Ground2k4

[Guest DonMac]

Thanks again Luis, I shall keep on trying. I thnk I need to go back to basics and resetup all my Addon folders and add the necessary items to the fs9 library entries.

[Guest DonMac]

Hello Luis,I am getting rather desperate now. I don't seem to be making any progress. I am attaching a jpeg to show what I am getting.Can you possibly answer the following questions, please?Do I need to tick the 'Use .raw general file' ?Do I need to tick the 'Update .raw general fileText Box - must this contain an entry?With what I am doing here, there is nothing but sea, do I need an exclude file?What textures are used by Landclass?Finally, I call my topic 'Utopia' (I'm still searching for it!)What textures should be in the Utopiatexture folder?I do not want to abandon this - I am keen to learn more about it.Many thanks for your past help and hope that you will be able to help me surmount this difficult? stage.

[Guest luissa]

>I am getting rather desperate now. I don't seem to be>making any progress. I am attaching a jpeg to show what I>am getting.Hello DonAt some stage a light will come! Luis Felizardo will certainly clarify your questions! Examining your picture it looks like you placed several landclass squares which is OK! In order to define the contour of your island you should draw one (or more) LWM polygon of water around it. May be the following picture speaks better than me. It shows 2 small islands and yellow is water. Points 18 & 27, 19 & 26, 5 & 11 and 4 & 12 should coincide!http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99191.gifKind Regards, Luis S

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Don,Fascinating results! Quite out of the ordinary. Many thanks for bringing this up, as we do not often get such brainteasers.I seem to remember that, a year ago or so, someone else tried to create an island at these coordinates and got the same results. It is all fuzzy and I do not remember it very well (put it down to creeping senility - it happens even to the best of us, and I am probably not one of those!), anyway, I think that Dick Ludowise had a look at that, but don't quite remember the results.I do not ever test somebody else's projects - too much to do on my own - but this is interesting, so I tried to reproduce your project and got the same thing! Land, land everywhere, and not a drop of whiskey (I mean water) to be had. Looks pretty bad.But, we can get around the problem with just a little ingenuity.I shall resume the steps that you have taken, for anyone else that may be reading this.1. Here is the Ground2K4 workspace - total desolation out in the Grand Banks!;http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99260.jpg2. Start drawing a new polygon and the Properties window pops up. Select "Poly with shore", and "LWM Poly";http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99261.jpg3. On the Lines tab, choose your beach, the width and layer, and select "Land on the right";http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99262.jpg4. On the LWM tab, select "Land";http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99263.jpg5. Finish drawing your island and this is how it looks. I call it my little Jigsaw piece (or it could be a doughboy);http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99264.jpgTo be continued...

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

6. Select the LC (land class, not "Landclass") icon and blanket your island in land class values. Even this is probably not enough coverage, but we shall see that in FS. This is as far as you got;http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99265.jpg7. Yikes! What happenned? It seems as if islands should not be drawn at these coordinates. Maybe the fisherman's union is opposed to this or something.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99266.jpg8. Back to the drawing board. We shall go back to Ground2K4 and draw a WATER mask all the way around the island to cover the extra land. Normally, there would be no need for this, and if you decide to draw your island closer to that green and pleasant land that is England, you should not have this problem. This Water Mask will automatically appear under the island, and will not cover it.Make sure to start drawing the new polygon out beyond the island, even out beyond the land class assignments.You will get the Properties window. Choose "Poly without shore" and "LWM Poly";http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99267.jpg9. On the LWM tab, choose "Water";http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99268.jpg10. Notice how the new polygon covers a very large area around the island. This is so as to cover all the extra land.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99269.jpgTo be continued...

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

11. Check that your polygon is large enough by turning on the land class textures (the "Show/Hide textures" icon, next to the LC icon);http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99270.jpg12. Looks all right. So, generate the bgls (4 land class bgls for me, just like you, plus a couple of others) and here is what we get:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/99271.jpgHaha. I laugh at the problems. Nothing is beyond us. We can make the world over to our desires. Place Jigsaw pieces and doughboys everywhere!By the way, you could probably open a pub on this island catering to all those bored fishermen, and make a pile of cash!And now, your questions. 1. In the guide, in the section "Create a new Project", you will find:"in the Land Class and Water Class section (LC and WC);- check

[Guest luissa]

>Finally, our friend, Luis de S

[Guest luissa]

