about possible future improvements etc.) .... especially from the viewpoint that many things need to be as they are, because they make it possible to have the visual "effects" (how the scenery appears to the user in the end) we can have now (like for example the need for the the patchwork triangle mesh). This all of course does not mean, that it is the perfect / most state of the art rendering engine of all times (neither do I think that there exists such thing .... you always have different priorities, different approaches, different trade offs to take) ... but at least neither is it the worst (and of course it was also something growing over many many years, with some legacy here and there, new approaches added, old stuff thrown out etc. and some necessary backward compatibility being in the equation too!). The most important character behind it is Ben Supnik, and I can assure you, that he is quite likely someone who knows OpenGL and all its possible tricks in extremely great detail (I have talked to him a lot in the last years, and this gave me good faith in his abilities) ... so I would expect that he is the one who could discuss with you your OpenGL ideas the best. But maybe you might first consider reading trough his Blog to get a feeling on how that guy thinks, and what moves him to do things the way he does it (because with a big flight sim platform like X-Plane he needs to see much more than just some OpenGL tricks ...): http://developer.x-plane.com/ And finally ... Laminar (mostly Ben Supnik I think) is just in the process of modernizing / improving parts of the OpenGL code (likely coming in 10.30) .... hints are in the comments of his latest Blog post: http://developer.x-plane.com/2013/10/now-that-breaking-bad-is-over/#comments3 points
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Just realized We now finally can see the meaning of the "sunglases" in XP Cudos Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free2 points
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plau·si·ble /ˈplôzəbəl/ Adjective (of an argument or statement) Seeming reasonable or probable. Seems reasonable that cook island pines could appear on another Pacific island.1 point
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Tsetosh is right on point here, and I appreciate that he was able to answer from a different customer point of view. If we're going to be really honest here, sparkie66, PMDG too has had their fair share of delay, most recently being the week long debacle for the 777. If memory serves me right for the Saab release, we were pretty much about the same. Unexpected things happen, especially when it comes to programming. More than anything, I think a lot more goes on than meets the eye that a lot of customers do not realize when it comes to getting a product online for distribution (even after the product is complete). Over the years we have done various types of rollouts. I personally prefer those that don't specify dates, but I know customers in general have shared their frustration over being kept in the dark. This is one of those scenarios where it's "damned if you do, and damned if you don't". We either take the heat for being silent, or we take the heat for being talkative, but even still I am trying to find a balance. As has been seen lately, one of those ideas is to share informative dialogue with our customers not many days before something is to happen. It's still a best guess scenario, but the premise definitely is to let customers know we care and that we haven't gone on vacation to leave things in the state they are currently in. If there's anything we truly do care about it's our customers and making sure we can do as much as we plausibly can to please them. Rest assured, this update will get out and your patience in the process is very much appreciated. We're just busy making it a little better than it already is.1 point
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Hm yes I admit, patience is not really my strongest point. As far as an update goes, that's admirable, I just don't like the " within days, weeks, months" vague references or terms you cannot keep, as with the original release. I'm still somewhat torn between fsx and x plane, I really want to like x plane and was rooting for the saab and was a bit let down by the hit on the system, because even with the pmdg 777 I really dont want to go back to fsx as my main sim. Planes in fsx look nice, pmdg is awesome, but the overall look of fsx looks plastic like to me, the lighting is somehow off cant put my finger on it. Where the lighting in xplane and the look of terrain is lightyears more realistic imo. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an application for the position of either Statler or Waldorf to put in the mail.1 point
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File Name: Polet-Flight livery for Take Command! (L.E.S.) Saab 340A File Submitter: Leen de Jager File Submitted: 08 Oct 2013 File Category: Heavy Metal X-Plane Version(s): X-Plane 10 Livery For: Click Here For Aircraft Polet-Flight livery for Take Command! (L.E.S.) Saab 340A by Leen "Flybike" de Jager. Low and high-res folders included. Installation: Simply unzip the contents of Polet-Flight.zip into a temp folder. Place the high- or low-res version in the Liveries folder of the aircraft. Have fun, Leen de Jager http://www.flybike-paints.nl Click here to download this file1 point
