Ground2k and EZ-Landclass - many thanks

[Guest seev_39]

Hi all,I wish to thank you all for posting so much information on this forum and above all answering my questions in regard to ground2k and EZ-landclass.My first project is a new landclass for north Israel (Galil, Haifa, Carmel - to those of you who know the land). I found it very useful to work with both ground2k and EZ-landclass. Utilizing both programs give you the tools for changing coast lines, roads, rivers, etc., inserting polygons and changing completely the landscape to be much more realistic.There is one problem I found with FS2002 default textures, many of them are probably good for the mid-west but not for the mid-east (Middle-East). Over here we don't have anything that looks like "small city suburban non grid dry". Hope this problem will be solved in FS2004 (10 different landclass types for the whole globe?).Special thanks go to the creators of Ground2k, Christian Fumey and EZ-Landclass, Russel Dirks. Great contribution to the community.Have funSeevFS2002 default Old City of Akko (Acre)http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/23018.jpgFlying over the new Akkohttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/23019.jpgTop down new Akko Old City with marinahttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/23020.jpg

[Guest]

Nice work Seev! You are correct in pointing out the advantages with these tools. For your city issues I would edit one of the city textures and then rename to a whole new texture and then use Ground2k VTP1 to draw the outline of your city based on the new custom texture. :-wave

[Guest seev_39]

Many thanks James,I will try that one. If I am not mistaken, I will need 6 different images - 5 for the seasons (though the only difference between summer and winter, in this part of the globe, is the light intensity) and one for night. Shouldn't be too difficult, probably similar to the night and day textures in g-max. Seev

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Seev.You can make a landclass with EZ-Landclass or Ground2K. If it only uses, for example, 6 landclass numbers, then you can make 6 custom texture sets for that landclass, and include them in a local 'texture' sub-folder.Landclass is usually in a 'scenery' sub-folder that has no twin 'texture' sub-folder. That is because the landlcass BGL cannot "find" the all the textures.. but by using #254 ( transparent ) for the majority of the textures, localizing the custom textures only is possible. But ALL the textures used by your tiny landclass BGL must be present in the local 'texture' folder. If you use 6, then all 6 sets must be there.You need to match the right texture name to the landclass number, but this shouldn't be too difficult.. and there are some "m" masking files for landclass that may need to be copied locally as well. You will loose the autogen for those textures... unless you copy all the autogen to that local 'texture' folder as well... then you could have custom autogen for those custom textures.All this will allow you to replace the unwanted textures for your scenery... and only affecting your scenery. The project could be added via the Scenery Library, and disabled if not wanted, as a normal scenery project is done.Dick

[Guest seev_39]

Thanks Dick,I will follow your advise and try it, though it looks to me a little complicated, but one has to learn. (Recently I saw here a post telling us, all simmers, not to give up because of the long learning curve of this material).Would the process be easier if I apply "home made" textures (I mean textures made from satellite images or aerial photos) only to ground2k polygons? This will limit the wide use of different landclass, but will give local solutions to special areas, such as an industrial zone, old city, port, etc.Seev

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Seev,You can use your own textures in VTP with no problem - you may have to provide all seasonal variants and night lighting in order to avoid crashing, however. A very good solution for those highly distinctive parts of your scenery.Best regards.Luis