Hey Gang, you military buffs will love the new highly detailed Pt Mugu add on

1st Official Post

    Dave W. has just updated his already outstanding Point Mugu NAS with HD runways, HD scenery and a ton of modern highly detailed static aircraft, buildings and hangars. Check it out in the User Created Download section.

    A nice little contest is to be the first to identify all the static aircraft Dave has added on the Pt.Mugu ramp. Don't forget to also download and install the Nimitz fleet with the nifty wakes just off shore. This adds a bit of immersion when on final for Runway 3.

    Thanks Dave.

    Regards,

    Ray

    As far as the runway texture, just as an experiment, I used the same photo texture as the bump map except that I added noise and some grid lines but then went back and made all the piano keys and numbers white so that it looks raised up. Not sure if that is very realistic but I'm just learning about bump maps.

    By the way, most of the military aircraft are from Javier Fernandez or http://www.militaryaiworks.com/

    Dave

    If you download and try out Ver_A07 Pt. Mugu, would you please feedback any comments and desires for improvement on the same thread that you downloaded it from. There are several of us that want to share the results of our experiments in scenery design but need others to let us know what else would be fun to have. One thing I did recently was to move the couple that are having a conversation at Monument Valley airport to Pt. Mugu - just change the coordinates and add the animation folder - I wish they were military pilots though (well, maybe not).

    As far as scenery design, we want to encourage you all to try it. I would be glad to provide a sample of AC3D source including all the static aircraft so you would have something to refer to. There are also the Kingman and Oceanside airport in the SDK but no AC3D version in them - just for 3D_StudioMax. Unfortunately, you have to purchase AC3D for $89. I hope to get support for Blender (freeware) sometime but IPACS is busy with other issues. Obviously, our little sceneries aren't anywhere close to what ORBX and other DLC designers can do, but there is always that one airport that you want to operate out of that isn't covered - make it yourself! I would say that maybe 10 to 20 hours will get you an acceptable first version (after a little experience).

    Dave

    Dave,

    I'd like nothing better than to start on an airport for my area. I know Jeff has stated an airport creation tool is coming, along with a tool to use the IPACS library of scenery objects, with tutorials on their use, but not sure at this point what that entails. Not impatient with Jeff or IPACS, just eager to get started.

    In order to use generic objects from the IPACS library, will a user need to have AC3D or 3D Studio Max for sure, or can one add objects simply by placing them in a text file? Same with starting an airport; can one copy an existing airport text file, say Kingman for example, and then begin editing lat/long and runway placement end points, etc? If you can give a little heads up on how to start now I (and probably a few others) am willing and able. I'm guessing that scenery objects such as a building or hangar, for example, simply need to be referenced via a code for that object; the trick is going to be a reference library to know what you're looking for. I guess this is why we might need AC3D or 3D Studio Max, but was hoping to be able to access the object library without having to purchase one of those programs. I am perfectly fine with editing and creating a text file to create my airport or place generic buildings in my "city". Thanks for your input, and thanks for the Pt. Magu scenery; I really like what I'm seeing there. Great job!

    Ken

    As far as generic objects, in FSX you simply had to find the GUID (unique identifier) and in a text file, just say where you want it, what heading, and what scale factor. I'm not sure that you can do that in FS2 - I think you might still need a model editor like AC3D to place them - we will both find out soon. My process is the following:
    1) Get the imagery around the airport from FSET - fiddle with color/brightness using GIMP.
    2) In AC3D, generate a polygon mesh that has the correct dimensions in meters from NW corner to SE corner and load the texture onto it
    3) In AC3D, generate a mesh along the dimensions of the runway so you can texture it better than the surrounds - you can use the image from #1 above or maybe find better resolution - recolor it with GIMP and sharpen it
    4) In AC3D, merge AC format models of hangar, buildings, aircraft, trees - that I have quickly developed from freeware FSX models using a tool from fsdeveloper.com called Model Converter X (BGL to AC) http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/resource…lconverterx.91/
    5) Make an appropriate TSC file to tell the Content Converter where you want the models and at what orientation.

    You need a ground object, a model object, and a decal runway object:

    Ground:

    Model:

    Runway:

    OK, thanks for the info. Will have to wait for the IPACS tools to come out to see exactly what is needed and what isn't.

    I used the object placement tool built into FSX quite a bit to add objects to my hometown, so wouldn't a tool similar to that be great for AFS2? Don't expect that, but I'm sure whatever they are coming out with will be easy to use. Can't wait... :)

    Ken