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Tom, I have the feeling that you are mixing a LOT of things here ... First you talk about textures, then about the mesh, the SRTM ... and I would like to know, which of them do you think affects what??? So, first: I did nowhere say, that we do not use SRTM data. Of course we use elevation data just like SRTM (earlier we used it directly, now indirectly) or where else would we/I get a planet wide elevation data coverage in a halfway consistent form (you always have to keep in mind, that most of my work is not just local, but has to work in very big regions - possibly on planetary scale)? For HD Mesh Scenery v2 (and all other Laminar work) it is now the planet wide coverage from viewfinderpanoramas.org (you might check that out - it is a mixture of SRTM and many other sources ... usually the best data available for a given region). And yes, that raw data is at 90m resolution. My previous post was about how the mesh looks like at all ... its an irregular triangle mesh network (effectively not even a contiguous mesh, but its comprised of myriads of overlapping little triangle mesh patches). Its irregularity depends on the structure of the underlying elevation data (the raw data which its derived from) ... where homogeneous landscape (with little elevation changes) gets fewer, large triangles, while a landscape (usually mountains) with many changes gets more, smaller triangles. This triangle mesh is - since XP10 - saved only in its 2D structure (saves some space etc.)! And additionally, each DSF file contains the elevation data in its raw, raster form. Then when the scenery is loaded, XP10 "puts" the 2D triangle mesh over the raster elevation data (like you would put a thin veil over a sand castle on the beach) ... which gives the triangle mesh its final, 3D structure. Its important to know, that effectively the "resolution" of the irregular triangle mesh (as it is in its 2D form in the DSF file) limits how detailed you will see it in 3D (even if you would put more detailed raster data under it) ... BUT there is one possible future remedy for this (it has been planned for a long time, and don't ask me when Laminar will implement it - but its planned): tessellation ... Which would dynamically break up the triangle mesh in much smaller pieces and thus would make it possible to much better "mimic" raw elevation data (without the need to have extremely high res tirangle mesh data to be stored in the DSF file) ... Aaah, and before I forget it: there is already a funny little tool fo X-Plane, which allows you to manually increase the triangle mesh resolution (which then gets stored in the DSF file): http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=16417 You can read about the mesh and the underlying DEM data, and tessellation in Ben Supniks blog too: http://developer.x-plane.com/2011/08/dsf-gets-raster-data/ http://developer.x-plane.com/2013/04/dsf-mesh-formats-v9-vs-v10/ (or just search it for "tessellation") And finally: X-Plane 10.25 will ONLY improve the artwork. This means especially - and most importantly - improve a lot of the existing textures (the "pictures" which are painted on the existing 3D mesh!), bring lots of new textures and possibly some new autogen artwork. The new textures will also include some experimental new urban textures (which will be visible in some regions - depending on climate). X-Plane 10.25 WILL NOT change the scenery itself nor how it is rendered. New scenery, with higher resolution mesh and based on new OSM data will be available vial my HD Mesh Scenery v2 ...1 point
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simflight posted that 10.25 has been released. http://www.simflight.com/2013/10/07/x-plane-10-25-new-version/#comments1 point
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As with any significant project, one may easily spend 80% of their time completing the last 20% of it.1 point
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I would just like to say a big thank you and well done to Leading Edge Simulations and X-Aviation for the release of the Saab 340A, a real 'game changer' in every way. Having taken time to read the excellent manuals/charts etc, the aircraft is a real masterpiece in so many ways. The flight model just 'feels right' and the systems are absolutely brilliantly simulated. Normally preferring GA aircraft I prefer to hand-fly as much as possible and this aircraft allows you to do just that if you wish. I have used the autopilot in all modes and they are all magnificently replicated. The sounds are the best I have heard on any model for X-Plane. As I touched on above, the included manuals and charts are wonderfully well done, and this coupled with the excellent support on this website will mean any problems/questions are always quickly solved. I am really looking forward to the new version with its performance enhancements, although I might add it runs well enough as it is. I think it's about time I had another flight!! Cheers Simon1 point
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LOL These textures are 1000 times better than the stock textures of FSX....... Oh and these are free...1 point
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Thanks Andy, Will try to do an Ansett Australia A320 for you as they flew with cfms. Allan1 point
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I did get some feedback from people who thought the effect was overdone, with that said here is a SS with the crepuscular rays dialed down a bit.....1 point
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Hi, flydav!, You're not hearing them loudly or at all because they really aren't heard in the real deal (this was actually something I kept a close ear on in research). The hydraulic pump will sound, and the drop of the doors is really quite silent (with the exception of a slight wind-like noise, which is also modeled)! We have them in there and programmed, but 100% volume is only 100% of what we have dictated as necessary given our research. Please know that adjusting any files goes strictly against your user license. I've done countless real world flights on the Saab (including during research) and have quite a bit of time both in the cockpit and as a passenger in the EMB-120. The same rule applies there. Just in June I took two Saab flights by choice for research from central Florida to the Keys and recorded the entire trip in very high quality sound. We have studied this thing probably more than sanity should allow. Also, see 13 seconds in on this video if you don't trust my word. You'll hear the click of the gear handle be moved and the hydraulic pump (as we have modeled) sound:1 point
