No Taxi Lines Inside VC

[PilotJsmith]

While taxing inside the VC I cannot see any of the yellow taxi lines, but if I change my view outside the aircraft the taxi lines appear. I have version 1.02 of the scenery and I do not have any AFCADs or other DFW sceneries installed.

This is while inside VC:

2010-8-11_11-20-58-397 by smithj94, on Flickr

This is while in spot:

2010-8-11_11-21-1-387 by smithj94, on Flickr

[whitakerjl]

Greetings gents,

I too am experiencing this issue. 

JW

[virtuali]

Which zoom setting you use ?

If you use wide angle (usually, less than .65), FSX makes the LOD kicks in and, since the scenery use LOD extensively, some items will disappear so, it's not a bug, it's an optimization.

[PilotJsmith]

In my first post I was using a 0.40 setting zoom in the VC.

Here is a picture of a 0.70 setting zoom in the VC, as you can see this setting of zoom is highly unpractical for a realistic flight experience because I no longer have visibility of my instruments.


2010-8-11_20-11-56-248 by smithj94, on Flickr

[cmpbllsjc]

In my first post I was using a 0.40 setting zoom in the VC.

Here is a picture of a 0.70 setting zoom in the VC, as you can see this setting of zoom is highly unpractical for a realistic flight experience because I no longer have visibility of my instruments.


2010-8-11_20-11-56-248 by smithj94, on Flickr

Its all about how you  position your eye point. The pics I attached are at zoom .79 in the Level D 767 and as you can see depending on how you position yourself you can see the panel fine. Just set your zoom like .70 in your shot then use the keys to move your seat back so to speak so that you can see more of the panel. Personally I have always felt around .79 or so to be about the most realistic zoom level in the VC provided you move your eye point to the right position.

[virtuali]

Here is a picture of a 0.70 setting zoom in the VC, as you can see this setting of zoom is highly unpractical for a realistic flight experience because I no longer have visibility of my instruments.

Zoom 0.40 is highly unrealistic, because it gives you a wrong perception of height and speed, a correct zoom factor is about 0.80, this is quite an acknowledged fact, that's why we set the LOD assuming a zoom setting not wider than 0.70.

If you are flying in VC, using a TrackIR is strongly suggested, because it doesn't force using unrealistic zoom levels just to see the instruments, and of course will give you *much* better outside views, especially when taxiing, since you can raise your eyepoint by raising yourself, and you can look around much easier.

[cmpbllsjc]

If you are flying in VC, using a TrackIR is strongly suggested,

I have been considering getting TrackIR but does it rely on simconnect? If so, I better stay away from it until I get my other problem fixed.

[PilotJsmith]

You should be designing the scenery so that people can use whatever zoom setting the prefer. You shouldn't expect people to use a 0.80 zoom in all there planes because in many planes using a zoom setting this high would mean that you have to zoom behind the headrest to even see any of the instruments which shows that a 0.80 zoom level is highly unrealistic because in a real aircraft your viewpoint is most definitely in front of the headrest.

Here is a picture I took with 0.80 zoom, and I moved the view back just before the headrest would block the view.

2010-8-12_10-22-28-48 copy by smithj94, on Flickr

Here is another picture inside a different aircraft with 0.80 zoom.

2010-8-12_10-33-27-380 by smithj94, on Flickr

Here is a picture that shows this plane with a more practical view of the instrumentation:

2010-8-12_10-39-40-942 by smithj94, on Flickr

As you can see flying with this high of a zoom factor would be highly unpractical because I cant look out the window and look at my instruments at the same time. How would I even land this plane if I can't see my speed as I'm looking at the runway?

Also why would I purchase an expensive TrackIR just to be able to use your scenery that has this huge design flaw, I must say I am quite disappointed.

[chrisfsx15]

Zoom 0.40 is highly unrealistic, because it gives you a wrong perception of height and speed, a correct zoom factor is about 0.80, this is quite an acknowledged fact, that's why we set the LOD assuming a zoom setting not wider than 0.70.

If you are flying in VC, using a TrackIR is strongly suggested, because it doesn't force using unrealistic zoom levels just to see the instruments, and of course will give you *much* better outside views, especially when taxiing, since you can raise your eyepoint by raising yourself, and you can look around much easier.

How is .40 unrealistic..wrong perception of height and speed..what!? Why is it that every time someone posts a problem its always their fault and not yours. I am getting fed up with your support (if you can even call it support). I am having the same problem as PilotJsmith and I NEVER fly at .80 zoom. In order to fly with that zoom you must move the eye point back into the headrest, once inside the headrest fsx doesn't allow you to click on any buttons because it thinks you're clicking on the headrest its self...and who in their right mind is going to spend hundreds of dollars on trackIR just to use this scenery? Ive always been very pleased with the quality of the past fsdreamteam sceneries but this one has numerous bugs that you need to fix. This "new technology" is not helping you guys.....go back to doing what you did on the past sceneries, they actually worked.

