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The Staff of SOH
I need Help Identifying a land based carrier at Rekata Seaplane Base
- Thread starter Browncoat
- Start date
Hiede
Members +
Browncoat,
It seems you have the Uncle Tgt Solomons scenery already installed,why would you also install the MR scenery also?Rekata is already in the UT scenery.UT also moves the scenery to make it more accurate,I think MR just used the stock scenery for his airbases.
I've read your posts over the years about adding scenery,you always have problems.Your problem is you try to put everything into one install.You forget that the scenery,info and other folders have limits what cane be in them before you start having problems with CDT.Start using several installs with what you need for that install.
For the Solomons I have 3 separate installs for different time periods.
For the Big E 44 my son only has the scenery he needs for it.
We have at least 12 installs with just the scenery needed for the missions installed.
Hiede
Hello Hiede. I appreciate your perspective. It’s the same 1943/ early 1944 PTO install that I have been playing with over the years 2/3 years. This is an on going experiment for me.
I can’t quite remember why I had MR’s Solomon’s installed before UT’s. Perhaps it was because MR’s was the first set I had, and then I found UT’s and figured that I would treat the Solomon’s very much like how I treated the airfields for PNG. Replacing MR’s fields with each new UT pack.
Like many/everyone here, my personal library for CFS2 stretches back 15+ years, however while CFS2 has been a mandatory install for all of my PC builds in the past, up until 2/3 years ago I had neglected refining the scenery/objects aspect of my collection. A ton has changed since when Rhumba literally shifted the CFS2 world with his mesh.
This is also the first *time* that I am working with multiple CFS2 installs rather than one really unwieldy monolithic install, which I used to do yeeeears ago when the scenery style of CFS2 was much simpler than it is now. honestly I will never go back to doing that. But managing multiple installs has had its own lessons for me.
Some of the lessons that I have learned are that so far, regardless of theater, the biggest road blocks that I deal with are 1. Aircraft count limit. 2. Airfield file count limit. 3. Object count limit.
I would add ship count, but that aspect of my collection is rather sparse…for now…
Now out of those three roadblocks, the challenging one for me is the object limit. Aircraft count is managed by ACman, and I can deal with the in game map to showing airfields with a count that exceeds around 300-ish.
So far I have a PTO install, an ETO install, a MTO install, an Ostfront install, and a ‘super stock’ install. These installs (aside from super stock) share most if not all of the same scenery objects. The trees, the buildings, etc…. In the case of both the ETO and MTO, there is also a giant set of railroad tracks, which really liven things up. But all of these objects quickly push past the typical 2000 object limit.
My goal is currently through tinkering is to figure out the scenery ‘base-line’ install needed for each ‘theater’ install I currently have. From there I will add more aircraft and missions specific to the installs ( relative) time period.
My next steps for my PTO install after resolving the issues with ‘duplicate airfields’ and missing objects is to remove Xavier’s airfields, shrinking the scope of the PTO install. Then remove many of the scenery objects that don’t have an associated CDP file. From what KDriver said, objects that don’t have a CDP haven’t been loaded. Since I have loaded in to each airfield that I have added, I will know what objects can be removed from the install, and there fore reduce the objects count.
I’m going to use Xavier’s air fields as a foundation for a CBI install based on a Super Stock install that doesn’t have Rumba’s mesh. Perhaps I will also add some of MR’s airfields to that since they are just so good!
I can’t quite remember why I had MR’s Solomon’s installed before UT’s. Perhaps it was because MR’s was the first set I had, and then I found UT’s and figured that I would treat the Solomon’s very much like how I treated the airfields for PNG. Replacing MR’s fields with each new UT pack.
Like many/everyone here, my personal library for CFS2 stretches back 15+ years, however while CFS2 has been a mandatory install for all of my PC builds in the past, up until 2/3 years ago I had neglected refining the scenery/objects aspect of my collection. A ton has changed since when Rhumba literally shifted the CFS2 world with his mesh.
This is also the first *time* that I am working with multiple CFS2 installs rather than one really unwieldy monolithic install, which I used to do yeeeears ago when the scenery style of CFS2 was much simpler than it is now. honestly I will never go back to doing that. But managing multiple installs has had its own lessons for me.
Some of the lessons that I have learned are that so far, regardless of theater, the biggest road blocks that I deal with are 1. Aircraft count limit. 2. Airfield file count limit. 3. Object count limit.
I would add ship count, but that aspect of my collection is rather sparse…for now…
Now out of those three roadblocks, the challenging one for me is the object limit. Aircraft count is managed by ACman, and I can deal with the in game map to showing airfields with a count that exceeds around 300-ish.
