Scenery Design Question (Again)

[acourt]

Okay, let me first say thanks to everyone here who's been so helpful in pointing me in the right direction. I know there's other forums out there for scenery design, but CalClassic's members are the best. The answers are always prompt, accurate, and very helpful.

I promise that I will (eventually) give something back. Right now, I'm working on the Airports of Georgia. The only scenery I can find for Georgia is several versions of Atlanta, and a few other major airports. I'm trying to fill the gaps is smaller general aviation airfields. Right now, I'm working on Cordele / Crisp County (KCKF), my first official scenery.

So...anyway...here's my next questions. What's the best way to exclude a stock airport's grass surface area? And is there an easy way to add taxiway signs to an airport (stock FS9 signs, or better)?

Sincerely,
Al

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

Those are not as easy as the rest of the scenery process.

All VTP roads, ground polygons, etc. can be handled by two programs (that I know of) - Ground2K4 and SBuilder. I use Ground2K4 because it is reliable and uses BGLComp to create the BGL file, for maximum speed and compatibility. SBuilder uses SCASM to create the older style BGL file, but this appears to be readable in FS9 and FSX, and frame rates are not a real consideration for these types of BGL files (very simple and fast no matter what).

So I would suggest using SBuilder for this process, since it's easier to use. Note that the VTP polygon routines are different for FSX and FS9, so you will need to decide which program to use, SBuilder or SBuilderX. I assume from this point you are creating for FS9.

For taxi signs, there are two major choices. The first is a program just for creating the signs - createsign_c.zip. Here is a description of how to use it:

209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:-YyHpHLsLf8J:forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php%3Faz%3Dprinter_friendly%26forum%3D263%26topic_id%3D54378%26mesg_id%3D54402+create+taxiway+signs+fs2004&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a

The other is SceneGenX. I've never used SGX or createsign, so I can't help more than that.

Note that back in the 50's and 60's most airports didn't have taxiway signs.

Hope this helps,

[acourt]

Thanks again, Tom! Yes, I'm building for FS9. I have neither the budget or patience to try FSX right now. I don't even think my machine would run FSX very well, anyway. It's not a powerhouse.

I'll have to try SBuilder. I've been using Ground2K4 for all my road/polygon needs so far, so I'm fairly comfortable with it. But I haven't tried using it to make exclusions. I've been using ExcBuilder for that. Any pitfalls I should know about?

The airports I'm designing right now are set in current time. Like the writing experts say...stick with what you know! Maybe sometime I'll try some vintage scenery.

Thanks again!

Al

[Randy_Cain]

Hi Al,

I don't know how accurate this is, as I've never had any lessons, but I have found that if you do NOT want to start from scratch (i.e. leave the beacon and windsock in place) ...create one layer and only check the "taxiway sign" box to get rid of only the signs. Then go back and make another one or more to elimate whatever else you need to eliminate. I've found this works.

Yours,

[Wolfgang]

Hi,

Sbuilder uses both ( bglcomp and scasm )
SCASM is only used to implement old style api macros.
For VTP and LWM, Sbuilder uses bglcomp.
Sbuilder is also able to create and place taxiway signs !
It is a very powerful program.

Wolfgang

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

If you are using Ground2K4 already, I would certainly use it for the airport polygon exclusion. Its the button with the red X on it. Just double click the square you want to delete the airport polygon in, and then check only what you need to exclude (polygons in this case). Same thing to exclude roads, rivers, shorelines, etc.

Wolfgang - thanks for the update. I didn't see BGLComp mentioned anywhere in the SBuilder manual (that part I read, anyway).