Patch 79

[Greebo]

I am seeing SPs correctly as a white circle in the main editing window and as a small yellow square in the map window but I am not seeing a direction arrow on the white circles.

However I do still have the issue of that while the SPs converted from my original terrain are showing the correct altitude in the Y box in Object Properties the new ones I have created since show 0 altitude there. All the SPs work in the game correctly.

Easyscor, relating to the above I don't suppose your SPs' circles could somehow be displaying at 0 alt in the editing window and so are not visible as they are below the terrain?

I like the new D3D map, it is much clearer and the icons scale nicely as it is zoomed in and out. Having the right click options box linked to the map position is nice, although Show Zone Lines and Show Field Links are not working on it.

In the Make Map window the Show Icons, Show Field Names and Show Spawn Points buttons are still not working.

[hitech]

Thanks! Do I read you correctly that the sunrise/sunset is universal?

Sunrise sun set does not change with any terrain, is on my wish list ,along with star positions,to write at some point.

HiTech

[NatCigg]

I do not watch stars much. I'm trying to figure the north star out.  After sunset last night the north star at the tail of the little dipper was somewhat north.  In the morning the sky had rotated and the little dipper still somewhat north.  I'll update on the next patch.

Nothing to report on my end except it seems like a lot of brain work to make this game work. 

[Easyscor]

I know I saw white circles around spawn points when writing the map stuff this week, is it maybe tied to show spawn point (right click) on the map?

HiTech

Nope. I even tried spawnentry wondering if that had changed. I have invisible entry points in the Edit window. On the Map window, I can toggle them on and off.

In this patch 79, the right click on the Map window's Setup Circles and Show Circles works in the Map window but has stopped working for me in the Edit window. Now I'll need to refer you back to the jpg I posted. Except of course, now the circle around the spawn is missing too in the Edit window.

[bustr]

I've been incremental updating since after I installed alpha70 as a full update. I tried the 79 terrain instructions and am not getting anywhere along with the terrain editor erroring out when I try to open the zip file updated terrain I constructed per the instructions.

Do I need to download the full 79 to get a newer set of terrain and object tools?

I have never tried to build terrains or objects before and wanted to see what the outcome of following the instructions for 79 would give me.

[Easyscor]

I don't understand. You "try to open the zip file updated terrain I constructed...?"

If you're having problems, I'd open the TE and create a new terrain, File>New, SaveAs.
I still exit and relaunch the TE out of habit but I don't know if it's still necessary. Old habits...

There's a helpful navigation pdf in the 1st post of the TE forum.

Once you have your terrain saved, use Open on the [the name you gave it].oba. The TE should still be pointing at your terrain. Draw some ground above zero elevation and set an airfield. In the Properties window, scroll to Group Master and select it. For the first field, that should be all you need. For later fields you'll need to give them different field numbers and for different countries you'll need to select the appropriate zone number.

Once you have your first field, you can save and build the terrain. Then you can load it offline and fly it or keep editing your project..

Once you have it solid, then experiment with the new stuff and the zip files in the first post of the Terrain forum.

Enjoy your weekend

PS. There are more zip files in new Patch thread.

[Bino]

The CV in the Alpha is beautiful. Bravo! 

[USRanger]

Hey Bustr, the reason why we do what Easy just explained is because that first save you do creates all the necessary files & folders that you need in your terrain's folder for it to ultimately work correctly.  They aren't there until you do that first save. 

[USRanger]

When building a new clutter tile, do I only worry about placing trees & objects inside the white-lined grid area and ignore all the area outside of the grid?  If so, does the OE/TE fill in that empty outside area by taking sections of the area inside the grid and replicate them in the area outside of the grided area?

What happened to all the aircraft & GV static models we've always had?  They were very useful to use as strafing & cosmetic additions to custom fields.  May we have them put back in please?   And if so, can we get nice, intact models, instead of how they were before where the damaged & undamaged models were put together to make the object?  Always looked kinda hokey having lined up planes/tanks that all show spinning props, being oil hit, etc.  Static aircraft being placed on airfields adds a very nice cosmetic & realistic look to airfields.

Still need an answer on these, especially about the clutter.  In the OE, do we only do the clutter in the central white grided area, or do we do it on the entire OE tile?

[Easyscor]

Still need an answer on these, especially about the clutter.  In the OE, do we only do the clutter in the central white grided area, or do we do it on the entire OE tile?

