MSFS20 rotating beacon light tower

[rhumbaflappy]

It might also be possible to attach a visual FX to be seen at great distances.

 

[Christian Bahr]

It might also be possible to attach a visual FX to be seen at great distances.

Okay, and a concrete solution looks like?

 

[GaryGB]

The problem with beacons is the emissive material. A huge emissive-assigned object can be seen at night for thousands of meters. A object can have a huge face that has a mostly transparent texture, and the emission can be seen for a far distance. If you could increase the mapping of the texture over the huge face by distance, then it could be seen for thousands of meters.

I'm thinking this is something Christian (and/or others ?) may find to be easily achievable:

That roughly coincides with my expectations and experiences with the 3-D lights for the P3D. There the largest light with LOD_05 is 10m meters tall. So that the light does not sink into the ground, it could be held a little above the ground according to its dimensions (raise?):

View attachment 66932

As I understood and saw, objects in MSFS no longer pop up. The models are faded! This creates a smooth transition between the various LOD models. I last saw this on a windsock I had developed. The fades 3 previously defined animations.

The possibility of objects popping up is of little consequence when the model is enlarged linearly: they are loaded one after the other. At the moment I'm distracted with another project, but on the side I try something with the 3-D lights every now and then. Maybe there is a solution from the developer in the meantime, then you don't need your own solution

GaryGB

 

[GaryGB]

It might also be possible to attach a visual FX to be seen at great distances.

Okay, and a concrete solution looks like?

Hi Dick:

IIRC, Christian's prior work with Effects in FS2Kx used 3DSMAX to attach Fx and add Fx display / control parameter values ...not via XML.

Most of the FS Dev Community is not ready / willing / able to allocate most / all of their budget to 3DSMAX, so XML is our 'friend'.


< PS: Christian ...Sorry if I misunderstood / inaccurately described your FS2Kx work-flow with FX via 3DSMAX. >


Considering similarities of the legacy XML code format for explicit use of AttachPoints outside a 3D modeling application as shown here:

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/rotating-beacon-light-tower.453047/post-913722


...is there now also an option to use an AttachPoint with a VFX that you could show us in MSFS SDK XML code format ?

Thanks in advance for any further "light" you could shed on this process to "attach a visual FX" via MSFS XML code format.

GaryGB

 

[Christian Bahr]

Most of the FS Dev Community is not ready / willing / able to allocate most / all of their budget to 3DSMAX, so XML is our 'friend'.

Or there are good reasons why one does not provide information. Some techniques are so special that for various reasons you don't want to share them with others. In Aerosoft's North Sea add-on there is actually a rotating beacon light that has a very long range. It would be easy to put this "light technique" in another object and then publish it here as a resource. My point of view is that the Asobo Beacon light I use at the tower of Essen/Mülheim Airport serves its purpose. It is also relatively easy to attach the Asobo Beacon light to another object.

 

[=rk=]

Or there are good reasons why one does not provide information. Some techniques are so special that for various reasons you don't want to share them with others. In Aerosoft's North Sea add-on there is actually a rotating beacon light that has a very long range.

Well that is one way to sell an addon of ocean and oil rigs.

So there already is an excellently modelled rotating beacon, a copy of which a person could purchase, study and in due course of pursuing his hobby, subsequently release personal developments of to the community, based on his past education, because the idea that Aerosoft would withhold small little functional details of the sim, like how to turn on a light switch, or make a light shine brighter, as a commercial "feature," is enough incentive in Itself. We pay theses developers to develop, to take us to virtual Antarctica, but instead they covet techniques to make the sim function the way it should, they make us buy an oil field, so our airports work properly.

 

[Christian Bahr]

Well that is one way to sell an addon of ocean and oil rigs.

So there already is an excellently modelled rotating beacon, a copy of which a person could purchase, study and in due course of pursuing his hobby, subsequently release personal developments of to the community, based on his past education, because the idea that Aerosoft would withhold small little functional details of the sim, like how to turn on a light switch, or make a light shine brighter, as a commercial "feature," is enough incentive in Itself. We pay theses developers to develop, to take us to virtual Antarctica, but instead they covet techniques to make the sim function the way it should, they make us buy an oil field, so our airports work properly.

Actually I just wanted to say that something like a rotating beacon light already exists and you just have to do the work to figure out how it works. Assuming you have enough time to do it.

 

[TBryson2]

Not trying to beat a dead(?) horse, but I did possibly come up with a solution IF I can figure out how to do it, or someone can point me in the right direction.

