BGLC - Attention

[Guest christian]

These were exactly my thoughts. Very neat for sloping rivers. However, I'm a bit cautious, because M$ may very well drop support of these polys for FS2K6 (or whatever). But, yeah, would be great for sloping rivers... I really wonder why M$ didn't use those polys themselfes, this is why I fear they may not support it in the long run.Cheers, Christian

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Christian.Has your decompiler work progressed? I could really use some automation in working with HYP and Flatten files. I need a lot more understanding before I could attempt to develop any tools, or make suggestions for more gifted programmers. I don't think I can get a handle on it, until I review a lot of code.For polygons, we could use a tool that allows a set of Lat-Long points, type, and height, and converts these variables to the proper FLATTEN or POLYGON macro ASM code... it should be very possible.P.S.Your website seems to be down.

[Guest]

I'm working on a tool to do that very thing. So is Christian. We will probably collaborate our work together when he returns from his 2 week absence. I have a pretty good understanding of how the ASM files are put together due to my many questions and Christian's patience. I have the math and algorithms worked out to take a set of LAT / LON points that define the polygon and break down that poly into the composite set of assembler source for the polygons needed by FS to generate the flattening polygon (ie, lake, airport or shoreline). This weekend, I intend to start coding. After this new development, I'm going to look into the feasability of having sloped rivers that lay over the elevated mesh. No promises yet on this, but I'm hopeful I can work something out.Leland Steffensen.

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Leland.That's great news! Your efforts are much appreciated, as are Christian's. A poly coder and/or a decompiler would help immensely.In a couple of weeks, I'll see if Christian is still interested in CFS2 line decals. They also differ somewhat from the standard FS2002, and the code contains BMP filenames, so referencing an index is not needed... the effect of that on seasons is unknown.

[Guest]

Hi there!I am also very interested in this subject although I am still miles away from understanding how these coastlines are implemented.Only recently I became brave enough to attempt my fist dives into MASM as you can see in one other post in this forum.Would it be possible to show some examples of MASM code of a costline and point me to the MASM macros that implement these?Cheersjmf

[Guest]

As far as I can tell, the coastlines are nothing more then flatten polygons that are used in the same manner as lakes. The waves are most likely one of the new special effects. This is all an assumption right now. But at least it looks to be the way this works. Right now, I'm concentrating on lakes and airport polys. But once these solutions are found, coastlines shouldn't be a problem. At least that is what I hoping for. I'm still miles away from having custom coastlines too. But at least now it's not light years like it was a month ago ;-)Leland Steffensen

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi jmf.The older CFS2 code for coastline correction also is identical to lake polygons... but CFS2 code does not flatten. That older CFS2 code may be used if FS2002 ( possibly useful for rivers or huge swamp areas ).Beach, lakeshores ( riverbanks ), roads, and rails are definitely line decals, with the older CFS2 code naming the BMP files rather than referencing an index. Christian or Leland may be near to understanding that code for FS2002, and I'll try to get CFS2 examples to Christian... that old code may yet help.Like you, I'm waiting for Leland and Christian to release some software to help us understand the TMF polygon code ( and that's a better than waiting for Microsoft )!;)

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Lee.By now I'm sure you've read of Christian Stock's decision to quit his work involving FS2002. This is a truly sad development, and I wish him the best.This also leaves developers in the lurch, regarding TMF file development. Should you continue your work with a TMF compiler, or a decompiler, I would be happy to lend moral support, and what little actual help I can. I do not believe Microsoft will give us a meaningful scenery and terrain SDK. They never even fully explained the 'resample.exe' they gave us after FS2000. Much of CFS2 would have benefitted from such an SDK... at this late date we cannot even place a stream or lake in either sim! Nearly all of the recent landclass activity, and much of the photoreal development was a result of Christian's research. What a debt we owe him! He also was an encouragment to others who were studying Autogen behavior. He, and Gerrish Grey, certainly encouraged and corrected me regarding my discoveries of 'localizing' and 'globalizing' textures for use with landclass and autogen. I'm sure those online arguments led to great interest in this area... leading to further discoveries and tools by others. None of that would have happened without Christian Stock. And nothing in the future regarding TMF polygons or line decals would have been possible without his many hours of thought on this subject, and his generous sharing with us. His work on New Zealand mesh and landclass set a standard for freeware scenery.While I understand Christian's attitude, I'm not yet to that point. I intend to press on in understanding the TMF file structures. Such undertanding will benefit us in future releases of CFS and FlightSimulator.