Using scenery from previous versions on FS2K2

[Guest FS_freak]

I am the proud owner of an excellent scenery pack built for FS2000 that was not followed up by an update for FS2k2. It has been sitting on my shelves ever since I took the giant leap to the last version of FS. Furthermore, FS2k2's rendition of my local airports is a very sad box piling exercise that leaves a lot to be desired. Is there a way to install this scenery in FS2k2? Would I have to bring some texture libraries from FS2000 (I still have the disks). Would I have to use the exclude command? I'm sorry if this has been answered on other posts but let's face it, this forum's search engine is not easy to use and searching archived threads seems to take forever on my 56kb connection. Thanks in advance.Mauricio

[Guest]

I've found that most FS2000 scenery files work okay in FS2K (and according to MS, both 2000 and 2k2 stuff should work in FS 2004 as well). You might find more flashing of some textures, and in some locations that auto-gen trees get put on your runway or water bodies are not exactly in the same place. Some airfields can end up in 'bowls' or on plateaus because of different levels of detail in the default mesh betwee the programs. Some of the older textures can slow down frame rates more than the newer ones, but otherwise the install routine is pretty much the same. Depending on whether you're using any add on mesh, it's worth a try. I log all my sceneries when I install them, one at a time, so I can note problems and remove them - as part of this I note whether it's a 2000 or 2k2 file as a reminder to look for the above anomolies. Give it a try without the exclude, and then with. Just like with the water bodies and autogen, you might find that the exclude doesn't address quite the same thing in FS2K as it did in 2000. I'd also suggest installing the scenery packages in their own folder with its own scenery and texture folder; that way you can activate it in the scenery library and deactivate it and destroy it if it doesn't pan out. I usually install sceneries by author if they have more than a few, but I usually don't add much directly to the 'Add-0n' scenery folder - it makes it harder to pull out files later. FlightSim.com has a section on 'Must Have' files, and all of these textures should be in your main texture folder - you'll need most of 'em for other sceneries anyway. Good luck,Ted K.

[Guest FS_freak]

Thanks very much Ted for your response. I'll give a try. Truth is I am weary of the strange things that happen such as airport terminals or runways on top of one another. I don't really know how to tweak scenery using exclude or flatten. Do you know where I can find a tutorial on this? Thanks again.Mauricio