Ground2K4 Question

[Guest mtom]

Hi guys.Got a little problem with Ground2K4 I was hoping someone might be able to shed some light on.Basically, the sceneries I'm making keep crashing FS9. I'm using Version 5 and placing VTP2 polys, using the Other Textures list, as sourced from the main Texture folder. The second you come near the scenery it crashes.Versions 5, 5.1 and 5.32 have the same problem. Can't use version 5.4 because of the road VTP display bug in the interface. Version 6 does not work at all and besides there's a lot of flack about its authorship.Any ideas?Cheers,Matthew.

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Matthew,A few things come to mind. FS is somewhat sensitive to the format of the bitmaps used - have you converted your textures to DXT format?Also, I have gotten crashes if not including the seasonal variants of the texture.Best regards.LuisBy the way, I use Ground2K4 version 5.33 - occasionally, the images do not appear in the Lines selection box, but I simply go to General Parameters and confirm the path to FS and they re-appear.Otherwise, your problem does not seem related to Ground2K4 specifically.

[Guest DonMac]

Hello Luis, I had the problem of lost images of the shorelines with sand and waves. but now it seems to have recovered the images and now I can make a choice. However, the shorelines do not appear in FS9. I have a feeling that it must be something to do with the layer values.Luis can you please tell me the layer values you put in the Lines dialog when you have selected Poly with shore?I did have trouble and apparently somehow lost the the FS9SceneryWorld folder and now I have repaired that loss, my images of waves now appear in the right place. But ... I can't see the waves in FS9.I am using Ground2k4 V5.4

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Don,Nice to hear from you. How is everything? It must be getting warm in your part of the world by now. We are having a heat wave - 30 degrees and it can only get worse!I never pay much attention to layers, to tell the truth, Don. But, I have decided to use Holger's excellent scheme - it goes like this:VTP2 lines16 - utility corridors17 - shorelines I20 - shorelines II21 - streams22 - railroads, minor roads, and piers23 - minor roads24 - primary roads25 - highways26 - road bridges27 - railroad bridgesVTP2 polygons5 - various natural and man-made texture types that overlap water bodies10 - Mt Hood ski area grassy base11 - Mt Hood ski area forest patches12 - settlements13 - airport aprons14 - gravel pits15 - hydro dams concrete textures16 - lava flows17 - islands in rivers and lakes18 - golf coursesVery nice, Holger. Of course, you may need to adapt this to your needs, as only he is doing Mt. Hood ski areas!But, Don, are you missing the shorelines, or is it the waves? If you can see a beach, but not the waves, or if the waves are on the land side of the beach, then you should reverse the direction of the line.To do this: - select the shoreline; - right-click to bring up the Properties window; - on the Lines tab, if you have checked "Land on right", then uncheck. Or if it is unchecked, then check it; - compile and see how it looks in FS.However, if it is a matter of the shoreline (beach) not showing, then there are a few possibilities:1. Make sure that the Width is large enough. Try a Width of 60 and see if that works; or2. If you have excluded the default beach, then you may also be excluding your new beach. (But, if you are working on your Fantasy Island, then there is no default beach to exclude, so this may not matter.) To avoid excluding your new shoreline, use a layer number that is different from the default, for example, Holger's scheme up above.Let me know more of the problem if this does not work.Best regards.Luis

[Guest DonMac]

Hello Luis,Thank you for the trouble you have gone to in helping me with your very full reply. I am still using version 5.4 and I too rather suspect that there might be a small problem with that version although everthing else that I have tried to do with it, seems to work well.Thank you again and very nice to 'hear' your cheery voice again.

[Guest mtom]

Hi Luis.Sorry about the delay in replying. Been a bit preoccupied with an auto engine rebuild. Car's stuffed and must be fixed. Anyway, thanks for the info. Yes, I'd forgotton to compress the file format. With all the experiemention on textures, I hadn't converted to DXT1. Don't seem to be getting any trouble from the absence of any seasonal designators, but would I be correct in assuming that a simple "su" sufix (eg: "grass01su.bmp") is sufficient? My understanding is that a su designator operates as the default over the FS year as a whole in the absence of any other seasonal designators.Cheers,Matthew.

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Matthew,Sorry to hear of your car problems. Hope it is all well now.You are most likely correct about the Summer texture. When I mentioned seasonal variants, I was thinking of the night variant of the texture, since I consider that to be one of the "seasonal" variants.Perhaps you could try flying at night and see if you crash?Best regards.Luis

[Guest mtom]

Hi Luis.Cars: eventually found engine parts for 1969 2R Toyota engine. Going to cost a bomb through.Ground2K4: no crashes at night, but I'll develop some lm textures just in case.Cheers,Matthew.

[Guest DonMac]

Hello Luis, I reverted to Ground2k4 Version 5.33 (you said you used this version) from V5.4 and I was able to get coastlines and waves. It seems therefore that the problem was in 5.4 A great pity because 5.4 reduces a lot of mouse clicking with the ability to hold down the Control key and repeat the entry of LC's and WC's. Luis. Can you tell me how to get static aircraft to populate the aprons of my airfield. In earlier versions of MSFS I used Trevor Stitger's MDLtoBGL and it worked very well but there seems to be no trace of it and I've lost my copy of it. I can't remember if I produced any static a/c for 2002 but I believe that 2002 bgl's are acceptable to 2004! I think of you with those 'low' temperatures you mentioned. They are too much for me. Here in UK at the present we are enjoying variable weather with warm sunny spells and quite chilly cold times. Best wishes,

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Don,Trevor's program is right here on AvSim, and always has been:http://www.avsim.com/hangar/utils/mdltobgl/I could get it to convert FS 98 aircraft, rarely convert FS 2000 aircraft, and it will most likely not work with FS 2002 or FS 2004 aircraft.You can find static aircraft here in the AvSim library, and while there are relatively many, the selection is small compared to the amount of AI aircraft available. So, it is probably easier to just use flight plans that park an AI aircraft where you want and only send it on a flight one day a week late at night.Best regards.Luis