Freeware scenery designer to place ships ?

[Guest]

Hi, I'm looking for a simple-to-use freeware scenery designer that I can use to place ships in the oceans. I really hate those empty seas, and would like to use the available ship macro's to populate them. I have no experience in scenery design...ciao, Dr.J

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Dr.J.The easiest way is to use BGLPlacer from Microsoft. It's found in the Specialeffects_SDK. It produces a CSV file that can be drag'n'dropped onto the BGLC icon. Hundreds of default ojects may be placed this way, anywhere you want.Unfortunately, it only seems to handle the defaults, but it works for me.Dick

[Guest]

Dick, thanks - just for my understanding: does BGLPlacer work with the API macro's available on AVSIM ?Dr.J.

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Dr.JNo, the API's are different. BGLPlacer only places default FS2002 objects... it's pretty limited.You may want to use FSSC, or Airport for Windows, to place objects.FSSC is available here at AVSIM's Library.It will allow you to use both libraries and API macros, and has more power than BGLPlacer concerning object placement. You can compile the BGL right from the program. I like it. I think others like Airport as well.--------------I'm going to study the BGL code of BGLPlacer, because it differs from the BGL code we normally use to place objects. I don't know if Christian Stock has studied it's output... he may have some clues. It's code looks more compact than the FSSC or Airport method ( both based on FS2000-SCASM coding ).BGLPlacer seems to be able to place any object in an active BGL-library, as long as you have it's GUID code. The problem is that BGLC is hardcoded for only default FS2002 objects. I'll have to experiment. If the code can be 'cracked' we could place any valid-active library object with BGLC code... and perhaps a simple front-end to replace BGLPlacer, as we'd use GUID numbers rather than the default names.Dick

[Guest luissa]

>I'm going to study the BGL code of BGLPlacer, because it >differs from the BGL code we normally use to place objects. >I don't know if Christian Stock has studied it's output... >he may have some clues. It's code looks more compact than >the FSSC or Airport method ( both based on FS2000-SCASM >coding ). Hi Dick,I just placed the water ship with BGLPlacer at N40 W40. The code in the library at "id = C545A2A0 11D2E2EC 1000849C 2AE60C5A" is "old style" code. The placement BGL looks also very "old fashioned". The only difference in relation to the "established code" is that the Perspective command before the RefPoint() has gone. Were you referring to anything else (more compact ...) ?Here is a SCASM text file of the output of BGLC.Kind Regards,LuisArea( A N40:00:00.00 W040:00:00.00 100 ) PerspectiveCall( :L000021 ) ShadowCall( :L000021 ) Jump( : ):L000021 RefPoint( rel :L000055 1.00 N40:00:00.00 W040:00:00.00 V1= 0 V2= 92 ) CallLibObj( 0 C545A2A0 11D2E2EC 1000849C 2AE60C5A ):L000055 ReturnEndA

