Layering of Scenery

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 01 Apr 2007, 12:37

Just a general question for those who know......

What is the correct way to layer add-on scenery such as landclass, mesh and scenery in the correct order. My scenery library is numbered 1 to 740, which one has the higher priority 1 or 740? I have attached mine to show how I set mine up but I am sure it is not layered right.

What I would like to see is a install matrix so that I can re-align mine. For example:

1. Airport Scenery files
2. static object scenery (Like NYC objects)
3. UTCity
4. FSG Landclass
5. UTUSA
6. UTCanada
7 3rd Party Scenery (Like FreeFlow Florida)
8 Default Sceneries.
9 Mesh

Any help would be appreciated...

Firebird · Post by **Firebird** » 01 Apr 2007, 14:17

This might be a useful link for describing the 5 distinct layer types in the order that you should have them http://www.naccq.ac.nz/bacit/0203/2004H ... ghtSim.htm. According to Microsoft the higher numbers have a higher priority than lower numbers. Which means that that a mesh needs to have a layer number lower than an airfield that lies on that mesh.

I hope this helps rather than confuses.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 01 Apr 2007, 15:31

Firebird wrote:. According to Microsoft the higher numbers have a higher priority than lower numbers. Which means that that a mesh needs to have a layer number lower than an airfield that lies on that mesh.

I still not sure what you mean. Are you saying if I had a mesh for all of the country of Australia, then:

1. Sydney Airport
2. Australia Mesh

or

1. Australia Mesh
2. Sydney Airport

and where does landclass go?

I have a lot of military sceneries and I would like to add the mesh correctly to enhance the elevations around the airport. Makes the approaches more realistic...

GrahamS · Post by **GrahamS** » 01 Apr 2007, 15:54

I think you are confusing the issue of layers. The layers in a scenery are NOT the order in the scenery library. In scenery layering of the components of the scenery is important, roads, for example are in a different layer to runways. It is the use of the word layer causing confusion here. If you mean the order of sceneries in the scenery library, then default have the highest numbers and the addons have the lower numbers. There are cases in the scenery library where order is important, as with the mesh should be lower in the library, higher number, than the addon airport overlying that mesh. Landclass folders with separate entries in the library should normally be between the mesh and the airport.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 01 Apr 2007, 16:44

GrahamS wrote:If you mean the order of sceneries in the scenery library, then default have the highest numbers and the addons have the lower numbers. There are cases in the scenery library where order is important, as with the mesh should be lower in the library, higher number, than the addon airport overlying that mesh. Landclass folders with separate entries in the library should normally be between the mesh and the airport.

GrahamS wrote:If you mean the order of sceneries in the scenery library,then default have the highest numbers and the addons have the lower numbers

Thats what I mean Graham, I know default is 1-38 in scenery.cfg so does that mean it is higher?

Would this be right?

1-38 Default Sceneries.

Then add....

static object scenery (Rwy12 and EZ Scenery objects)
Airport Scenery, Misc Scenery
Landclass or water class for specific region, area
Local and Regional Mesh
UT USA
UT Canada/Alaska
US FSG Landclass (per FSG site has to be between UT USA And UT City)
UT City
3rd Party Scenery such as FreeFlow Florida to override UT

I have a lot of landclass and mesh covering most of the world, plus Ultimate Terrain USA and UT Canada/Alaska. I would like to get all of it in the right order so that it will display correctly.

Appreciate any help on this matter.

Please see attached scenery.cfg above to see what I have got now.

Firebird · Post by **Firebird** » 01 Apr 2007, 18:25

Hopefully, I will use your question as an example of explaining this correctly, but if I am wrong you will know due to the torrent of abuse that I will suffer

.
If you use the link in my first post it states that the first layer of a scenery is the landclass, followed by the mesh, followed by vector scenery (roads,coastlines etc), followed by Airports, followed by dynamic scenery.

This means in effect that for the scenery to show up properly, you load the Australian landclass first, if you have one, followed by the Australian mesh followd by Sydney Airport. The order they are loaded is determined by the layer number. The lowest number gets loaded first.
You could and its the most logical way, to have all your landclasses as low as possible but above the default libraries, so they will replace the default landclasses, then have all your mesh layers, then your roads etc, followed by your airfields. However, you could decide just to group your Australian scenery together. They could be layers 301-303 as long as the landclass, is lowest followed by Mesh, followed by Airport.

Hopefully that didn't confuse, and even more so is correct.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 01 Apr 2007, 19:48

I think I figured out what you mean, I appreciate the help. As you can see, I have downloaded a lot of mesh, landclass and add-on scenery over the past two years, and I never felt they were layers (ordered) right to display correctly.

Here is my new scenery.cfg Please check it and see if it is right. The only think I was not sure was the default library order.

I did:

Landclass
Mesh
3rd Party like Freeflow
Ultimate Terrain - USA
Ultimate Terrain - Canada/Alaska
FSG Landclass for USA
UTCITY
Default (original 1-38)
Add-On Sceneries (Airports, Cities etc)

I use a utility called Scenery-Align and it is very easy to cut and paste and renumber the CFG file. So any changes will be easy to do.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 02 Apr 2007, 01:05

Everything seems to be loading fine. It might be my imagination but it seems to be loading FS2004 faster on start-up. Not sure if this helps with that but I'll take all the help I can get.

