Lord_Rixk

Hi Ken Please ignore my earlier pvt message. I just realised I had misquoted the required plug-in on the posts heading. What I am really after is the TS2S3D plug-in to import 3d models into fly!2 from Truespace 3.2 (or 7.6) Many thanks. If you have a copy, I would be grateful if you could forward it to the email provided in the msg. Cheers. Daniel

Hi Guys: Does anyone have the S3d to 3ds converter by C. Wallace used for importing truespace objects into fly!2 It is not longer available at the avsim library. Many Thanks

I'm glad I was of help

hello Ron:A few years ago I upgraded to fly! II (from fly!) even though I was very pleased with my Sim performance, it had a bit more community support, better working tools and had the advantage of not bringing my then PC-Saurus to a halt (like some of the other sims around at the time)May no mistake, Fly! II is great, but it has aged, it wont compete heavily against MSFS X, but its a step further than fly! 2k.If you find in the reasons above a convenient justification for the upgrade, then go for it, if you rather have great expectations of what a sim should be, then you may as well wait for the release of fly! legacy.I never had any regrets and have come to cherish the time I spend on this sim just as much as I did back then on its predecessorDan

Hi Guys:I just realized some of the programs I am currently using to produce new scenery have not been mentioned before in the Fly! forums (or at least, have been mentioned not enough times for others to become fully aware of their potential).there are 3 in particular I would like to promote:- Elshayal Smart Web on line Software:A Freeware shapefile editor that not only allows you to create and modify all aspects of a shapefile, but also enables you to import images from google earth to use as background pictures. The Images can be imported using input like lat/long coordinates and a preferred height. once saved they retain that information which can be helpful when you are creating a satellite image scenery or just superimposing a shapefile on it.For those of you already familiar with the use of shapefiles and terrascene, this tool can be a vital asset to any further future work.for those of you with no knowledge, I can only encourage you for the time being to begin experimenting with it. I intent to publish a tutorial at some point in the near future, detailing all I have so far being able to discover/achieve using this program.Some information can be found online on its website, but its basic in content and rather general.Its available at download.net among many places, but its official website is:http://www.smartwebonline.com/ - VTBuilder:Here we have another Freeware program that allows you to view and to a degree change some geospatial data (i.e. shapefiles, DEMs...) as well as place the different formats along side for comparisonPersonally I have not fully explored its potential, perhaps with the exception of some work done on the SRTM-4 elevation files, which I found invaluable. But I have no doubt I will spend more time on it as time allows it. some of its functioning (those related to the work I already covered, will be available in the tutorial I mentioned above).This program can be found at: http://www.vterrain.org/Doc/VTBuilder/overview.html- OkMap.Another freeware that has the potential to offer new ways to work jointly shapefiles and satellite scenery.This allows the use of satellite, maps or terrain imagery available from google maps as a background to the creation of shapefiles.a tool that could be used -for example- to reproduce the variety of vegetation often encountered at different heights in mountain ranges, by creating shapefiles that run along the defined altitude in the google terrain maps.I have not carried yet any work involving this program, But my next project (in the tropics) will require me to trial and experiment with its uses.It can be found at:http://www.okmap.org/default.aspOnly shapefiles from the USA (and perhaps Europe) are so complete as to provide the least amount of work to the scenery developer in fly!, most of the world barely has info that is up to date or requires little if any work.I am hoping I can persuade other fly! fans to try out and develop scenery for those regions of the world that up to now have been absent due to the difficulty of procuring related geo-info.Daniel Arias

Hi Werner:I think the library does not posses the necessary resources to evaluate what was lost during the crash, its mainly down to the general community to spot, reload and guide them to these damaged links. In time we should have most of them back (hopefully!)In the meanwhile the patches will be restored, the issue of the files going missing has been resolved (I was using brackets within the name of the zip, rendering it invalid), I trust they will be available as from tomorrow Wednesday.let me know if I can help in any wayDan

Hi Werner:I have good news and bad news...The bad news: Unfortunately The same problem has happened again (files missing) and I am required to try and upload the files once more to the Avsim library... (this could take a while)the good news: I was able to upload these same patches to the flighsim library and are now available, though they seem to have been sent to the utilities & miscellaneous section, rather than Fly!2 as such.bear in mind you need to login before proceeding to download.these are the links:Fly! 2 Update 6 (240) http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=146033Fly! 2 Update 5 (230)http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=146020Fly! 2 Update 4 (210)http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=146021I will continue trying to upload them here, they are a necessity for anyone wishing to continue using the sim, may they be new or not.Dan

Hi:There was a problem with the 3 main patches upload (files went missing in transit) but the global update was successfully uploaded and its now available.I have sent them again, I gather they should be ready by Monday.