So far I have a PTO install, an ETO install, a MTO install, an Ostfront install, and a ‘super stock’ install. These installs (aside from super stock) share most if not all of the same scenery objects. The trees, the buildings, etc…. In the case of both the ETO and MTO, there is also a giant set of railroad tracks, which really liven things up. But all of these objects quickly push past the typical 2000 object limit.
My goal is currently through tinkering is to figure out the scenery ‘base-line’ install needed for each ‘theater’ install I currently have. From there I will add more aircraft and missions specific to the installs ( relative) time period.
My next steps for my PTO install after resolving the issues with ‘duplicate airfields’ and missing objects is to remove Xavier’s airfields, shrinking the scope of the PTO install. Then remove many of the scenery objects that don’t have an associated CDP file. From what KDriver said, objects that don’t have a CDP haven’t been loaded. Since I have loaded in to each airfield that I have added, I will know what objects can be removed from the install, and there fore reduce the objects count.
I’m going to use Xavier’s air fields as a foundation for a CBI install based on a Super Stock install that doesn’t have Rumba’s mesh. Perhaps I will also add some of MR’s airfields to that since they are just so good!
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Hiede
Members +
We have a base install also,it's the 87 days of Cactus automatic install by Captain Kurt.We use that because it has a lot of the things you need in the Pacific.It has the Dbolt weapons,Lindsay Watts objects and Pen32Win AF objects people use.You have to add new stuff if you add new planes like the CK Wildcats.
Even for other campaigns for Carrier ops it is used because a of the objects are still used.When putting in new scenery The objects I don't have are added.This cuts down on doing a lot of extra work.You also don't go over the limit for objects and scenery.
Mission builders are using more of Uncle Tgt scenery,they use MR scenery for areas not done by UT.
Hiede
Even for other campaigns for Carrier ops it is used because a of the objects are still used.When putting in new scenery The objects I don't have are added.This cuts down on doing a lot of extra work.You also don't go over the limit for objects and scenery.
Mission builders are using more of Uncle Tgt scenery,they use MR scenery for areas not done by UT.
Hiede
Thank you for the insights Hiede!
So another lesson learned story for everyone, since I ran in to issue last night when fat fingering my CBI install. So I accidentally started installing CFS2 in the main folder for all of my CFS2 installs, rather than pointing it to the CBI folder where I wanted it.
I hit install, when really I wanted to hit cancel and back away from the install...well CFS2 started to install things, but I canceled the install..must to Window's chagrin because it just hung. When I dug in to things, what I realized is that CFS2 removed most if not all of the 'empty' folders. I found this out when I tried loading in Midway for my PTO install, and CFS2 told me that a ship was missing. The ship was in the main ships folder like ti needed to be, but it was missing the panel, sound and texture folder. By default all of these are empty. I added these back, and things seemed to get working again.
Now I found other major folders that had been removed as well and added those empty folders in. What else should I be on the look out to repair things? So far, aside from removing the aircraft folder with a default zero and replacing a lot of the place holder empty folders, I couldn't find much of an impact on things (think goodness!).
So another lesson learned story for everyone, since I ran in to issue last night when fat fingering my CBI install. So I accidentally started installing CFS2 in the main folder for all of my CFS2 installs, rather than pointing it to the CBI folder where I wanted it.
I hit install, when really I wanted to hit cancel and back away from the install...well CFS2 started to install things, but I canceled the install..must to Window's chagrin because it just hung. When I dug in to things, what I realized is that CFS2 removed most if not all of the 'empty' folders. I found this out when I tried loading in Midway for my PTO install, and CFS2 told me that a ship was missing. The ship was in the main ships folder like ti needed to be, but it was missing the panel, sound and texture folder. By default all of these are empty. I added these back, and things seemed to get working again.
Now I found other major folders that had been removed as well and added those empty folders in. What else should I be on the look out to repair things? So far, aside from removing the aircraft folder with a default zero and replacing a lot of the place holder empty folders, I couldn't find much of an impact on things (think goodness!).
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Hi Browncoat,
Regarding the PTO, due to the multitude of airfields added over the years by Xavier, Maskrider, UncleTgt and others, you really need to have Rhumba's mesh, watermasks, coast and water files installed but not necessarily activated.
Xavier's and MR's earlier work can be placed over a stock install, although activating the mesh should be OK. Activating Rhumba's old coast and water files will probably enhance this scenery as well. All the water file packages can be placed in a single layer. The coast files are placed in a separate layer.
