VLC/Real NZ blend -- Tauranga

[toprob]

Following on from the VLC/photo comparision thread, here's Tauranga airport. With the colourised aerial image deactivated it gives a good idea of a custom airport within VLC:

[Splitpin]

Stunning!!....again

[ZK-MAT]

Any shots of the Mount peninsula? I'm a bit worried about the expanse of concrete port side and the big patch of grass on Maunganui Road / Newton Street shown in the last pic

[toprob]

QUOTE (ZK-MAT @ Jun 28 2010, 07:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any shots of the Mount peninsula? I'm a bit worried about the expanse of concrete port side and the big patch of grass on Maunganui Road / Newton Street shown in the last pic

Without getting into too much detail and confusing the issue, here's a quick explain of what you are seeing.

This is exactly what I was getting at in the other thread -- if you live in the area, then photo scenery is the way to go, unless you can live with the limitations of landclass. This is an integral part of using and adapting landclass -- all developers (like the major one across the ditch) deal with the same issues, in different ways. No matter how stunning the scenery, it'll always be the locals who notice the differences first:)

(Incidentally, I truly think that Tim's particular solution is the ideal solution for NZ, relying on lots of real, accurate data for definition, rather than heaps of beautiful textures and objects. So, for instance, a Tauranga local would instantly recognise their town in VLC a lot easier than a Pacific North West local.)

You can't add landclasses.

The problem is that there are only a limited number of landclasses, without any real reserves to call upon. The secret here is to choose the ideal landclass, from this very limited choice. The port is one example -- there is no landclass for 'port', mainly because ports are generally not big enough to warrant a landclass of their own. Bear in mind that normal landclass is based on 1.2²km tiles.

So the chosen landclass -- a mix of cement and one which represents industrial buildings, amongst other things, is pretty good in most cases. And even if we did have a landclass for 'port', or could make one, this particular port is defined by huge stacks of timber, which differs from the port of Lyttelton, for instance.

I've included another screenshot which shows first that the port is actually pretty well-defined (I've left in the custom objects of Real NZ Tauranga here) and secondly, that you can now see what the other issue you mentioned really is -- not scary at all...

But it does illustrate another 'feature' of landclass -- these particular textures are north/south orientated, there is no landclass which represents this type of area which runs diagonally. It is obvious why this is -- if you only have a limited number of landclasses, and most urban/town areas run north/south, then you wouldn't waste one on this -- plus, you'd need something to differentiate the two, and normal landclass data doesn't define these as different.

This is the sort of thing which is best handled with a custom-built city, which is not the goal of VLC. However as you can see it gives us a lovely base to build a custom city on, so I'd expect to see a lot of releases of this type following VLC.

[ZK-MAT]

My hat is off to you for a superb response Robin Thanks for the shot looking North too, as far as a "default" rendition of the area goes it's pretty damn good compared to what we currently get in FSX as standard. I hear what you are saying in that having the photoreal for the area we get spoilt but we can build on what VLC provides and have something really quite special.

Cheers

[Bushmaster]

So this is the big thing im worried about is VLC going to be payware? and also is VLC sort of a project to compete with ORBX and is it made up of designers on NZFF?

[toprob]

QUOTE (saski17 @ Jul 1 2010, 11:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So this is the big thing im worried about is VLC going to be payware? and also is VLC sort of a project to compete with ORBX and is it made up of designers on NZFF?

Yes, it is payware. No, it is NZ only, so it won't compete with Orbx. Developed by Tim on his own -- not a NZFF project. Did you have a look around the Vector Land Class website?

[pilotgallagher01]

Looking good guys! Keep it up!