The best way to implement custom LandClass textures?

[Rotornut44]

Hello all.
As the title asks, what is the best way to go about implementing custom LandClass textures? The method I have used to date has been the well known classic of naming the textures to match the corresponding default texture name then cramming it/them into my (project) texture folder. While this method gets the job done, I'm worried about causing texture conflicts with other sceneries. You would think the textures would still be loaded if another scenery was close enough. The only other way I could think of to do this in a foolproof way is to add LandClass entries to the FSX/P3D terrain.cfg and then use SBuilderX to assign them.

However, I'm not sure how I would go about dynamically editing the terrain.cfg to keep it compatible with other landclass sceneries, such as ORBX. I normally use batch script to append or create files when needed, but I'm not sure how to go about writing a script to determine and update order numbers.

Has anyone used a similar method before?
Thanks!

 

[HolgerSandmann]

Hi Chris,

your current approach is the correct one. Your raster landclass file will determine the extent of your coverage area, with the typical blending to the surrounding scenery by ~1/2 of a landclass QMID15 tile, meaning a few hundred yards. Adding custom entries to terrain.cfg will not change this behavior.

To ensure compatibility of your own add-on with those surrounding it it's best to include a complete set of landclass textures in your texture subfolder of all the classes you're using, including classes that appear (=auto-switch) on steeper slopes, assuming the terrain isn't completely flat. Also, any landclass polygons you place will need to be fully covered by your raster landclass file otherwise the sim will pick for those areas the poly textures from the active landclass file at the next lower display priority.

Cheers, Holger

 

[Rotornut44]

Hi Holger,
Thanks for the reply. I think I get what you have said for the most part, but I'll let you double check my process. This is currently how my project is set up:
I'm working on the Solomon Islands. As the islands are mostly tropical forest, I have tiled the entire coverage area in tropical forest LC. (Default texture) This gives me a working base layer. Over top of that I have added many polygons defining areas of grass, villages, fields and cities/large towns. For the grass polygons, in SBuilderX I have them assigned to LC_Grass I then created new grass textures and added them to the project texture folder. Is this the workflow you are suggesting or have I missed a step with needing a certain BGL?

Thanks,
-Chris

 

[HolgerSandmann]

Hi Chris,

that's the approach I'd be using too. As mentioned it's important that all the classes used in the raster landclass file (in your case apparently only one set, though perhaps with slope classes) also have their textures in your texture subfolder, otherwise your landclass polygon textures will be picked from the texture folder the raster landclass file is accessing instead (usually Scenery\World\texture).

Note that you don't necessarily have to use a class with a corresponding name, i.e., LC_Grass for grass. With local landclass add-on in which you provide the textures you can pick any class that meets your need. That can be important because different classes have different numbers of variants, seasons, night lighting, blending, etc.

Last but not least, in terms of determining class texture names you need to be aware of the Region you're in because there may be subvariants for your classes: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707102.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396#Regions . Assuming your project is in Region H there are six classes with "h" in their file names (see my FSX Land Class Table spreadsheet or similar references), the others would use the default "b" designator.

Cheers, Holger