Some issues in P3D v.24 ...

[robains]

Hey All,

Appreciate FT making installers for P3D v2.4 but I've notice there are some issues with CopenHagen:

1. Duplicate shadows
2. Very dark textures
3. Night lighting doesn't seem to respond to moon light levels (i.e. Full moon) everything stays dark

It would be great if other P3D users that use SimObject and NoShadow Flagged Content with HDR could confirm, but here is what I'm talking about (pictures worth a 1000 words):

warning images are large (3840 x 2160)

EKCH night
http://robainscough.com/images/8a5ba67e ... adca8f.jpg

KDEN night
http://robainscough.com/images/0800caf7 ... 60cc90.jpg

Shadow issues (taken 13:00:00 - Nov 6 - Copenhagen set to Nov):
Ok
http://robainscough.com/images/9fb1c384 ... 513e04.jpg
http://robainscough.com/images/264f7434 ... cca787.jpg
Duplicate Shadows
http://robainscough.com/images/742fff49 ... e121bc.jpg
http://robainscough.com/images/2e8c6c14 ... a1dccf.jpg
Ok
http://robainscough.com/images/cad29d81 ... b7ae0b.jpg

Any thoughts and/or confirmation?

Cheers, Rob.

[emilios[flytampa]]

Hi Rob,

First shots, I cannot see how aircraft reflections can be related to Copenhagen scenery, or any scenery for that matter; smth to do with the geographic position perhaps?

About duplicate ground shadows, do you see this effect all around the apron?
seems specific to 'white/grey concrete' to me. is this right?

[robains]

Hi Emilios,

That's why I posted a screenshot from KDEN to show the difference ... what "I think" is happening is the HDR system is seeing two ground layers and incorporating those "light" pixels (from both layers) into the HDR equation so when viewed from that angle P3D HDR thinks the scene is twice as bright than it really is and hence adjusts (darkens).

So far I thought I saw "three" different types of concrete and each type seems to respond differently to SimObject Cast/Receive settings for aircraft shadow. In some concrete transitions this works perfectly:

SimObject
Cast = On
Receive = On

In other areas/concrete types it causes duplicate shadows (specifically the concrete that has some gold/speckle in it). For taxi parking spots (lighter Paige color) this works fine:

SimObject
Cast = On
Receive = Off

However as soon as I transition out of the taxi parking area into taxi control area, the aircraft shadow does not show with the above settings. So I'm sorta in a position of damned if I do and damned if don't turn ON SimObject Receive.

I have seen this problem at other airports also, but I've also NOT seen this problem at other airports ... so apparently there is a right way and a wrong way in terms of P3D.

LM don't support ASM anymore ... so if you are using anything based around that it will most likely not work in P3D. But if you feel this is a P3D bug/issue, I'd be happy to report my findings to them with whatever details you can provide.

BTW, love that winsock ... it's the best looking and most realistic winsock I've seen in any airport scenery to date ... small detail I know. But the airport is wonderful, working Jetways, all great work!

Cheers, Rob.

[emilios[flytampa]]

Hey Rob,

thanks for the windsock reference

about the duplicate shadows now, it makes sense to be seeing those odd results. The ground is a 'composite' of old-type ASM and newer-type FSX 'overlays'; if you enable 'no-shadow flagged' then all those overlays would get&cast shadows. I also know, some specific (asm) ground layers won't receive shadows correctly in P3D, hence the mixed results you are getting.

It's possible to 'tweak' it a bit more and see if the effect gets minimised but it'll never be perfect, until LM fixes it.

[robains]

Ahh ... ok, if you're using old type ASM then I can see why it'll not work well in P3D. LM have dropped ASM support as it was causing performance issues with DX11 and became increasing complex to code around ... so sadly it's unlikely LM will be "fixing" or bringing ASM back to life. This is probably a good thing for end users because dropping ASM has most definitely improved performance in P3D v2.4.

Is there any possibility you'd re-consider doing away with the old-type ASM in order to fully support P3D V2.4 onwards? I realize this means two distinct products (FSX and P3D) ... I'd certainly support (financially) efforts that are P3D v2.x specific. I understand that your bread and butter is still probably in FSX, but with your talents I think you could really make P3D shine both performance, VAS, and visually.

Cheers, Rob.

[martin[flytampa]]

Old ASM code is still functional in P3D 2.4 and will only maybe become obsolete in a version 3.X. I can also assure that the airport you're comparing to uses ASM ground as well and that pretty much every other airport you may have installed uses it and they'll all break simultaneously if ASM support is dropped suddenly. There are exceptions, but if you have 100 airports addons, at best 10 of them use something other then BGL-groundpolys and those very likely also not the ones with the best looking ground details.

You're right about the AC looking brighter at KDEN prob has to do with the ground itself being darker and that resulting in the HDR filter creating a stronger contrast/curve.