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Luis.Here's some CSV code ( BGLPlacer ) for 2 ships near n0* 0.1000 e0*.1000:; Generated by BGLPlacer 8.0;; format for each line is the following:; EFFECT, ,,,,,,,,; LIBRARY, ,,,,,,,,; WINDSOCK,,,,,,,,,; BUILDING,,,,,,,,,;LIBRARY,VEH_water_cruiseship1,n0* 0.1000,e0* 0.1000,AGL,0.00,0.00,0.00,Very Sparse,"SCALE=0.1"LIBRARY,VEH_water_eastcoastcarrier1,n0* 0.4000,e0* 0.4000,AGL,0.00,0.00,0.00,Very Sparse,""Here's the identical BGLC code... and it produces an identical BGL file:HeaderStart label word dw 1 ; world set number dd 0000002E4h ; North Bound dd 0000000B9h ; South Bound dd 0000136B0h ; East Bound dd 000004DACh ; West Bound dd 0 ; VOR data dw 0 ; lowest VOR freq dw 0 ; highest VOR freq dd 0 ; seeds level 8 data dd 0 ; seeds level 9 data dd 0 ; seeds level 10 data dd 0 ; seeds level 11 data dd 0 ; seeds level 12 data dd 0 ; traffic data dd 0 ; minimum safe altitude data dd 0 ; terrain mesh data dd ObjectsStart - HeaderStart ; objects start dd 0 ; library data dd 0 ; facilities data dd 0 ; anchor point data dd 0 ; ATIS data dd 0 ; NDB data dd 0 ; dynamic object paths data dd 000000000h,000000000h ; minimum library id dd 000000000h,000000000h ; maximum library id dd 0 ; miscellaneous data dd 0 ; title and description data dd 0 ; magnetic variation data dd 0 ; exception and exclusion data dd 0h ; magic number dd 0 ; compression switch dw 0 ; spare; -----------------------------------ObjectsStart label word LATBAND_START LATBAND_REL 00000h, 00002h, ObjectStart_1 LATBAND_END; -----------------------------------ObjectStart_1 label word NEAR_FAR_SMALL_OBJECT_HEADER 0000000B9h, 000004DACh, ObjectEnd_1, 100 ADDOBJ ObjectBody_1 SHADOW_CALL ObjectBody_1 JUMP ObjectEnd_1ObjectBody_1 label word SCALE_AGL ObjectReturn_1, 0, 92, 000000000h, 0000000B9h, 037B4h, 000004DACh, 01B9Ch, 000000000h, 00000h BGL_LIBRARY_CALL 0C545A2A0h, 011D2E2ECh, 01000849Ch, 02AE60C5AhObjectReturn_1 label word BGL_RETURNObjectEnd_1 label word; -----------------------------------ObjectStart_2 label word NEAR_FAR_SMALL_OBJECT_HEADER 0000002E4h, 0000136B0h, ObjectEnd_1, 100 ADDOBJ ObjectBody_2 SHADOW_CALL ObjectBody_2 JUMP ObjectEnd_2ObjectBody_2 label word SCALE_AGL ObjectReturn_2, 0, 187, 000010000h, 0000002E4h, 0DED1h, 0000136B0h, 06E71h, 000000000h, 00000h BGL_LIBRARY_CALL 0C545A29Eh, 011D2E2ECh, 01000849Ch, 02AE60C5AhObjectReturn_2 label word BGL_RETURNObjectEnd_2 label word; ----------------------------------- EOL; -----------------------------------I cannot seem to produce an identical BGL file with SCASM, and even neglecting the header, SCASM-produced code is longer.Dick

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

I've put ships and boats into the scenery with Airport for Windows. It is a general-purpose scenery placement tool, and you are not required to be anywhere near an airport to use it. All you need to do is decide on latitude and longitude. Airport for Windows will display a grid, and then you can place objects, rotate them, scale them, etc. Very easy, and you can compile the scenery directly into FS2002. There's even a button to restart FS2002 once you've done the compile, although it won't do the compile with FS2002 running.I'd like to see Airport for Windows link up to FS2002 so I could see the plane's position on the scenery placement grid, the way AFCAD does when placing gates and nodes. The hardest part of Airport for Windows is aligning its scenery objects with the FS2002 scenery. I usually put my aircraft in SLEW mode (press y) so I can move around and get Lat/Lon info.

[Guest luissa]

>I cannot seem to produce an identical BGL file with SCASM, >and even neglecting the header, SCASM-produced code is >longer. >Dear Dick,I think I can explain. The opcodes and the BGL code are the same. Either starting with a CSV file or with a SCASM text file. Returning to my previous post and to clarify what I was trying to say:1) I made a CSV file with a water ship at N40 W402) I drag it over BGLC and got a BGL file3) I decompiled the BGL file to a SCASM file with BGLAnalyse2.1and I reach the conclusion that the "SCASM decompiled file" looked exactely as it should, except for the absence of Perspective which is 2 bytes (I think). So there is nothing new in placing a library object with the "Microsoft tools" in compairison with the "old and good SCASM tool".The header (128 bytes) is the same and mainly consists on a sequence of pointers (one for each section) to the start of the code.SCASM uses some 30 bytes (I really do not know how many exactely) at absolute address 128 for copywrite matters. So in a BGL file obtained with SCASM your ObjectsStart label will transalate to 128 + 30. Another reason for different "BGL sizes" is padded data at the end of the file. I think these differences have no impact in the operation of the SIM.Kind Regards, Luisps: is it ObjectEnd_1 in the second NEAR_FAR_SMALL .... ?

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Luis.I think you are right. The 'padding' at the end of the SCASM produced BGL had stumbled me... the code is otherwise the same. I'm note sure what that 'padding' is for, unless a "watermark" of some kind.You're also right in that the pointer should be to ObjectEnd_2.I'm thinking some inventive soul could develop a utility similar to BGLPlacer, but that would allow the placement of objects from other libraries, and API's as well... whether the code produced was SCASM or BGLC. I think fsregen was going that way, but I've had trouble with that program, and George isn't actively workin with FS2002 anymore.BGLPlacer is otherwise a pretty handy utility for anyone that doesn't want to use a large utility like airport or fssc.Dick