I just uploaded patches 4 (210), 5 (230), 6 (240) and the globe update back into the library. It will probably be a couple of days before it passes their censorship and becomes available.I don't know if reloads are published, so it would be a good idea to keep checking the original file link to see if it has been restoredDan

Hi Werner:I have a copy of all the patches for the european release of fly! 2, send me a msg with a email addy and I will fire up the msn over the weekend so we can transfer the file, I have noticed the multitude of files missing from the fly! 2 archive, and I'm looking at my old hard drive to see how many of them I can restore (hopefully other people are also looking in the same direction) and we can have most of our lost files back.I must say, I failed even to find the link to the file in either Avsim (fly! 2 patches section) or Flightsim, so perhaps we can persuade Avsim to accept the file as new...I know the file is found in the Simvol DVDs, a worth small investment in time to come. but for the time being just drop me a private line and I will be more then happy to login this weekend to pass on the zips.Best regardsDan

Thanks, I had almost given up on that.I will look up his tutorial in the library.Dan

No worries...sortedafter a good night sleep I found the answer in VTBuilder.and just for the record, in case anyone else get stuck in the same problem, the way to patch the holes at sea level in the SRTM-4 files is to first remove the range of unwanted elevations (i.e. -151.00 -1.00) that leaves your ocean with an elevation of 0mts, and then to set all unknown areas to 0. don't patch any remaining holes with VTbuilder. use 3dem instead (but using small areas 1 at the time, rather than the entire file at once (it gives you a better finished product).and voila.now another question... can these srtm files be in anyway changed to dem 1 deg? is there anyway I can implement the shading relief option for scenery outside USA?thanksDan

Hi Guys:I am trying to import SRTM-4 data into fly 2, by means of transforming the original .tif file into a .bin then (bin2ras) to .ras (taking in consideration the correct value of 6000nbr (its a 5 degrees by 5 degrees file)the files are already patched of holes in the land side (which looks really good), but the coastal areas are awfully grafted (something that NASA seems to acknowledge in their FAQ page) I have tried to fill the holes by means of 3DEM or even VTBuilder (cant use srtmfill, since I cant produce a .hgt file) but still I am left with huge cliffs where there should be a smooth beach.the files come on the formats .tiff, .hdr, .tfw, .asc and .pjr In the original files the sea has an altitude of -10mts, -57mts or even -151mts, I reset the sea value to 0mts, and then tried again (with and without going through the hole filling process) and still there are vertical gaps of at least -11kmt (up from -28kmts!!) where the sea meets the land.Would it better to try to smooth the entire coast strip (10 degrees) after it becomes a .trn file? or else is there anyway I can combine the sea values from gtpo30 files? (by the way there is a mask file in .tif format, but it only highlights the areas patched inland)is there a cheap way out of this? ...global mapper is out of the Equation (it costs US$350)any ideas?

Hi:The only thing that comes to mind is, you may have a damaged CD.or else your PC is running other programs and somehow meets its memory capabilities at that stage. try powering down some of the programs that comes on at startup and are not essential for the PC to run and re-try the setup procedureHope it helpsDan

Hi Ken:Thanks so much for the info.I knew I could input all of my info into the terrascene by means of lat/lon coordinates, however when one works in a long project, it helps a lot to be able to graphically see the area worked on the map (all I get right now in terrascene is a blank square with no references names nearby), that was my reason to update the info in TS, besides is much easier to tell the TS to work, say 15 or 18 miles around the airport area, than to keep adjusting input whenever one expands the original boundaries.Since the display in TS seems to works off shapefiles, I was hopeful there would be a way to easily edit it, so one could add also the names of cities and so on, once again, its just the practicality of having markers for guidance.Thanks Daniel

Oh wow. it certainly looks promising! great job!

