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FSX Making a landable mountain using ADE for FSX

I will take another look at this project in ADE, SBuilderX and Sketchup and should have a reply and/or prototype tomorrow.

What you propose in your description above is entirely achievable, and I'll try to find the easiest way to do it.


In either case, working with terrain as mesh or more likely for a hill, a CVX vector sloped flatten may work best.

One can indeed create a 3D model and import it to MCX, then export it as a FSX CVX vector sloped flatten in the desired "shape".


Your "3 Mile Island" at~6,000 Meters length should have some wiggle room to create a 'hill' (mountain=2,000 Ft. AGL or more).

More on this tomorrow at the latest. :)

GaryGB
 
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I have a quick-and-dirty test of concept 100 Ft. AGL hill surface with sloped sides at the West "end of the road" on your island.

Later this morning (it's 3:15 A.M. in USA Central Time Zone).

FYI: I extracted ESRI *.SHP files from your ADE CVX vectors, then imported them to a Sketchup project using a plugin.

I'll export it from Sketchup as a Geo-located *.KMZ, and import it to MCX.

Finally, I will export it from MCX as a FSX 'sloped flatten' BGL.

After inspection in FSX and P3Dv4.x, I'll ZIP it up and attach it here. :)


GaryGB
 
Hi Tom:

I had an unpleasant surprise when I found that the option to export FSX sloped flattens is missing now from all my MCX installs.

I have PM'd Arno to see what it may take to restore the original functionality to include that feature to all my older MCX installs.

I will try an alternate method so you do not have to wait as long (we never know how long it takes to get a reply from Arno here).


I hate it when software is "updated" without my explicit permission; I need to keep all installs of FS utilities isolated / locked. :banghead:

This is, after all, a "developer site"; we expect software to behave in the way we have observed- and read- ...without "surprises".


I shall keep you posted on progress with a status on a 'worked example' output by MCX that you can also produce easily.

While I await a reply from Arno, I will attempt to produce the same sloped flatten via other workflows that may also be 'easy'. :coffee:

GaryGB
 
I hate auto updates too, they can cause so many problems. I hope my MCX will actually do what I need it to do as well. I haven't really used it much except to convert different formats of objects. Even that don't work sometimes. You are talking about ModelConverter X right?
 
UPDATE:

Arno replied already, and kindly pointed out my error in navigating MCX' GUI for the task of exporting a FSX sloped flatten. :teacher:

Since I have been keeping too many late hours, and by not having used the feature in quite some time, I was mistaken. :oops:


Many thanks are due to Arno for making this CVX sloped flatten feature available via MCX. :wizard:



The export process is for "Scenery" and not "Object", so the needed feature is actually still available under MCX > [Export Scenery].

One must correctly set the pick-list under "Save as type:" FSX Flatten BGL file (*.BGL)


I shall resume my efforts to process the 3D model into a "proof-of-concept" sloped flatten ASAP, as described above.

More to come soon. :coffee:

GaryGB
 
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I want to make sure I'm clear, when you speak of MCX, you are talking about Model Converter X right? I wasn't aware that Model Converter X could be used for anything more than just converting and editting models and other files. I was not aware it could be used for designing too. If you are not talking about Model Converter X , please let me know what "mcx" is and what program it is and where to get it from.
 
I am indeed referring to Arno's ModelConverterX when I use the forum's popular abbreviation "MCX", :)

And indeed, one could say some project 'design' tasks are possible in MCX, in addition to its main '3D model' feature set.

GaryGB
 
Hi Tom:

Since it was necessary to allocate considerable time to getting SBuilderX installed, and for orientation with CVX vector work in same, I shall have to attend to some other matters IRL, but will continue to work on the "Hill" test-of-concept, as it is a separate object at this point.

After adapted to your design intentions, it can be integrated with other CVX vectors, as technically all SHP's can be in (1) BGL) if desired.

But only a few utilities / GIS applications go the extra distance with coding to achieve a multi-object type of 1-piece ESRI Shape file.


For now, I must depart for a few hours, and plan to do more this evening as available time / energy permits.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a more likely E.T.A. for the "Hill" object. ;)

GaryGB
 
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That's fine, not a problem, this is an ongoing project. I actually don't have all the details worked out for the "search and rescue" scenario at the moment. The game is actually in the middle of a completely different adventure right now that may take some time to finish up as there are a lot of things going on that the players have to work out. I'm only working on these two projects whilst we are taking a short RPG break, been playing almost every night for 2 to 3 hours a night, we kinda need a break, and as DM (Dungeon Master) I need time to work on the current adventure as I am running out of ideas to throw at the players.Right now I just have everyone running aroound in circles with nothing to actually do. (Sorry for my spelling lately, this keyboard has a slight "bouncy" problem and some of the keys tend not to type sometimes. I really need a new keyboard for this thing). I want to work on the mountain project for now, the roads I'll just play around with for now.
 
