First 'Real NZ' look at Aerofly FS2

[toprob]

The geoconvert tool, which makes photoscenery, was released last night, and here's some shots of my first attempt at Alps flying -- the Aermacchi is a default plane, and it works well in the mountains:)
The mesh needs work, but I can imagine that VR flying here would be a blast!

[Splitpin]

My god stunning Rob

[Dinga]

Crikey ,looks very nice.Is this the Southern Alps?
Excuse my lack of geographic knowledge Rob

[Charl]

AH yes...

[johnkiwi]

Spectacular!

[Adamski]

Pretty stunning - and the Aermacchhi looks pretty good too!

What's going in at the top right in the last shot?

Adam.

[toprob]

Thanks, guys, appreciate the comments.

Crikey ,looks very nice.Is this the Southern Alps?
Excuse my lack of geographic knowledge Rob

Yes, this is just a small section of what will be the final coverage, just to test the process. From memory, the Havelock River, and the Cloudy Peak Range.

Pretty stunning - and the Aermacchhi looks pretty good too!

What's going in at the top right in the last shot?

Adam.

That's the end of the photo tile -- as you can see, the default coverage is pretty blurry! They do supply full world coverage, apparently, but it is quite... chunky. This is something which I need to address at some point, flying out of any custom area will be a bit of a shock, so someone might need to do the entire country at an acceptable resolution. I'd do it if FS2 proves to be popular...

[Adamski]

Hah! I can still remember what NZ looked like in default FS9 ... yuk!!!

With respect to doing the whole of NZ ... ORBX have said they're supporting Aerofly FS2, so I suspect many of their existing sceneries (including NZNI/NZSI) may be re-worked. Would there be any mileage at all with someone like yourself doing sub-areas (and/or) airports that could work with ORBX stuff?

Adam.

[toprob]

Hah! I can still remember what NZ looked like in default FS9 ... yuk!!!

With respect to doing the whole of NZ ... ORBX have said they're supporting Aerofly FS2, so I suspect many of their existing sceneries (including NZNI/NZSI) may be re-worked. Would there be any mileage at all with someone like yourself doing sub-areas (and/or) airports that could work with ORBX stuff?

Adam.

Good question. Frankly, if Orbx get involved with NZ, I'll step away and let them have it, it isn't really worthwhile trying to market stuff in an Orbx area. But I don't see this happening, since Aerofly is basically photoscenery, and Orbx don't really do that in a big way. And really, if Orbx found NZ unprofitable in FSX/Prepar3d, I doubt they'd suddenly jump back into it for Aerofly.

[Adamski]

Good question. Frankly, if Orbx get involved with NZ, I'll step away and let them have it, it isn't really worthwhile trying to market stuff in an Orbx area. But I don't see this happening, since Aerofly is basically photoscenery, and Orbx don't really do that in a big way. And really, if Orbx found NZ unprofitable in FSX/Prepar3d, I doubt they'd suddenly jump back into it for Aerofly.

I'm afraid I know next to nothing about Aerofly. Does it not use autogen much then (if at all)? I'm not 100% sure what ORBX policy on Aerofly is - other than that newer areas (like the current LOWI, for instance) are available for both platforms. Whether they have a policy of re-working existing/old sceneries, I'm not sure either - but I could find out!

Adam.

[toprob]

Yes, it uses autogen, but it doesn't use landclass textures, as far as I'm aware it is photoscenery only. So it's very similar to photoscenery in FSX, you can add autogen, but I'm not sure how you'd do that at the moment. Since Orbx regions rely on landclass, with the very occasional photoscenery, it isn't a matter of reworking stuff, unless it is photoscenery-based. LOWI is photoscenery-based, I think that is a preference for some developers, but normally it's not the Orbx way. So anything Orbx do will probably be smaller areas, relying on someone else to supply the wider photo coverage.
Wow, my spell-checker complains about just about every second word there, I'm using far too much jargon!

[MichaelBasler]

Good question. Frankly, if Orbx get involved with NZ, I'll step away and let them have it, it isn't really worthwhile trying to market stuff in an Orbx area. But I don't see this happening, since Aerofly is basically photoscenery, and Orbx don't really do that in a big way. And really, if Orbx found NZ unprofitable in FSX/Prepar3d, I doubt they'd suddenly jump back into it for Aerofly.

I recall an older statement from John Venema that they are not doing further work on NZ for two reasons (from head): (i) It was commercially less successful than they expected (ii) you (yes you) are making your way with NZ airports.

Not sure if this statement still does apply, but it might be worth to contact JV who I think respects your work.

In any case I doubt there will be a NZ version of the ORBX sceneries in the near future. Theare was another - vague - statement that ORBX might do AeroflyFS2 PNW as the first region, which seems quite natural from their history. Given their present timeframes of development I can hardly imagine them to present an AeroflyFS2 ORBX NI/SI in the near future.

