I'm trying create a test lake using the FSX SDK. It works but the lake appears at an elevation of -32000 feet. Does anyone know how to make it sit on the surface of the terrain?Btw, Google Earth (the $20 "Plus" version) is excellent for tracing terrain features such as coastlines, rivers, roads, railways etc. :)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/156499.jpg

Hello JuiceRabbit,which FSX SDK are you using?Best regards,Edgar

Shapefiles have 3 components - x,y,and z coordinates. If your shapefile is lacking the altitude (z), then Shp2Vec will assume a null value, and for FS that is -32768.The solution is to find some way to add that information to the shapefile and then your Lover's Lake will display correctly.Best regards.Luis

The one that was in the FP beta.

Thanks, that makes sense!I'll try setting the z values to 0. I hope a value of 0 will make the water polygons "cling" to the ground at whatever elevation the ground happens to be. I'll let you know if it works.

Clinging won't work. You need to set the proper elevation values.Christian

OMG! :(You mean if I wanted to put in a river, i need to specify the correct height for every point in the polygon? That seems crazy! Why couldnt the poly just sit on the underlying terrain like a road vector.Any ideas as to how I could extract the underlying elevation from the appropriate BGL file?I suspose for coastlines it wont be a problem, since they will all be at sea level. But for rivers, big hassle! :( :(Im writing a little utility that takes a "tagged" Google Earth KML and converts the polygons or polylines into FSX features eg water polys, roads etc.

For mesh-clinging water, please specify the:Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten GUIDIt should not need any slope attributes.You can also get the altitude of that area by using TMFViewer - load the relevant dem and read the values directly.Then, add that altitude to the shapefile.And congratulations on having gotten so far in spite of the scanty documentation in the S.D.K.Best regards.Luis

Thanks... but I wonder how the DEM bgl can be read programatically? Is this possible? It must be, the TMF viewer does it and so does LWMViewer.Any ideas?In the meantime I'll try Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten guid. Too much work and not enough time to "play" with FSX :(

I searched forLegacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlattenin all the SDK docs, but cant find any reference to it.Can you give me the actual value for this GUID?

All available textures are those listed in the terrain.cfg file.The one in question is:// Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlattenTexture.381Name=Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlattenColor=FF638AC2guid={5835459A-4B8B-41F2-ADC1-DEE721573B28}Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE_0FlattenMode=noneLandClassRemapType=noneExcludeAutogen=YesRenderToTexture=YesRenderPriority=80000Water=YesI imagine that you will be the first to test mesh-clinging water in FS X. Please let us know how it turns out.Best regards.Luis

You know, JR, I think the lake looks pretty cool like that.Not really realistic, but fun.

Looking forward to getting the SDK. I use Global Mapper, which has the ability to export shapefile polylines with z values from an underlying DEM. This would be best if you were also producing mesh from the same DEM. Or if you could extract a DEM from the game bgls.scott s..

Hi JuiceRabbit.The GUID to use in the shapefiles DBF file is:{5835459A-4B8B-41F2-ADC1-DEE721573B28}found in the terrain.cfg as Luis writes.The XML can look something like this:<?xml version="1.0"?>Note there is no slope reference! You don't need any for a poly that has no z value.Dick

Thanks :)I haven't tested Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten yet, but I have got my utility now writing the .SHP files correctly (with 0 for elevation). Here's a couple of pics. Next time I'll try Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten and then post some shots.Also, any tips on how to create islands inside the river? I realise i need to create other polygons to represent the islands but what Guid do i use? Can you give me a clue? Thanks in advance!http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/156729.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/156730.jpg