I’m looking for some clarification regarding the best practices for covering airport buildings with aprons in the World Hub.
Currently, with the original AI builds, there is not a lot of consistency as to which buildings get covered and which get left alone. For instance, at one airport I worked on, all buildings were already covered. At another, only the ones that were surrounded by ramps were covered, but the ones on the periphery of the ramp were not. And at yet another, neither those on the periphery nor the ones in the middle of a ramp were covered. So we’re beginning with a lot of inconsistency.
I’ve had several submissions rejected for not covering buildings, so I’m trying to get a better understanding of what we should be covering, what we can leave alone, and if uncovering a building to match what the AI already did is off the table. To be frank, I’m not sure if making a building look like a concrete pad, with all the remaining vagaries of a transition from the ramp to the building (hangar) in place, is a good thing. Are we to also cover shadows from a building from which the aerials were taken at an oblique angle? Are we to cover all the small accoutrements that you might find around buildings (there’s often quite a bit of equipment and/or junk at smaller airports)? When a prominent tree is overhanging a building, are we expected to sacrifice (remove) that with the building?
Additionally, I’m finding a lot of parking lots covered on non-airport businesses and residences, as if they are ramps, when it is clearly not the case. How far away from the airport should the practice of “covering” extend? Should we delete those if they are a certain distance from the airport, or if they are clearly not on airport property? What if they are immediately adjacent and have a lot of junk (junkyards and equipment storage are often near airports)? Covering vehicles and airplanes on the airside make sense, but the transition from airside to land side is not always clear (or even extant at the smallest airports). I feel like this whole concept can be taken to the nth degree, cause a lot of work for all parties, and still not make for good results.
Lastly, just saying, much of this ambiguity could be resolved with the ability to add simple buildings and hangars.