European scenery add ons

[mag_ddave]

I am looking to add the European theatre to my cfs2.I see that Steve McCelland has designed a number of sceneries /mesh for the UK, Europe,Africa etc. Are these what most folks use for Europe? Are there others?If I get an add on like JustFlights BoB,will there be a conflict of any sort?
Thanks

[_526th_Fireman]

Steve McClelland's EURO scenery has been around for a long time and has been a very popular download most of CFS2's life. There are other Euro scenery packs out there, but none as comprehensive as Steve's.

If you get BoB from Just Flight, you could run into a problem of seeing two airfields in the same place. I had this problem when I got Just Flight's Vietnam expansion pack. All I did is remove the "Other" airfields I had added to CFS2 in the Pacific that conflicted with the expansion pack. Not that big of a problem.

The problem I found with Steve's scenery is that his individual bases in a large general area are many times wrapped up into ONE large bgl file. When that is the case, you can't just remove the one single base that is conflicting with your add on or expansion pack. You have to remove the whole general area that the bgl covers.

As far as his or any others mesh scenery, that SHOULDN'T be a problem with any add ons or expansion packs.

I would suggest that if you add Steve's Euro packs, you have a seperate folder for just his stuff. That way, you can always deactivate his scenery via the library if there are any conflicts after any additional add ons to your CFS2.

[mag_ddave]

Thanks Fireman,thats exactly the info i was looking for Ddave

[michaelmichael]

Hi There

it all sounds interesting to add to my flying time . please advise where i can download  Steve. Europack scenery

michaelmichael

[mag_ddave]

There are 4 euro packs,here is the UK,the others are scattered in the "oldest' cfsII scenery dl section.

[_526th_Fireman]

Glad I could help. Here is another bit of info.

IF you have installed and are running the ACS-GPS gauge on your acft. then you might want to download my .prg files for that gauge. I used Nav 3.0 to program all of Steve's Euro Scenery for use with the ACS GPS. (with his permission) They are available here: http://www.brennt.com/hoppers/acsgps-pgms.html

[mag_ddave]

Wow,that is some great stuff!! I'm gonna be busy dl'ing a bunch of stuff now LOL ! By the way, quick question.I don't get any shoreline textures in Steve Mc's scenery.Now the dl came with multiple folders. I Removed  all but the basic scenery folder with local texure and scenery subfolders and put it in the "add on" folder.Am I supposed to leave all the folders as the are? They read(after unzipping) cfsii/scendb/cfsii/ scenery ( something like that.I'm at work so I'm doing it from memory). Should I go back and unzip the file wjile its the main cfs2 page? I assume that will direct it to the proper place.........

[_526th_Fireman]

You can add scenery in CFS2 many different ways. People have developed their own preferred methods.

IN CFS2 I add all my add on scenery into the Main CFS2 SCENERY Folder. Steve's instructions do say Scene DB folder, but they can go anywhere.

What I did is create Geographic folders in my CFS2 Scenery folder. Example: USA Folder, EUROPE folder, South Pacific Folder and so on. When I get new scenery, I install it in it's own folder. You could create a folder wherever you want to put Steve's EURO scenery and name that folder "Steve McClelland EURO" if you like. In this folder or any titled scenery folder you add, you need to have a "scenery folder" where all the .bgls go and a "texture folder" where any textures the author sent along go. Then activate this new scenery via the Scenery Library. Test it to make sure it works OK. If it does and you want to keep it, deactivate it in the Library and put it into your Geographical folder. I have scenery in Europe and the South Pacific folders from many different creators. Works fine as long as I test the new stuff first.

Now I can't remembe if Steve's EURO Scenery has any special extra files to be installed. If you send me the README via email, I can then tell you exactly what he wants you to do. Saves me from having to download it again.

[mag_ddave]

Hi Fireman,
Here is a copy of Steves readme for Euro pack 1.


CFSIIEurope release 1.

Adds most of CFS1 fields to Germany-France-Belguim-Netherlands-Austra-Switzerland.
Also adds 7th NJG fields.

Also adds roads, highways, raillines to all of France-Spain-Portugal-
Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Denmark-Italy.


Unzip into its own folderand subfolder and dont mix textures with main CFSII
texture folder.


Please ask for permission to repost these files to other sites. I normally
ok reposting to other sites by ASK FIRST!

Copyright 2001 Steve McClelland
Member of "Mushy Peas Design Group"
( relik@swbell.net )

Steve McClelland
_Uhu_Berserker

[_526th_Fireman]

Ok, pretty straight forward.

You can add this scenery from anywhere you want to, as long as you direct the correct path in the Scenery Library when you activate it.

What you want is one main folder for his scenery. Name it what you want, or leave it the name he has it. Inside this main folder you need two folders.

1] Scenery folder - which has all his .bgl files
**You can put all the bgls from all the EURO packs in this one folder.....

[mag_ddave]

Ok, thats pretty much what i did.I have the euro packs separated as 1,2,3, and 4. Adding them is pretty sraight forward but I'm glad you mentioned whether to use them as cached or direct.I always wondered about that. One last question i may have forgotten.Does Steve Mc's European scenery have shoreline textures? None of the Euro scenery packs I dl'd have any shorline textures.Or is there an add on for that too?
Thanks for your time and your help.  

[_526th_Fireman]

I don't remember any special "shorline" files with the EURO stuff. What you have is the standard CFS2 shoreline for that area, which isn't very good.

I have seen a some type of shoreline files somewhere. Might even be here in the Scenery section of Downloads. I have even seen a shoreline modifying program too. Sorry I can't help you more with that.

One more thing you might get to really enhance the look of CFS2 is the PacTex Mesh scenery. I have always considered this a "Must Have" for CFS2. It's fairly large file, someplaces even break it into smaller zips. In this download you get textures for the European look or the Pacifice look. They really make this game look so much better.  PacTex is available here:   http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/brigstock/CFS.htm

Good luck bud.

[mag_ddave]

Thanks a lot Fireman for your help and the link.I just dl'd the whole bunch  ;D

[_526th_Fireman]

No problem mag_ddave. Now, if you REALLY want to enhance the look of CFS2 there is one more thing I can recommend. Get the cloud textures from FSW.

Go into the FS2k section. These files work flawlessly with CFS2. Go get the FS Sky World Utility in the utities section there. Once you have that, download the different cloud texture sets. In there, I recommend just getting the V3 sets. Place these into the FS Sky World Utility program folders. This allows you to swap to different cloud texture sets and it backs up your CFS2 originals so you can revert back to them at anytime. But I promise you won't want to. These add so much more to your flying experience in CFS2 with some great clouds added. When you learn to set your own cloud layout in Advanced weather, you can get some really awesome visuals while you fly.

FSW site:

[mag_ddave]

Thanks again Fireman, I'll give it a try.I have cfo for cfs2 and am familar with setting weather conditions.I'll give Pactex a try too.Thanks again