Simviation mesh files

[Jive1 2]

Hey all!I'm rather new in the mesh forum....I've seen nevertheless the importance of mesh files in flight simulator, but I'm somewhat confused with various specs of mesh files: what are the main specs that I should take care of when looking for good mesh files?I've visited the Simviation site and found some mesh files for almost the whole world on http://www.simviation.com/fsdterrainsrtm.htm ...I tried the one that covers Belgium and found no inconveniences nor errors...My question is now: why should I go elswhere and search for mesh if here the files for almost the whole "flown" territory are available? Or is the quality of these files not the best?GreetzJive1

[Holger 0]

Hi Jive,good and valid questions!In general, freeware mesh files are not necessarily worse than payware mesh files (indeed, some of the freeware files are probably better than some of the payware stuff). Of course, with payware you can expect, and often receive, support for the product as well as updates or patches, if necessary.For most of the planet outside of North America, the only free mesh data of decent quality are the Shuttle Radar (SRTM) data, which Stephen Rothlisberger used to compile the simviation "Global Mesh". As Stephen explains in the read-me, these data have problems in the form of missing areas or spurious "spikes", mostly in mountainous terrain. It makes a big difference to the quality of the end product how the developer treats these problem areas. Usually, though, one has to compare different products directly to be able to tell which one is "better" because "better" is a somewhat subjective combination of accuracy and believability.Anyway, Stephen did an admirable job of compiling all availabe SRTM data, and his interpolation treatment of problem areas is better than most other freeware mesh. However - and this is a big however - he does not seem to have a good understanding of how FS displays mesh because all his files have severe problems in regards to coverage. This is all the more surprising as his previous edition of the US mesh - which is no longer available - had exactly the same problems. Surely, someone must have told him about this???Look at the screenshot below; it's one of his bgl files (NA96) of southeast Alaska. All the white sections are missing in the compiled mesh and thus you'll fly across a patchwork of low-res default and high-res SRTM mesh. This may not be very visible in Belgium, which is relatively flat but any place with mountains will look rather strange. Too bad.For Europe, the freeware alternative are Pietro Mauri's mesh files, made from the same source data but without these coverage gaps. They are available here at Avsim.Hope that helps.Cheers, HolgerP.S.: For more explanations about mesh development, display, and installation check out Steve Greenwood's website at http://www.fs-traveler.com/welcome.shtmlhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/96785.jpg

[Guest RipPipPip]

Yes, it's a pity with a Stephen Rothlisberger meshes *:-*, as they cover almost all available (with SRTM) area.Especially Andes, Tibet and Siberia areas that I miss so much (to be freeware :))Cheers, Rysiek