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Guest stewbullen

Excluding default flatten files

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Guest stewbullen

Hi allI'm trying to create some lakes in a mountainous area and I'm having trouble with some big cliffs that seem to be a product of the default flatten files for the area. Can anyone explain to me how I decide which file or files are the right ones to disable, is it based on Lat. and Long. or what?Cheers!Stew Bullen

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Check out the "Beigner's Guide" thread at the top of the forum. It will provide links to LWMViewer which is a good starting point. It also will point out the white pape / tutorials which sh9ould be understood first before attempting anything, IMHO. Folks like Luis, Christian, and Dick have done a lot of work, paving the way for others.scott s..

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Guest stewbullen

Thanks Scott - it's a bit of a maze out there!CheersStew

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Guest JohnC

Hello, Stew...I know exactly what you mean about flattens (and rivers) making a hash of the topography in the immediate area. The bgls which flatten airports start with an FL prefix. If you have Win XP (a) you SHOULD first make a backup copy of your sceenery/area folder (:( set your view of the bgls to list © delete the top half of the bgls by selecting the bgl names in large groups by holding down your left mouse button and dragging the mouse along the RHS of the names to select. (d) delete all the selected bglsLook at your area of interest and see if the flatten is gone.If not, you know your flatten bgl is in in the other half . Repeat the process until you know your FL number. Of course, there is a downside. All the flattens in your immediate(?) area will be gone and you might want to reflatten them all depending upon your own taste and flying habits. And Microsoft frowns on decompiling their bgls..... BTW,I recommend Ground2k4 for remodelling local bits of topography. Good luck

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Hi there,actually, using Jim's LWMViewer - http://www.jimkeir.co.uk/FlightSim/LWMViewer.html - makes the process of finding the default files a matter of a few seconds; just use the File > Open by Coords option and the tool will load all default files for the area around your coordinates, thus providing you with their names and spatial extent.Simply deleting or deactivating a default file is not a good idea because each file covers and area of something like 300x300 km (2.8 degress lat by 3.75 degrees long), which can include dozens if not hundreds of airfields or lakes.The FS9 EULA technically forbids any decompiling of FS files, particularly if you're planning on sharing edited files with others. However, myself and others distinguish between the specific text of the EULA and its legal intent: clearly, MS is interested in FS users adding to the default version because they provide the SDK documents and tools for doing so. The EULA's intent is thus to prevent someone from de-compiling their source code and making illegitimate use of it. Editing a default file to move an airfield or lake flatten is hardly an illegitimate task ;-)Anyway, here are two threads that discuss the options for dealing with the unfortunate problem of default flattens: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchhttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchCheers, Holger

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Guest stewbullen

Thanks HolgerI'll take some time to digest the links and then see where I get!Incidentally, the link to tutorial now appears dead, can you tell me where to find a copy?CheersStewart

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Guest stewbullen

Hi again HolgerMy e-mail address is sbullen@mailcty.comCheers Stew

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Guest JohnC

Hi Holger..I should explain that I read stew's post as needing as a quick and simple one time temporary fix for someone relatively new to the subject. As to your statement about the EULA, I assume you are correct...I'm not a lawyer (I hate to brag, but I'm not). If he wants a quick look to see what improvement he can get, I'm confident he can get the job done quicker my way if he is new to the game. Longer range, of course there are many marvelous tools out there...and gurus out there to keep us on the straight and narrow. :-violin.

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You're right that if the goal is simply to disable the FL or HP file to confirm a problem, using LWNViewer to get the right file names is quick and simple. If the problem is in fact a bad default flatten, then the fix is more difficult. scott s..

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Guest stewbullen

Hi allYes indeed LWNViewer did it's job and identified the correct files, but oddly disabling them makes no difference to the cliffs, they're still there.Stew

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Guest luissa

Hi,If you know the names of the FL***.BGL files, you can open them with SBuilder (LWM BGL appending) and you can delete or modify any flatten polygon and then recompile to generate a new BGL without the (or with a modified) offending flatten.Regards, Luisedited: no problem if you are using the new BGL on your own. If you distributing it, you can create a lot of conflicts.

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Guest JohnC

Ah, I "think" you are talking about lakes in the "wrong" place, not flattens around the airport, so if (I am guessing, here) you are disabling the FL files I don't think it will impact the lakes...not sure tho....but I think FL's apply only to airports.

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Guest stewbullen

Hi allYes it's definitely lakes! I'm reworking some of the lakes in the Jasper National Park which in the default scenery, as usual, are poorly drawn and in this case far too big. I've succesfuly redrawn the outlines and I think got the correct landclass settings, but there are massive cliffs which follow the original MS default lake shapes. The LOD10 terrain profiles clearly show that the slopes should terminate at the lake shores and I don't recall seeing any big cliffs in that area!Might seem premature, but the results look reasonable, so I might want to distribute the work at a later date if it turns out OK.RegardsStew

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Hi Stew,I sent you the tutorial four days ago but just received notification from my ISP that it can't reach the address you posted above. Do you have any other email address I could use?Cheers, Holger

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Guest stewbullen

Hi HolgerThanks for the help. Please try swbullen@btopenworld.comCheersStewart

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