Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Guest mz-cd

Flattening Areas in FSX

Recommended Posts

Guest mz-cd

Is there any [EASY'ish] way of flattening the ground in FSX on which to build a runway/airport.?And I guess removing obstacles such as tress?Regards

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, either SBuilderX or FSK KML will allow you to draw a polygon of your choosing and then TAG it with Airport_background_flatten_exclude_autogen. Or something like that. I'm in the process of a reinstall of everything, so I don't have the precise wording at hand. Don't forget to set your elevation level for the polygon.Both of the tools mentioned above require the SDKs of the Deluxe version.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

I have asked the same question on the FSDeveloper forum and am waiting for my first lesson.This is a great forum where all/most scenery design questions can be asked and they get answered.RS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please see Terrain Design for Flight Simulator X, in the Avsim library:http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxsd&DLID=100997The use of SBuilderX for this purpose is explained in the document. Please note that the SBuilderX interface has undergone some changes since that document was created, so there will be some minor differences, but the methods remain essentially the same.Best regards.Luis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

Thanks for that Luis, but let ma ask the question another way.What if I wanted to build a runway INTO water from the shore.A sort of raised causeway on which to place a runway. If that makes sense.How would you do that?RegardsRichard

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello Richard,Sounds like a very interesting project. As it happens, the majority of my projects have airports that are either next to the water's edge or extend into it.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183094.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183095.jpgThe main problem in FS is that the flatten will raise the level of the water as well.Here is a closer look at that last project:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183096.jpgSo, the procedure would be: 1. exclude the default terrain; 2. draw a new Hydro Polygon that contains the causeway; 3. draw the airport background (grass skirting) that does not flatten; 4. draw a separate airport flatten - I try to keep them as far from the water as possible so as to minimize the effect of the raised water (usually to no avail).Best regards.Luis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

Thanks Luis, however I am off to a poor start with SBuilder.I have posted a question on the FSDeveloper forum under SBuilder.I am trying to follow the terrain design tutorial but am not seeing the same things.Richard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

OK Luis I have resolved my poor start but I do have a question and that is refering to your procedure No. 2 "draw a hydro polygon that contains the causeway" are you saying that I must create a causeway FIRST or will creating a "hole" do that.Sorry to be a pain but I must get my head around this for the project I have in mind.Are you happy to continue this subject on this forum?RegardsRichard

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello Richard,No problem, let's keep going here, that way others can benefit from our discussion.The FS world is all land - there is only water where a Hydro Polygon exists. So, once you exclude the default water, you must draw a new Hydro Polygon that leaves land only where you want it. If your Hydro Polygon is an extension of the land, like my example above, then it can be part of the polygon. If it is separate, an "island", then it should be a hole in the Hydro Polygon.Basically, if you have a background, just trace the outline of the coast, including the causeway. Just remember that you are drawing water, not land.Don't hesitate if you have any more questions.Best regards.Luis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

Hello Luis,Well I have had a minor success on my first attempt.I decided that I would start with a simple flattening of an area, including removing autogen items, just to see what happened.Everything worked fine even the compiling of the bgl.It is not exactly what I want but having done it once I can now experiment to get exactly what I require.The area I flattened and excluded is on the side of a Loch which is sandy how would I change this to grass with a small sand strip next to the water????It is only a small area.My next attempt is going to be the causeway. I will post what happens.RegardsRichard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

Hi Luis, ok have had more success with flattening and have included grass.HOWEVER am not having any joy with the causeway.I think it is because I do not really understand the polygons and what you have to do with them.Nor do I fully understand the different vector polys.At one point I was getting a message [on the pointer] saying "click to select parent poly" ????Would you be kind enough to re explain.RegardsRichard

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The "click to select parent poly" would be where you were trying to make a hole and it wants to know which poly would get the hole.I'd be curious to see what you're referring to as a "causeway", can you post a screen grab from within SBuilderX?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

Hi Meshman.Thanks for taking an interest in this.I can't post a picture as I don't have anything to show yet.I apologise as I have not made my intentions very clear.Causeway is probably the wrong word as that is a [normally]link between 2 places.Let me try and explain by way of a senario.An airstrip is required to service a "whatever" for use by light aircraft.There is, for geographical reasons, no way a strip can be built on land so the only other way is for the engineers to construct a runway off shore and link it to land.Off shore could be off shore of a lake or a river an island or even a mainland location.There is plenty of material available such as rock/shale whatever.So how is this constructed in SBX? I intend then to use ADE to place the runway.I guess the idea is to be able to create some not so easy landing strips.As an aside I will also want to create some sloping strips as well but will leave that one for next time. Does that make sense ??Look forward to a replyRegardsRichard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest mz-cd

I was to late to edit my previos post but I think one of my problems is that I am NOT selecting the correct type of polygon.I do not know how to do this, could someone explain.i.e what is a "water polygon" as opposed to any other??Richard

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello Richard,Perhaps the examples that are included in the Terrain S.D.K. are close to what you want - they are of the Hong Kong area where the main airport has been built on land fill and some bridges (causeways) lead to it from another island.Here is the file as seen in TMFViewer:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183238.jpgThe yellow is the airport background (grass, autogen exclude, and flatten), while the blue is the Hydro Polygon (water). The white is nothing, by the way.So, you can see that FS terrain is essentially polygons that display different things.Here is the same image without the airport background, just the water:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183239.jpgThe white lines in the water are the limit of each of the Hydro Polygons. If you were to exclude any of them (for example, in order to draw a new one that incorporates a different design), you would have to make sure that it covers the same extent as the default polygon that is excluded.Here is a close-up:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183240.jpgBecause of the way in which the FS Developers use data, the causeways leading to the airport appear as land. Personally, I would not do it this way - rather, I would make an island (hole in the Hydro Polygon) for the airport, and draw roads or extrusion bridges for the causeways.So, for your project, you should: 1. exclude the default Hydro Polygon(s) in the location of your project. Check this in TMFViewer in order to determine what they are; 2. draw new Hydro Polygons with the shape that you want, incorporating the shape of the island and/or causeways, as you wish; 3. draw an airport background that removes autogen and adds a grass mask; 4. draw an airport flatten in the same place. It can be part of Step 3, but if it is too close to the water's edge, it will raise the level of the water surrounding the island. That is why I make it separate from the airport background, and make it smaller so as to limit this effect.Don't hesitate to ask if there are any doubts.Best regards.Luis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...