FS2004 Extreme Environment Upgrade - Question

[Capt.Propwash]

I was just wondering if anyone has downloaded this program, and how much of a change in overall ground textures / scenery did it make??


4 Down on page::
http://www.simviation.com/simviation/in ... 85&page=21



I already have Real Environment Pro installed, but my ground textures are still a bit "rounded" when looking at mountains.  I would like to fly over Mt Everest and it actually look like the pics in
http://www.pcaviator.com/shop/viewAProduct.php?pid=1036

and not the crappy 28,000 foot rounded off ant hill.

[dave3cu]

Don't have Howards Mix but have read mixed reviews by some who have.

But my purpose for responding: Neither it nor your Real Environment Pro are going to make mountains less rounded. These are terrain and environmetal texture 'upgrades', and have no effect on elevation detail. For that you need to install higher resolution terrain mesh.

There are many sources for improved (higher resolution) terrain mesh, including the 'Global Terrain Mesh' on SimV's main download page.

For Mt Everest terrain mesh: Holger Sandmann authored detailed mesh for the Alps and the Himalayas. There are several downloads involved starting here-http://www.simviation.com/fs2004scenery76.htm-and thru the next 5 or 6 pages.

Dave

[Opa]

Another "trick" you can try is to edit your FS9.cfg file - experiment with changing the vertex level to 20 or 21 instead of the default 19.

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19

The higher numbers will make hills and valleys more pronounced.

[Allen_Z]

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19

or

TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21

Here's a comparison, 19 -vs- 21 (default FS mesh)

19



21



Not much difference.

The greatest improvement is with add-on mesh

[Capt.Propwash]

so far, this is what i have been able to get without a full terrain mesh.... which i am currently looking for .. for various areas around the world.




TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=20

[Allen_Z]

Glad you posted that! I have tried this with previous versions 2k & 2k2, but if I set it to anything above 21, the sim would re-write it to 19.

I took this screen shot, set @ 35. TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=35

At 39, the sim re-wrote to 19.

[ShaneG_old]

so far, this is what i have been able to get without a full terrain mesh.... which i am currently looking for .. for various areas around the world.

The SRTM mesh for FS9 here at SimV is very nice.  It takes a while to download it all. But you could also just grab the areas you want.

[Capt.Propwash]

I just tested a flight .... started at LUKLA, slewd straight up, then hit F4 for full burners and maneuvered for this shot.

FS9.cfg was still still the same AFTER the flight.













by my own eyes, i can not tell a diff between 20 and 30



yeah yeah, i know, plane looks like crap due to all the jaggies.  nothing i can do about it.  im on a 45% crappy laptop.

[ShaneG_old]

[quote]


by my own eyes, i can not tell a diff between 20 and 30

yeah yeah, i know, plane looks like crap due to all the jaggies.

[Capt.Propwash]

well, i did update SOME of the files that this updates..... only things i did not update was the Weather because I like the clouds and sky that Real Environment Pro gave me.


but anywho.... MAX_TERRAIN_VERTEX is still sitting at 30... so here is a slow flying shot (not more that 200 KIAS) over the Grand Canyon::






and a Pavehawk on a Search and Resce for a downed MT Everest Climber (yeah i know everest is not in the shot, but this had more peaks and valleys in it for a more dramattic shot)  what do you think

[krigl]

Look for Holger Sandmann's LOD10 + 9 mesh for the Himalayas and the phororeal Mt Everest area also by him....all at SimV I believe... might make a difference to that region  :)

[Daube]

Errr I might be wrong, but from what I remember, FS2004 will not recognize any VERTEX_LEVEL above 21. So it's totally useless to try values like 30 or 40.
Also, even if you increase the VERTEX_LEVEL up to 21, if the local mesh is no precise enough, then you won't notice any difference.
Basically, you should make your test over an area which is covered by a 38 or 19 meters mesh (I don't remember what is the maximum precision for FS2004). But if you test over an area covered by a 76 meters mesh only, you won't see anything relevant.

[Capt.Propwash]

Errr I might be wrong, but from what I remember, FS2004 will not recognize any VERTEX_LEVEL above 21. So it's totally useless to try values like 30 or 40.
Also, even if you increase the VERTEX_LEVEL up to 21, if the local mesh is no precise enough, then you won't notice any difference.
Basically, you should make your test over an area which is covered by a 38 or 19 meters mesh (I don't remember what is the maximum precision for FS2004). But if you test over an area covered by a 76 meters mesh only, you won't see anything relevant.

Daube, to me .. 'the flight sim .CFG-semi idot', that actually makes a little sense.  like i said in an earlier post, maybe i need to try flying over say Paris, New York City, San Fran, Tokyo or somewhere else Default that is photorealistic.

Thank you Krigl, i will look into that...
ShaneG, AllenZ, Opa, Dave3cu: thank you for your help,