[RELEASE] Snowflake Lake, Alaska: Redux | Emerald Scenery Design

Rotornut44 · April 15, 2022, 3:03pm

Welcome to Snowflake Lake Airstrip!
Snowflake Lake is an unregistered backcountry airport just 5 NM / 9 KM to the North of Talkeetna, Alaska. Fictionally designated AK64, Snowflake Lake has a 1500 FT / 457 M long gravel runway, which makes it perfect for a wide class of general aviation and larger twin engine aircraft.

This scenery has been brought to life in incredible detail, with a heavy focus on environmentals. Snowflake Lake uses almost all custom libraries with the integration of our own Emerald Object Library. Some features include: a 2-meter digital elevation model, hand-corrected and color-matched 30cm/px aerial imagery, custom vegetation, 3D trees, and environmentally-dynamic features, such as: Butterflies, Rain Puddles, and Morel Mushrooms!

Features

30cm/px aerial imagery.
Hand-corrected and colored to match the surrounding terrain.
2-meter digital elevation model.
Compatible with ORBX NA Alaska Mesh!
Uneven/sloped runway for that authentic backcountry experience!
Look out for rocks!
Hand-placed, native vegetation.
Weeds, Wildflowers, Shrubs/Bushes, and 3D Trees. Includes LODs for improved performance.
Reworked a large section of nearby marshland.
Cleared out and replanted trees in varying heights and densities.

Environmentally-Dynamic Features

Butterflies – Visible from May through September. Includes 4 different Alaska native variations!
Morel Mushrooms – Look for Morel Mushrooms popping up around the airstrip from May through July. But keep a keen eye out, as they can be quite difficult to spot!
Rain Puddles – Only visible when rain is reported in the area.

Where can you download Snowflake Lake?
This scenery is only available from the following websites:

Product Support
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Contact Us
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Thank you for your interest in Snowflake Lake! If you want a companion scenery to this airstrip, check out my nearby Chunilna Cabin Strip payware!

Rotornut44 · May 10, 2022, 10:51pm

Snowflake Lake | v2.0.1 Update

This one’s not a huge update, but due to some SU9 changes, I wanted to ensure future compatibility for this addon!

v2.0.1 Changelog
Please remove the old version of Snowflake Lake to get rid of the leftover BGL file.

SU9 changed the way that polygons are saved and compiled. Although there is backwards compatibility so far, Snowflake Lake has been recompiled to ensure future compatibility.

I tried to get this on marketplace as a freeware for PC & Xbox, but was shot down and told that freeware wasn't being accepted until their current backlog was worked through. I.E. Not until they can increase the size of their team, because we all know that backlog isn't going away anytime soon.

Thank you for your support!

Rotornut44 · January 22, 2023, 5:38pm

Snowflake Lake | Dev Update

Since release back in early 2022, Snowflake Lake has quickly become a backcountry favorite for many. Personally, it is my favorite airstrip, even beating out my Chunilna Cabin Strip payware (for now). However, there has always been one major downside of all that detail - Performance.

On my old computer, I would average 40-45fps in the parking spot on high settings. On my current build, I can get 55+fps on nearly ultra settings, but that doesn’t make a very good test platform, so I have reached out to a few testers to compare FPS and get a better idea of where the scenery sits performance-wise. And, while it has been in the acceptable range for those with somewhat modern hardware, it is a lot lower than I would like.

So, in this upcoming v2.1.0 update, I have put a lot of focus into not only additional detail, but performance optimization as well. Though, like everything, it is a balancing act where every bit of detail or optimization has some sort of trade-off. To cull performance, I halved the amount of trees and bushes in the scenery. And though this may sound like a downside to many, the benefits definitely outweighed the negatives on this one and the visual result is largely the same, if not actually better.

The whole issue with performance at this airstrip is not just the total number of verts for visible models, but the sheer amount of individual models being placed. So, not only has that amount been halved, but I’m also going a step further here. I halved the trees again, but then replaced them with a new group model, which contains roughly the same amount of trees per area, but only requires one placement call. This alone has made a 3-4fps difference, even adding more detail on top. I will be using the same method for the bushes as well, so I expect another few fps will come of that.

On top of performance improvements, I have also introduced new vegetation and fallen trees around the airstrip and a few of the lakes. Also, the once stationary Bear at the end of the runway now roams the area and will cross the runway at two points in it’s pathing. So, this gives the chance for two possible runway incursions depending on your timing! The first crossing - mid-runway, happens within a few minutes of spawning in. The second walks past where the stationary model was once placed, across the end of the runway and into the trees.

Much like I did for the Horses at Forwood Farm, I have also pulled the Asobo Bear models into Emerald Object Library (Which is also getting a hefty improvement update). This gives me the ability to get more advanced in their customization, allowing them to be hidden during the Winter months, mimicking a fairly realistic hibernation period.

Though there is still some work to be done, I am hoping to have this one wrapped up in the next week with the only stipulation on release being the amount of time it takes to finish this round of additions and improvements to Emerald Object Library. I am not only working on improvements for objects in this scenery, but also setting myself up for future updates that I have planned for other addons.

Until next time!
RN44

Rotornut44 · January 28, 2023, 2:34am

Snowflake Lake | v2.1.0 Update

Snowflake Lake has been updated with more vegetation, logs, and a new walking script for the Black Bear that always hung out at the end of the runway. The number of Trees and Shrubs have also been reduced to improve performance (Don’t worry, it still looks just as good as ever) as well as some areas replaced with new grouping models to further reduce the number of individual placement calls. This has seen a 3-5 FPS increase on some systems. Though, either way, FPS increase or not, the load on your CPU and GPU has been decreased with this update!

This update requires the latest version of Emerald Object Library, released today!

v2.1.0 Changelog

Added tall weeds & rocks to the field near the end of the runway.
Added tall weeds, flowers, rocks, fallen trees, & Butterflies around several of the lakes.
Added WorldScript for Black Bear pathing (The Bear will now walk around the area and cross the runway).
Added new flowers, logs, & fallen trees around the airstrip.
Improved performance on some PCs by reducing the overall amount of trees and bushes, and further reducing the number of single object placements by introducing new tree and bush groupings.

Enjoy the update!