Hi ken: Thanks for coming back so promptly, Im not sure Terrascene imports that info from fly! II, I have been working on a second project for the best part of a year now, and there are 2 airports within that scenery, but only one is ever displayed on terrascene (though both are flyable on fly! II)The airport I'm working on is SPZA (Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), near the famous Nazca desert in PeruThanks

Hi BrianI dont think Terrascene 2.1 has a system folder, but i will check again tonight when I get there, remember I want to alter the data displayed on the terrascene program, not the one on fly 2.Thanks for your help

Hey Guys:I started a project recently, and while verifying some of the the phases that I have to go through I found that terrascene didn't have information on the airport I would be working on, I tried to open some of the files (with extension .dat) found in the map folder but got nowhere, does anyone know if it is possible to edit those files, (the ones containing information regarding the visible map), there seem to be some files that appear to be shapefiles, or their name at least suggest that, but cant not be open by the program I tried.the location to the files is either /MAP for the .dat files or MAP/LOWRES, MAP/MEDRESAny help will be greatly appreciated.Daniel

'lo guys:I also hold a few of the patches (some which are necessary to bring up to date the EU version), versions 210, 230, 240, as well as the globe update 1 and the video update 2. if needed, just drop me a note. :( Dan

I recently acquired a brand new pc with vista running (a 1mb nvidia card and 4 giga of ddr2 ram) and one of my first thoughts was to try Fly! 2 on it.... brilliant! (it works smoothly), so I felt it was time to go back to designing...and then encountered a bit of a dissapointment when i could not longer download truespace 3.2 from the caligari website, so i downloaded their new free offer instead. it looks good but as roger said, its complex, and it will need a few good sessions before it is of any practical use.later on i found a link on converting the buildings from Google earth's format (kmz) to caligari's (cob) ny using another free program called "render". but the system should only work if using truespace 7.6(google earth models): http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse(How to convert them):http://johanneskebeck.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!42E1F70205EC8A96!6520.entry(Blender): http://www.blender.org/I am yet to convert succesfully any model, i have tried a few and failed (mainly because 7.6 keeps crashing)anyway... luckily i found a copy of 3.2 on cd and it works fine on vista.I have not discarded the google models yet, because their skins could be of some use (copying part of them could save hours of work), though i fear i will not be spending too much time on 7.6... its complexity requires the knowledge of a more seasoned designer... my best advice is, if you dont really work with 3d models on a daily basis, 3.2 is the tool for you

'lo m8:The BAe-146 is a british made, short range, 4 engine jet. no bad little gadget, I see them fly past my garden on their way to london city airport, (easy to recognize those 4 engines sticking out), I kinda envy those pilots, coz i know it must be seriously hard to perform the 5.5 glide landing require there, (i still struggle with it on the sim, and that's just on the cessna).Air france, british airways, Euromanx, swiss international, virgin, lufthansa, loganair and air lingus all fly a version of the plane just at london city (popular jet, huh?), not sure if the americans also have a taste for it.tx for the kind word on the calendar, I wish we had a website just for shots, kinda opens the apetite for extra flying adventure...Rixk (dan)

Computer Pilot Magazine has an online feature depicting shots of MSFS in the form of a monthly calendar wallpaper, the idea occured to me, that at least for a wee while we could post one monthly wallpaper too (with fly! shots of course) perhaps a different author every time, showing our fav spots or else just testing our artistic side.with that short thought left on, I bring u my first try at it, maybe it catches on, or maybe it doesnt, but it will certainly add novelty to the cause ;)PS: Should u want the original 1024 x 768 jpg, drop me a line at [email protected], the file is too large to be posted here.Dan

Hi Chris:I think it could only be done, if someone writes a program that allows the import of .skp files (gogles sketchup) in to fly! 2. at present time the fly! 2 editor only allows .S3d filesDan

Hi Steve:nice pics!I have tried to send you an e-mail, but it was returned as non existence, it was the old freeserve account, any chance you can contact me at [email protected]? its mighty importantthanks dan