scenery cfg question

[Joseph29 225]

Here is a entry from my scenery cfg fileArea.172Title=Venice - Tessera (LIPZ)Local=Addon Scenery\Venice - Tessera (LIPZ)Remote=Active=TRUERequired=FALSELayer=267As you can see the Aera number and the Layer= number is different for that entry, but for the first 120 or so entries in my cfg file those numbers are the same. Are those numbers supposed to be the same?

[N60JBravo 27]

No.There is no correlation between the [Area.nnn] entry and the Layer=nnn entry.The [area.nnn] entry is assigned by FS9 in numerical order when addons are added to the Scenery Library. These entries can be out of order and numbers can be skipped (which happens when you delete an addon) and FS9 will not care. It is best that you do not have duplicate entries and I think the only way that can happen is if you manually edit the scenery.cfg, which is something I don't recommend for anyone who is not extremely secure in their abilities.The Layer=nnn dictates priority in the Scenery Library with one catch. Layer=1 is the lowest priority layer, not the highest (typically Default Terrain). The highest Layer.nnn entry will have the highest priority in the Scenery Library and that number will vary depending on how many layers one has in their Scenery Library. These numbers do not have to be in consecutive order in the scenery.cfg, FS will sort it out. FS will not be happy if you have duplicate layer=nnn entries and may ignore one of them. Skipping numbers is not recommended but not lethal. Again, FS will handle these numbers perfectly fine if left to it's own devices. Problems occur when people manually edit the scenery.cfg and I have also seen auto-installers make mistakes too.Some people like to keep their scenery.cfg nice and tidy, (I admit it, I am one) and have the [Area.nnn] entries match the layer=nnn, and have them all in consecutive order. I don't think this enhances sim performance, but it makes the scenery.cfg easier to read.My personal favorite utility that cleans up the scenery.cfg was written by Steve Greenwood who was well known in the sim community some time ago, though I don't think he is active any more. Which is a shame, he is/was rather knowledgeable about some of the inner workings of FS.His utility is available here- http://home.earthlink.net/~smgreenwood/resources-g.shtmlIt is small, and simple to use.Hope this helps.regards,Joe

[Joseph29 225]

Thanks for the link, I will try it and see if there are any errors in my cfg file (I don't think there are any). In my cfg file [Area.nnn] entries all in consecutive order. Why did my [Area.nn] and Layer=nnn go out of wack? Cause the first 120 or so entries where both the same but after that the [Area.nnn] and Layer=nnn was different.

[N60JBravo 27]

First off, I find the term "out of whack" a little misleading as it implies there is something wrong with having mismatched [Area.nnn] and Layer=nnn entries. There isn't, and in fact it is quite normal and expected.To the best of my knowledge once FS assigns an [Area.nnn] FS will never change it. I am not a code writer, but it appears to me that the [Area.nnn] serves only as a separator, a way to tell FS "this group of data applies to the files found in this path".The Layer=nnn entry is a different story.Any time you change the priority of a layer you not only change it's Layer=, you also change every layer between where that layer started and where that layer ended.The only way to keep matching [Area.nnn] and Layer=nnn entries without manually editing the scenery.cfg is to do all of the following...

• Every time you add a layer it gets placed at the top of the Scenery Library
• Never change a layer's priority
• Never delete a layer

It is my opinion that people worry about the scenery.cfg way too much. It can cause problems, I will agree to that. Most of the time, people's problems with the scenery.cfg are self-inflicted. It is, after all, nothing more than a text document.When you think about the mathematical gymnastics FS has to perform to display intricate 3D models with complex systems modeling (some very complex) in a dynamic environment that includes things like changing weather, light angles, traffic, etc. the simple act of reading and sorting a text document seems rather mundane.Hope this helps.regards,Joe