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Holger

New FS9 Utility

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In today's downloads is an FS9 utility called Ground2k4V5.1 by Christian Fumey. Can anyone tell me a little more about what this utility does in FS9? I read the readme file, but it does not tell me much about it.

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Guest yarvelling

Same here...I tried to run it, but it failed with a missing .dll error....I hope it wasn't that 'ONE' download that solves all problems, fixes all errors, and is a fabulous panacia to flight simming...'cause it doesn't bl00dy work, and I too, have no idea what it is!!

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Guest Blue Skyy

"...I tried to run it, but it failed...and I too, have no idea what it is!!"So wait, you tried installing something on your computer without an idea of what it does? I suddenly get a mental image in my mind of a big red button in the middle of a console that says "Don't Touch!". And then someone touches it...lol.Sorry, couldn't resist the jab :).~Skyy

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Go to the scenery design forum. Ground2k is well known there and you will get help on how to use it. It is an extremely powerful toolfor adding scenery elements such as LWM and VTP. The learning curve can be steep. I'm still tryng to understand enough to start using it.scott s..

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Guest Steve Weatherwax

Ground2k is a scenery design tool created by Christian Fumey with which you can create lakes, rivers, shorelines, roads, etc. If interested, visit the Scenery Design forum for discussions of this wonderful tool.

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Guest yarvelling

Ok BlueSky, OK....Ha Ha!! Yeah I know, but I was hoping that something within the programme would explain itself, because the readme files don't tell you anything about what the thing is for, and neither does the little 'info' piece in the file library....like the other guys probably thought, I wondered just what it was going to do with scenery files....is it a scenery manager, editor, or what?Whatever...as it failed at the first hurdle...missing .dll, I decided that that was as far as I would go with it...however, it does sound afterall like it may be quite interesting, but I don't want to spend the next month learning how to move a lake or piece of shoreline a couple of feet, that I'll probably never even notice from 30000ft, so it's OK....I'll live without it!! Thanks for letting us know what it is though :)

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Guest Tim13

>"...I tried to run it, but it failed...and I too, have no>idea what it is!!">>So wait, you tried installing something on your computer>without an idea of what it does? I suddenly get a mental>image in my mind of a big red button in the middle of a>console that says "Don't Touch!". And then someone touches>it...lol.>>Sorry, couldn't resist the jab :).>>~Skyy :-lol :-lolI was thinking the exact same thing. "Don't press the red button. Don't ever press the red button" ---- Daffy Duck.Tim13

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Hi all:here are two examples what Ground2K4 can do for you. Don't look at the improvements of the new high-res mesh, just at the landclass, roads,lakes, etc.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48559.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48560.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48561.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48562.jpgPretty neat, huh?"it may be quite interesting, but I don't want to spend the next month learning how to move a lake or piece of shoreline a couple of feet, that I'll probably never even notice from 30000ft, "Well, maybe not small adjustments to a single lake but additional water bodies, roads, railroads, landclass etc. are very much visible from FL300+, for those who do look outside the windows ;-)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48563.jpgThanks to Christian for an amazingly versatile and well-designed freeware tool! There are other great utilities that do the same thing but G2K4 has the advantage of combining many different features in one package - highly recommended! BTW, it's not as complicated as it looks; I only started using it about six weeks ago and it's great fun! Cheers, Holger

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That's sound wonderful however there is only one small problem. Assuming one can master how to use it where do you get the actual terrain data (landclass, mesh, etc) that we can then feed into this tool. I presume you need to give it some raw data and then it spits out the scenery through the other end.Michael J.

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Hi Michael:Good point! Ground2K4 is actually not as "automatic" as it may seem; the user has to input/digitize all the data him-/herself. Basically, it's a drawing program: you prepare a base map and then draw the scenery features on top of it, select the appropriate landclasses, etc. Obviously, that can be pretty tedious for larger areas but it is surprising how a few select enhancements here and there can completely transform even larger areas.I have been using free satellite imagery as base maps but most people use airphotos or maps taken from Terraserver or similar interactive map servers. Alternatively, one can scan hardcopy (topographic) maps or orthophotos.Mesh design is a completely different process and can't be done with Ground2K.Hope that explains it a bit better. Cheers,Holger

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To add to Holger's comments...in the US, freely available TIGER data is available for rails, roads, utility line paths, streams and bodies of water. All this is in SHP file format which can be read ( and combined ) in a variety of freeware packages, like Terrascene ( familiar to FLY! designers ). These can be made into geo-referenced bitmaps, and are perfect as a background maps for Ground2K4.Dick

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Guest yarvelling

Holger,Nice shots....very impressive! Sorry if I sounded like a bit of an arragant fool, but seriously, for me, the default terrain is normaly OK, unless I can find a better landclass etc for an area with which I am familiar. I wouldn't have the patience to do as you have done, that much I do know! Collectively, what you have in your screenies is superb, and if someone who knew the area well, and released an upgrade then I would download it - for an area that I am interested in; Europe, Hong Kong, for two examples. I just have neither the knowledge of the areas, nor the patience to try to model them in that level of detail.....it's over 30 years since I last was in Hong Kong, and would love some terrain of that level of detail.

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Hi there,no worries, Dick and I were just trying to give some hints (visual and verbal) about what this utility can do. Great talent might stay unused because the "fear" of the unknown is bigger than the learning curve for a new tool ;-) (how's that for big words?)One of the great things about FS is that is can be many different things to different people and that none of them are inherently "better" or "worse" than the other. (getting even bigger!)As for Europe and Hongkong, free 90-m elevation data just became available for Eurasia, so you can expect a bunch of scenery upgrades for those areas pretty soon. I did a "trial" mesh of Hongkong and it does improve on the default quite a bit.Cheers, Holger

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