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Raising lakes...

I

Ingolf

Messages
25
Hi everyone!
I just went back to create scenery for FSX after a long passive period. Got stuck on my lakes (again) since they all end up at level 0 creating deep holes and canyons in my (default) mesh. I remember getting around this problem by using an xml script to flatten the lakes so they "cling" to the mesh, but have totally forgot how this was done. I don't want to mess with the terrain.cfg file.

Anyone understand what I am after? Perhaps you've got an xml example to go with the HPX****file compilation into bgl? (using FSX_KML)

Cheers,
Ingolf
 
Last edited:
In FSX_KML you can specify the altitude of your lake. You edit the vertices, and hit the "Set Elevation" button. Enter elevation in meters.

There is no need to mess with the HPX*.* files.
 
Thanks for reply. However, my idea was to save time since I have hundreds of lakes. I am positive that I have done this before, but my notes of the method are playing hide and seek ;)

I'll read on the SDK and xml material, maybe that is the way to go. One easy way is of course to change some rows in the terrain.cfg file but that is not very popular when you start sharing.

The HPX****.xml file would look something like this, but here missing the vital lines that I suppose could make water bodies clinging to the (default)mesh.

Code: 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<metadata xml:lang="en">
    <FlightSim>
        <Geometry clipLevel="11"></Geometry>
        <AttributeSet>
            <AttributeBlock name="Slope" guid="{CEB07D86-3605-44BE-B48A-97F8D01B74DE}">
                <Field name="SlopeX" type="FLOAT32" />
                <Field name="SlopeY" type="FLOAT32" />
            </AttributeBlock>
            <AttributeBlock name="Texture" guid="{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}">
                <Field name="Guid" type="GUID" />
            </AttributeBlock>
            <AttributeBlock name="WaterPolys" guid="{956A42AD-EC8A-41BE-B7CB-C68B5FF1727E}">
                <Field name="Uuid" type="GUID" />
            </AttributeBlock>
        </AttributeSet>
    </FlightSim>
</metadata>
 
As you probably know already, there is a GUID with a friendly name of LegacyWater that can be used to make water that clings to the mesh. (FSX_KML has this GUID in its list of tags)

I think, but do not know for a fact, that the LegacyWater is an FS2002/04 call leftover. You are of course free to do what you wish but I would not recommend using LegacyWater for FSX scenery if in fact it is outside the bounds of the SDK (it is an FS2002/04 call).

I am not sure if what you have posted is xml from an HPX*.*bgl file. If it is, how did you decompile those files?

I do not know of any "fast" way of doing batch processing of lake elevations. If you know of some method, please let me in on it because that would be useful to me. I only know how to do them 1 at a time.
 
Hi Folks

Just a heads-up on the mesh-clinging water poly.

AIUI
There may be a clash with displaying items in the GPS.
i.e. beacons, boundaries, terrain, etc.
will be suppressed within the boundary of the mesh-clinging water poly.

HTH
ATB
Paul
 
Last edited:
Code: 
// Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten
[Texture.381]
Name=Legacy_LandWaterMask_Water_NoFlatten
Color=FF638AC2
guid={5835459A-4B8B-41F2-ADC1-DEE721573B28}
Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE
FlattenMode=none
LandClassRemapType=none
ExcludeAutogen=Yes
RenderToTexture=Yes
RenderPriority=80000
Water=Yes

// Legacy_LandWaterMask_Land_NoFlatten
[Texture.382]
Name=Legacy_LandWaterMask_Land_NoFlatten
Color=FFC36363
guid={3EC48E64-5522-449C-96C6-96F8CEBDBDE2}
FlattenMode=none
LandClassRemapType=none
ExcludeAutogen=No
RenderToTexture=No
RenderPriority=200000
Water=No

These do not depend on older versions of FS... they are FSX water provided for designers that do not want to declare the slope of their polygons. "Legacy" is a misnomer in this case.

I don't know if they would interfere with GPS viewing, but I doubt it. I would be interested in actually getting an example of this, using the above GUIDs.

Dick
 
I appreciate your ideas. Thanks!

I Have to mess around a little bit more with the way lake surface elevations are dealt with. It might be possible to write a script that pickup the lake elevation from a lookup table using the terrain-mesh and the coordinates for the lake polygons. That way, it could be made a batch process.

/Cheers
 
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