Of course this is all with a grain of salt, a search through their forum may or may not provide the proper references, and it's certainly a good idea to contact John Venema on this.

Kind regards, Michael

[toprob]

Orbx's early commitment to Aerofly is great, and they will help determine its success. Here, I think, it will be the developers who push how far they go. I know that Jarrad Marshall has said that Aerofly had the platform to see his vision as he had always pictured it, and I think that it is that sort of drive which will push them to embrace photoscenery a bit more, simply because it is a necessary component of FS2. But I suspect that they will rely on others to lay down the ground work -- literally, via photoscenery -- and do their magic on top.

So for New Zealand, this would mean that if someone did a NZ-wide photo coverage, they could bring their libraries, tweaked airports, plus their custom airports one day. My comment about who would do this coverage falls into 'what if'. There are different ways this could work, someone could just make a start now, and that's what I'm always hoping for... in a lot of ways I'm still the 'Windowlight tutorials' guy, why just want to convince and help others to make a start on something. For me to look at doing full NZ coverage, FS2 would need to be one of maybe two major players, and I'd need to be a bit more stable:)

There is always the chance that someone would quietly roll up their sleeves and take on a project like this -- look at Jack, with NZAA, this was something which had proved too much of a challenge for the existing developers -- including me -- but he is turning it into a reality.

I'm sure that I won't be developing for all the different sims in the future, the goal here is just to make a start, see what works and what doesn't, and maybe talk someone into making a start on their favourite sim, helping them if I can.
At the moment I'm nowhere near the point where I'd be making a commitment to Aerofly, and I'm having to cull some ideas already, this project has brought a number of different approaches from those who could use some NZ development. I tend to get excited about things, but I will need to say no to most of these, although so far there's one which is too good to pass up...

This is all part of the possibilities which come with finally having some new sims to play with, but it doesn't change the fact that scenery development takes time, and time costs. I've done some weird things to overcome this, with the Subscription and the Kickstarter, for example, but there's method in my madness, I hope...

In the meantime, I am always hoping to get that email, 'hey Rob, I've been working on this for a while now, and I'd like to know what you think...' So if anyone has a bright idea, make a start now. There's a lot to do!

[jpreou]

Good question. Frankly, if Orbx get involved with NZ, I'll step away and let them have it, it isn't really worthwhile trying to market stuff in an Orbx area. But I don't see this happening, since Aerofly is basically photoscenery, and Orbx don't really do that in a big way. And really, if Orbx found NZ unprofitable in FSX/Prepar3d, I doubt they'd suddenly jump back into it for Aerofly.

I wouldn't be surprised if Orbx port their current NZ offerings, but I doubt they will do much else so it might make a good base. Orbx has always said there is no money in NZ... can'r see AF2 changing that dynamic...

[cowpatz]

So if there is no landclass and only photoscenery then global coverage will surely be a massive file size/download?

[toprob]

Uploaded a video today, for a Kickstarter update, it is looking fine even if I say so myself! As always, best on YouTube at 1080p... This is the headwaters of the Godley River, above Tekapo.

Watch on youtube.com

So if there is no landclass and only photoscenery then global coverage will surely be a massive file size/download?

Yes, the initial 'normal' coverage is just a small part of the US, but along with the free high res addon, it takes up 86GB on my drive... there's a very low-res coverage world-wide, totalling 6.4GB, but it is very low-res, that's for sure.

[Adamski]

Orbx has always said there is no money in NZ... can'r see AF2 changing that dynamic...

I'm not entirely sure about that. ORBX NZ scenery has been wowing many people from all over the globe for a fair while now - and many people see it as a bit of a showcase. I don't have access to regional sales figures, but I do know that work around NZ will continue, so they must still see it as being worthwhile.

Adam.

[toprob]

.... I don't have access to regional sales figures, but I do know that work around NZ will continue, so they must still see it as being worthwhile.

Adam.

I guess you must know something I don't, it's been a long time since I've seen any news on FTX NZ development, after they cancelled all the NI planned airports.

[Adamski]

.... I don't have access to regional sales figures, but I do know that work around NZ will continue, so they must still see it as being worthwhile.

Adam.

I guess you must know something I don't, it's been a long time since I've seen any news on FTX NZ development, after they cancelled all the NI planned airports.

I'm on the beta test team - and that's probably all I'm able to say - other than NZ definitely hasn't been forgotten!

I probably post more NZ screenshots in their forum than anyone, so I try to do my bit to keep this area of the world alive!

Adam.

[jpreou]

It certainly is an exciting time. As most people on the forums know, I have no sim right now as my current rental is too small.
I did actually purchase P3Dv4 but I'm holding off on any more purchases until Q1 next year once I am in the new house and have my sim re-assembled.
Having said that, as Rob well knows, I also remain committed to keeping up with NZ devs; hence my pledge to Rob's cause.
I'll certainly be interested in whether Orbox continues to dev NZ as my goal on the re-build is only to build the 'best' VFR NZ that I can.
Cheers