Coordinates-free vector scenery utility

[Guest mtom]

Hi all.I was wondering whether someone might be able to tell me if there's a vector scenery utility available that does not require the input of map coordinates and background image. Vector utilities such G2K and Sbuilder do. Object scenery progams like SGX do not. It'd be nice to have a utility that communicates with FS and recognises the user's position without having to punch in coordinates and therefore be confined to the area determined by those coordinates. The specific task I'm thinking of here is laying down creeks and roads that accurately correspond with the elevation mesh. The user needs the freedom available in an object placement utility to move about the FS world - following the valleys and ridges - placing the points that lock down the vector polys. I don't know whether LWMviewer does this. My PC's not big enough to run it properly. I'm sure if the introduction of FSX complicates things either.Any thoughts guys?Cheers,Matthew.

[Holger 0]

Hi Matthew,the way I trace creeks and sometimes roads directly in the terrain is with the FSConnect option of Ground2K4. It does exactly what you envision.I normally use satellite imagery as a background image but if you want something "quick and dirty" just export a suitable default LOD5 file from LWMViewer as a bitmap and install that as background in G2K4. That'll cover a huge area.There are two drawbacks with this method: (1) FSConnect will record a vector point every second or so, regardless of whether you're moving or not. Thus, if you need to find your bearings in the sim you'll end up with a vector line that's not as optimized in terms of point density as it could be. And (2) there's the issue of the 1-point offset with vector data that means your position in G2K4 is slightly off. Not a big deal but it can make a difference in narrow valleys. The remedy for that is to append the compiled bgl file into SBuilder and re-compile using its offset correction function.Cheers, Holger

[Guest mtom]

Hey Holger.Thanks for that. Wow, right under my nose :-) Can you please recommend some instructions for this technique? Is there a tutorial that covers this? It's not apparent how G2K is configuered to use the FSConnect module in this way.Cheers,Matthew.

[Guest mtom]

Woops. Premature request. Found the documentation with G2K. I'll have a play and see what I come up with. Thanks again.Cheers,Matthew.

[Holger 0]

Hi Matthew,FYI, when I use this method I turn autogen completely off and increase the view angle to something like 0.5 or 0.7. Also, it helps if you have a fairly sensitive joystick.For each stream, I start at the lower end of the valley and then slew uphill, tracing the valley bottom. I usually hit F3 as necessary to stay a few feet above the surface.Mind you, an alternative approach would be to export as BMP an LWMViewer image of the compiled base mesh and then import that into SBuilder or G2K4 for tracing on the screen (rather than in the sim).However, most likely the mesh image won't have sufficient detail to allow you to really see the bottom of the valley.Cheers, Holger

[Guest mtom]

Hi Holgar.Could you please clarify something for me? What do you mean by increasing the view angle to something like 0.5 or 0.7? I presume that's pitch angel you're talking about. Is that correct or am I off the mark here?Cheers,Matthew.