A little tip on FS9.1 rivers and streams

[Guest kimdahl]

Hello all!Here's a little tip that you may find useful if you have installed the FS9.1 patch to take advantage of the simulator's improved ability to render complex mesh details. IF you have changed the TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL value from 19 to 21 in the FS9.CFG, you may have noticed that the smaller rivers and streams (those that are not wide enough to have their own floatable water in the sim) are suddenly running in some very deep trenches. To someone like me, living in a rather flat country like Denmark, this looks very unrealistic. But this can easily be corrcted by changing two lines in the terrain.cfg (in the FS9 main folder), since these small rivers and streams are drawn in the sim using two texture lines that have an offset value that lowers the line in proportion to the surrounding landscape. At the top of the terrain.cfg you will find the following section://Stream Lines[Texture.1024] // stream lines / unknown / perennialType=1Size=4ExcludeAutogen=1MaskClassMap=3Textures=RiverSU.bmpoffset=-10[Texture.1025] // stream lines / unknown / non-perennialType=1Size=4ExcludeAutogen=1MaskClassMap=3Textures=RiverSU.bmpoffset=-10If you change the offset value from -10 to -3 you will see a dramatic effect on the trench phenomenon:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94230.jpgDanish landscape with small stream at offset=-10http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94231.jpgThe same landscape at offset=-3If you fly in the mountains the difference may not be so big:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94232.jpgFlying in the Alps at offset=-10http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94233.jpgThe same place at offset=-3But you may still run into some strange and unrealistic visual effects where the stream meets a lake:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94234.jpgFeel free to experiment with other offset values till you find the value that best suits your taste and your favourite flying area. Best regards

[Egbert Drenth 250]

Hi Kim,Thanks a lot for this tip!I was already wondering by what these deep trenches weer caused, you gave the answer

[Guest waltch]

HiI am also thankful for this tip, because I was also wondering about these small rivers almost coming in deep canyons.However, I thought that it was a result of my new world wide mesh (FSGlobal2005).RegardsWalter

[wvernonc 0]

Thanks! I live in Kansas, USA and it has been proven to be flatter than a pancake. The trenches are out of proportion here.

[Hakkie 0]

Thanks Kim. My good old flat Holland was also looking very dangerous near canals and rivers... :+ :7

[Guest daveg4otu]

Thanks for that Kim- I was finding deep trenches across East Anglia(UK)-looks more natural now.Dave

[Guest DSandberg]

Question: am I correct in assuming this is only an issue if one is using an add-on, hi-res mesh, and not if one is just using the default FS2K4 terrain mesh?David Sandberg[br]THE BEAST: AMD Athlon 64 3000+, MSI K8N Neo Platinum MB, 1GB Kingston PC3200 ValueRAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB, Samsung SP1614N 160GB HD, Echo Gina 24/96, Pioneer DVR-107 DVD-RW, Samsung SD-616E DVD-ROM, Antec Sonata case, Mitsubishi 19" Diamond Pro 930SB, Windows XP Professional, DirectX 9.0c, CH USB Flight Sim Yoke & Pro Pedals.[br]Long live InfoMETAR

[Guest kimdahl]

Hello David!Oh no, we are talking about the ordinary standard Microsoft stuff on a world wide basis. It makes you wonder if no one in the FS development team has ever tried to set the TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL to 21, and see what happens then! It would have been so easy for them to include a decrease in the offset values for those two texture lines in the patch, and it would have saved people from a lot of frustrations...Best regards