Nelson under Prepar3d4 - amazing

[MichaelBasler]

Hi,

I bought and used Nelson a few years ago at the original release. After getting a new machine and coming to terms with Prepar3d4, I just installed Godzone Nelson again and - wow - it simply looks stunning.



This shot doesn't even do it justice. The glass windows, the runway surface and the overall look are so natural! It's amazing what a step forward (way beyond just 64 bits) Prepar3d4 is. I also acknowledge Nelson neatly integrates into FTX NZSI, an important point for me as an old ORBX diehard.

Add the environment by ASCA/AS2016/Envtex plus the new TerraFlora trees and the old MS slogan "As real as it gets" seems to become reality - finally.

Will try Dunedin tomorrow and much looking forward to more Prepar3d4 Godzone airports.

Thanks Rob,
and kind regards, Michael

[jpreou]

Cool. I'm still four months away at least from getting my sim back assembled in the new home, but really looking forward to it.
The downside is my several years old machine may not cut it, and there is no budget left for replacement

[toprob]

Cheers, Michael. I do think that P3D v4 gives Nelson in particular a new lease on life, I think I've mentioned before what v4 does differently -- yes, the lighting is better (using exactly the same models), but it is also something to do with the way that the distant scenery holds together compared to the blurries which we have always had before. So I can use a 'normal' zoom view without the distant hills/objects becoming a blurry mess.
Normally all I notice in my older scenery is what I'd like to improve, but I genuinely enjoy using Nelson now:)

[Dash8captain]

I totally agree, 1 thing rob i find sometimes some of the houses on the port hills are floating in the air?

[toprob]

Yeah, there's a FAQ on my site about floating houses -- my understanding is that this is a sim bug, and although Lockheed Martin have done a lot to fix it since v2, but it still crops up from time to time. One day they'll fix it completely:)

[jpreou]

This always amuses me; I'm not a developer or programmer but honestly, how hard is it in a system like this to have a datum/variable called "ground level" based on the installed mesh???!!!

[toprob]

I do think that autogen has always been in real need of an system upgrade, but it just isn't a priority for LM. They use the same old system which was originally devised for FS2002, and all they can do is tweak it a bit. What they really need to do is to throw it away and start over, but this is the sort of thing which will break most scenery addons. I hope it will happen, but I suspect that this isn't a big priority for their users.

They've done great things with vegetation, allowing for huge quantities which display quickly and smoothly. But the houses are still oversized horrors.

The issue with floating houses, I think, is caused by a 'time-out', there's a certain amount of loading time allocated to placing autogen, and sometimes it just runs out before all the elevations have been calculated properly. I think that this is difficult to fix as it relies too much on the base autogen system, dating back to the turn of the century. Hopefully the switch to x64 will be the catalyst for a brand-new autogen system.