Author Topic: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?  (Read 13106 times)

Ray Proudfoot

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GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« on: May 30, 2015, 10:25:15 am »
SimWings have just released La Palma - GCLA. Unfortunately GSX vehicles are slightly sunk into the ground and their wheels are not visible.

Is a fix possible?
Cheers,
Ray.

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virtuali

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2015, 11:27:41 am »
It seems like a problem of the airport elevation in the scenery AFCAD not matching the actual elevation of the airport, probably because they don't have a better way of solving the problem of ground flickering when doing the scenery ground as a 3d model over a platform, which is what we also use for our own airports, but without inserting the wrong elevation value in the AFCAD, because we have other methods to solve ground flickering.

There was a similar issue with Madeira, which had the altitude in the AFCAD set 9 meters *below* the real one, just that with this one, they made the altitude difference a bit less, so it's not enough to give the impression that GSX vehicles "disappeared" because of some kind of GSX problem, but enough to sink their wheels.

We think the elevation in AFCAD file should be always as correct as possible, because it won't affect "just" GSX, but potentially any other addon that needs to read the AFCAD for any reason, and there are other ways to prevent ground flickering of native 3d FSX scenery over a platform  without having to resort to such tricks ( KDFW, CYVR, JFK V2, and all our airports that have 3d taxiways have their ground made as 3d model over a platform, but the elevation in the AFCAD is the correct published one ).


But in any case, GSX being the flexible program that it is, can be easily updated to add an "Elevation override" in the airport customization, so it will be possible to tell GSX to ignore the AFCAD elevation and use a different one, and that will be available as an FSDT-provided airport customization (at least for these two Aerosoft airports that are well known to have this issue), AND as an user customization option in the scenery .INI file, so new airports that will eventually released in the future that will still use this method, can be added even without our support.

In fact, it's one of the things we were already working on, and will likely appear in the next major upgrade, which is currently in Public Beta.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2015, 10:44:47 pm by virtuali »

Ray Proudfoot

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2015, 11:37:51 am »
Hi Umberto,

That's excellent news, thanks. I hadn't appreciated GSX was so versatile. Looks like you have created a real masterpiece! I look forward to its release.  :)

I can certainly live with the visual anomaly for the time being.
Cheers,
Ray.

P3Dv5.3HF2, i9-13900K @ 5.5Ghz, RTX4090, 32Gb RAM, 4Tb Crucial T700 NVMe SSD, BenQ 32” 30Hz monitor at 3840*2160 with VSync.

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2015, 01:42:43 pm »

my solution for the problem. deactivate Stock Airport  La Palma  APX43210.bgl. So GSX works well.
Best Regards Reinhard

virtuali

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2015, 10:53:18 pm »
I've edited my message, because the situation at Madeira (not sure about La Palma, but probably is), is really different.  

The Madeira AFCAD is correct, it's just a bit unusual because, since the airport is sloped, and in reality one runway end is about 44 meters and the other is 58 meters, with a published elevation of 58.5 meters, the AFCAD has been set to 50.5 meters, which is somewhere in the middle.

Sloped airports are really a mess in FSX, so I can understand the design decision, we do the same with sloped airports, although we usually set the whole airport to the published elevation, rather than using an average value.

The problem with GSX at Madeira is likely caused by the fact the airport is "hollow" under the AFCAD, to simulate the runway which is like an highway bridge, so the terrain below is entirely flattened down.

We made several raised taxiways in our airports, but we never removed a section so large, so we still have the mesh underneath at the proper altitude, so the vehicles can pass on it without falling down, because they are considered to be "on ground".

I guess we'll just have to update GSX to position the vehicles using absolute positioning about Sea Level, instead than AGL, which might even easier to do, since it won't involve having to add an option to override the AFCAD which, at least in this case, is not the issue.

Ray Proudfoot

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2015, 11:37:19 pm »
Hi Umberto,

In regard to La Palma is A320 User's solution one you would agree with? My only reservation is that airports other than GCLA might be affected.
Cheers,
Ray.

P3Dv5.3HF2, i9-13900K @ 5.5Ghz, RTX4090, 32Gb RAM, 4Tb Crucial T700 NVMe SSD, BenQ 32” 30Hz monitor at 3840*2160 with VSync.

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2015, 01:34:22 pm »
here my result.
Best Regards Reinhard

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2015, 08:19:03 pm »
Any News for the User they did not use my way.
Best Regards Reinhard

virtuali

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2015, 08:20:17 pm »
I suggest to wait for a proper fix, so that GSX will support those "hollow" airports with no terrain underneath.

NZEddy

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2015, 05:05:05 am »
But in any case, GSX being the flexible program that it is, can be easily updated to add an "Elevation override" in the airport customization, so it will be possible to tell GSX to ignore the AFCAD elevation and use a different one, and that will be available as an FSDT-provided airport customization (at least for these two Aerosoft airports that are well known to have this issue), AND as an user customization option in the scenery .INI file, so new airports that will eventually released in the future that will still use this method, can be added even without our support.

In fact, it's one of the things we were already working on, and will likely appear in the next major upgrade, which is currently in Public Beta.
Has this been included in the latest update and if so how do we add this elevation override in the airport customization?

virtuali

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2015, 09:08:11 am »
Has this been included in the latest update and if so how do we add this elevation override in the airport customization?

Not yet, sorry. When we'll add this, it will be indicated in the release notes.

NZEddy

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2015, 10:24:31 am »
Awesome thanks.

jgoggi

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2015, 10:18:05 am »
Hi, is this problem still active with the latest GSX? Thank you.
James Goggi

virtuali

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2015, 03:00:14 pm »
Hi, is this problem still active with the latest GSX? Thank you.

As in my last reply:

Quote
When we'll add this, it will be indicated in the release notes.

So no, it's not there yet, and it will indicated in the Live Update release notes when it will.

Fardel

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Re: GSX vehicles sunk into ground at GCLA - Fix possible?
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2016, 09:33:12 am »
Umberto,
any news about this problem?

Thank you

Paolo