As stated before, I have a working rotating beacon with correct light beams that looks great “Up close”, (within several hundred yards) but does not broadcast with any distance. It has 3 LOD’s (LOD-00 having the most detail) that work fine too.

Using Blender, would it be possible to create a 4th LOD on my model with a value of (say) 00 and implement Asobos airport beacon as the “distance“ LOD-04? It would obviously have to be included with my model itself, or at least an attach point as LOD-04. Then modify (which? / in what way?) ”.xml” to use the Asobo GUID and info for their beacon? (This is what I would need help with). That way my 3 LOD’s would be used “up close” and it would switch over to the stock beacon for distance.

OR am I overthinking this?

A second option is, Would it be possible to place asobos beacon in the scenery and modify its “LOD” range so it doesn’t “activate“ until a specific distance is achieved? Not sure if this is even possible.

Hope I convey myself appropriately here!

TB2

 

[Christian Bahr]

A second option is, Would it be possible to place asobos beacon in the scenery and modify its “LOD” range so it doesn’t “activate“ until a specific distance is achieved? Not sure if this is even possible.

Yes, it is possible to add the Asobo Beacon light to your 3D model and presumably you can limit the distance with an appropriate LOD model.
In your 3D software you create a dummy object in your model, which I call attachpoint_beacon. However, there is an offset of several meters, so I had to move the dummy's reference point:

The code for placing the tower looks like this:

<!--SceneryObject name: mh_flughafen_tower -->

<SceneryObject parentGroupID="8" groupIndex="18" lat="51.40647299999826" lon="6.93854500000000" alt="0.00000000000000" pitch="0.000041" bank="-0.000041" heading="135.000000" imageComplexity="VERY_SPARSE" altitudeIsAgl="TRUE" snapToGround="TRUE" snapToNormal="FALSE">
<LibraryObject name="{59589256-FB71-4D94-99D8-953DC12312BE}" scale="1.000000"/>

<AttachedObject attachpointName="attachpoint_beacon" instanceId="{42910FFC-EEF5-43B1-A0F6-AEB885F7B95A}" pitch="0.000000" bank="0.000000" heading="0.000000">
<Beacon type="CIVILIAN" baseType="AIRPORT"/>
</AttachedObject>

</SceneryObject>

In case you want to preview the Asobo light. The EDLE Tower with Asobo Beacon light is already installed in the Essen/Mülheim Airport (EDLE) scenery.

Hope it helps ...

 

[TBryson2]

Thanks Christian! I’ll give it a go as soon as I can. I’ll also check out EDLE!

TB2

 

[TBryson2]

Yes, it is possible to add the Asobo Beacon light to your 3D model and presumably you can limit the distance with an appropriate LOD model.
In your 3D software you create a dummy object in your model, which I call attachpoint_beacon. However, there is an offset of several meters, so I had to move the dummy's reference point:

View attachment 88930

The code for placing the tower looks like this:

<!--SceneryObject name: mh_flughafen_tower -->

<SceneryObject parentGroupID="8" groupIndex="18" lat="51.40647299999826" lon="6.93854500000000" alt="0.00000000000000" pitch="0.000041" bank="-0.000041" heading="135.000000" imageComplexity="VERY_SPARSE" altitudeIsAgl="TRUE" snapToGround="TRUE" snapToNormal="FALSE">
<LibraryObject name="{59589256-FB71-4D94-99D8-953DC12312BE}" scale="1.000000"/>

<AttachedObject attachpointName="attachpoint_beacon" instanceId="{42910FFC-EEF5-43B1-A0F6-AEB885F7B95A}" pitch="0.000000" bank="0.000000" heading="0.000000">
<Beacon type="CIVILIAN" baseType="AIRPORT"/>
</AttachedObject>

</SceneryObject>

In case you want to preview the Asobo light. The EDLE Tower with Asobo Beacon light is already installed in the Essen/Mülheim Airport (EDLE) scenery.

Hope it helps ...

Christian, thank you for your reply. I did download EDLE and previewed the airport beacon. Nice job! I'll explore this airport a bit more in the near future. I did manage to get the Asobo flashing beacon in my scenery, but (of course) generated a few more questions I hope you don't mind answering. I'm still hammering away at it, so perhaps I'll find some answers before you reply.