Hi Tom:

Now that you have gotten ADEv1.79x and SBuilderX 3.15 installed, and you have fine tuned your scenery, I must use it to make the "Hill".

I do not want to "break" anything other than the original flatten on the West end of the island 'Road' / Taxiway Path to insert the "Hill".

I also want to be reasonably certain that it will render correctly on your computer's FSX installation the very first time you load it. :pushpin:


I would like to have you PM me with a link to your current new file sets from both ADE and SBuilderX for download via MediaFire.


The backup process is easy for both of those FS utility applications:

ADE Menu > Project > Back Up...

...This outputs a complete *.ZIP backup of your ADE project and *.AD4 file; this includes code used for CVX vectors


SBuilderX Menu > File > Export > SBuilderX SBX...

...This outputs a complete *.SBX (ASCII text) backup of your ADE project and *.SBP file; this includes code used for CVX vectors


I have a Hill prototype made, but it doesn't modify rendering of local terrain mesh shape properly without modifying your CVX vectors.

So, if you would please, make backups of your project in its current state after your edits yesterday, and send me a link to download it. ;)

GaryGB
 
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Will do, the only real changes I made were adding in a couple of traffic lines on my main roads. I haven't touched any of the polys or mesh, or any of that, most of my work was done on the traffic vectors and traffic lines, which seem to be working semi-satisfactory, there's a couple of things that aren't quite right, but I think that is just some minor "bug" issues with FSX and not ADE or SBX. I can deal with that, the traffic is only cosmetic anyway, doesn't really have any bearing on the project itself. I will go ahead and make that backup and send the link to you.
 
I don't really have any SBX files to send, just the one BGL with the traffic vectors. I didn't bother compiling any of the polys or anything in SBX because it wasn't necessary to create the traffic lines. I can send the BGL file separately if you really need it. I haven't done anything with any other roads other than the two main roads. I didn't do any work on the side roads or anything else, everything else is still the same.Besides, if they get messed up during your work, no big deal, I can fix it later. I'll send you that link shortly.
 
I didn't even save the SBX project, I just compiled the BGL. It was bassicaly just a test to see if I could get traffic working. I didn't feel the need to save anything except the created BGL file. That part of the project was only a test and is only temp anyway. I sent you the link to the new ADE backup zip file. If you want the trqaffic line/vector BGL I can send that to you , but like I said, it's only a test and not permanent so I didn't save any of the SBX project. Later on as I learn to fine-tune the traffic vectors, I might make a complete SBX project, but not right now. Proof of Concept only at this point. I like that I can add traffic, but it isn't working 100% or even 80% at this time, I will come back to it at a later time now that I know how to do it. I want to concentrate on the mountain project right now, that is my priority right now.
 
Ok, Tom, I'll take a look at the file set and disconnect the island West CVX flatten poly to enable the 'Hill' FSX terrain rendering.


If you have not compiled anything in SBuilderX since the CVX 'line-type' vector BGL for Freeway Traffic, you can export a SBX backup.

It would also be a good idea to then ZIP the files in SBX315\Tools\Shapes sub-folder and move the ZIP elsewhere for safekeeping.


It would be a good idea as well to navigate and do these (3) tasks:

* SBuilderX Menu > File > Properties > SBuilderX Project Properties dialog > {General} tab > Project Name field:

...name the project ex: KWR1_ADEX_TT_20250121151320-Update


* SBuilderX Menu > Save Project As... > [Your Project Name.SBP]

* SBuilderX Menu >Edit > check: Enable Undo Redo

GaryGB
 
Like I said, I didn't even save a SBX project, I only made the traffic lines and vectors, compiled the BGL exported it into FSX for testing. Only file I have is the BGL file that SBX created. I hadn't planned on keeping any of the SBX work until I am ready to do a permanent traffic workup which right now, I'm putting on hold until I get a chance to fix some of the anoying "bugs" in it. I have no SBX project files as of right now as I don't really need them for now. That will be a later project. I have long since closed down SBX without saving anything. I can always go back and redo what I did later which is why I didn't save anything. There was nothing in the SBX project to warrent saving so I just closed it down without saving anything until a later time.
 
If the "hill" works, I hope you can explain a little about how you did it so I can do it again in the future if need be. I'm just curious to see if it can be done and actually be drivable and/or landable. I eventually intend to remove the airstrip North of the island and replace that with a detailed airport at the top of the mountain. I just put that little airstrip in for temporary use, I want to use the land it is on for something else which is why i want to move the airstrip off of it.
 
Just a little side question unrelated to anything here, only for curiousity is there any way to convert flyable (drivable) vehicles to AI traffic vehicles that will run on the roads? Just for the heck of it?
Maybe a subject for another time and another thread.
 
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