.lso file

C

ChiefWH

Members +
Is it posible to open one of these up and edit it, or alternatively make a replacement and export as one? I'm asuming they are a graphics file.

Thanks if anyone knows and can answer.
 
Gidday, IIRC the Terrain SDK will have the tools? IIRC Pat Pattle (Clive) made up some new .lso files for his ground textures for the BoB install.
 
I've just downloaded the SDK via the sticky up the top of the forum.

There is a large help file in .CHM format - opened for me in Chrome.

One of the first useful bits is:

[h=1]File Formats[/h]While using the Mosaic Editor you will encounter many different file formats, including:

  • XMF - XMF files are mosaic files in XML format. This is the preferred format for authoring mosaics in the Editor, and is used by the "Open" and "Save" menu options in the File menu.
  • MOS - MOS is the binary file format used by the Combat Flight Simulator 3 executable. This format does not include all the information stored by XMF files. You can load and save files of this format with the "Import MOS" and "Export MOS" options in the File menu.
  • RGN - RGN files store information about the placement of scenery objects. After you place scenery in the Editor, you can save an RGN file with the "Export RGN" option in the File menu.
  • LSO - LSO is the binary file format used by the Combat Flight Simulator 3 executable for scenery placement. These files are created by converting RGN files with the RGN2LSO tool.

And more:
[h=1]Terrain Mosaics[/h]Terrain mosaics are created to texture one four-kilometer block of a particular land class. Beacause of the way Combat Flight Simulator blends land classes together, the textures should tile four times within the mosaic, as shown below.
newreply.php
Each layer in the mosaic is assigned a set of MIP Ranges, which determine when the layer fades in and out. You can assign these MIP Ranges in the Layer Properties window.
Unlike aircraft mosaics, the layer names in terrain mosaics have no special meaning so you can assign any name you like.
newreply.php

[h=2]Importing Terrain Mosaics[/h]The terrain mosaics that shipped with CFS3 can be found in the LCMosaic.zip file in the terrains directory. To import one into the Editor:

  1. Extract LCMosaic.zip to a new folder
  2. Add the new folder to the Editor's texture search path in the Directory Options dialog
  3. Choose "Import MOS" from the file menu and select one of the .mos files.
[h=2]Scenery[/h]You can place scenery using the Mosaic Editor's region editing mode, which is discussed in the Placing Scenery topic.
For the scenery to be used by Combat Flight Simulator, you must export to an RGN file, then convert that RGN to an LSO file using the RGN2LSO tool included in the SDK. To export to the RGN format, click the "Export RGN..." option on the File menu.

The Images are not reproducing in this post. You will need to refer to the SDK documentation.


[h=1]Placing Scenery[/h]You can place scenery by using the Region Editing mode of the Mosaic Editor. To enter this mode, select the "Region Editing" option from the View menu. While in the Region Editing mode, two new windows are available for your use: the Regions window and the Region Properties window.
[h=2]Regions[/h]In the Regions window you can organize and select regions of scenery in the same way you operate on Layers. To create a new region to place scenery in:

  1. Click the "New Region" button
Now, if you move your cursor over the canvas, you will see that it is now a set of crosshairs.

  1. Click repeatedly on the canvas to outline a region.
  2. Click on the box surrounding your first point to close the region.
[h=2]Region Properties[/h]
newreply.php

[h=3]Name[/h]Regions names are for your convenience only and are not used outside the Editor.
[h=3]Outline Region[/h]Clicking this button allows you to redraw the boundary for the selected region.
[h=3]Entire Region[/h]Clicking this button sets the boundary of the selected region to the full mosaic.
[h=3]Fixed Angle[/h]If "Fixed Angle" is checked, every scenery item in this region will have the same rotation, specified by the angle you enter. If it is unchecked then each scenery item in the region takes on a random orientation.
[h=3]Fill Maps[/h]Fill maps are used to tell the Editor where to place scenery items. Right-clicking in this area will bring up a Context menu allowing you to add and remove fill maps. Once a fill map is added to the list, click the "..." button to select an image to use for the fill map. The image should have a white pixel wherever a piece of scenery is to be placed and black pixels everywhere else. An example fill map, named "example_fillmap.bmp" is included with the SDK.
The Density allows you to control how many scenery items are placed using the fill map. A density of 1 means there will be one piece of scenery placed for every white pixel on the fill map. A density of 8 places 1 piece of scenery for every 8 white pixels in the fill map.
The Drift allows you to add some randomization to the placement of the scenery. With no drift the scenery items line up on a perfect grid with the fill map. The greater the drift, the more the placement of the scenery items varies.
[h=3]Fill Items[/h]Fill items are the types of scenery objects you want to place using the selected fill map. Right-click in the fill items list to add or remove items. Clicking a fill item brings up a "..." button, which allows you to select the scenery object type.
Each fill item has an associated ratio that allows you to specify what percentage of the total scenery objects placed an individual item should represent. The sum of ratios of all the fill items should equal 100.