1. I can get the flashing "light" in my scenery, but I cannot "lock" it to a specific LOD. I created an empty ONLY on the lowest poly LOD, named it appropriately, but the beacon shows all of the time regardless of which LOD is actually visible in the sim. I

2. Your beacon in EDLE (and mine) is visible all of the time. Is there a way to make it visible ONLY at night and possibly inclement weather?

3. How did you create the self install .exe file for EDLE? Is there a YouTube video that shows how to do this?

Thanks!
TB2

 

[Christian Bahr]

To 3: The topic is too complex to discuss here in this article, which is about a rotating beacon light.
To 2: That will definitely work. To do this, you would have to create your object as SimObjects, each with different visibility conditions.
To 1: Export your GLTF file once with the beacon light and once without the beacon light, so that you have two GLTF models. Then you create your Simobjects with different visibility conditions

 

[TBryson2]

To 3: The topic is too complex to discuss here in this article, which is about a rotating beacon light.
To 2: That will definitely work. To do this, you would have to create your object as SimObjects, each with different visibility conditions.
To 1: Export your GLTF file once with the beacon light and once without the beacon light, so that you have two GLTF models. Then you create your Simobjects with different visibility conditions

1. Ok, I'll give that a try. Sounds reasonable. Just discovered that my rotating beacon (model) is bigger than the Asobo "light", so perhaps I can bury it in there and have no model for the "distance" LOD. That way up close it will be hidden. (I actually decided to go this route and it works fine!)
2. Hmmm. getting too involved. Perhaps one day I'll venture into this arena.
3. LOL! Agreed. Wasn't looking for a dissertation, just a pointer in the right direction.

Thanks for all you do!

TB2

 

[TBryson2]

Ok, this will be (probably) the last post from me on this subject. My airport beacon works great and works as expected! "MY" rotating beacon with rotating lights is accurate when viewed up close, and the Asobo beacon kicks in at a distance (when pulling away from the beacon). (My rotating beacon (model) is bigger than the Asobo "light", so I hid it in there and have no model for the "distance" LOD. That way up close the Asobo "light" is not visible)

BUT, as of this post (7-3-23) I believe there is an issue with MSFS and "their" beacon. It works great at the "starting" airport as you fly away but the beacon at the arriving airport will not activate until you get very close to the arriving airports beacon location. I verified this by flying away from "my" airport (KOCF) to another airport (KGNV) 40 miles away. My beacon (at KOCF) was visible more than 10 miles away until it disappeared (roughly 13 miles away). The stock beacon at KGNV did not appear until I had actually landed at KGNV and took off again. I left KGNV headed to KOCF and the Asobo beacon at KOCF did not activate at all. I landed (KOCF) and taxied up close enough to the tower and my LOD model kicked in. I then used the drone mode and pulled away from the tower and eventually the Asobo beacon was visible. I flew around other airports and the Asobo beacon did not "activate" until I got very close to it. So, my conclusion is there is an issue with the Asobo beacon activating at a distance. In FSX / P3D, the airport beacons activated around 10 miles from the airport. I was hoping this would be the case with MSFS. Perhaps something else "they" need to fix or some configuration somewhere(?)

Anyway, hope I conveyed myself correctly here. Thanks for everyone's patience.

TB2

 

[michail71]

I've read through a bit of this thread a few times over the past year but I'm still a little confused. With default scenery is there a way to attach a beacon to anything other than the default beacon tower?

I'm looking to work within the default scenery and attach a beacon to a short tower, pole, or rooftop.

 

[TBryson2]

I've read through a bit of this thread a few times over the past year but I'm still a little confused. With default scenery is there a way to attach a beacon to anything other than the default beacon tower?

I'm looking to work within the default scenery and attach a beacon to a short tower, pole, or rooftop.

yes, I think so. Look at post 69 above and throughout this post. This solution works, I used it on my model. You have to start at the beginning of the thread and it’s explained a few times throughout. I didn’t think it would work for my application but was eventually an elegant solution, until they provide us with an alternate. You’ll have to work it out. There are no step by step procedures (yet) that I’m aware of. Was a lot of trial and error for me.

TB2

 

[michail71]

Thanks, I just started on an airport I wanted to submit for the World Hub. The beacon is on a pole attached to a building.

In that case I don't think it would be possible as it has to come out of base scenery.

 

[michail71]

Does anyone know if there is another object in the base sim with a named attachment point? How would one even find attachment point names?

All I need is a pole or short tower. The way the SDK is designed, it almost looks like you should be able to attach it to anything.