>It is basically the same as I have shown you, except that our>is a little simpler. Luis de S

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Just an addendum for those, who like Don, wish to create a fictional island somewhere in the middle of the ocean.The Flight Simulator world is one gigantic Land Mask. You might think that you are flying over water, but, in fact, it is all land. Land with a land class value of 100 that displays... water! But, it is still a Land Mask.The only Water Masks in FS are rivers and lakes. Also, the areas right off the default coasts are Water Fills.So, when you assign land class values to your new polygon, you will get those square land masses just like Don. Because, of course, it is all already land, and there is no Water Mask to block out the extra, off-coast land.The solution is simple, as you can see. Just draw a very large Water Mask (or Fill with Water, but, in Ground2K4, this is the same thing) and then create your island. Since your island will be surrounded by an underlying Water Mask, all land class assignments will now end at the coast.Or, only create new islands close to the existing default coasts, where the Water Fills will block out any extra land.I should have realized the problem when Don proposed to create his island way out there in the "water". But, we are all so busy correcting the default coasts that it just never occurred to me. This problem never comes up in the vicinity of a coast. My apologies to Don.Luis de S

[Guest jimkeir]

Hi.> Jim - if you listen this - tried LWMViewer and it did not opened> the file !!!Yep, listening :) If you just open one of the world[wl]c.bgl files, nothing gets displayed. It needs something to display it *on* - mesh for landclass, LWMs for waterclass. It's slightly different to TMFViewer there.Come to think of it, that should be much easier to work round now...JK

[Guest DonMac]

Hello Luis,I am overwhelmed by the amount of work you have put in on my behalf. Your instructions of yesterday with the giff illustrating what to do was successful. I followed your instructions - I had to make it a non shore poly because with beaches and waves the external poly for containing the water mask was outlined by the shoreline. However, literally 'back to the drawing board' and success! I have included a jpeg of the island so far. I have experimented a little with added VTP2 polys - the city? is one of the standard textures and I am amazed at the additions made by autogen (buildings and trees etc..The island is to be an updated version using the new technology of the island I first produced way back when I was writing the help files in English for Pascal Meziat (initially in DOS and then in Windows) for Airport for Windows up to V2.10 I put the island at N45 W45 out of the way of any FS traffic etc. The tall building is one I made up in gmax when trying my hand at that and I have subsequently produced one or two little things that I've placed in my island scenery. FS2000!No I didn't go to Normandy but I watched most of it on TV. I had a fairly 'cushy' time overseas in the Middle East, two years in Aden - interesting but I wouldn't recommend it as holiday destination.Thank you again for all your work on my behalf. Of course I hope that there are many other 'Simmers' who have read the thread and benefitted from your expertise.

[Guest DonMac]

Hi I'm back again!I've just had a look again at your messages and I am surprised to see that effectively what you have drawn is precisely what I did when I first read the 'Beginners ...' notes and interpreted the note about being far away from land. Do you remember asking me about the rectanglar polygon which I drew around my island. Unfortunately I didn't have a clue then, otherwise I might have made some progress on my own. Instead I asked you the question about it and things have gone on from there!Incidentally, if you are interested I could e-mail you a couple of jpegs of my old island.Best wishes.

[Guest jzax]

Thanks Luis for the nice illustrated explanation.If one would want to give some elevation to the island, can that be done with Ground2k4? I experimented with it, changing the elevation of the island poly to 20 meters for example, but I get sloping water from outside the island, so the shore is not at sea level.... Is there a simple trick to do this, or one should go to mesh design scenery, to make an island with cliffs?ThanksJoaquin

[Guest DonMac]

Hello luissa,I am writing to say thank you too for your help with my island. I was confusing the two names, luis and luissa and I've just realised that it was you who sent me the yellow diagrams which were extremely useful.I believe you are the author of SBuilder which I've also tried and found rather dificult to get started but now that I am a little (very little) more experienced I will try again in the near future.Never-the-less I am very grateful to you for 'chipping in' with your very useful advice.

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

A very large number of scenery designers has started out by creating an island at N45 W45. I have always wondered who first came up with this idea. And now I learn that it was you, Don.You and Pascal have had a very lasting influence on scenery design.As for screenshots of your islands, this is a scenery design forum. All of us here like scenery. So, do not hesitate to show your projects. Please just be sure that your images are of reasonable size so that those who are still on slow internet connections (me!) do not suffer too much.Best regards.Luis