Here is a couple shots from Elmendorf AFB, AK using real-world weather and UT Alaska/Canada. Must be winter up here.....

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 02 Apr 2007, 01:07

Here is one from Juneau International, my refueling stop on the way back down the coast. Overall I am very happy that the scenery is started to fill in the way I thought it should be.... Thanks for the help....

Firebird · Post by **Firebird** » 02 Apr 2007, 06:15

Thats no problem at all. I am curious have you noticed any difference at all to before you started your re-org, other than loading time?

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 02 Apr 2007, 10:45

Firebird wrote:Thats no problem at all. I am curious have you noticed any difference at all to before you started your re-org, other than loading time?

I am seeing more objects on the specialized scenery than I did not see before, and the terrain looks more defined.

I have been trying to organize my scenery.cfg by geographical area. This made it easier to update and add to that way. I knew most likely that the ordering (layers) were wrong. Now all I have to worry about is the airport elevations matching the mesh. So far every one that I have been to is fine.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » 02 Apr 2007, 14:57

Here is some of the improvements I am seeing.... This is using Cloud9 F-4E Phantom and Aviano AB Scenery. Pretty good and on sale for 1/2 price right now. F-4 is $15.49 and scenery is $9.99 with coupon available from Cloud9 site.

EDIT: As a side note, I just redid AFCAD and added 102 parking slots at Aviano. Should be enough.....

djnocturnal · Post by **djnocturnal** » 02 Aug 2007, 19:22

what is UTCity? i have UT USA & Europe. Am i missing something?

FalconAF · Post by **FalconAF** » 08 Aug 2007, 15:22

EDIT: Deleted this for now. I gave erroneous info in first reply. Will correct and repost.

FalconAF

EDIT 2: OK, here's what I SHOULD have posted

:

(In reply to: "what is UTCity? i have UT USA & Europe. Am i missing something?")

If you have the FS Genesis US Landclass scenery, the UT USA Landclass scenery would overwrite (replace) it. Some users of the FS Genesis Landclass scenery preferred the URBAN textures in IT, but wanted to use the UT USA CITY landclass textures that come with UT USA. So Flight1 Software (makers of UT USA) posted a patch on their website to allow it. But it required a manual installation into FS9, and the user had to create a UTCity scenery folder. This folder also had to be added to the FS9 Scenery Library, just like any other Addon scenery folder. Once done, the user ended up using UT USA City landclass files, and the FS Genesis URBAN landclass files.

You will (should) only have a UTCity folder in your FS9 Scenery Library list if you applied the Flight1 patch to make the above happen.

Rick
FalconAF

FalconAF · Post by **FalconAF** » 08 Aug 2007, 16:38

For Flyboy:

Hi. I just saw this thread. Based on your posts above, and after downloading and looking at your scenery.cfg file, I'm pretty sure you need to make some changes to it. You have some things out of order and are probably NOT seeing or utilizing all the scenery in it because of it. I'm basing this on my (pre-retired) 25 years of Air Force service, with my last duty title Superintendant, Network Operation...and over 20 years playing with Microsoft's Flight Simulator series (and learning the scenery library settings the hard way myself!)

If you want, I'll give you some ideas on what you need to change.

Also, in as much as you have over 700 separate Scenery Library entries already, there is a MUCH better way to "manage" your scenery.cfg file and make Flight Simulator run a whole lot better than using the scenery.cfg editor application you are using now. It would require the purchase of a program called FS Navigator for FS9, but it is well worth it.

http://www.fsnavigator.com/

In addition to being a fully functional flight planning program with a moving map, it allows you to do two things concerning your FS9 Scenery Library that will save you TONS of time and frustration with your addon sceneries:

1. You can ADD, DELETE, or MOVE any/all sceneries in the Scenery Library WITHOUT having to run FS9 to get to the Scenery Library, then having to exit and restart FS9 to have the changes take effect. Note that making any changes in the FS9 Scenery Library will automatically make the necessary changes to your scenery.cfg file also. Right now, you are doing it the "hard" way...making changes manually to the scenery.cfg file itself.

2. With over 700 scenery addons in your Scenery Library, FS9 is probably loading a LOT slower than you need it to. It has to load ALL 700+ scenery addons each time you start the sim. And it could actually be RUNNING slower also, depending on where you are flying in relation to your scenery files. What you may want to consider is DISABLING some of the scenery files each time you use FS9. You would want to disable the ones that you are sure you won't be using during you current FS9 session. For instance, if you are going to be making a flight solely in the US, you don't need FS9 loading all your European and Far East, etc, addon sceneries. Yes, you can do this without FS Navigator, but you would have to load FS9, disable the sceneries you won't be using in the Scenery Library, then CLOSE FS9, then restart FS9 again....yeah, it's a pain in the *ss. But with FS Navigator, you can do ALL of the above PRIOR to starting FS9. And you can "reverse" it all in seconds when you exit FS9 after your flight session. And it will always maintain (update) your scenery.cfg file in the proper "order" each time you do it.

Just to be sure, I have no affiliation whatsoever with FS Navigator. I'm just offering some ideas and insights based on over 20 years using every darn version of Flight Simulator that was ever made. The effective use of your scenery files can make a HUGE difference in the performance of your computer and your satisfaction with the scenery you are using. And it can definitely make your simming experience more enjoyable.

Rick
FalconAF