MR's later work requires the mesh and watermasks only. Note, the watermasks layer wipes out stock rivers and roads. Keep the stock watermasks in one layer and Rhumba's in a separate layer.
UncleTgt's work requires only Rhumba's mesh. All of UT's scenery is the most accurate and realistic, so deactivate or delete earlier versions of his airfields by other authors.
Rhumba tropical landclass and textures is another layer which is worth having. There is also Aussie's northern Australia landclass and textures. Experiment with these - you can always deactivate these layers if not happy.
Rhumba's most recent work, the global surface water layers, inundates many existing airfields, so they have not been recommended for any new scenery.
The layer order in the scenery.cfg file is:
Watermask Stock ( one or the )
Watermask Rhumba ( other )
Mesh 7
Mesh 8
Mesh 9 ( if you have any )
Water Rhumba ( optional )
Coast Rhumba ( optional )
Landclass Australia ( optional )
Landclass Tropical ( optional )
Xavier's Airfields
MR's Airfields ( as per instructions )
UT's Airfields ( as per instructions )
As far as the objects go, you can delete Robert John's mega railway tracks from your PTO install, although some of the buildings from that package may be needed. You probably don't require the European landmarks as well.
Kevin
Regarding the PTO, due to the multitude of airfields added over the years by Xavier, Maskrider, UncleTgt and others, you really need to have Rhumba's mesh, watermasks, coast and water files installed but not necessarily activated.
Xavier's and MR's earlier work can be placed over a stock install, although activating the mesh should be OK. Activating Rhumba's old coast and water files will probably enhance this scenery as well. All the water file packages can be placed in a single layer. The coast files are placed in a separate layer.
MR's later work requires the mesh and watermasks only. Note, the watermasks layer wipes out stock rivers and roads. Keep the stock watermasks in one layer and Rhumba's in a separate layer.
UncleTgt's work requires only Rhumba's mesh. All of UT's scenery is the most accurate and realistic, so deactivate or delete earlier versions of his airfields by other authors.
Rhumba tropical landclass and textures is another layer which is worth having. There is also Aussie's northern Australia landclass and textures. Experiment with these - you can always deactivate these layers if not happy.
Rhumba's most recent work, the global surface water layers, inundates many existing airfields, so they have not been recommended for any new scenery.
The layer order in the scenery.cfg file is:
Watermask Stock ( one or the )
Watermask Rhumba ( other )
Mesh 7
Mesh 8
Mesh 9 ( if you have any )
Water Rhumba ( optional )
Coast Rhumba ( optional )
Landclass Australia ( optional )
Landclass Tropical ( optional )
Xavier's Airfields
MR's Airfields ( as per instructions )
UT's Airfields ( as per instructions )
As far as the objects go, you can delete Robert John's mega railway tracks from your PTO install, although some of the buildings from that package may be needed. You probably don't require the European landmarks as well.
Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for your input here. One thing that I am still struggling to understand is how to identify and locate some of the files that you included in your list. “Watermask Stock” is probably a fairly easy one since I assume that these files are part of a default install from CD.
But these entries in your list –
“Watermask Rhumba ( other )”
“Water Rhumba ( optional )”
“Coast Rhumba ( optional )”
are the ones with which I could use some assistance in finding.
Perhaps you could finally help me to find these files so that I can finally build myself a PTO install using Dick’s mesh and John’s scenery with some expectation that the results will be as these wonderful contributors intended.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Ro
Thanks for your input here. One thing that I am still struggling to understand is how to identify and locate some of the files that you included in your list. “Watermask Stock” is probably a fairly easy one since I assume that these files are part of a default install from CD.
But these entries in your list –
“Watermask Rhumba ( other )”
“Water Rhumba ( optional )”
“Coast Rhumba ( optional )”
are the ones with which I could use some assistance in finding.
Perhaps you could finally help me to find these files so that I can finally build myself a PTO install using Dick’s mesh and John’s scenery with some expectation that the results will be as these wonderful contributors intended.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Ro
You can whittle the tracks down by half if you like. I only used the flat versions, e.g. r_tracks_sf12, in the Rome and Dunkirk GSL while Mike Lang did the same with the Zeebrugge scenery.
Hi Ro,
The stock water masks consist of about 80 files starting with pac4b10p.bgl and ending with pac6971p.bgl. They were originally located in the SCENEDB\world\scenery folder. I've attached a breakdown of those files.
Move them out of there and place them in their own folder, naming it whatever you like - I just call mine Stock Watermasks. The "other" referred to the line above "one or the other", i.e. only have one set of water masks active at a time.
