A Few Burning ?s for FS Vets

[Guest 727Fan]

Hi all. I've got a few questions I need answered if I'm going to my continue my learning of this great hobby. OK, here goes:How do you add scenery? Does the new scenery go into the default folder, the default "add-on" folder, or a new folder? Seperate files within the folders?What's the difference between LandClass and mesh? What should I be wary of?Are there any GMAX Boeing 757s or CRJs out there I can use for AI?What's the difference between POSKY's B767 and POSKY's B767 V3?And yeah, AFCAD still ###### me. I need courage!I'm comptent at adding aircraft and flight plans, but a newbie in the scenery dept.Thanks so much for any help!Rick

[Guest BobL]

How do you add scenery? Does the new scenery go into the default folder, the default "add-on" folder, or a new folder? Seperate files within the folders?I'll give this one a try...the other questions will have to be answered by someone else...There are a number of ways to add scenery and it's really personal preference. Here's how I do it. Let's pretend that we are adding a new scenery for KGSP. It doesn't have to an airport but a city or area as well. First locate in your FS folder, a sub-folder ...scenery. Don't confuse this one with .../SCENERYDB. If it happens to not be there, add it.Next, under the .../scenery add a sub-folder for the scenery to be installed. In this case, KGSP. It could be called anything that means something to you. Your add-on scenery should come pre-packaged with folders for .../scenery and .../textures. The syntax is important here. Under KGSP add .../scenery and .../textures. The textures folder has to be there even if it's empty.So your new structure looks like:....FS/Scenery............. KGSP................../scenery................../texturesGenerally, .bgl files go in the lowest ..../scenery folder and bitmaps (.bmp); textures (.r8) go in the .../textures folder. These (the textures and bitmaps) can also go in the main FS Textures folder (FS..../Texture). If there happens to be a .dat file, that needs to go where the author tells you in the readme. Usually it's in the area folder (KGSP in our example).Now, start FS. Under the World Menu, select Scenery Libraries. Click Add Scenery area. Map the path to the KGSP folder. Click ok.Then set the priority. As a rule of thumb, areas on the bottom (highest number=lower priority); Cities in the middle; Airports on top. Click ok. FS should re-build it's databases and indices and it's in.If you try one and have problems, email me off the profile and I'll see if I can help.I'd try the other questions, but I tend to favor the GA stuff. Someone who like the iron needs to help you there.BobL

[Guest 727Fan]

Thank you Bob!

[Guest]

I find that having my addon scenery located away from the program fs2k2 helps me. If I need to re-format or re-install, or change to the next version of the sim, I have nothing to do with my scenery but redo the scenery.cfg database.I have a seperate harddrive I use only for fs addons and tools.B

[Guest]

<mesh is a word folks use to describe the ground shape. upgrade mesh addons are just replacement files that provide more accurate ground shape because they use more dense data.landclass is about what image to display on top of the mesh. In default areas, fs2k2 chooses from a bunch of standard textures for this display. It makes its choice based on a landclass code, changing landclass code just means the author made more accurate decisions as to what default textures to use.<I guess two answers to this, fs2k2 specific answer is Nothing, as long as you put important, irreplaceable stuff somewhere smart, like a different harddrive. Then jump in, its how you'll learn.From a general perspective, I'd suggest poisonous snakes and things that go "bump" in the night...oh yes, and that nasty burning rubber odor from your power supply after a power outage.:-))Bob Bernstein