Post by binka on Aug 23, 2005 18:21:07 GMT -5
This is for anyone who has ever flow over an area and was unhappy with the autogen placement.
the FS world is divided into 256x256 textures. Some are landclass and some a "photoreal"
I prefer the latter, but this works on all ground textures.
when you open up a default texture, you'll notice that the placement is "kinda" good, but more random than anything.
making the trees follow a road, or create tree lines in a field, GREATLY enhance the look.
plus you can tell the texture to put buildings where you want them too.
you need this...
www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2004_downloads_sdk.asp#autogen
the "annotator tool" is VERY easy to use, but pretty powerful at the same time. Read the SDK!!!!
here's a progression of me autogenning up one of my photo tiles.
by making the boxes smaller near roads and field edges, it creates a sharper tree line in FS.
a mixture of building types keeps it interesting.
here's the finished product...
here it is in the sim...
You can also open these textures in DXTbmp (google) and edit them in a paint program. Save in DXT1 format after edit. You can also add water to a texture like a lake or a river by editing the alpha channel. Any where its white, its land, anywhere its black, its water.
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of textures, but the results are worth the effort.
I also like to add "farmer's runways" to my textures, nothing that really STANDS OUT, but something with a treeline on either side and a few buildings for visual reference.
Not every tree, and not every building will show up in FS, you can read about the limitations in the SDK. I tend to over do it most the time... but still have a hard time maxing out the limits.
happy genning...
joe
the FS world is divided into 256x256 textures. Some are landclass and some a "photoreal"
I prefer the latter, but this works on all ground textures.
when you open up a default texture, you'll notice that the placement is "kinda" good, but more random than anything.
making the trees follow a road, or create tree lines in a field, GREATLY enhance the look.
plus you can tell the texture to put buildings where you want them too.
you need this...
www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2004_downloads_sdk.asp#autogen
the "annotator tool" is VERY easy to use, but pretty powerful at the same time. Read the SDK!!!!
here's a progression of me autogenning up one of my photo tiles.
by making the boxes smaller near roads and field edges, it creates a sharper tree line in FS.
a mixture of building types keeps it interesting.
here's the finished product...
here it is in the sim...
You can also open these textures in DXTbmp (google) and edit them in a paint program. Save in DXT1 format after edit. You can also add water to a texture like a lake or a river by editing the alpha channel. Any where its white, its land, anywhere its black, its water.
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of textures, but the results are worth the effort.
I also like to add "farmer's runways" to my textures, nothing that really STANDS OUT, but something with a treeline on either side and a few buildings for visual reference.
Not every tree, and not every building will show up in FS, you can read about the limitations in the SDK. I tend to over do it most the time... but still have a hard time maxing out the limits.
happy genning...
joe
? (smile) All this REALLY makes my head swim.