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P3D v5 ADE_GP Custom Ground Lines are black

Lemon

Lemon

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unitedstates
For releases of ADE_GP 22242 and 22243, all previous and current Custom Ground Lines (hold short, apron limit, etc) in P3Dv5.3 display as "black". Version 222313 displays correctly.
What have I done wrong with installing either of the last 2 releases that cause this problem?
See pics attached.
 

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  • ADE_GP_222313.png
    ADE_GP_222313.png
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  • ADE_GP_22242_22243.png
    ADE_GP_22242_22243.png
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It's difficult to tell you what you've done wrong when you haven't yet told me what you what you did to install the new releases.

Clearly, the required textures are not where they need to be. But the "why" depends on further info from you.
 
Don, I install the 2 stated releases exactly as your install text file states. I copied all the files extracted from the zip, EXCEPT the cc file to the very same location as the 222313 version was installed in and replied "replace" to all of the files with the same name. When I reverted "back" to 222313, I did exactly the same.
Thanks
Lemon
 
Don as a further followup, the location into which the files were copied to on my machine is: C:\MSFS\FS Design Tools\Airport Design Editor 1.79 Dev
Thanks
Lemon
 
Based on you latest post, perhaps you haven't done anything wrong. I see that you are saving to a MSFS folder, which suggests you are attempting to create an airport for MSFS. ADE-GP does not work for MSFS since MSFS has no ability to display the data ADE-GP generates.
 
Not necessarily Don. He might have a folder named MSFS but it's not specifically for MSFS 2000. Per the title of thread it's for P3D v5. He is using ADE v1.79 and not ADE 2020 Alpha.
 
I appreciate that, Doug. But, installing the ADE-GP archive doesn't overwrite any active textures. It updates only the base textures So, MSFS seemed like the only plausible cause

Something just occurred to me. I wonder if Lemon has ever set up the active texture folders in the (new?) ADE folder. Please see the Texture management section on Page 21 of the ADE-GP user manual.
 
Doug is correct...Microsoft FS on any flavor is not spoken here? :)
I am running P3Dv5.3 with the latest hotfix.
 
Don, I have never set up any such (that I can remember) "active texture folder" in ADE. I will certainly read the Page 21, however, it begs the question "what has changed between in this area between releases ADE-GP 222313 (which works) and ADE-GP 22242 & *43 that I have caused since all 3 versions were installed in the exact same location (as have all previous ADE-GP versions)?
If I sound confused...I am. :)
Lemon
 
Don, a little more "investigation"...to I believe answer your question about the active texture folder, can I assume (after reading page 21) that you are talking about the "Texture" folder created after the first run of ADE following the ADE-GP upgrade? If so, yes, this folder is created in the very same location as the ADE-GP files.
Now...another turn...after installing either 22242 or 22243 and starting ADE and opening a previous airport ADE and select "compile", I am no longer given the option to "Generate FS8-Style GPs". That option (check box) is whited out.
I went to a previous ADE built airport (KDFW) and all the GP lines that I had added were there..BUT when I recompiled it with either the 22242 or 22243 installed, again I as not given the option to "Generate FS8-Style GPs" and the result was obvious...the previous existing GP lines fluttered on and off as you move across them or approach them.
I have also tried the above very same scenario on P3Dv5.1 and the results were the same....
I dont know what happened to the above option...it is still displayed but again, with the 42 and 43 versions, it is whited out.
Hope this might help.
Thanks
Lemon
 
As I indicated in an earlier post, installing the ADE-GP archive into an ADE folder that was previously generating GPs would have had no effect on the operation of ADE-GP. This is because the archive only updates the Base folders/files. In an early post above your stated "I copied all the files ... to the very same location as the 222313 version was installed in". Curiously, you did not say "the ADE folder", which made me suspicious that this was a new folder and that you may not have copied the base folders/files and renamed them so as to be used as the active folders/files. If you had not done so, this would account for the absence of the required textures, since ADE-GP operates only on the active folders/files.

I have never set up any such (that I can remember) "active texture folder" in ADE
Click to expand...
If you ever successfully generated ADE-GPs/lines, I can guarantee that at some point you did so. If you have created a new ADE folder in your MSFS directory, you'll have to do it again.

Regarding the FS8 style GPs checkbox., It is my understanding that PV5 does not support them. Consequently, the latest release disables the checkbox if you are compiling for PV5. If you copies FS8-style GPs into your PV5 scenery, I'm not surprised "the previous existing GP lines fluttered on and off as you move across them or approach".

So, I'm at a loss to otherwise explain your situation. Please confirm that all the following exist in your ADE folder
  • Textures folder
  • Textures_Dpy folder
  • Textures_Illum
  • Textures_Def.txt file
  • Lines_Def.txt files
in addition to all the Base folder/files installed from the archive.

If these folder/files do exist on your system. please send me your .ad4 file, any custom texture required for it and your Textures_Def.txt and Lines_Def.txt.
 
