Exporting scenery

In order to be able to use scenery in FS, it must be exported to BGL format. GroundMaker will convert a project to an intermediate text format which in turn is converted by another program, SCASM (Scenery Assembler by Manfred Moldenhauer). You don't have to worry how the process works; GroundMaker will do this for you.

Make sure SCASM v2.5 (or higher) is installed in GroundMaker's ditrectory, otherwise you will get an error message when compiling. SCASM can be found on the web at www.scasm.com. It is free for non-commercial use.

Exporting is done in the following steps:

  • Creating a scenery folder structure
  • Compiling the project in GroundMaker
  • Copying the needed texture files
  • Activating the scenery in FS

 

The FS scenery folder structure

FS makes use of a special folder structure from which scenery and texture files are read. GroundMaker is not able to create that structure for you; you will have to do it by yourself. Actually, it is very easy to understand how it works: The main folder, preferably named after your scenery, contains two folders, one for the scenery files, the oth textures.

Folder structure

  • When you are ready to compile your scenery project for the first time, make a new folder and name it after your scenery (named MYSCENERY in the example above). Add two folders inside it, one named TEXTURE, the other one SCENERY.
  • Move the main folder (the one named after your scenery) to FS' scenery directory as follows: ...\[YOUR_FS_DIRECTORY]\SCENERYDB\CITIES\. Make sure there is no folder with the same name already installed. If it is the case, rename your folder; It is very important that each of your sceneries use their own folder structure!

 

Compiling the scenery

To export a project click the FILE\ GENERATE BGL FILES... menu item. A 'Save As' dialog will show. GroundMaker will use the project file name witha .BGL extension. Save the file inside the SCENERY directory you created above. A temporary .SCA file will be generated by GroundMaker which in turn will be compiled with SCASM.

Depending on the items in your project, one or more .BGL files will be created:

  • [PROJECT_NAME].BGL: Contains all visual data, the flatten polygon and world menu entries.
  • EXCL_XX.BGL: A separate exclude file is created for every EXCLUDE area.

GroundMaker does not erase the SCENERY folder's content when compiling. In case you removed EXCLUDE objects from your project, make sure to erase all exclude .BGL files before compiling! Otherwise, you won't see any changes at all.
To find out the name(s) of the compiled scenery file(s), click the FILE\ LIST REQUIRED FILES FOR RELEASE menu item...

 

Copying the texture files

FS will need all texture files used in your project. This includes textures needed by polygons, tree lines, forests, roads, 3D objects, custom runways, etc... Textures must be copied to the scenery's TEXTURE folder (see above folder structure). Don't forget to add all needed seasonal and night textures too.

To find out which textures are required to run your scenery, click the FILE\ LIST REQUIRED FILES FOR RELEASE menu item...

 

Activating your scenery in FS

Once compiled, the scenery must be activated in FS. Run FS and click on the WORLD\ SCENERY LIBRARY menu item. A dialog box will be shown:

Scenery library

In the above dialog click the 'Add scenery area' button.

Select scenery

An 'open file' dialog box will be loaded. Browse your way through to your scenery's main folder (MYSCENERY in the example above) and select it. Enter a title for your scenery and make sure the lower option 'Use scenery directly' is selected. Click OK to close the dialog.

Scenery layers

Back in the SCENERY LIBRARY dialog, make sure the scenery is activated (check left box) and give it a high priority (layer). GroundMaker sceneries cover small areas should always have a high priority. It is important that small sceneries have priority over larger scenery areas. For example, if you make a scenery for Atlanta, GA, make sure that the South-East US scenery area and any other add-on for the state of Georgia have a lower priority. Note that the smaller the number the higher the priority. If you're not sure about the priority, set it to 1; This will always work... Close the dialog.

A scenery must only be activated once.

 

Releasing a scenery

In order to be able to share your work on the internet, you must include all files needed by your scenery. Simply include your scenery's main folder which must contain the SCENERY and TEXTURE folder. Make sure all scenery files (.BGL) are included and remove FILELIST.DAT (it is added by FS). The TEXTURE folder must contain all textures needed by your scenery, including night and seasonal textures.

Also don't forget to explain how to install and activate the scenery in your documentation.

Read the TEXTURE topic for more info on the GroundMaker texture set