Hi WxTech
Can you please share the LOD numbers made for the palm plantation block so I can recommend players use them in my readme file.
Once finalized can you make available the 6 X 6 block, I would like to trial these around my Gurney Airstrip as soon as possible.
These will be used in high visibility areas around revetments and lining the runway.
Can you please provide a comparison poly count of the 40 X 40 and 6 X 6? My plantation is of similar size to yours, so I need to be smart on how each is used.
The 40m square palm plantation object formerly had three LODs. I added another LOD between the hi and mid ones, making for four LODs. Not that they will do anyone any good until I release the updated model, but here they are:
60
275
1000
1500
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The 40m square palm plantation object has the same number of polygons for all LODs, the count being 52.
My re-worked single palm tree, for its most detailed LOD, has 40 polygons. A 6 x 6 array of trees covers pretty much the same 40m square area, but has 36 * 40 = 1,440 polys, or almost 28X more than one of the 40m plantation blocks. You can see why I wanted to make a low-poly model that would efficiently cover ground at low cost in resources.
Now, there is an aspect of the single palm trees making them less onerous. As mentioned, the 40m plantation block has the same 52 polys even for the farthest LOD. By contrast, the single tree has 13 polys at the two farthest LODs (of the four present). And so at longer distances a 6 x 6 array of trees comprises 36 * 13 = 468 polys, or 9X more than making up a 40m block object. The ratio is getting a tad more agreeable.
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Note that I'm not making a discrete single mesh containing 36 individual trees. That would be a bit of work when not having proper 3D modeling software. At this point, anyway, I'm simply making effectively a mission file whose contents in the relevant section looks like this:
[Buildings]
0_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98000.3 90409.7 406
1_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98008.4 90410 572
2_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 98015.5 90410.1 476
3_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98023.8 90409.8 363
4_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98032 90410.5 375
5_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98040.3 90409.8 690
6_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98000.2 90417.5 699
7_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98007.9 90417.7 375
8_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98015.8 90418.5 401
9_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 98024.3 90417.7 401
10_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98031.7 90417.9 720
11_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98039.8 90417.8 588
12_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 97999.8 90425.6 521
13_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98008.1 90426 630
14_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98016.2 90426.4 364
15_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98023.8 90426.1 595
16_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98031.9 90426.4 676
17_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98040.3 90425.6 516
18_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98000 90433.6 542
19_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98008 90434.4 657
20_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 98015.9 90434.4 568
21_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98024.1 90433.7 579
22_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98032.3 90433.5 623
23_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98040.3 90433.8 363
24_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98000.2 90441.6 485
25_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 98007.6 90441.5 566
26_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98015.7 90442.2 396
27_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98024.2 90441.8 505
28_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98031.9 90442.3 421
29_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98040.2 90442.1 468
30_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98000.1 90449.7 669
31_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98008.2 90449.8 385
32_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98016.3 90450.3 601
33_bld House$FurniturePalmAs2 1 98024 90450.4 570
34_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98032 90450.1 448
35_bld House$FurniturePalmAs1 1 98039.5 90449.6 610
In each line here are a pair of numbers roughly equal to 98,000 and 90,000; these are the E-W and N-S coordinates, in meters, respectively, as measured from the SW corner of the map. One would plunk this block of text into a .mis file, then find the group, drag it or copy it, then paste wherever desired. For a tiny map, one could first subtract, say, 50,000 from these in order to ensure that the group does not fall outside the map edge. The last number is the rotation, apparently with 360 added.
Incidentally, in the experiment illustrated previously, there were 442 trees laid down. The polygon count at max would be 442 * 40 = 17,680 (you'd have to be about in the middle of the group to have all trees drawn at the highest LOD), and at min would be 442 * 13 = 5,746.
For further comparison, my previous single palm tree had 108 down to 27 polys, depending on the LOD. The old stock tree had 139 down to 19 polys.