FSDreamTeam forum
Developer's Backdoor => KMEM Backdoor => Topic started by: virtuali on May 10, 2016, 10:11:13 pm
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Here's the links of all KMEM previews you might have already seen posted on our Facebook page:
Apron remains wet after rain ended:
Apron operations:
Walkaround:
Working EMAS system:
Tower Experience ( P3D only):
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Very nice! :D
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The AVATAR experience was just amazing!! I hope more devs catch on to all that can be done with AVATAR mode.
As always with FSDT, ready to buy.
Bravo!
Cheers, Rob.
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I hope more devs catch on to all that can be done with AVATAR mode.
I'm guessing whatever Umberto managed to pull off relies very heavily on the Couatl engine.
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I'm guessing whatever Umberto managed to pull off relies very heavily on the Couatl engine.
Of course, but we would still need some kind of support from the sim itself, they all go together.
In this case, Couatl provides with an entirely new collision detection system that entirely replaces the FSX/P3D default one, which is very limited, and can only do crash "boxes". You might have a glimpse of it if you try to go very close to your plane in Avatar mode: you can't, because the crash box system is not precise enough.
It IS possible to increase its resolution when exporting the model using the normal SDK, but if you do that, the amount of data will grow so much that the memory consumption of the object will go to the roof, and the fps will collapse.
So, we made a new collision system based on an entirely different system, which allows us to define very precise boundaries that allows, for example, to walk inside a very narrow alleys, like the tower internal corridors or the elevator.
But we haven't done "just" that. Precise collision when walking it's just one usage of this technology, but we can also use colliders to trigger events. That's how some of the doors opens automatically when you get close, and how the elevator goes up/down as soon as you get inside.
And, we used this system to also create a new kind of dynamic scenery: by creating custom boundaries (with any shape), we can control the appearance of additional detailed animations only when the user is inside a certain area, with a way more precise control than the simple "distance from the viewpoint", which would waste memory when radius overlaps.
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Oh Umberto, you are teasing us with so many new possibilities :o
Will be an eager consumer when you let us at it. :)
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This is looking great! One question. The preview videos seem to show that the demolition of the southern ends of concourses A and C for regional jets (even though that part of C is still standing) will be reflected in the release... so there will be about 30 fewer gates than MEM had in 2014 when Delta made its last round of cuts.
This is probably a long shot, but is there any chance those could still be modeled and included, or made into an "optional feature"? FSDT has taken some liberties with "current state" of airports in the past (i.e., the trumpet at JFK is still included in the scenery even though it was demolished and the AA terminal still hasn't been completed in full but is in the scenery).
I'm hoping this could be another one of those, since I still have NWA AI traffic that needs the extra gate space for all the CRJ-200s and extra gates are never a bad thing.
Thanks!
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I'm guessing whatever Umberto managed to pull off relies very heavily on the Couatl engine.
Of course, but we would still need some kind of support from the sim itself, they all go together.
Is it possible to have a similar feature in FSX with a viewer type SimObject using slew, since much of the functionality is done externally?
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This is probably a long shot, but is there any chance those could still be modeled and included, or made into an "optional feature"? FSDT has taken some liberties with "current state" of airports in the past (i.e., the trumpet at JFK is still included in the scenery even though it was demolished and the AA terminal still hasn't been completed in full but is in the scenery).
I'm sorry, but that's not possible. We try to be as current as possible. If something has changed *after* the release, we'll try to add it in the next big update (es. JFK ), and sometimes we anticipate reality (es. KLAX TBIT) but in this case the airport WILL eventually get there.
But purposely doing something that is *already* outdated now, doesn't make any sense for us, and it's a big work nevertheless.
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This airport is looking incredibly awesome. Thank you!!!!!
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This looks absolutely incredible!
The SODE jetway animation video, which you have posted is great :)
I recall, that you talked about, that you were working on some sort of SODE integration and GSX? (If I remember correctly). Is the SODE jetway integration, a part of GSX or KMEM scenery? And would this functionality be incorporated into your other sceneries - for instance KLAX (would be great :) ) or JFK.
Hope you know what I mean
EDIT: Since the video is called "GSX SODE Jetway integration" and not "KMEM SODE Jetway integration", I guess a part of the answer is right there...
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Is the SODE jetway integration, a part of GSX or KMEM scenery?
It's part of GSX. KMEM, as a scenery which uses SODE for jetways, will work just like any other 3rd party scenery with SODE jetways.
And would this functionality be incorporated into your other sceneries - for instance KLAX (would be great :) ) or JFK.
Yes, we plan to do that for all our existing sceneries, as soon we revisit them for an update.
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Amazing!
Thanks alot for the answer, Umberto!