OK, after a little more investigation on my end, the root cause of my originally reported problem (above) is the apparently elimination of the option to generate FS8-Style GPs.
The 2 screen shots that I originally sent are taken from an altitude, but if you go to ground, all the GP lines "flicker". This does NOT happen with ADE-GP v222313 since as you stated, you removed that option if compiling P3Dv5. I have yet to find any documentation stating that your FS8-Style GPs are not allowed/supported in P3Dv5 as I have (and continue to have with ADE-GP v222313) the ability to create such and compile and run with all generated FS-Style lines in P3Dv5, even up to the current release (P3Dv5.3 + hotfix1).
I have attached a zip that contains my AD4 for KABQ along with all textures and MDLs. I have also included a screen shot of the file listings in the folder that has been my one and only place for ADE and ADE_GP for the past several years.
I have created AD4's under P3Dv5 also for the following: KAUS, KDFW, PHNL, KSAT using FS-Style GPs with no problem using your ADE_GP version 222313 or earlier.
Sorry I stated originally the GPs were "black"...from an altitude, they are with your version 22243 on the KABQ project and others, once recompiled. This, again, is not true if I recompile with 222313 or earlier.
I would be keenly interested in your thoughts after taking a look at the attached and with my apology to starting this thread incorrectly pointing to "missing textures".
I fully believe their is a wealth of knowledge / contributors here that may be able to help me with where is states P3Dv5(x) does not allow/support your GPs, since it appears for me, that P3Dv5 still does support them.
Eagerly look forward to your comments/suggestions.
Thank you VERY much in advance.
Lemon
 

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Lemon, if FS8-style polys still work with PV5, I'm happy to reinstate the option. But, it was my experience they did not.

That the P3D-ground polys flicker suggests the Z-bias setting may be the issue. I will investigate and get back to you ASAP.
 
Lemon, you will be happy to know that I have duplicated your problem. Should be easy to fix.
 
Attached is an updated .dll (2.2.24.4) that should perform somewhat better for you. Just overwrite the earlier version and "play".

I am more than a little embarrassed to admit the problem was due to sloppy development technique. In the last iteration, I was focused on ground illumination and had made a couple of changes to be effective for that. Unfortunately, while I planned to return to adapt those changes to GP poly/line operation, I never did (until now). I'll try not to do that again.

As well, I have restored FS8-style GPs with PV5 and have confirmed they still work. I had severe problems with FS8-style ground illumination with PV5 (it worked with all other versions) so assumed LM had abandoned support for that technology.

EDIT: Incidentally, during the development of this fixe, I encountered a couple instances where ADE had difficulty with your .ad4 and refused to compile the airport. These were internal ADE compiler issues and may have been due to my running an older version of ADE. Just thought I'd mention it.
 

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Lemon, I haven't heard from you in a couple of days. Have you had a chance to try the vew version?
 
Don, a thousand pardons...somehow I missed the email that you had replied,,,couple that with a busy week of work...but thats no excuse.
MANY, MANY THANKS for taking the time and effort to both listen to me and to fix it. I REALLY appreciate it VERY MUCH!
I will download your latest *.dll and continue my work with KABQ. Very glad to hear also that the FS8-Style GPs are OK...I really got to thinking..hmm,,,why do they work
for me but the Expert (you) believes they are no longer supported. If they were indeed now longer supported by LM, I was going to ask the next most obvious question for me..."What
do I use instead". But that potential ? is now resolved..
Thank you and again I apologize for this very late response.
Lemon
 
As for your comment about ADE refusing to compile, I have not had that issue, except when I crafted a ground poly for the ramp area in the GA portion of KABQ. It failed with a message (and this isnt a direct quote...the mind goes) "unable to triangulate the following coordinates", followed by a list of Long/Lat points. I have had this happen on other AD4 (KDFW is one) where the GPs were complex. It did NOT "dump" the compile but appears as an "informational only" type of message. The long/lat stated were actually "within" the GP, not actually a vector point. Anyway, for KABQ, I simply reduces the complexity of the GP vertices and the infomercial went away. For my KDFW, it appeared to be associated with a very busy/complex set of GP and Objects that comprise the "founders park" which is a public viewing area in the NW corner of the DFW airport.
Lemon
 
Sorry for the tardy response, but I was not6 notified of your most recent post. From that post, it's not clear whether or not the problem of initial concern still exists or if the only remaining issue is the "informational message" - hopefully the latter.

Assuming that to be the case, the message is identifying areas containing one or more problematic lines/polys. Please refer to page 17 of the user manual. To address these issues, you need to identify the line/poly of concern and open it in the GP Editor. Often, the problem is due to the texture offsets of one or more vertices having been lost - or never having been set. In those cases, simply clicking OK is all that is required. In other cases, the issue is the complexity of the line/poly - which must be simplified. You should get helpful info on attempting to close the GP Editor with the OK button.
 
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