Don't know how useful this reply is.
 
Hi ChiefWH,
I came across the following comments about making .sm models, by a guy called Kerry in 2011:

"I've attached something about the format of RGN files which will hopefully be some help.

For the sm models I found the SDK tools work OK, but some things you've got to look out for are the models must be fully textured or they wont compile and there's a mistake in the instructions saying you've got to call the smconverter with a reference to the texture sheet XML when it should actually be to the DDS.


The converter won't work with really detailed parts, the object should have a simple geometry. I found that the LODs were being shifted down so that the LOD 50 object would appear close up and not the LOD 100. I made my models with a LOD 200 top level so that it would compile as LOD 100. I attached a picture to show were I'm at. The cities look a lot better but it would be nice to get a more organised layout than the original LSOs give. I've had a go at doing it manually, but with about 2000 objects per ground tile I soon lost interest."

It sounds like making the .lso is pretty painstaking work. I wonder if that is why some people started to make models of clusters of trees, rather than individual trees? In that way, fewer white pixels are needed on the basemap.

HTH,
 
More goodies for .lso work

As per the .sm thread, I've uploaded some documents to this link:

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/bzb1vdkhxn7nfuy,qtj8f07xcue1e6y,guer3vxtu4zjzgs/shared

For making lsos, the Object Placement pdf is very helpful. Another zip of examples for making RGN to LSO conversions. And another set of files for practising making .sm files from m3d files!

If you plow thorugh this material, everything should be much easier.

There is also an excellent very detailed guide to the whole process of making an entirely new theatre which was recently made by a Frenchman. I wish we had heard from him recently. Basically the SDKS as originally released had a few problems with them - the make water app had an error, another problem with what was said about creating vector data, and other stuff. It takes a fair bit of work to find the three or four fixes to make terrain creation painless.

But the two zips on .sm creation should greatly improve that process, and the .lso process just seems painstaking and slow. No wonder Pat Pattle is taking a break :loyal:
 
I'm getting a much better understanding, but am a bit stuck. Is it possible to simply tell where to place a single object on the mosaic tile in a single defined place. The guidance to meseems to suggest that it is randomly filled, surely this isn't the case?

Is placing an individual object done just by editing the rgn manually in the text editor only?

And am I correct in thinking that rgn files are not actually in the game files, they are just part of the creation process from mosaic to lso?
 
ChiefWH said:
I'm getting a much better understanding, but am a bit stuck. Is it possible to simply tell where to place a single object on the mosaic tile in a single defined place. The guidance to me seems to suggest that it is randomly filled, surely this isn't the case?

Is placing an individual object done just by editing the rgn manually in the text editor only?

And am I correct in thinking that rgn files are not actually in the game files, they are just part of the creation process from mosaic to lso?
Click to expand...

I'd have to sit down and do a bit of reading to nut it all out myself!! But I think it is the other way around - take a look at the ObjectPlacement.pdf - I think you manually fill out placement of trees and other objects over one quarter of the .lso file. The tools then "fold" over the information into the other three quarters. Isn't it the lso file which is made, then the .mos file is made from the lso file? Every few years I read the SDK, think I've partially nutted things out, then I promptly forget it all because I don't use the information.

And yes IIRC the rgn files are a step on the way to making the .lso and .mos files.

So what you see as terrain/scenery in cfs3 is the .dds base texture wrapped over mesh (viz meshbuilderbudgets.xml), with the layers of .lso (calling for scenery objects) and .mos (allowing effects and decals to be rendered, such as craters and the like) sitting over the texture. In the Terrains folder is an enormous library of geo-referenced low res ground textures, and in theory you could pull equivalently located ground textures off Google Earth, named in the same convention so they appear at specific coordinates, and you would have ground textures that look like satellite images. Then you still need to create .lso and mos files for the new textures, so that bombs and bullets can interact with the ground textures, and that scenery objects will align with features on the ground images.
 
Hmm, thanks.

It is all rather confusing. I think I'll have to leave this for now I think, maybe I'll come back to it.

Thanks again.


EDIT: I think actually I may have had it just click into place.

EDIT2: Yes, I've been able to succesfully do a test alteration now. Thank you for your help and patience.
 
Last edited:
ChiefWH said:
Hmm, thanks.

EDIT: I think actually I may have had it just click into place.

EDIT2: Yes, I've been able to succesfully do a test alteration now. Thank you for your help and patience.
Click to expand...

Great, well done! You have achieved far more than I in this area. My tired brain would have to dedicate days of reading and doing before I could be of real assistance. You have done very well to organise all the information and relate it to Microsoft's famously terse SDK documentation :applause:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top