• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
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    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Terrain Sculptor Pro is Available for Evaluation

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gadgets

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Several months ago I announced an intention to extend Terrain Sculptor to handle all types of terrain for all Flightsim versions. I have made excellent progress and an initial version is now available for evaluation.

Terrain Sculptor Pro supports creation and editing of all terrain types and exporting terrain .bgls. Of course! But, it also imports terrain .bgl files - both CVX files for FSX/P3D and (prior to general release) FS9 LWM and VTP files. As well, it allows display of any of those file types as a background image facilitating, for example, accurate placement of exclude polys for roadways and shorelines. The user interface provides a great deal of flexibility in data presentation styles. I intend eventually to extend these capabilities to include aerial/satellite images.

My intent for this preliminary release is to garner comment on overall useability and required additional functionality. (Be honest. If nobody needs this capability, I've got other things to do.) I do not intend to support this release other than to fix any significant issues that inhibit evaluation identified within the next few days. The reason for this time limit is that I will be leaving soon for an extended period and will not be able to provide any support during my absence. But, I would appreciate your comments ASAP because I hope to advance the project while away.

You can download Terrain Sculptor Pro from my website (http://stuff4fs.com). Navigate to Applications/Terrain Sculptor and click the Development Release menu item. Terrain Sculptor Pro is fully functional except for editing of Freeways and importing/exporting of FS9 bgls other than flattens (i.e., Terrain Sculptor Release 1.2.09 functionality). But, I would not recommend this release be used for production work. (If you do, be sure to back up any affected files first.)

Happy Flightsimming,
Don
 
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If you are planning to evaluate Terrain Sculptor Pro, please ensure you have the latest development release. I am making unannounced releases as I resolve deficiencies. For example, today I enabled a new feature that allows you to "lift" a full line or poly from a background image and add it to your project. This would, for example, allow you to replace a shoreline simply by copying it into your project and editing a few vertices - which is a lot easier that redrawing the entire shoreline "from scratch".

Don
 
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gadgets

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As some of you will have noticed, I have made almost daily evaluation releases of Terrain Sculptor Pro since introduction. I have just made another, to fix an exception thrown when exporting a project to FSX/P3D.

While I have made great progress on TS Pro features in the past week and fixed a number of other issues, I'm still not "there". The latest release will import FS9 .bgl files but their display is erroneous or non-existent. Export to FS9 has not yet been addressed. And, I'm out of time. (But, otherwise, TS Pro seems to do what I intend - though I'm sure there are still some "soft-spots".)

While I am unlikely to be able to make any further releases for the next six weeks, I do hope to complete the design during that period. And, if I do have the opportunity to re-release, I will. In the meantime, please continue your evaluations and let me know about any problems/deficiencies. I may not be able to do much about them at the time. But, it is my intent that TS Pro be ready for beta testing when I return.

Don
 
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I have just posted Development Release TS Pro 0009. While travelling, I was able to extensively test most of its functions and fix a number of minor issues. As well, I completed the importing of FS9 terrain files. You can download the new release from http://stuff4fs.com by navigating to the Terrain Sculptor page and clicking the Development Release menu item.

The only missing function is the exporting of FS9 terrain files. While I made some progress on that item while I was away, it is not yet complete. Hence. the corresponding menu item remains disabled. I hope to complete that development in the next couple of weeks.

As a reminder, among other things, TS Pro will load, examine, edit and compile any valid terrain file for either FS9 (VTP/LWM) or FSX/P3D (CVX). It will simultaneously display your project file and as a background (stock) file and allow you to exclude any stock item with a single click.

While TS Pro is not yet ready for "the big time", it's functionality is nearly complete and what exists has been thoroughly tested. Please give it a try and report any errors.

Don
 
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gadgets

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I now have a working FS9 compiler and decompiler. Took me a little longer than expected but the results seem worth the effort.

Now for a few (final) feature additions and some comprehensive "alpha" testing. Should be ready for "beta" testing before Christmas. Anyone interested?

Don
 
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gadgets

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I have just posted TS Pro Development Release 0.0 17 to http://stuff4fs.com. Navigate to the Terrain Sculptor page and click the Development Release menu item.

Thanks to the extensive testing efforts of several users, TS Pro is nearing beta quality. The preliminary user manual (included in the update) is a little out of date (I'll fix that soon) but, for the most part is adequate. For the other items, I encourage experimentation. You can't do any harm and you might find something very useful. I do, however, you make a backup of any valuable files prior to loading them into TS Pro.

I also suggest anyone using Terrain Sculptor consider updating to TS Pro.

Please advise me of any issues in TS Pro that you notice, no matter how seemingly minor. My goal is to have TS Pro essentially bug-free before the end of March.

Enjoy,
Don
 
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