[virtuali]

You should be designing the scenery so that people can use whatever zoom setting the prefer.

We design the scenery to have the best performances possible on settings that makes sense for the most people, if we had to support even unrealistic zoom settings, it would slow down the scenery for everyone, even those that fly with the correct zoom level.

You shouldn't expect people to use a 0.80 zoom in all there planes because in many planes using a zoom setting this high would mean that you have to zoom behind the headrest to even see any of the instruments which shows that a 0.80 zoom level is highly unrealistic because in a real aircraft your viewpoint is most definitely in front of the headrest.

The 0.80 zoom is the one that gives the more correct and realistic view of the scenery, and this is what should be used, regardless of the airplane. A wider angle will change your perception of speed and height, and that 0.80 is the most correct zoom level, is more or less and accepted fact, and it's what is being used by most people so yes, we do expect they use that.

How would I even land this plane if I can't see my speed as I'm looking at the runway?

Your are making sounding as if the scenery wouldn't *work* at wider angles of zoom. It does, but items like ground details disappear, and they are surely not needed to land.

Also, it's not that details disappear at less than 0.80, that is just the best zoom level to use so, we try to be sure that all objects are present at *that* level, but in fact the taxilines disappear later than that.

For example, in the position of one of your screenshot, at the interesection between taxi ER and RWY35L hold short zone, it's possible to zoom out all that way to 0.30, in other places you can only go to 0.45, because it depends on the location.

So, if you fine specific places where the taxilines disappear too early (like less than 0.70), try to make a list of them, so we can maybe fix the most problematic areas.

[chrisfsx15]

So, if you fine specific places where the taxilines disappear too early (like less than 0.70), try to make a list of them, so we can maybe fix the most problematic areas.

The lines were not visible at Terminal B and northbound on Taxiway F and G from about WJ up to runway 18L

[PilotJsmith]

I noticed that on the west side of the airport the taxi lines would disappear, but on the east side they didn't

[freds]

I have the same problem of missing lines.

[virtuali]

How is .40 unrealistic..wrong perception of height and speed..what!?

That 0.40 is highly unrealistic, and that altering the perspective WILL change your perception of speed and height is a fact.

A very well known trick, used in racing games, is to use an unrealistic wide angle view, so the user has the illusion of going faster, see this on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_view

For a visual effect, some first person video games (especially racing games), widen the angle of view beyond 90° to exaggerate the distance the player is travelling, thus exaggerating the player's perceived speed and giving a tunnel effect (like pincushion distortion). Narrowing the view angle gives a zoom in effect.

An article more related to Flightsim, here:

http://www.calclassic.com/sci_tutorial/index.html

It's very long but, if you jump to the conclusions:

Flying with a false ZOOM to misplace the scenery at false LAT/LON is the silliest mistake any flight simulation user can make.

If not practice manipulating the three allowable scenery projection variables, (VIEW_FORWARD_DIR + SIZE_Y + eyepoint), but never ZOOM to deliver real parallax

That's exactly what cmpbllsjc suggested and I also agree: you should use the available commands (key, joystick hat, TrackIR, whatever) to move your eypoint around the VC or point to look in a different direction, but never use zoom to see more instruments, because that will false the whole world view.

then refine that skill to allow the required vertical FoV in VC mode without invoking false parallax and false scenery placement in either viewing mode. Remember false parallax is the same thing as displaying false flight path vectors and a simulation control interface which displays false flight path vectors is worse than useless however pretty it may be.

Why is it that every time someone posts a problem its always their fault and not yours. I am getting fed up with your support (if you can even call it support).  I am having the same problem as PilotJsmith and I NEVER fly at .80 zoom.

This is entirely uncalled for and, if you care to read my reply and my initial post better, I NEVER said that you HAVE to fly to 0.80 zoom level.

First, because most of the lines DO NOT disappear at 0.79 or less, they disappear way later than that.

We just used 0.80 as REFERENCE, because it's considered to be the zoom level that gives the most realistic view so, we only tried to be sure that nothing would disappear a 0.80, but that doesn't mean that everything disappears at less than .79!!

There are areas were you can un-zoom up to 0.30, other areas you can't go less than 0.45. If you have specific places were details disappears at less than 0.70, then we might just correct that areas only.

This "new technology" is not helping you guys.....go back to doing what you did on the past sceneries, they actually worked.

This issue doesn't have anything to do with the new technology, it's plain old LOD in effect, that we used in all sceneries, it's just a matter of how it's TUNED.

[virtuali]

The lines were not visible at Terminal B and northbound on Taxiway F and G from about WJ up to runway 18L

Ok, I've checked it and, on taxiway F, depending on where you are, you can use from 0.40 to 0.70 zoom so, i't still within our design parameters. However, we might just tweak it a bit, and let it disappear later.