Simviation Forums

i'm sure i've spelt that wrong How do you use the flatening switch that this afcad instructs you to use? and what do i need to know befoer i mess up my fs?

cheers again.

The first thing you need to now is the altitude of the airport, then start with the NW corner of the area you want to flatten. write down both the Lon and Lat, then go to the NE corner and copy the Lon/Lat. Do the same for the SE and SW corners, When you type all this into you scenery cfg file it should look like this:

Flatten.0=ALT,N00 00.00,W00 00.00,N00 00.00,W00 00.00

I've only shown two corners in the above example, you will have to contenue with all four corners in a cw or ccw order. Put you altitude where I have "ALT", the save it.

Hope this helps, let me know.

Steve

The easiest way to get the number you need is to do as follows:
1) start FS and turn off crash detect
2) turn off num lock
3) press crtl s this should put you in the top looking down mode. Click any where on the screen then use the + and - keys to zoom in & out with.
4) Press the  y key to go into slew mode. Use the Q key to gain altitude and the A key to lower the altitude. You can use the arrows on the number pad to go in the direction they point and pressing the 5 key will stop you. Once you are where you want to be at press F1 this puts you on the ground then write down the lat & long for that corner then just repeat the process 3 times for the other corners.
I have found this method very easy for placing a aircraft at a certain spot.
Caution do not hold any of the direction keys down to long as you will start moving varry fast in that direction.
Rember the 5 key will stop you in an instant

how should i set out the information?

i know flatten=0 alt. and all that but how do you do the rest??

Data
   Steve has given you a good example[quote][/quote]Flatten.0=ALT,N00 00.00,W00 00.00,N00 00.00,W00 00.00
With FS up and running if you press shift z it will display altitude,longitude,latitude, and some other info in red across the top part of the screen.
If you follow my suggestions by using slew you can go to difernet points. as you move the aircraft you will notice that the latitude and longitude changes as you move.
You have to decide how much area you want to flatten
and then go to each corner and make note of the logitude & latitude.
What you are doing is describing a box or section of scenery that you want to flatten to FS.
The order in which you put this data in is either clokwise or counter clockwise It makes no difference. Just do not enter the data in some random order.
If you are still not sure what we are talking about then you need to read the instructions for these switches.

What do you mean by "do the rest"?

If your asking where to put the flatten switch, then this is what you do.

Go to FS9s folder, follow this path: documents and settings\your name\application data\microsoft\FS9, with in this folder you will find a scenery cfg file that is opened with notepad. Open it and scroll down to the bottom where you should find the "Area" that is your AFCAD secnery. Place the flatten switch at the bottom of this "Area" and save it. DO NOT save as, just save.

Restart FS9 and you should see the area flattened.

BTW: If you need an exclude switch, place it under the flatten switch.

Hope this helps, let us know how you do.

Steve

I'm not having any luck with the flattening switch. Am I in the right place? Is it the scenery file in the main fs9 folder? is it the cfg file? is it the file next to the ones called fs2000 and SUNEFFECT?

I cannot find the [Area AFCAD] in there, nor anything to do with AFCAD. All I can see is (first line):

[General]
Title=FS9 World Scenery
Description=FS9 Scenery Data
Clean_on_Exit=FALSE

is this the right one?

if so this is what i have wrote:

[Area.041]
Title=Rotherham airport
ID=MARC
Active=True
Layer=041
Local=Addon Scenery
Flatten.470.9=ALT,N53*27.68,W0*47.59,N53*26.61,W0*47.59,N53*26.61,W0*48.72,
       N53*27.68,W0*48.72

Sorry for being a pain in the neck, but i'm terrible with flight sim. thanks for your help so far guys, your info is gold, just i'm a little slow on the up take.

data 790

Your not being a pain at all, we all had to learn. I edited your switch below, try it and see what happens.

The "0" after flatten. means it is the first flatten switch, you can have up to 10 total ie 0-9. Leave out the "*" in the coordenants, just use a space. and the "alt=" isn't needed.

Flatten.0=470.9,N53 27.68,W0 47.59,N53 26.61,W0 47.59,N53 26.61,W0 48. 72,

Thanks for the help steve. I have looked in my docs and settings folder, but it is empty. what do i have to do once inside to find the folder? do i have to do a search?

Thanks, your info is really helpful, i'm sure i'll crack this soon.

Cheers again.

data

What OS are you using? If the Doc' and Settings folder is empty then I am lost as to where to find the FS9 folder.

It shounds to me like you are on a network and the admenistrator has blocked the folder. I could be wrong.

You might do a search for the FS9 folder in the search engine, make sure you look for hidden files also.

Let us know what you find and hopfully someone will have a better idea as to what is happening.

Steve

right, think i am in the right cfg file. Still not having any luck with the falttening switch. I have scrolled down to the bottom and have written:

[Area.039]
Title=Rotherham airport
ID=MARC
Active=True
Layer=041
Local=Addon Scenery
Flatten.0=470.9,N53 27.68,W0 47.59,N53 26.61,W0 47.59,N53 26.61,W0 48. 72,  
  N53 27.68,W0 48.72  

This infor cannot be right or it would work. the airport is located in england if that is any help. have i set out the switch right?

I think we're getting a little confused with CFG files. I've not tried it in FS9 but the flatten switch would be added to Scenery.cfg. This is located in the main FS9 directory folder on my system. This is the default location.
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9

fs9.cfg is the one not in the usual location. Depending on your OS this will be different. (Copied from Readme.rtf.)

The fs9.cfg file is located in:

data  you have an extra space in the third set of coord', "W0 48. 72", Also unless you are in the main FS9 folder, you are using the wrong cfg file.

Steve

PS: don't give up hope.

Maybe you should ignore my previous comments. I've just checked & there is a Scenery.cfg file in both locations. One in the FS9 main directory & the other in the Application Data\Microsoft\FS9 folder. I have no idea which one you would need to edit.

I'm still having no luck with either scener config. I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what. I think i'll just leave the scenery design alone. Thanks for all your help. It has been educational, and i'm sure will be of use.

Thanks again for replying, cheers.