The Sordid History of ATTR_poly_os

I've blogged in the past about ATTR_poly_os...it's a tricky topic. ATTR_poly_os is
a feature of the OBJ file format designed to let authors fix z-buffer thrash problems. Unfortunately, the cause of z-buffer thrash is pretty complex. To make things worse, it turns out I never finished my intended documentation on the subject. (I'm an idiot!)

The fundamental problem I think is that what we have now (ATTR_poly_os and ATTR_layer_group) provide a mechanism to correctly fix z-buffer thrash, but they don't in any way enforce good behavior over bad behavior. The two attributes are very flexible, and if used together, can do all sorts of bad things. The problem is that ATTR_poly_os was thought up years before the layer-group mechanism, and thus they don't really reinforce each other.

So...here are a few simple rules to help with z-buffer thrash in X-Plane 860:

1. Never use the names of objects or their order in the DSF to accomplish anything. X-Plane ignores both names and orders when processing your scenery.
2. Do not move your polygons above the terrain to fix z-thrash. This won't work.
3. When possible, divide your objects into ones that are 100% on-the-ground (and thus may z-thrash) and ones that are 100% 3-d above the ground (and will not thrash). I realize that more objects means slower fps...so this applies best when you have many objects and can pick how you divide them up.
4. Always use ATTR_poly_os for any polygons that lie along the ground. Use the smallest number you can to fix the thrash.
5. If you have an object with ATTR_poly_os geometry and non-poly_os geometry, make sure the ATTR_poly_os geometry is first!

Those five rules should keep you out of trouble.

What about ATTR_layer_group? Well, secretly X-Plane 860 will change the layer group of an object that is ATTR_poly_os for you. So as long as your object contains only offset geometry (this is what I recommend in rule 3) it wll always be drawn before the rest of the objects, preventing artifacts.

You'll need ATTR_layer_group if you want to put objects underneath runways, or underneath taxiways, for example.

I am working on more comprehensive documentation on the topic, and appreciate any feedback on stuff that I've written that's unclear...the rules are complicated!