Scenery Problem - Can't get rid of autogen objects

[biggiraffe]

Hello,

Just for fun, I have been trying to recreate the "Sky Sailing" gliderport that was near Fremont California. I have been successful in placing a runway in both ADE and SceneGenX, I have not been able to create a clear area (Isn't that "flatten") in either or those, nor by using ExcBuilder. Am I misunderstanding what "Flatten" is supposed to do, or making a basic mistake in all three programs?

Note that I have to take the XML files to a laptop to use BglComp since it won't run on this PC, but I have been successfully using that technique in ADE for some months, now.

As I said, I can get a runway easily, but I have buildings and trees on it.

Thanks!
Kurt

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

A Flatten file will flatten the terrain so the entire runway is displayed, but does not remove any autogen. The only way is to use ExcBuilder and use the Exclude ALL option. While these must be NESW oriented, you can make several smaller polygons to avoid things you don't want to remove.

[biggiraffe]

Thanks -- I probably did ExcBuilder wrong and will give it another try, making sure the right box is checked.
Best regards,
Kurt

[biggiraffe]

Hi Tom, This is working fine. Thank you for the suggestion on making several small polygons!
Kurt

[Tom/CalClassic]

Glad it's working for you.

[johnhinson]

If you are using ADE you just need to create a polygon for the area and select the properties that suit your needs - in this instance "Flatten Mask Class Map ExcludeAutoGen" will probably be what you want. but there are plenty of choices.

John

[Tom/CalClassic]

You’re right, I didn’t notice the reference to SBuilderX, which is for FSX. I should really ask about the sim before responding.

ExcBuilder works fine in FS9 but is not as reliable in FSX. The ADE polygon is the most reliable.

[biggiraffe]

Good Morning,
I'm using FS2004, so the only polygon property in ADE was "Flatten" and it did not remove the trees and buildings. Using a series of ExcBuilder polygons is working.

Thanks
Kurt

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

Sorry, mixed up SBuilderX and SceneGenX. Glad it's working for you.

[biggiraffe]

Hi,

While searching through the ADE manual to resolve another problem I'm having, I found that ADE will do exclusion rectangles (FS2004). It is the yellow square to the left of the "Apron" symbol. ADE makes them in the same way as ExcBuilder (top left corner and lower right corner defines the area), but it's easier to draw the rectangles when you can see the airport diagram at the same time.

Best regards,
Kurt

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

Yes it's true that it will create them, but it puts them all into a single BGL file. I have found that the separate BGL files of ExcBuilder more reliably exclude various things.

[biggiraffe]

Ohhhh, OK. I'll take a closer look at how things turn out. Cool!
Thanks,
Kurt

[connieguy]

I have found that exclusion rectangles done in ADE for FS9 do not always work. It is, however, possible to create them directly in Notepad as xml files and then use the SDK bgl.comp to make them into bgl files. We had problems with autogen trees on the approach to R25 in the recently released Port Lyautey scenery which were dealt with like this. A page on the website fs2004.com described how to do it, but that site has recently disappeared. Fortunately I had saved the page as a pdf and attach screenshots. The bgl.comp will not work if you do not have a Microsoft xml parser installed. Hope this helps.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

Yes, you can indeed do it manually by writing the XML yourself. I use ExcBuilder because it creates the very same XML code and will compile it for you. Just a little easier. That said, we do write our own XML code to place beacons and windsocks, since we have found that to be the most practical method.

[Deleted]

Strange that nobody mentioned AFX as other possibility. Together with its WYSIWYG mode, this tool allows to create almost 'surgical' excludes.

Bernard