Excuse my ignorance once again...

[Guest]

I have been looking at the GMax program that came with FS2002 and it seems to require a Ph.D. in physics to run the thing. Am I correct or close? How tough is it really to create airport sceneries using GMax? What are the other types of scenery building programs? From my very limited understanding of GMax, it is supposed to be easier on frame rates. Here's where my thinking on this issue started out. I just purchased SimFlyer's World Airports and noticed that while ATL, for example, is quite accurate in terms of the actual layout, it looks very dull compared to the the ATL scenery that came with FS2002 - although the ATL scenery that came with FS2002 is not as complete as the SimFlyers program. The scenery that comes with the SimFlyers World Airports looks at times like the scenery that was used in FS98 -- the beady little windows in some of the building around the airport for example. Am I correct in saying that this scenery is using older technology that the default FS2002 ATL or LAX for example? Does FS2002 use GMax for it's scenery? As you can see, I am confused. Could someone please clarrify this issue for me and others who might be just as ignorant but curious.Thanks,Robb

[Guest]

It doesnt require a Ph.D, but it does require some work on your part to understand how to use it.There are numerous tutorails available to help you with it. A few are below.There are other programs available to help with scenery object building. Easy Object Designer is free, FSDS V2 and Novasim are two payware programs. FSDS is mainly for aircraft design, but can be used for scenery object design. Novasim is strictly object design.If you are really brave you could design your objects using SCASM, but it requires an understanding of the code, and has to be coded by hand.Once you create your objects, there are two freeware scenery design programs, FS Scenery Creator and Airport for Windows. These two programs will allow you to build new airports, and add the new scenery objects you created with Gmax or the other tools.Tutorials for using Gmaxhttp://dfast.gmaxsupport.com/ This site will give you help with the new material editor in Gmax 1.2http://www.windowlight.co.nz/ontarget/gmax.html - This site has some excellent tutorialshttp://www.scasm.de - SCASM files, and some tutorialsUse the tutorials that came with Gmax to get you started. Its not something you are going to learn a few hours it will take time and can be frustrating, but practice practice practice.Gmax designed scenery objects are somewhat easier on frame rates, but I have freeware scenery done in Gmax, and it does put a strain on the fps. Good luckDave