The Rhumba water files came in 7 separate packages: Africa, Asia North, Canada West, Canada East, Europe and South America. You can put all the BGL files into one scenery layer if you wish or just use the files pertinent to your theatre of operations.
The Rhumba coast files came in two packages - one for the Pacific and one for Europe. All Rhumba's stuff is located in the CFS2 Scenery/Mesh section.
Regarding the ETO and MTO, use Sander de Cocq's EurW scenery in conjunction with Rhumba's mesh and water masks.
In all theatres of operations the water masks are [Area.002] in the pecking order of the scenery.cfg file. If you include both stock and Rhumba water masks, place them one after the other, but with only one active.
[General]
Title=CFS2 World
Description=CFS 2 Scenery data
Cache_Size=10M
Clean_on_Exit=TRUE
[Area.001]
Title=Terrain
[Area.002]
Title=Watermask Stock
[Area.003]
Title=Watermask Rhumba
John's scenery instructions are detailed but I still managed to get one layer out of order recently. Don't hesitate to ask if things appear not right.
The project in waiting is to convert existing PTO missions to suit John's fabulous SWPTO scenery. It mainly entails altering the takeoff points for the new airfields but may be complicated when extra GSL scenery is included in missions, e.g. Japanese aircraft on the ground at Lae.
Cheers,
Kevin
The stock water masks consist of about 80 files starting with pac4b10p.bgl and ending with pac6971p.bgl. They were originally located in the SCENEDB\world\scenery folder. I've attached a breakdown of those files.
Move them out of there and place them in their own folder, naming it whatever you like - I just call mine Stock Watermasks. The "other" referred to the line above "one or the other", i.e. only have one set of water masks active at a time.
The Rhumba water files came in 7 separate packages: Africa, Asia North, Canada West, Canada East, Europe and South America. You can put all the BGL files into one scenery layer if you wish or just use the files pertinent to your theatre of operations.
The Rhumba coast files came in two packages - one for the Pacific and one for Europe. All Rhumba's stuff is located in the CFS2 Scenery/Mesh section.
Regarding the ETO and MTO, use Sander de Cocq's EurW scenery in conjunction with Rhumba's mesh and water masks.
In all theatres of operations the water masks are [Area.002] in the pecking order of the scenery.cfg file. If you include both stock and Rhumba water masks, place them one after the other, but with only one active.
[General]
Title=CFS2 World
Description=CFS 2 Scenery data
Cache_Size=10M
Clean_on_Exit=TRUE
[Area.001]
Title=Terrain
[Area.002]
Title=Watermask Stock
[Area.003]
Title=Watermask Rhumba
John's scenery instructions are detailed but I still managed to get one layer out of order recently. Don't hesitate to ask if things appear not right.
The project in waiting is to convert existing PTO missions to suit John's fabulous SWPTO scenery. It mainly entails altering the takeoff points for the new airfields but may be complicated when extra GSL scenery is included in missions, e.g. Japanese aircraft on the ground at Lae.
Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin,
thanks very much for your reply.
So, if I understand correctly, to continue your example -
[Area.001]
Title=Terrain
[Area.002]
Title=Watermask Stock
; listed in file "default water masks global CFS2 soh Stock Roads Rivers Beaches.txt"
[Area.003]
Title=Watermask Rhumba
; from files "alternate water masks global v2 RL CFS2 soh CFS2_Watermasking_01.zip" &
; "alternate water masks global v2 RL CFS2 soh CFS2_Watermasking_02.zip"
[Area.010] ; for example
Title=Water Rhumba
; from files "alternate water files Africa v1 RL CFS2 soh C2afrwater.zip" &
; "alternate water files Asia v1 RL CFS2 soh c2nasiawater.zip" etc.
[Area.011] ; for example
Title=Coast Rhumba
; from files "coastline flatten files ETO RL CFS2 soh cfs2coasteur.zip" &
; "coastline flatten files PTO RL CFS2 soh CFS2CoastPac.zip".
but I am afraid that I am still not clear on the differences between "water files" and "water masks", except that the former also contains water texture files while the latter does not.
Maybe part of my lack of understanding is due to the fact that some earlier threads talked about "Rhumba's watermasks version 1" as well as "version 2", and I have not yet managed to identify which files should be labelled "version 1". For a time, I had thought that "cfs2coasteur.zip" and "CFS2CoastPac.zip" were these version 1 files, but your layout above would suggest that I was wrong about that idea.
Perhaps you will be kind enough to confirm that my file labels above are at least reasonably accurate and that my suggested placement of the files is actually correct. And another question - should Rhumba's mesh go in your [Area.001}, or at least below the areas in which your other categories should be placed ?
