21 replies to this topic

[Joey McCormick]

Just wondering where I can pick up a freeware scenery program and how I actually make scenery? Thanks

[peter10]

Get EZ-Scenery for $29 on abacuspub.com, or download Runway 12 Object Placer and it's 3 libraries for free. This post has been done many times before.

Peter  

[Joey McCormick]

Oh ok great, I think I might by EZ-Scenery today or I'll just try Runway 12 first lol. Is runway 12 the same thing as EZ? Or is EZ better?

[Katahu]

Joseph McCormick, on Jul 4 2006, 09:43 AM, said:

Oh ok great, I think I might by EZ-Scenery today or I'll just try Runway 12 first lol. Is runway 12 the same thing as EZ? Or is EZ better?

Well, Runwy 12 has its share of quirks like object models that don't have textures showing, or the models coming out all wierd and stuff. This can be solved by simply following the intructions as much as possible to avoid as much of the quirks as possible. I never tried EZ scenery so I won't comment on that.

[IBtheSarge]

Joseph McCormick, on Jul 4 2006, 08:08 AM, said:

Just wondering where I can pick up a freeware scenery program and how I actually make scenery? Thanks

How extensive a design are you planning on, Joseph?

Modifying the airport runways/taxiways/ramps/parking spots?  AFCAD v2.21 by Lee Swordy

Manipulating the terrain?  EZ-Landclass, Ground2k4, SBuilder

Deleting default objects?  EXCBuilder, DefArea, FSSC (or write your own XML and use bglcomp_SDK)

Flattening terrain?  FSTFlatten, SBuilder, FSSC

Placing objects others have designed?  EZ-Scenery, Runway 12, SBuilder

Making your own objects?  GMAX, FSDS3

What you're going to need will depend on what you plan on doing with the scenery.

[Joey McCormick]

Well I'm pretty much gonna be remaking Toronto Pearson for those people who want good framerates with it, plus Simflyers Toronto scenery is terrible and it's old now So I want to make my own, and either sell it as payware or give it out as freeware. But it's gonna be good and I want to use freeware scenery makers/builders to create it, and I am also very good at designing things

[TechnicolorYawn]

You don't need to buy anything at all - all my scenery is made with freely downloadable apps. I use:

Gmax, for making 3D objects:
http://www.turbosquid.com/

Ground2K4, for altering ground textures:
http://www.scenery.o...utilities_c.htm

Coastlinemaker, for altering coastlines:
http://flightsim.com...k/fsirmuti.html

FSSC, for making flatten areas:
http://www.avsim.com/fssc/

ExcBuilder, for excluding default objects and autogen:
http://library.avsim...util&DLID=41356

AFCAD 2, for manuipulating airport facilities and layouts:
http://files.fsnordi...2002_AFD_Files/

[Joey McCormick]

Sweet dude, thanks. Also am I aloud to sell it as payware? Because I'm looking for some sort of job and this would be perfect.

[Joey McCormick]

Oh and is there anyway for me to create scenery while flying, because Im sort of enroute from Zurich-Atlanta right now And can I make it close to Fly Tampa looking ?

Edited by Joseph McCormick, 04 July 2006 - 12:54 PM.

[Katahu]

Well, I would suggest that you first learn how to model in this area as much as possible before selling. Consumers like seeing high-quality addons. First release your addon as freeware before making payware addons so that you can recieve feedback and learn from any mistakes that might crop up. You do have right to sell your own creations. But if other people's works are involved, you will need express written permission to do include their work in the product.

If you do sell, you will need a website in which people will buy from and look into for support. Speeking of support, payware customers "will" expect to see a lot of technical support for the addons they buy.

And one more thing:

When you develope a payware addon, you will have to make sure that your product won't get pirated by pirateers who would hack into payware products and do one of the following [maybe both]:

1. Resell it while keeping the credits.
2. Release it as freeware while still keeping the credits.

The choice it yours.

[Joey McCormick]

Yep, your right, I'm gonna learn this stuff first, and then probably start to cell it. And I'll make sure that people can't pirate it, I'll have it like flight one's add ons where you need to add the last 4 digits of your credit card. That way it will be only available to people who want to buy it or who are reinstalling it from when they first bought it.

[IBtheSarge]

Joseph McCormick, on Jul 4 2006, 01:51 PM, said:

Sweet dude, thanks. Also am I aloud to sell it as payware? Because I'm looking for some sort of job and this would be perfect.

You can sell anything you make as payware, with some restrictions:

1.  It has to be YOUR work.  You can use the freeware programs (in most cases; check the documentation that comes with the programs to be sure the author of that program permits the use of his freeware program to be used for payware).

2.  If you DO use anyone else's work (like freeware object libraries for Rwy 12 and EZ-Scenery and SBuilder, or even individual collections of objects), you MUST have the original designers' permissions to use their work in a payware product.

