Thanks Luis.However I have been trying this for a few hours now and am getting nowhere. Nothing shows.I am obviously doing something wrong,or not doing something I should be.I may have to leave this.It maybe beacuse I am not selecting the right polygons or excludes or something like that. It is very difficult to explain when you don't fully understand.I will have a few more goes and see what happens.I mean all I want in effect is a raised bit of land in water on which to place a runway.I don't understand what you mean by a "water Poly" from what I can see you can only select "pointer and poly"If I then draw, say a square what do I do then is it select "exclude water polys??See I know what you are saying I just don't know how to do it.I'm getting frustrated now.RegardsRichard.

OK have managed something.Will experiment on what I have got and will report.One question. Is there anyway to measure the size of an amendment.i.e if I want land in water on which to build a runway I would need an area, lets call it 50feet wide by 1500feet long???RegardsRichard.

Hello Richard,You can use the Measurement tool (see the Edit menu or use the "M" key):http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183278.jpgBest regards.Luis

Well thanks for all your help Luis, but I have had to admit defeat.I can't even reproduce a flatten area now nor exclude the autogen.I think it is because I don't fully understand the function of the polygons.i.e. what does what.But there you go I had a try.RegardsRichard.

Well I've had another go and I MIGHT have got it sorted.My prbolem lies with not understanding the polygons [as I have said before]and what they do, but I think I am there.I now need to sort out my drawing techniques.Richard.

Hello Luis, I think I am now ok with the flatten??However I am still confused about the HYDRO ploygons.When I draw a polygon do I then select from properties "exclude all water polygons"Then draw a polygon WITHIN this one and select from properties "hydro generic lake perennial"I just cannot get my head around what these polygons do and in what order you have to use them.Also I found the measuring tool but it does not allow me to draw a polygon using it. I have had to draw a polygon by guessing and then measuring, is that right??RegardsRichard.

Hello Richard,Don't give up, thousands of people throughout the world are doing this with no problems - you can too!First, forgive me for asking, but have you read Terrain Design for Flight Simulator X? That document contains lengthy explanations on all these topics, along with detailed and amply illustrated instructions on the use of SBuilder.You will find explanations on how to exclude, how to draw water (Hydro Polygons) and how to draw islands.It is really the first step for any beginner and was created precisely for that purpose.Best regards.Luis

Yes indeed I do have that tutorial to hand.Despite following it to the letter I am still no nearer to creating an island or any other land in water.I just do not know what is going wrong.I must be a lot thicker than I realised.I do have one question and that is when you open a project do you select SBP or BAK.SBP ???Richard

You see Luis, I cannot workout the sequence of poly's required despite the tutorial.Could you list them for me.1. Draw a ploy and select ****2. Then do this ****Is this possible?Richard.

I been trying since 5 this morning and have tried almost every permutation of polygons and still cannot get anything to show.The only thing I got to happen was if I drew a poly and excluded it as all terrain and as an individual item I got a big chunk of land in the sea but could do nothing else with it. And that was not declaring it as a hole.So again on the verge of giving up.Richard.

I don't think you need to get too worried over the polygon ordering -- that is handled automatically by FSX, either by internal coding or through the terrain.cfg configuration file, which you shouldn't need to look at unless you are doing something advanced. I would suggest first drawing the polygons that you need to exclude default terrain. Set each one you make to the desired exclusion type. When you get them done, compile them, then load your new bgl file in TMFViewer. along with the the default cvx file for your area. This way you verify that the polygons did in fact compile into the file, cover the right area, and are the correct type (right click on the polygon to verify type). If it looks OK in TMFViewer, then copy or move the new bgl into FSX, such as in addon sceneryscenery, and then see if in fact the right terrain is excluded in the sim.Once you get the stuff excluded properly you can work on building your replacement terrain. You can use the same process -- build a little, compile, check it out in TMFViewer, and then in the sim. Note that you can select 1 or more polygons in SBuilderX, rather all polygons to compile, if you want to check on just certain ones (of course, the bgl file name will be the same so you will overwrite any earlier compiled bgl unless you edit the name). Normally, though, all the terrain polygons and lines should be compiled into a single file.scott s..

Thanks Scott, but it just ain't happening for me.Pity but at least I can do the flattens and add LC.so will have to limit my projects to land based stuff.Maybe something will come along that my brain will accept.Thanks also to Luis.I will probably have questions in relation to other aspects so keep watching this space.Kind RegardsRichard.