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I noted on the SODE video that the jetway wheels don't rotate. Not a big deal personally, but others will squawk about it. And does Memphis really have that anti collision system? :D ;D
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Now it looks like we must be close to release. Maybe next weekend?
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This means we are getting closer to starting work on KLAS V2 ;) ;)
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I watched the jetway SODE video and the wheels do rotate on my video, don't know if this is an update. I'm guessing you mean roll as to rotate, they do turn in the direction of movement.
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When the jetway is extending out, watch the treads on the tires... they do not turn.
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When the jetway is extending out, watch the treads on the tires... they do not turn.
That's how every SODE jetway works. Nothing we can do about it. Or, more precisely, we could do something about it, but it would be easier if SODE could be updated to support this, because would be very cumbersome fixing it from our side.
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Interesting, I thought SODE was just an engine moving a standard jetway model. Thanks, Umberto.
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That's right, the SODE jetway animation system does not control the spinning of the wheels. There is a technical background to it why I didn't support them (number of writeable SimVars) and also I didn't consider spinning wheels to be a deal-breaker, I thought they'd be just eye-candy.
But maybe I can find a way to use some bits from a already used variable, but the rotation speed will be an approximation and not the exact calculated speed.
However, that would require all existing sceneries using SODE jetways to update their jetway model to make use of spinning wheels.
SODE comes with its own "modelling SDK" to build jetways. Using these specially built models, SODE is able to calculate and animate the movement of the jetway in the simulator.
Thanks for pointing out that users will squawk about it, I expected it but was surprised how long it actually took that someone noticed that the wheels are not spinning, given that there are already a couple of SODE jetways around ;) That's just because FSDT managed to do such very good looking jetway wheels 8)
-Jeffrey
SODE Developer
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That's just because FSDT managed to do such very good looking jetway wheels 8)
Exactly, they're so good that something non functional sticks out. :)
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There is a technical background to it why I didn't support them (number of writeable SimVars) and also I didn't consider spinning wheels to be a deal-breaker, I thought they'd be just eye-candy.
Do you know which variables are available/writable for a given SimObject category? The only thing I could find was a post from Tim Gregson (http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/connecting-gauges-to-simconnect-can-i.18265/#post-120987) saying "you might want to consider using the ground vehicle category instead of aircraft though, much lower overhead (although also fewer variables predefined)."
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Do you know which variables are available/writable for a given SimObject category? The only thing I could find was a post from Tim Gregson (http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/connecting-gauges-to-simconnect-can-i.18265/#post-120987) saying "you might want to consider using the ground vehicle category instead of aircraft though, much lower overhead (although also fewer variables predefined)."
No, unfortunately not. I also stumbled upon that post you mentioned, but there is no list or table. Trial and error, my friend...
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No, unfortunately not. I also stumbled upon that post you mentioned, but there is no list or table. Trial and error, my friend...
Yes, that's how it works with Simconnect. The documentation is not always correct, and they don't specify which variables becomes writable or not, *depending* on the Simobject kind.
We wrote a very simple testing utility, so we came up with our table. Check your email, if I can read the SODE SDK correctly, it seems you still have one variable available, which might be used to rotate the wheels.
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Look great. Remember that the king was from Memphis. Hope to have Graceland build to the scenery which is very close by. Maybe event put Elvis private jet at the private terminal would be great. Will buy the scenery for sure. Al
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The "Busy apron" looks great... however I always thought the reason why payware airports are so barren is because if you add vehicles it kills the FPS... what is different here?
Make the gates have more clutter if there is something different about it...
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The "Busy apron" looks great... however I always thought the reason why payware airports are so barren is because if you add vehicles it kills the FPS... what is different here?
It's *totally* different, because other developers (except Flightbeam, and it shows...) don't have the flexibility of our scripting engine, where we can write a scenery as if it was a full blown program.
For KMEM, we used the same basic (NEW) technology that allows to precisely detect collisions with buildings (an entirely custom system written in fast c++, which runs externally from the sim in Couatl, not taking any fps), to define logic areas around all parking spots, that will be automatically populated by an animated scene when the user is inside that area, and the areas are tuned in a way that you will only see the zones very close to you. And when the scene is not needed, it will be removed from memory, not taking either fps or VAS anymore.
This is far more precise, powerful and flexible of the inflexible "don't load this if you are outside this range" system, which is always based on a circular radius, so you cannot control overlaps very well, and end up wasting VAS.
There was NO WAY we could ever fit everything in memory on an airport so large, without our flexible scripting engine.
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Having purchased everyone of your sceneries since Cloud9...I have to say that you have outdone yourself with the integration of Avatar, SODE and the level of detail of Memphis. Thank you for your dedication to our hobby.
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Thanks a lot for your comments, they are much appreciated.