#Flightgear better scenery update#
#Flightgear better scenery free#

#Flightgear better scenery update#

Furthermore, the most recent worldwide terrain update was late 2008 (v1.0.1) and many different areas have seen improvements since then.įortunately, once the terrain is added to the server it is easy to download a chunk of the world and compile it yourself using TerraGear.ĭue to the fork, airports are currently being handled by the scenery object database maintainers. Once the object is in the database, people who download scenery 'on-the-fly' will be able to see your object within 24 hours of its upload time.Īdding terrain is unfortunately more difficult and requires a 'clipping polygon' so the terrain can be seamlessly merged into the existing spatial data on the server. xml) file into the maintainers of the database. This means to add an object, you would send your. While most airports are up-to-date, not all airports are - and even 'good' airports may need AI ground networks.Ĭonsidering FlightGear is an open-source project, all scenery data is handled centrally, through either the Scenery Object repository, which stores object data, or the FlightGear mapserver, which stores terrain data. FlightGear currently uses a forked version of the X-Plane 8.10 database, since it is released under the GPL. Development is under way to bring FlightGear into compliance with X-Plane 8.50 airport data. However, there are areas such as TNCM: and KSEA: which have higher-resolution terrain data in the server.įinally, FlightGear needs Airports (and airport objects, such as Taxiway signs). The elevation data is contributed using SRTM data, the inaccuracy of which is the cause for the giant hill in the middle of Manhattan.

#Flightgear better scenery free#

Most of the FlightGear world is covered in accurate, but not precise, free spatial data. Terrain is created using shapefiles, which is the 'Microsoft Word Document' of spatial data. This 'after' screenshot demonstrates both the amount of work which is needed to be done even on a well-known place like New York to get the scenery up to par with even older simulators, and how a contribution of one single building can make a difference in terms of the setting.Ĭonsidering there is not really a 'core development team' for FlightGear scenery, any models are more than welcome. Even one well-detailed object can make a great landmark even when the underlying terrain needs significant improvement.įor instance, this was New York City in FlightGear, with only three non-generic buildings: There are only 2258 unique objects in the FlightGear Object repository as of September 2011, many of them generic. At the same time, it is the area of FlightGear in which a developer can quickly make a large impact in improving the simulation, especially when it comes to creating objects.įirst of all, FlightGear needs Objects. Unfortunately, scenery is perhaps FlightGear's weakest point. In the recent version, upgrades including graphics, aircraft and weather which interacts with the scenery have made FlightGear a simulation worthy of a second or third glance from people who use commercial simulators. This is the first step, please let me know what you think should be improved as I'm eventually planning on adding this to the FlightGear wiki.Įvery day, FlightGear becomes a more sophisticated simulation as a result of the users who spend their time making it better. I'm writing something geared toward existing flight sim scenery developers in order to see if anyone is interested in creating for FlightGear.

Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.Īny other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.īy 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.

Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.

Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.

Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum.

Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum.

Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.

Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum.

Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this.