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Aaron, I am going to be diplomatic concerning this situation but I do feel it is an obligation to air out a few things regarding how you have done business in the past and a few notes on my involvement with you. Recently you started pushing this sky product by providing very few and vague screen shots of your work. Only when I asked you to show more detail did you post more shots. Terrain Europe XP was marketed the same way. You asked for pre-orders and when anyone ever asked you for more screen shots you didn't provide much of anything. You also promised updates and landmarks as part of the product. Recently you did a 180 and decided not to support the product any longer which angered a lot of individuals in the community. In conversation with a friend of mine, from the community, you touted the sucess of your Terrain Europe XP, but here in a public forum you are telling people it wasnt a sucessful product. I think you may have lied to that individual in order to get something out of him..... Additionally you recently reached out to another friend of mine asking for his services to create a product better than UrbanMAXX, this is OK but you were making all kinds of promises as to a "new technique" to place textures and line them up with the roads.....This is all OK, but you were looking for this individual to figure it out, which isnt possible BTW.....Not without code anyway. If you did have this at your disposal why would you need to enlist someone from the community to do the work for you? That seemed very fishy..... And lastly you reached out to Sun-Dog, looking for them to develop another cloud add-on as work with me and Sun-Dog were already underway. And you found out pretty quickly that we were under an agreement. I don't mind that you did this, but again it shows you are trying to exploit the talent around you..... How could two versions of the same product compete? I think you were trying to cut me out, not good..... Another point is you do not even participate in the community, side converations, development threads, not an ounce. You show up out of the blue and try selling stuff with little information and thin content. Becoming a good developer in this community requires you to become a part of the community. Developers need to have a true relationship with the user base. You found out how strong mine is recently and I continue to work hard to maintain this.... Don't underestimate the intelligence of this community, they can see past shifty answers. Always be honest and open with them, especially in the area of how a product works...... Im not telling you what to do, or telling you to ignor the business side, but you should never let business take over, you need to keep a leash on it until you develop a reputation.... Plus a few of these points noted above are why you are having a hard time winning over the community. Frankly it is very painful to watch...... My Involvment With AWG Ok there is some hear say above so let me hash out my involvment with AWG. Aaron contacted me wanting to use UrbanMAXX with his Terrain Europe XP. So we started talking and I said that may work out. During our converations on skype I asked about reporting of sales and Aaron replied that he did not have a way of reporting sales statisitics RED FLAG.. I let that red flag slide and kept in the back of my head that we will just work that out later. During this time I offered him up some custom glacier textures which he put into his terrain europe product. One thing we discussed was a formal announcement of the product and our partnership. A blog post came out showing the glaciers and touting them as a feature in his product, with NO mention of Maxx-XP....RED FLAG I was a bit irrate at this point and after a conversation he added a little something down at the bottom of the blog post.... Around this time a member of a popular X-Plane review site contacted me with some concerns surrounding Aaron, Ill be honest I dont remember the details but it was surrounding his use of OSM and another irrate X-Plane developer. RED RED RED RED FLAG This review site was going to run a piece on AWG but decided to back out because of his reputation......And that was the straw that broke the camels back....I contacted Aaron and said he can have those glaciers and Im out....... Many other details were left out, but these are the facts I remember and this is why you have a hard time around here Aaron....... Dont get angry, really read this and try to take something away from it......But Im afraid you may have already have tarnished your reputaion to the point of no return.....1 point
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Where there's smoke there's fire, and there's plenty of smoke around you buddy.1 point
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Oh please, I can be as lazy as anyone....I see lots of problems with my work. If you change your mind, fire away! I have plans to one day provide a comprehensive training ground in all things development....blender, plane-maker, theory, scenery, development strategies, systems programming, texturing, etc and form a club for those who wish to engage in a higher level of development and are tired of scouring the net for information and how-tos and also want to learn tons of tips and tricks. It may be a good while yet because of my other projects, but I very much have a well-defined vision of providing training services for the community. As XP becomes more prevalent among flight sim users, and I believe it will, there will be a real need for training. I really enjoy it and fortunately, have been given good opportunities to gather lots of experience. In the meantime, I'll practice my voice-over skils and presentation software mastery Tom K1 point