Best Way To Install Sceneries...

[Guest WorkingStiff]

Today in preparation for COF2004, I decided to delete my entire 16 GB FS2002 installation and reorganize my hard drive with the idea of paralell FS2002 and COF2004 installations sharing a common Addon Scenery folder.I just reinstalled FS2002 and I'm thinking of creating a folder outside of FS2002 to install all my addon sceneries...this should also make it easier to reference the sceneries from COF 2004.1. Is this a particularly useful idea? Would there be any problems caused by installing my sceneries outside of FS2002?2. I've also seen posts in the past that discussed adding all sceneries into a single folder (e.g. all bush sceneries) Can someone describe how this is done?3. What is the best way to install mesh? Should I put the mesh files in their own scenery folder and install them through the FS2002 Scenery Library or simply add them to the main Scenery folder?Both methods work but I'm trying to figure out which one is the optimal method.Thanks.

[Dark Moment 0]

<<<<1. Is this a particularly useful idea? Would there be any problems caused by installing my sceneries outside of FS2002?>>>Should work fine. Although I wouldn't rush before you see what COF has to offer. And texture colouring and 'feel' will differ in some areas, so we may find many updates to scenery add-ons.<<<2. I've also seen posts in the past that discussed adding all sceneries into a single folder (e.g. all bush sceneries) Can someone describe how this is done?>>>I have eight or nine hundred add-on sceneries. The layer limit in FS2002 is 331, so I consolidate by putting, say, all my German scenery in one folder called GERMANY VARIOUS. Just make sure everything goes into the correct SCENERY and TEXTURE folders within your consolidated folder, and keep all the readmes (rename as necessary) so that you can handle updates later. I don't use this method, I might add, for important large sceneries that I want to be sure I can update easily OR sceneries that need Flatten or Exclude lines in the SCENERY.CFG.<<<3. What is the best way to install mesh? Should I put the mesh files in their own scenery folder and install them through the FS2002 Scenery Library or simply add them to the main Scenery folder?>>>I organise it into consolidated folders by author in some cases and by region in others. Just do it so that you know where stuff is when you want to replace it with better versions, or try alternates. You can, of course, just drop everything above into your main SCENERY folder or ADD-ON SCENERY folder, but that's for dummies. You'd never trace anything that way.Landclass files I do put in the main SCENERY folder, though. I keep a separate record in a TXT file of every entry as I often update it.Hope this helps a bit. Basically, what I am saying is you can reference anything anywhere from FS, excepting the AIRCRAFT folder, of course; although I keep most of my planes in a separate hangar so as not to have more than three or four hundred under AIRCRAFT at any one time, for ease of loading. My GAUGES folder, well that's another story, LOL. It's enormous.Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest seev_39]

I don't believe you can keep active sceneries outside FS2002, probably the same will be with FS2004.What I do, in order to keep my "house clean", is to copy all scenery zip files which I downloaded, to a backup folder that is located in a different directory. I do this just for that terrible day when I will have to reinstall FS - thanks God, it never happened so far.Each such zip file is under its own sub-folder, where I also put the text file that came with the scenery, manuals - if such came with the scenery, registration # (payware scenery) and other handy things. Maybe it looks to be too organized, but believe me it is convinient not only for CD back-ups but also for deciding from time to time what is worth keeping and what is not.Same procedure goes for add-on a/c.Once FS2004 will be available, all what is left to do is to reopen the zip files and install the sceneries in the new sim (if compatible of course)Seev

[Guest Reddog]

I have all my addon sceneries outside of the Sim and on two different HD's and it accesses them all with no problems, some are on my C drive where the sim is installed and the rest on my D drive.http://www.enter.net/photoalbum/data/reddog/551867.jpgSceenshots and Pics athttp://community.webshots.com/user/reddog18951USMC Retired

[Guest WorkingStiff]

Thanks guys.It looks like a scenery folder outside of FS2002 is the way to go. Assuming that some of the sceneries will work in COF2004, it makes sense to set them up in a Shared folder. If they don't work with COF2004, then it would be a simple matter of dragging the folder inside of FS2002 and editing the paths in the scenery.cfg file.

[scott967 62]

There may be a problem. I saw an open letter from Lee Swordy concerning AFCAD and FS COF/9 and he stated that AFCAD will no longer work because the facility data which is now in its own afdfilesscenery will instead be included with the main bgls (I guess sort of like it was in FS98?). So I interpret that to mean that new bgls will be created for COF sceneries that FS2k2 won't recognize. What I understood from the letter is that the facility data will be "excludable" like NavAids are in FS2k2 and the addon scenery will simply replace the excluded data instead of editing the afd file. That method may fix the current problem where ILSs and other NavAids must be modified in two places (the afdfile and the base scenery or default navaid file).scott s..