[simpits-chat] Interesting X-Plane pit............

[Roy Coates]

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003, Matt Bailey wrote:

> 	Yes, I believe the Z-buffer (clipping plane?) is too far out. Well, it's not
> too far out for normal flying, but it cuts things too close to the viewer.
> Moving it in closer is the ticket, but then you'd lose precision on priority
> of objects further away........fuselages visible through wings, etc. It's a
> compromise, and I'm sure the optimum setup would depend on what kind of
> simulation you're doing. Frankly I think we could take a little loss of
> precision. The only place I can think of where moving the Z-buffer in a bit
> closer might be particularly noticeable would be with static ground objects,
> like airport buildings and the autogen stuff. Runways etc always have
> priority so we don't have to worry about that. This is what I gather, anyway.
> Ben can give you the full scoop if you're really interested.
> 	My guess with the Fidelity setup is either (1) Austin tweaked the graphics
> for them (I would guess by moving the Z-buffer) or (2) the video wall in that
> pic is actually utilizing X-Plane's multiple machine setup for display, so
> it's got several OpenGL windows there (and hence, several Z-buffers at work).
> The latter sounds a lot more likely to me.

I've run X-Plane with 4 machines and monitors.

LEFT        CENTRE       RIGHT
DISPLAY     DISPLAY      DISPLAY
            (main)
                         CHIN
                         DISPLAY


the chin display would 'break up' with the runway surface flashing pink
areas.

Makes me wonder if AM did in fact give them a custom version?


Roy.