I am not trying to excite anyone about this, but I thought it might spur some ideas Well, you got me excited. This may rock this community in a significant way. Good luck with your research! Meanwhile I am more than happy with what is available for Fly!Mannie

As far as the Scenery SDK, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a long time... Looks like they dont want to let go of it. They probably use it for their upcoming CF3, and it's, therefore, apparently still a profit-maker.

Andrew,At one time I thought that it would be great to port the FS200x airport sceneries to Fly. Now, I only use the out-of-the-box airport sceneries with FS2002.While there are lots of beautiful airports for FS2002, the typical airport seems to be very inefficient when it comes to optimizing for the best frame rates. In other words, there does not seem to be a low-poly version of the airports models. If there is, then it is not often implemented. I am hoping that there will be something in the FS2002 Scenery SDK that discusses this. I did not see anything in previous SDK's (there is texture use optimizations though...nicely done).I am not saying that all 3rd party airports in FS2002 kill frame rates, I am just saying that they are not optimized well. With the awesome power of the FS2002 AI system, saving airport polygons becomes even more important.Because of this issue, I would personally not want to port the FS2002 models to Fly. Maybe I am missing something here. If so, I wish someone would point it out. I have brought it up about 1/2 dozen times before on the MSFS boards over the years, but nobody ever replies :(Allen

Allen,A good point. Back to the basics then, the ever important rule about making efficient, low poly models, or models with a low-poly option.Some sceneries may be useful and some may not. If a poly optimizer came up we would be closer. I guess the hardest part is coming to an agreement with the other developers...I have asked questions in the Norwegian forums, but, like you I get noe answer. Strange, huh ?Another thing I`d like to mention again is the hardware. If people want good scenery they can`t expect to get this with a slow, stone age computer all the time. If the users keep up with the hardware, then the models does not need to be that efficient...So, if we let time works for us I think there is still a chance, as long as we all keep Fly II alive :)Well, I`m off for a week, hope I`ll find an Internet cafe in Germany !

If the users keep up with the hardware, then the models does not need to be that efficientYou would think that. However...Take the FS2002 AI aircraft for instance. About 98% of them have too many polygons to be used as AI traffic (and a large % don't work anyway, no landing gear). Right now, you can only activate a few at a time, because the majority of the available aircraft available contain lots of polygons (I have seen 8,000 or even 10,000 polygons on some A/C). With these kinds of aircraft, even the fastest machines start to choke if there are 6 or 8 aircraft within view.The Project AI team is working on low-poly A/C for FS2002 AI. They are making them as low-poly as possible, without sacrificing too much detail. I applaud them for their efforts. They are going to knock peoples socks off.As long as I have known, flight sim sofware has always been ahead of the hardware. Have a good trip.Allen

I've come into this discussion late - but here's my 2 cents worth. A lot of the 2K2 models (buildings and aircraft) use multiple textures of 1024x1024. In complex scenery, with lots of models using large texture sizes, it's no wonder the frame rates bog down (even on the fastest machines) ...I wish the SMF had the ability to use multiple textures, but that's just me ;-)Cheers,Danny VickersAustralian Fly! Group

Kia Ora Preston *:-* ,I am well, hope everything is going good for you - have`nt been around for a while.Kind RegardsAndy

Hi Yves,Nice to see you too, I`m busy with study at the moment - and still holding out hope for the water fix so I can complete NZAA.Looking forward to that stunning looking ATR :) , and your new website.Kind RegardsAndy

Thanks Andrew,I`ll be in touch, I am still playing with a few new water animations on and off when I find the time, your photo`s will be very helpfull.Thankyou.Kind RegardsAndy

I wish the SMF had the ability to use multiple textures, but that's just me I agree Danny. FS2002 handles the texture side of things very nicely.Allen

Wow,Thanks for the info Johny.JimmyBob