The grid is for 1x1 mile square tile objects and you shouldn't bother with it for your terrain textures. That does makes me wonder if the grid will grow in the production version to cover 4x4 miles with some kind of dividers for building the big square tile objects like the city4m00 and ref2xm00.

Load a tile texture, say Atlas 1 Type 19. That is type19.bmp, a 1016 texture. Back out until the texture fills your edit window. Then click Show Grid. Eventually, put a big tree in each corner of the texture, not the grid, and save. The new tile with the texture will be in your terrain. You don't even need to click build. (If you'd sub your texture instead of the default, then that's what you'd see in the OE, TE and in-game.)

Once you load your default texture in the OE, it covers the whole target area of the tile and it becomes obvious where the boundaries lie. In the TE, your new tile and texture will cover a square two miles on a side. Remember to toggle the Show trees after each change in ground type or your tree and building clutter won't refresh.

I can already hear my groans echoing from the monitor in front of me, but don't despair. Read on.

The good news is that the textures don't look like a checkerboard in this version, I hated that. The trade-off is the reduced resolution per pixel but you already have the solution to that in my other post. If I'm not mistaken, the clutter bmp assigns the highres textures. Don't forget to use it! Modifications are beyond this post so try to make the staff meeting on Tuesday.

Start with the ah default textures and figure out how the 508s look vs the 1016s. Hint, the 1016 are at 5.4 feet per pixel and the 508s are at 10.8 feet per pixel. Then resize one of your favorite old textures to 1016 and swap out a default texture. The 1016s give you 4 tiles to use in a terrain without resorting to the 508 bitmaps. Those 1016s should always be your most used or favorite specials with the 508s for filler in the back country. Obviously the best tile/texture combination for one terrain may not be the best for another terrain so you'll have plenty to keep busy for a long time.

 

[715]

My Patch 79 Test Goal results mirror others: the added trees show in the OE and are colored properly, they show in the TE but are black, and they show in the game with the proper colors.

I had some weirdness with the cornfield clutter LOD distances (I didn't add the corn, it is naturally part of the clutter).  As I drive towards the corn it renders.  As I get closer large sections of it suddenly disappear.  As I get real close it pops back into view.  The cornfields in Eur2015 have a bit of weirdness with some stalks of corn disappearing as I approach but not as weird as the test terrain.  (Which is just 100 ft alt flat plain covered with the first large texture.)  None of the other crops do this.

[bustr]

I don't understand. You "try to open the zip file updated terrain I constructed...?"

If you're having problems, I'd open the TE and create a new terrain, File>New, SaveAs.
I still exit and relaunch the TE out of habit but I don't know if it's still necessary. Old habits...

There's a helpful navigation pdf in the 1st post of the TE forum.

Once you have your terrain saved, use Open on the [the name you gave it].oba. The TE should still be pointing at your terrain. Draw some ground above zero elevation and set an airfield. In the Properties window, scroll to Group Master and select it. For the first field, that should be all you need. For later fields you'll need to give them different field numbers and for different countries you'll need to select the appropriate zone number.

Once you have your first field, you can save and build the terrain. Then you can load it offline and fly it or keep editing your project..

Once you have it solid, then experiment with the new stuff and the zip files in the first post of the Terrain forum.

Enjoy your weekend

PS. There are more zip files in new Patch thread.

I'm going to start over from a full install of 79, then follow what you have written. As it is now when I try to open my "test.oba" file, I get an executable error.

[bustr]

Interesting, after an uninstall of the install I've been updating with patches since about 70. A full install of alpha 79, and I can exit with no problems after the first time opening the game. And the white flash sitting on the runway at V2 is gone.

Still need do perform the 79 testing goals.

[Easyscor]

I've been using the manual method to set coast lines, a lot. It still hangs up occasionally, but if I can hit the various editor tabs, I can usually break it loose now. I can't remember this editor completely locking up while using the manual coast line tool.

I decided to use one of the new rivers instead of cutting rivers below zero elevation. Where the river meets the water of the bay, and the lake the river comes out of, the vertical drops at the start/end need to go, same as for the roads imo. I was thinking the start/end point faces could have a similar tapering treatment used for the roadsides and riverbanks. Yeah, I know that's harder than it sounds if the road surface is to continue.

[Easyscor]

What is GS4?