Game Killer/Game_Killer.bin/462.README.1ST

Text File | 1992-07-14 | 11KB | 201 lines

                          Microsoft Flight Simulator
                         Aircraft & Scenery Designer*
                                Scenery Files


                                   - by -
                              - John Mechalas -


-----Introduction-----

   This file is intended to give you basic information on the scenery files
contained in the archive, along with other vital information, such as
registration costs and technical explanations of the files themselves.  In
addition to this file, there is a README.2ND file which contains information
on the specific scenery files contained in the archive.  This second file
will give information about scenery coverage, instrument approaches, and
other scenery-related items.  In order to fully enjoy the enclosed scenery,
you should print out the README.2ND so that you have a listing of all this
data.


-----Using the Scenery Files-----

   Obviously, in order to use these scenery files, you must have a Microsoft
Flight Simulator Program *and* the Microsoft Aircraft and Scenery Designer
(abbreviated A&SD) files.  The archived scenery files were created by and are
for use with the A&SD ONLY.  They ARE NOT true "scenery disks", and can not be
used as such (ie - if you try to load them from menu 5, option 2, as scenery
disks, IT WON'T WORK).  You MUST have the AS&D, available commercially from
your local software retailer/wholesaler/fence/etc... =)


-----Registration-----

   This archive is shareware, and I ask that you please register your copy
by sending $5.00 to my permanent address:

          John Mechalas
          2830 Townway Rd.
          Danville, IL
          61832

   Below are a few reasons why you should register this product:

     1) Upon receipt of your registration fee, you will be sent copies of
        published Instrument Approach Procedures for the various ILS approaches
        supported by the scenery files.  These are very helpful if you want
        to make instrument landings, particularly in adverse weather.
        Some of you are probably pilots and already have access to these
        approach plates, so therefore this isn't much of an incentive for you.

     2) It took a long time to create a lot of these files, and even though I
        didn't really ever expect to make any money off this, it sure would be
        neat.

     3) I'm a poor, starving college student going for my Masters in
        Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, and I could really use the
        dough.

     4) You'll feel a lot better about yourself afterwards, and will go to
        sleep knowing that you have done the right thing.


-----Comments and Suggestions-----

   If you have any constructive comments or suggestions, then you can either
mail me at my address given above, or contact me through my net address below:

     [e-mail]

   This address will be valid until the summer of '94, upon which I will
graduate and will never see the account again.


-----Technical Information-----

   My main reasons for purchasing the A&SD and creating these scenery files
were due to the limitations of the actualy scenery disk put out by subLOGIC
and Mallard software, and especially the default scenery that comes with the
Flight SImulator package.  Although the scenery disks themselves contain a lot
of scenery data, particularly the newest subLOGIC collections, the wide
coverage of the scenery disks makes it impossible to make dense, detailed
scenery information of particular locations.  In particular, ILS approaches
at major airports are missing, simply because of scenery file limitations.
Also, current scenery disks do not support dynamic scenery, one of the neatest
features of the FS 4.0 program, so in order to view it you must use the
default scenery, which is terribly sparse, and not very accurately "placed"
on the continent.
   Through the use of the A&SD, it is possible to define tight, compact scenery
regions that allow for highly detailed scenery.  I primarily used the program
to generate highly localized scenery files, so that I could add instrument
approaches, approach lighting, and dynamic scenery on an airport-by-airport
basis.  Although this takes up more disk space by forcing the creation of
several scenery files instead of one wide-spread one, more detail is possible.

     * Dynamic Scenery - Dynamic scenery is a real hog on disk space.  Only a
                         couple complicated patterns are enough to completely
                         fill your available bytes, and allocating more memory
                         for these files is not only ineffective, but also
                         impractical if you are using other applications, such
                         as Mallard Software's Sound and Graphics Upgrade**.

                         As a result, in order to have dynamic scenery at each
                         airport region you detail, it is almost necessary to
                         create a seperate file for each airport.  In order
                         to auto-load this scenery, I also create a seperate
                         static-scenery file for each airport, which allows me
                         to further detail those airports as an added benefit.

