REX,UTX,GEX,MegaScenery - Sensible Approach?

[JoTayhen]

Hey Fellas,I have REX 2, UTX & GEX North America already installed. I have just purchased the Fla scenery from MegaScenery Earth. I am wondering if there is a logical way to use these pgms along with the new MegaScenery scenery when I am operating in the Fla area? Can I get myself into a ground texture conflict by installing the REX airport textures after the MegaScenery is installed? Do I need to worry about overlaying textures? How about the UTX textures and any possibility of nullifying the photo-scenery that I really want to enjoy from MegaScenery? I want to make sure I don't upset any apple carts here if I can possibly help it.I know a bunch of you have these programs and have figured out the right way to enjoy them together. I hope you will consider sharing your knowledge and expertise!Thanks!John

[cmpbellsjc]

John,Just put the photo scenery on a layer above UTX and when you are in the photo scenery area you wont see anything related to GEX or UTX, then when you fly out of the photo scenery area, you will resume your GEX/UTX combo.I own a bunch of the MegaSceneryEarth and MegaSceneryX stuff and layering in that fashion works perfectly. Also when the photo scenery is on top of your UTX layers, you will still get car traffic and the UTX night street lights if you so choose to use them.

[JoTayhen]

Thanks CMPBELLSJC. I have done just that and I do notice the change when I leave the FLA area. I also view the cars and lights when I am in the FLA area and enjoying MegaScenery. I assumed ( in my ignorance) that when I changed the options in the REX 2 pgm - things like runway pavements, taxiway markings, etc., that I would only see those changes if I exited the FLA area but I landed at the little facility in Stuart, FL and I saw what I thought represented ground textural conflicts - taxiways and runways that were partially asphalt and partially concrete. I never considered the possiblility that the actual airport is paved in this fashion although it could be the case. I went back into REX and installed different options in an attempt to fix what I thought was the problem but the new options, when installed, did nothing to correct the situation.John

[cmpbellsjc]

Yeah, REX has nothing to do with photo scenery, UTX or GEX.All REX does is change your default textures for clouds, sky, water, runway, taxiway, etc.So, depending on what airport you go to and how the AFCAD/ADE file designates the runway and taxiway material it will then call those textures, regardless of what photo scenery you are using, how its layered, or if you have GEX or UTX installed. As an example, say you go to some rural airport and the AFCAD for the airport says it has a grass runway and a concrete taxiway, then when you fly there, FSX will call the grass texture for the runway and it will pull whatever concrete taxiway texture you have installed from REX, however since REX doesn't have grass runway textures to choose from you will see the default textures. Whatever taxiway and/or runway textures you install from REX are global and will show at all default airports. The only way you wont see those textures at a default airport is when they call for different materials from what REX installs, or if you fly to a third party airport that has its own ground polys that use custom apron, taxiway, and runway textures like most 3rd party airports do.If you want to change a certain airports runway to something else, you can always download and install the freeware ADEX from Scruffyduck and make custom ADE files yourself to reflect the airport textures you want displayed. Hope this makes sense the way I explained it.

[JoTayhen]

It sure does. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your willingness to "go the extra mile" so to speak and include some of the finer details about just how some of this stuff works once its installed. It makes it much easier for those of us who are "technically challenged" !Thanks againJohn

[cmpbellsjc]

It sure does. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your willingness to "go the extra mile" so to speak and include some of the finer details about just how some of this stuff works once its installed. It makes it much easier for those of us who are "technically challenged" !Thanks againJohn

No problem John, we've all been there at some point when first starting out. I remember when I joined Avsim back in 2003 and started reading about AFCAD's, addon this and that, AI, AI flight plans, changing views points, Active Camera, etc., etc., it was all very confusing at first. It took me while to get the hang of what it all did as well as experimenting with the free tools like an AFCAD editor, object placement tools, TTools to make my own AI, and things of that nature. After a while it will all become second nature to you once you get more and more used to it and realise how the guts of the sim work to make things appear the way you want.

[Gaiiden]

Hey John, your airport issue can be solved with some work. I'm currently doing this for the New England area and am about 3/4 of the way done with all the airports (public and private) in NJ. Here's more info:http://www.mseairports.com/index.php?page_id=2If you ever want to try this yourself for FL just let me know and I'll be more than happy to help. I might go down there after I finish New England... but there are other satellite scenery locations I might tackle first...