This conversion is being done with permission from the original author.
Although I say “conversion” this is more of a “based on” scenario, as the only things I will be using from the original scenery are the models and their textures. Everything else, terrain, placement, ect, is all being done from the ground-up. The models themselves, are even getting some tweaks under the hood (Mostly performance related for now). I have substantially reduced drawcalls and am working on adding LODs. Of course, there is much room for improvement, but this would require a complete redo of the textures and remap of all the models.
For now, I’ll leave that for a future update.
I’m expecting to have a dev release out in the next few weeks, after which I plan on further improving the airport over time, maybe even a bit of collaboration (If anyone would be interested). While the 1.0 release version will be available on my website and flightsim.to, the dev version is planned to be exclusive to flightsim.to. This will help to keep most of the discussion/feedback in one place.
I will try to remember to come back and update this post as I make progress, however if I’m to forget, rest assured that you can always check up on the original thread at FSDeveloper:
Until the next update, enjoy some screenshots of 3 days worth of progress!
Amazing news!!! Was hoping someone would make it. I even asked the original author if he had plans of converting it to MSFS, but he did not. Glad you took it over.
Made some more progress today. Mostly on painted lines and some object placement. Oh, yea. And I converted and placed some Cow models. They currently roam all over due to the lack of fencing, but hay.
Actually, that’s a lie. They’re pretty stationary.
You could also use available libraries from flightsim.to, they have some animated animals, fencing and really tons of tons of useful items to populate the area.
I thought about that prior, but for simplicity sake, I’m currently using my own object libraries, also available on flightsim.to. I may end up using some of Dave’s libraries, but we’ll see. If anything, it will be the People and Animals library.
Is anyone familiar with this style of runway light? I cant find it anywhere. The top looks solid, so I’m assuming that the light is just projected downward? However, that just doesn’t seem right…
The last few days have been pretty tedious. Lots of painting lines, lots of placing fences, a little touch-up here and there… but it’s all starting to come together.
We’re getting really close to the first dev release now! I’m planning for a release this Wednesday. It’s currently Monday (For another 10min), so that gives me tomorrow to get a few remaining tasks done. Which, I think is more than doable. However, if I have to push back, I’ll push it back.
Until then, here’s a whole new set of screenshots showing the latest progress! (Ignore the double windsock, it’s acting out.)
Looking at the WIP, you’ve got quite the details already… in 2019 i drove by it (as it wasn’t open) and took a couple of photo’s from the Highway (the “bilboards”) and from the entranceroad (byway 559?)
to the east of the compound… i was taking pictures into the sun, and i’ve brightened them up a bit to show the colours that were present… Anyways… here’s some details in the form of photo’s that might help in your hard work to make the dream come true
The highway-advertising-signs for fantasy of flight.
Would be fun on the entrygate, that you put your own info there, instead of the “we’ll be open from that and that date/time” Sort of like an easter egg. And paste that sign on some sidedoors to hangars. A bit of a reference to your work, and also a watermark for any POS that tries to convert it without your permission in future sims.
Woof ~ Woof & Salute!
Steiny
ps… i think the brown should probably be a tad darker (as they somehow chose “feces brown” from the lineup of paints )
Hey, thanks for the photos! I’ve been using mostly photos posted on Google Earth and street view as my references. Always nice to get some more reference content! Especially of smaller details, things you might not see from a distance.
I’ve thought about putting an (or maybe a few) easter egg in the scenery, however it will be in a later release.
95% of the custom models are the originals from the FSX scenery by Vassilios. That includes textures as well. My only changes to the models have been reducing drawcalls and adding some LODs (an ongoing effort).
I would like to eventually strip the models down to their mesh, as some optimizations need to be done at that level. The result being, I can probably shave off thousands of unneeded polys. However, that means remapping and texturing everything. So, that will likely be done at a later date, as I want to get a good rendition out for people to use (still on track for a release later today ).
I’ve also been playing with Substance Painter for PBR and have already redone the runway lights with a higher poly mesh and PBR textures. Although, I’m planning on reworking them, as I’m not quite happy with the mapping or textures. But they get the job done for now!
I have no clue how the whole process works m8, i’ve been trying to get my head around that, but found i am a user, not a maker… I tried photoshop once for my pictures, never touched it again… i’m just not much of a planner in the creative department. So, i’ll enjoy your scenery addon as much as i can upon release… well… probably a day later, as the update to the game is imminent (the 17th, wasn’t it? you might want to hold onto the release to see if it’s not screwing with your nice addition?)
).
