Util.dll crash at TFFJ

Mage · Post by **Mage** » Fri May 11, 2007 12:32 pm

I noticed that the scenery looked much the same whether the platform file was in or out (but when it was out I could see the scenery for longer

).

WRT your remark about the Gmax code - well, I'm sure the code is fine, but I'm less convinced about Flight Sim's ability to always do the right things with it. Sometimes things need to take the shortcomings of the sim into account.

Perhaps a low-poly version of the platform file (or maybe two simple platform files each taking care of half the polys or whatever they use) might work?

Also, since I fly with collisions off would I even notice that it was missing?

Post by **martin[flytampa]** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:49 pm

About the difference without the platform BGL.

I used 2 methods to make sure the hill isn't just a fly-through object.
1. The mesh itself got elevated in a way that it's peak sticks very close to the highest part of the hill (=the road). If you slew into the hill terrain you can see this rough mesh-hill. This can't be refined further and would make your plane collide (without crash detection) if you fly in way too low.

2. Because the mesh spike underneath the hill terrain isn't precise enough, I added the platform BGL which matches the visual hill terrain 100%. For example, if you place a default Cessna on runway 10 and turn around 180 degrees facing the hill, then you could with the Cessna "drive" straight up the hill. Without the platform BGL you can't, you would simply drive into the hill until reaching the mesh spike.

About lowering the polygon-count. Gmax platforms in FS9 already have some limit above which they don't compile at all. I already had to cut away parts to get this platform compiled. These missing parts are in the areas where you normally wouldn't fly into anyway, like the rock sticking out north of the runway.

Mage · Post by **Mage** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:33 am

Ah right, so if I wanted to download a car or jeep and drive around Barths that would no longer be an option without the platform in place? Or is the platform actually just a fillet between the runway end and the top of the "pass" that aircraft arrive/depart through?

It sounds as though my notion of splitting the platform object into 2 or 3 components would be the only way to get those parts co-existing. I know little about Gmax, but if it can't split objects up, might it be possible to work on 2 or 3 copies of the original object, paring away the parts from each that exist in the other one or 2?

Anyway, for now I'm happy working without the platform in place. Thanks for the explanations!