Going 3D

Well maybe.  I am looking at how to give LOM the capability to display objects as a 3D image rather than a thumbnail.  I'm looking at using DirectX but it will be a while before I get it sorted

LOM Version 1.00 Released

Uploaded to AVSIM and Flightsim today. Includes the extended library information and thumbnail sharing. This version is all about updates to LOM, the next one will focus on Scenery Maker. Expect some more object types including runways and navaids plus possibly the move to a graphical interface to display objects.

Video Tutorials

I have been playing around with Demo Builder – software to create video (Flash) turorials. I think they might make a useful addition to my software and other tutorials. Hopefully there will be a 'first try' on my site in the near future.

More About Libraries

Version 1.00 has an enhanced Library Information functio. You can

Give libraries a friendly name which is used throughout LOM and scenery maker

Add/Update the Author- changing the author changes the author details for all the objects in the library

Add the distribution package path and filename as it is on your computer so that you can find it if need be and also tell others what it is called

Add information about the download source(s) for this library

Add notes which includes being able to import the read.me. I can't automatically get that information cos there is no real consistency among authors

See a list of all the objects in that library (double click on one gets you an enlarged thumbnail)

See a list of all the textures used by the library, and see if any are missing. (Double clikcing a texture brings up DXT or whatever with the texture in it)

Create a text report with all this information for your use or distribution.

Import and Export of Thumbnail packages

I have a working build here of LOM which can:

(a) export the image information for one or more libraries at a time. The data file includes all the images so comes as a single file

(b) import the image data file so that you can get the images without having to screenshot and add them for yourself.

Import and export is through the existing import and export dialogs – just another type.

Means that users can share images of libraries. I will publish the images I have by Library on my website. This should make it much easier for users to get thumbnails if they want them without having to do their own screenshots and adding of images one at a time

UPDATE – There is a beta with this function available on my site

More on Version 1.00

I am adding the ability to import and export image details. I think it is a big burden creating thumbnails of library objects, especially those in libraries designed for EZ-Scenery since the designers do not generally provide images.

I have many libraries which I have created thumbnails for and plan to release them so that users can import them into their LOM database and save them having to create their own thumbnails.

Web Site Moved

OK my website is now at http://www.scruffyduckscenery.co.uk

Website Down

Due to the high demend for version 0.99 my bandwidth limit was exceeded and the site is temporarily down. I have asked my ISP to restore it this morning.

EDIT: I have decided to move the site to the dedicated server which supports my other sites. Hopefully this will happen shortly

Version 1.00 (or what got left out of 0.99)

LOM will tell you what libraries are used in a scenery, but I realize that is not enough. Each library comes as part of a distribution package created by the author. There is also the place to download it from. With libraries we do not want to have users downloading them multiple times, on the other hand telling them to get library xxxyyy.bgl is not much use either so I am adding a bit of extra that will allow the addition of distribution package information to a library.

I am not sure how useful the offset parameters are in Scenery Maker – after all you can place something pretty accurately with FS if you slow the slew rates down appropriately. Also the way they work now is not very friendly so I want to add a 'nudge' with distance and bearing – it is going to end up as lat/lon bias in the end but seems easier to say move it 3cm on heading 225 rather than trying to work out what this is in lat/lon offsets.

I am thinking about a snap tool to make it easier to put objects together but I am not sure if it will be really useful.

Now for version 2.00 – well at least a graphical display to position objects with – and by then – who knows FSX might be out and there may be a whole new way to create scenery!

LOM-SM Version 0.99 Released Today

Finally made it! The manuals were finished this morning. Both are completely new (well almost) and are compiled to pdf with bookmarks to make finding things easier. Almost 200 pages so I hope they help people to use the software. Available on my site now and should be uploaded to AVSIM and Flightsim today