Transparency4Ortho

Transparency4Ortho is a tool that helps making (non-motorway) roads in X-Plane 11 transparent on scenery for which ortho-imagery (typically generated by Ortho4XP) is present. This allows the roads from the actual photo scenery to be visible instead of the bold grayish roads that X-Plane normally draws on the ground, allowing for a much more consistent and realistic look.

The main difference between Transparency4Ortho and other methods is that Transparency4Ortho applies these changes only on top of ortho-covered ground tiles. It is no longer necessary to switch transparent roads off or on globally, and flying from ortho-covered into uncovered areas is no longer a problem.

How does it look?

Here's a screenshot of Queenstown without Transparency4Ortho applied:

And here the scene with Transparency4Ortho:

Street lights will remain visible in the dark:

At transitions from tiles covered with ortho to those without - while never nice -, you can see that roads will still be drawn in tiles that are not covered with ortho-imagery:

More impressions from around the world

How does it work?

The tool automates the following steps to achieve transparent roads:

1. Transparency4Ortho creates a copy of your X-Planes default library X-Plane 11/Resources/default scenery/1000 roads under X-Plane 11/Custom Scenery/Transparency4Orth.
2. In the new folder, it automatically applies some changes to the roads.net and roads_EU.net to make (non-motorway) roads invisible, based on solutions discussed on the X-Plane.org Forums - but you can apply your own transparency mod as well, if you prefer to have it your own way.
3. It scans your X-Plane sceneries for tiles that have ortho-imagery present.
4. It sets up the library.txt of the Transparency4Ortho-library to use the modded road-definitions for these tiles.

Instructions

Installation instructions

Currently, Transparency4Ortho is a command-line tool only, there is no graphical user interface (GUI). It uses Java and should work on Windows, Mac, and Linux - but I have only tested on Windows so far and need feedback for the other platforms.

1. If you don't have a Java 11 runtime on your system, download and install one for your platform - for example from AdoptOpenJDK.
2. Download the latest (non-source) release of Transparency4Ortho from the Release-Page.
3. Extract the file to any location (doesn't need to be in the X-Plane folder - in fact, I would choose a different place).
4. As this is a command-line based tool, you need to open a shell to use it. In Windows, the easiest way to achieve that is to navigate to the folder into which you unzipped Transparency4Ortho in the Explorer, and then navigate to the bin folder inside of that one - you should see two Transparency4Ortho files in there. Now click on the location bar in Explorer and simply type cmd - this will open the CMD-shell in this folder.
5. Type Transparency4Ortho --help - you should see an overview of parameters and options to use with the tool. If everything is fine so far, move on to the usage instructions below.

Usage instructions

If you want the detection process to be fully automatic, Transparency4Ortho can scan your whole scenery_pack.ini file to detect all ortho-sceneries you have installed. Or you can tell it to use only certain sceneries, if you want to try a smaller area first.

Fully automatic

Simply run the command below and follow the instructions on the screen:

Transparency4Ortho <path-to-xplane>

For example:

Transparency4Ortho "E:\Games\X-Plane 11"

( Note that the quotation marks around the folder-names are a thing of the Windows CMD shell, not a syntax required by Transparency4Ortho. Other shells and operating systems do it differently. )

Manual selection of ortho scenery:

Used like the automatic command above, but after the X-Plane folder specify any number of ortho-scenery folders you want to include.

Transparency4Ortho <path-to-xplane> <path-to-ortho> [<path-to-more-ortho>...]

For example:

Transparency4Ortho "E:\Games\X-Plane 11" "L:\Ortho4XP\Scenery\Tiles" "L:\Ortho4XP\Scenery\Forkboy US\yOrtho4XP_Arizona"

Note that you can also use a folder that contains multiple ortho-folders in it's file-structure below as a parameter - Transparency4Ortho will detect those. You can not, however, use only certain tiles inside an ortho-folder. In other words, if you have this structure:

├── Forkboy US
│   ├── zCalifornia_v5
│   │   ├── Earth nav data
│   │   │   ├── +30-120
│   │   │   ├── +30-130
│   │   │   └── +40-130
│   ├── zColorado_2015_1m
│   │   ├── Earth nav data
│   │   │   ├── +30-110
│   │   │   └── +40-110

You can use Forkboy US (to include both) or just Forkboy US/zCalifornia_v5 as a parameter, but you can not use Forkboy US/zCalifornia_v5/Earth nav data/+30-120.

Influencing the ortho auto-detection

If Transparency4Ortho does not detect some ortho-tiles or scenery automatically, or if it detects folders that are actually not orthos, you can influence the behavior of the scanner by simply creating (empty) files inside those directories with specified names.

Include a folder as ortho-scenery

Create a file named Transparency4Ortho.Include in the scenery-directory you want to include as ortho-scenery.

Exclude a folder as ortho-scenery

Create a file named Transparency4Ortho.Exclude in the scenery-directory you want to exclude from the scan.

Additional options

Run Transparency4Ortho --help to see a list of commands.

Uninstall instructions

Simply remove the Transparency4Ortho folder under <X-Plane>/Custom Scenery.

FAQ

Which versions of X-Plane are supported?

I have currently tested X-Plane 11.41 as well as 11.50b6 with Vulkan.

The tool tells me that there is a checksum mismatch

Before making a copy of the original roads-library from X-Plane 11/Resources/default scenery/1000 roads into it's own library, Transparency4Ortho verifies that the roads.net and roads_EU.net are in the default state that ships with the X-Plane versions mentioned above. The reasoning behind this is to detect any changes that might have already been applied to these files, such as a global transparency-mod. Applying an automated mod to an already modded file might lead to unexpected results, that is why there is this safeguard.

You can easily restore the original version of those files by re-running the X-Plane installer over your installation. That said, if you don't want to do that or still have problems after restoring (please let me know!), you can also skip this error and give it a shot. The relevant commands can be displayed using Transparency4Ortho --help.

Does it run on Windows / Mac / Linux

Transparency4Ortho is developed using Java, so it should run on all of these platforms.

Can I run it without installing Java?

Currently not, but I am working on versions that bundle the necessary Java runtime for each platform. Currently you need to download a runtime of Java 11 (or higher) yourself. I recommend AdoptOpenJDK.

Will there be a version with a graphical user interface (GUI)

Maybe, if there really is a demand for it.

Can this destroy my scenery?

First of all, this is an early release, so errors can happen - use it on your own risk. That said, this tool does not change anything outside it's own directory under X-Plane/Custom Scenery/Transparency4Ortho, so nothing can really happen.

Does it keep cars and trains visible?

Yes, these remain visible and animated.

How can I rebuild / restore the Transparency4Ortho library?

Just run Transparency4Ortho --regenerateLibrary <path-to-xplane>. This can also be useful after when a new version of Transparency4Ortho or X-Plane ships.

I think I found a bug!

Great, please check if is already reported and if not, create a new one.

How can I get in touch?

The best way would be to contact me on the X-Plane.org Forums.