Unless you design your own objects, #2 is going to be a limitation in whether you get to collect any money.  You might get permission from the original designers, or you might get permission IF you split the profits with all the designers whose work you use.

Designing your own objects means learning GMAX (freeware) or FSDS3 (payware), and then learning the relationship between the objects you design and the makeMDL_SDK and bglcomp_SDK so you can use those objects in FS2004.  You should also look through the bglcomp_SDK and get familiar with what it does, and what can be done with airports in FS2004, before launching into a reconfiguration using AFCAD (i.e., approaches, navaids, frequencies, etc.).

It's an on-going process .... I've been at this for over 2 years now and I'm still learning every day, even ins-and-outs of software I've been using for those 2 years.  

[peter10]

Well... There are realistic terminals for big airports for EZ-Scenery, not everything BUT terminals in Runway 12. But like sarge said, AFCAD is essential. If you don't want Runway 12 or EZ-Scenery, you can place default library objects from FS using complicated XML coding. But if you said just reworking an airport, basically AFCAD is only needed and an exclude maker such as EXC Builder or you can learn the old fashioned way. If you want, I'll e-mail you with tutorials and instructions. It's like riding a bike, you don't forget scenery design.

Peter  

[Skydvdan]

Joseph McCormick, on Jul 4 2006, 12:44 PM, said:

Well I'm pretty much gonna be remaking Toronto Pearson for those people who want good framerates with it, plus Simflyers Toronto scenery is terrible and it's old now So I want to make my own, and either sell it as payware or give it out as freeware. But it's gonna be good and I want to use freeware scenery makers/builders to create it, and I am also very good at designing things

Just so that I can understand your mindset, how long do you believe it will take you to create a new Pearson?

[michaelJ]

You also need to learn how to make textures. Photoshop is the best program for that, but it's also very expensive, perhaps start with PS elements to give it a try before spending 600 dollars on the full version. Like Gmax, PS has a very, very steep learning curve. I would highly suggest starting with a small airport, it is a ton of work to even do a small airport, and something like Toronto as a first project could get very discouraging when you have to deal with all the issues that will inevitably crop up with any project.

[Joey McCormick]

Skydvdan, on Jul 6 2006, 10:11 PM, said:

Joseph McCormick, on Jul 4 2006, 12:44 PM, said:

Well I'm pretty much gonna be remaking Toronto Pearson for those people who want good framerates with it, plus Simflyers Toronto scenery is terrible and it's old now So I want to make my own, and either sell it as payware or give it out as freeware. But it's gonna be good and I want to use freeware scenery makers/builders to create it, and I am also very good at designing things

Just so that I can understand your mindset, how long do you believe it will take you to create a new Pearson?

I don't know I probably won't do it just yet as I am just a beginner

[Ice Man]

I have a question on the subject: Is there any tutorial available for Ground2k4? I just got it and I can't even start a new file. I can't write anything in the "Project" box, and when I click on "Map center coordinates" or "NW/SE Coordinates in the map," I get an error message that says, "Error! (607) Mandatory map .Bmp file"

[IBtheSarge]

Ice Man, on Jul 10 2006, 10:38 PM, said:

I have a question on the subject: Is there any tutorial available for Ground2k4? I just got it and I can't even start a new file. I can't write anything in the "Project" box, and when I click on "Map center coordinates" or "NW/SE Coordinates in the map," I get an error message that says, "Error! (607) Mandatory map .Bmp file"

None that I'm aware of, other than the instructions in the zip package by the author.  Two questions:

You DO have SCASM v2.86 or higher?
You DO have FSConnect v2.0 or higher?

From the readme:

Quote

Needs for a full insatallation
======================================

-  Ground2K4 and associated files
-  Bglc.exe, TmfCompress.exe mf2Bgl.exe and Resample.exe (MS Terrain SDK tools)
   The SDK tools are part of the installation
-  FSCONNECT 2.0 and above, not included in this package
-  Scasm 2.86 and above

I don't use Ground2k4, but FSConnect.dll must be in your FS9/Modules folder, and I believe SCASM has to be in the same directory with Ground2k4.

[Ice Man]

I have both of those, and the directory to Ground2k4 contains no spaces. I get the same message.

[IBtheSarge]

Ice Man, on Jul 12 2006, 07:26 PM, said:

I have both of those, and the directory to Ground2k4 contains no spaces. I get the same message.

Well, like I said, I don't use it; but from the instructions in the package, it looks like you've met all the requirements.  If you don't get any response from anyone else soon, you might try the AVSIM forums and see if anyone in there has some suggestions.  Most of the folks here at FS2004.com either don't do terrain manipulation, or create new terrain in GMAX, or use Luis Sa's SBuilder to manipulate terrain.  You might get a broader range of program knowledge over at AVSIM.

Good luck .....