Incidentally, I noticed that there is an incorrectly named and superfluous folder in the file C2CCanWater.zip currently held in the resource library . . .
Thanks again for your help here,
Ro
thanks very much for your reply.
So, if I understand correctly, to continue your example -
[Area.001]
Title=Terrain
[Area.002]
Title=Watermask Stock
; listed in file "default water masks global CFS2 soh Stock Roads Rivers Beaches.txt"
[Area.003]
Title=Watermask Rhumba
; from files "alternate water masks global v2 RL CFS2 soh CFS2_Watermasking_01.zip" &
; "alternate water masks global v2 RL CFS2 soh CFS2_Watermasking_02.zip"
[Area.010] ; for example
Title=Water Rhumba
; from files "alternate water files Africa v1 RL CFS2 soh C2afrwater.zip" &
; "alternate water files Asia v1 RL CFS2 soh c2nasiawater.zip" etc.
[Area.011] ; for example
Title=Coast Rhumba
; from files "coastline flatten files ETO RL CFS2 soh cfs2coasteur.zip" &
; "coastline flatten files PTO RL CFS2 soh CFS2CoastPac.zip".
but I am afraid that I am still not clear on the differences between "water files" and "water masks", except that the former also contains water texture files while the latter does not.
Maybe part of my lack of understanding is due to the fact that some earlier threads talked about "Rhumba's watermasks version 1" as well as "version 2", and I have not yet managed to identify which files should be labelled "version 1". For a time, I had thought that "cfs2coasteur.zip" and "CFS2CoastPac.zip" were these version 1 files, but your layout above would suggest that I was wrong about that idea.
Perhaps you will be kind enough to confirm that my file labels above are at least reasonably accurate and that my suggested placement of the files is actually correct. And another question - should Rhumba's mesh go in your [Area.001}, or at least below the areas in which your other categories should be placed ?
Incidentally, I noticed that there is an incorrectly named and superfluous folder in the file C2CCanWater.zip currently held in the resource library . . .
Thanks again for your help here,
Ro
Hi Ro,
Yes, your file labels are accurate. I was just too lazy to look up the exact file names from long ago.
Thanks for pointing out the naming mistake in the western Canada package. I've corrected it and changed the name to its original as uploaded to AVSIM - C2WCanWater.zip. It's a wonder no one has said anything since it was released in 2007.
The Rhumba water masks are redrawn coastlines and estuaries which are more geographically accurate but require the deactivation of the stock water masks which depict rivers and roads. These water masks may inundate a number of coastal airfields. I think you can probably get away with not using these water masks in the PTO. However, compare these with the stock ones for MR's Gilbert Islands and Dutch East Indies. You do need them for Onnogras's Dutch East Indies.
The earlier Rhumba water files enhance the coastlines to a lesser degree and depict some major waterways like the Suez Canal. They are used in conjunction with the stock water masks.
The coast packages contain coastal flattens which eliminate many of the sloping water and unnatural cliff effects along shorelines. They are also used in conjunction with the stock water masks.
Dick Ludowise (Rhumbaflappy) recommended placing his water masks just above the terrain [Area.001] layer. However, feel free to experiment with the scenery layer hierarchy. I think putting the mesh at the bottom of the list should work OK.
Good luck with it and let us know how you go.
KD
Yes, your file labels are accurate. I was just too lazy to look up the exact file names from long ago.
Thanks for pointing out the naming mistake in the western Canada package. I've corrected it and changed the name to its original as uploaded to AVSIM - C2WCanWater.zip. It's a wonder no one has said anything since it was released in 2007.
The Rhumba water masks are redrawn coastlines and estuaries which are more geographically accurate but require the deactivation of the stock water masks which depict rivers and roads. These water masks may inundate a number of coastal airfields. I think you can probably get away with not using these water masks in the PTO. However, compare these with the stock ones for MR's Gilbert Islands and Dutch East Indies. You do need them for Onnogras's Dutch East Indies.
The earlier Rhumba water files enhance the coastlines to a lesser degree and depict some major waterways like the Suez Canal. They are used in conjunction with the stock water masks.
The coast packages contain coastal flattens which eliminate many of the sloping water and unnatural cliff effects along shorelines. They are also used in conjunction with the stock water masks.
Dick Ludowise (Rhumbaflappy) recommended placing his water masks just above the terrain [Area.001] layer. However, feel free to experiment with the scenery layer hierarchy. I think putting the mesh at the bottom of the list should work OK.
Good luck with it and let us know how you go.
KD
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