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Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:17 pm
by Air-2000
Hi guys fairly new here still so i hope some of you guys could help me out. I am getting a little bored with the flat terrain i keep seeing in the UK and around the world and need a drastic improvment lol. I posted  a few months ago about this but been on holiday since and never got round to it. I got told about the Global Terrain Mesh Simv host and is around 8gb.
Im wondering have any of you guys got it and would any of you recommend it for me? Sorry to be a pain as i said fairly new and willing to learn. Thanks

Many Regards
Tim  ;)

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:56 pm
by dave3cu
It's certainly an improvement on the default mesh.

You can also search Google and your favorite download sites for FS 2004 38m terrain mesh which is even better.  Though freeware 38m is not available for the entire globe, 70m and 38m will co-exist even if they overlap. Example: FSGenesis 38m USA mesh is available free at one of the FS download sites.

Dave

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:41 pm
by Groundbound1
I can highly recommend both the 70m and the 38m mentioned above. Be sure however, that you modify your FS9.cfg (after backing up of course) to make full use of it.

Look for this line:

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19 (stock value is 19)

Change the value of 19 to 20 or 21. The higher of which will give you the most detail, but will also tax your system the most. (But if your machine can handle it....oooohh baby what a difference!

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:55 pm
by beaky
I can highly recommend both the 70m and the 38m mentioned above. Be sure however, that you modify your FS9.cfg (after backing up of course) to make full use of it.

Look for this line:

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19 (stock value is 19)

Change the value of 19 to 20 or 21. The higher of which will give you the most detail, but will also tax your system the most. (But if your machine can handle it....oooohh baby what a difference!  :o ) If I'm not mistaking though, setting it to 21 will be a waste if you only use the 70m. For that I'd use a setting of 20. Anyone, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Verrry interesting. Would this have something to do with all the airports in sinkholes or on wacky mesas when using that mesh without altering the cfg?

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:24 am
by dave3cu
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL= should be set to the value for the highest terrain mesh resolution your using.

19 for 76 (70) meter mesh
20 for 38 meter mesh
21 for 19 meter mesh.

So if you installed 38m mesh but left TMVL at 19, the sim would basically smooth the 38m to 76m. Setting it to 21 would not give you 19m.

'Would this have something to do with all the airports in sinkholes or on wacky mesas'


Not really. That happens because airport, lakes and such are fixed elevation and do not adjust to the new, more accurate,

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:26 am
by Air-2000
Arr i see, thanks guys for the assitence very much appreciated. I think ill download the UK 70m Mesh and see how it handles then ill gradually downlod the rest. Again thanks
:)
Regards
Tim

Re: Should I upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:38 am
by Fozzer
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=

If you change the default setting from 19 to 21, you will notice that all your Streams and Rivers are suddenly blessed with proper banks, instead of just being "Flat" textures... ;)...!

Paul...G-BPLF... 8-)...!

FS Global Special Edition...>>>>

http://www.justflight.com/product.asp?pid=39

Note: Whatever you try in the Sim, MS always sees England as being "Flat", and unrealistic, which is why, (although  I live there), I never fly there!...;)...!

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:12 am
by Groundbound1
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL= should be set to the value for the highest terrain mesh resolution your using.

19 for 76 (70) meter mesh
20 for 38 meter mesh
21 for 19 meter mesh.

So if you installed 38m mesh but left TMVL at 19, the sim would basically smooth the 38m to 76m. Setting it to 21 would not give you 19m.





Dave


Ok, I knew it was something like that, I just couldn't remember which numbers went with which detail level. Thanks Dave.

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:23 pm
by N. Chapman
what does 35 equal then? thats what i have mine set to

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:18 pm
by RAFAIR100
Not really the same subject, but are there any views on FS Terrain?

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:55 pm
by dave3cu
ndude737,

If you're looking at the right entry, TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL= in the [TERRAIN] section, 35 doesn't mean anything. Valid entries are: 18 for 150m, and 19, 20, and 21 as listed above.

Only you can answer why you have 35 there.

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:32 pm
by N. Chapman
i put it there :P

But any higher than that it gets knocked back down to 21.

it did seem to make the mesh more defined though especially  with the FS Genesis mesh.

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:38 pm
by Groundbound1
[quote]i put it there :P

But any higher than that it gets knocked back down to 21.

it did seem to make the mesh more defined though especially

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:10 pm
by Groundbound1
Here are a few shots too help illustrate the difference.

No addon mesh at "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19"
Image

No mesh addon at "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21"
Image

The same shot only now with the 70m mesh "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19"
Image

And again at "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21"
Image

One more time, but this time with 38m installed "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19"
Image

And at "TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21"
Image

I hope this will end all doubts! ;) (sorry, but they did loose a little due to compression,. If you'd like to see the hi-res shots for more detail, PM me)

Re: Should i upgrade to the 70mm Global Terrain Mesh?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:35 pm
by homebrewer
Where exactly do I find this fs9.config file? I clicked my way to a screen full of icons with 1033 being the first one shown across the screen. Is this the right place to start? I have sceneries from FSGenesis and abacus in the 76, 38 and 9.6-meter levels of detail...