     * Static Scenery - Since the Flight Simulator coordinate system is not
                        very accurate (hence subLOGIC's change to a new ref-
                        erence system in their ATP*** package), exact placement
                        of runways was not always possible.  Airports were,
                        however, detailed as accurately as possible based on
                        the information I had at hand.  In most cases, build-
                        ings were deliberately oversized in height because the
                        scenery designer tends to not display shorter objects
                        until they are very *very* close to your aircraft.  By
                        making the buildings taller, they can be seen from a
                        greater distance.

                        City buildings and towers and other scenic objects were
                        placed more for aesthetics than accuracy, so in most
                        cases buildings and the like were just semi-randomly
                        placed in small clusters.  Although this doesn't give
                        a very accurate rendition of the cities, as mentioned
                        above, it does give the cities the "look and feel".

     * ILS Approaches - All ILS approaches were taken from the Government
                        Publications of US Terminal Procedures.  In some cases,
                        an ILS frequency is used for opposing ends or parallel
                        runways.  Since A&SD can not be used to differentiate
                        between two beacons with identical frequencies, in such
                        cases I changed one of the offending nav-aids to a
                        higher or lower frequency.  These changes are pointed
                        out in the README.2ND file, where necessary.

                        Placement of VOR beacons is not always exact due to
                        the FS coordinate system's limitations and minor errors
                        in the scenery disks themselves.  As such, the NOAA
                        approach plates don't agree perfectly with the ILS
                        approaches in my scenery files, but they are very close
                        and can still be used for accurate instrument landing.
                        As mentioned in the "Registration" section above, those
                        of you who send in the $5 registration fee will be
                        given copies of the appropriate approach plates used in
                        defining the instrument approaches for your particular
                        scenery file (be sure to let me know which files you
                        are registering, so that I can send you the correct
                        ones).

----- Scenery Design Limitations -----

   1) As wonderful as the A&SD program is, it does have it's problems.
Probably the most irritating limitation is that objects appear the same at
night as they do during the day, with the exception of radio and control
towers.  As such, it is impossible to create airport lights that are off
during the day, polygons that change color at night (it would be nice to have
your rivers, for instance, turn black with the rest of the landscape), or
anything else.  Hopefully this will be corrected in a future version (read:
maybe Microsoft will stop spending time updating Excel and Word more often than
most people change their underwear, and actually do something with their Flight
Simulator software.  End of soapbox).
   2) One of the best features of the A&SD is the ability to "draw" detailed
runways.  Unfortunately, runways tend to bog down the simulator more than any
other scenery object.  Complicated runways with touchdown zones, threshold
markers, dashes, numbers, and other neat detailing are a real hog on speed, and
if you have a 386SX system or lower, you may have to reduce some of the detail
in my runways (particularly at large airports like O'Hare) in order to keep
a reasonable redraw-rate during landing and takeoff.
   3) Buildings that are placed too close together sometimes fool the scenery
drawing.  Every now and then, you might see one building that is drawn in front
of another building, when it is actually behind it.  This is particularly
evident at airport terminals, where I put several buildings together in order
to form one large, complex shape.
   4) A&SD objects are drawn after Scenery Disk objects, and for some reason,
there is an strange side effect when using A&SD with the scenery disks.  The
program apparently can not or does not check object distance for scenery disks,
because A&SD objects that are *behind* a scenery disk object are drawn *in
front* of the scenery disk object.  This means that you may see buildings
plastered over a mountain or another building that is part of the scenery disk.
For some reason, this doesn't happen with the default FS4 scenery.  Usually I
corrected the problem by drawing a building on top of the scenery disk
building, but sometimes this was not possible.
   5) A&SD can not, as of yet, create ATIS centers.  This would be a nice
feature for Microsoft to add in the future.

----- Concluding Remarks -----

   I hope you enjoy the scenery files, and please feel free to send me any
constructive comments to the address I gave above.  And don't forget to read
the README.2ND file before flying.  It contains important information on the
files contained in this archive.
   Happy landings.  :)



* - (c) 1990, Microsoft Corporation
** - (c) 1991, The Bruce Artwick Organization, Ltd.
*** - (c) 1990, subLOGIC