Trees and Buildings Placement

[jackedwardmorris95]

Something I have noticed about CFS2 is the lack of trees, just painted on the ground instead of being actual 3D objects, and In cities there are no buildings, just a flat gray patch the approximate size of the city.
Firstly I'm Looking for some low res trees and buildings, and secondly, I want to know if it is possible to place objects in mission builder, and then be able to upload them to this site where people can download them and place them in CFS2 so they will appear as default in free flight, and quick combat etc. (Don't worry about them being destroyable (GSL), I don't think many of us here enjoy flying around bombing the hell out of English villages and forrests,
I am really set to do this if it is possible,
Thanks,

Jack

[Jagdflieger]

Jack,

You're in luck! Wolfi and Lindsay Watt have made numerous trees for CFS 2. You can have tropical jungle or northern coniferous forests wherever you want.

You can get them all in the library here or at Maskrider's site. In fact, if you use any add-on scenery by Xavier, Maskrider or Achim you will have to have them installed to run the scenery properly. You can also add them easily through the MB when making missions. After the mission is made, you can highlight all of the trees you just planted and then save them to a "Layout" file. This file can then be uploaded and used by anyone else with CFS 2 either in the MB or in mission that you make.

Links:

Wolfi: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=Wolfi

Xavier: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=xavierb2

Leroy: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=leroy10

Maskrider: http://www.mask-rider.com/index.html

Here are some example of all the trees available:

[bobhegf]

This is the only tree I have found that gives me good frame rates.Using the CFS2 GSL program I was able to pick up another 3 to 5 frames a sec.I put them in one by one.This pic is VMF223 arriving at Henderson Field on Aug 20 1942

[Jagdflieger]

For buildings search the library here for Lidsay Watt (Leroy), Xavier and Wolfi. You'll find numerous buildings, tents and warehouses available. Many are set up as city blocks and it is easy to set up villages and small towns.

Search for Gius' Madrid for a truly stunning example of buildings in CFS 2.

CFS 2 was developed before the advent of "auto-gen" trees and buildings so we have to compensate with built up scenery, but it all works out OK. If you add your layout files (see above post) to the Global Scenery Layer (GSL) you can then see your towns and forests if you fly over the area they were positioned.

Here are some examples of villages and ports with add-on buildings and port facilities.

[Jagdflieger]

To get a good start on mission building so that you can set up your scenery and layout files, be sure to get Cody Coyote's tutorial that is here in the library. Just use the search for author drop down menu at the bottom of the "Add-ons" link in the upper menu bar at the top of the page. This should get you up to speed fast and make your CFS 2 look like you've been using it for years.

Cody Coyote: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=Cody Coyote

I make up standard layout files and keep them in my library for later use when I make my missions. I rarely use FF or QC as I can make a good mission up almost as fast as using the canned FF or QC.

Dog1 uploaded several enhanced layout files for the South Pacific and New Guinea last year. You might try those. If you follow the links in his readme files, you should be able to find all the buildings and trees that you need.

Dog1: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=downloads&loc=downloads&page=downloads&FileUploadName=dog1

Here are some of Wolfi's buildings along with Aerocrate's WWI objects:

[CrisGer]

Mostly it just takes time and patience as each object has to be placed by hand and in the real world there are lots of individual objects. There is a limit to what you can place framerate wise sadly, so it wont be possible to really get the detail that FS9 or FSX achieve with autogen .... but we keep trying :)

[jackedwardmorris95]

Thanks to you all, this has really set me in the right direction, I think I will start adding to individual airbases, because when you are above 3000ft It dosent make much difference, I Just want it to look good on the ground, Are there any base personnel I could add?

Jack

P.S attached is a shot of a base in real life, then in CFS2 (No static aircraft, and little shrubbery in CFS2 version)

http://www.100thbg.com/mainmenus/base/images04/9_08_2.jpg

http://www.avsim.com/pages/0802/mosquitosquadron/climbout.jpg

[Jagdflieger]

Jack,

Some airports come with static aircraft, but mostly they don't so that there are no frame rate problems for slower computers.

It is easy to add aircraft and even personnel through the Mission Builder. Once done, save the new objects as a Layout file and then add it all to the GSL layer.

Leroy10 has a good tutorial on using the MB to build up the GSL layer. Should be under his name in the library. It is a very efficient way to quickly add what you want.

Download my Mission Builder Mega Pack to get updated files that will help you with the whole process. Key to the MB finding what you want is to make sure it is installed correctly and to have each object identified and described in the Mdlname.txt file. The Mega Pack will sort all the objects out for you, but you'll still need to download them.

Here are some shots of static aircraft on airfields. They really add to the realism and immersion factors of CFS 2.

[Brunosk]

Hey Jagd,
what's this good looking French Aeronavale biplane up there in your screen "wolfistadt03" ?

[Jagdflieger]

Bruno,

It is the land version of the LeO 257bis torpedo bomber. The pack, by Baldy, has both the float and the wheeled version.

Should be available here. Look for: LeO_257_pack.zip

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?loc=downloads&page=downloads_search

It's a great plane for touring the coastal areas of CFS 2.

Update: Looks like the link for the LeO 257 is broken. Send me a PM.

[leroy10]

Hi Jack,

You can add full 3D trees but there's a major issue with frame rates due to the extremely large number of polygons required to give them any type of detail. The branches alone would bring most computers to a grinding halt and if you added 3D leaves frame rates would get ugly very quickly.

I've actually experimented with proper 3d trees around 5-7 yrs ago. They do look suburb but you can only a few of them before it becomes unfeasible. In fact every tree I've released for CFS2 has a full 3d model but I only ever uploaded the 2D rendering of the textures.

Cheers :ernae:
Lindsay

[miamieagle]

I have Wolfi Forest tress lay out that he never uploaded. I cannot find Wolfi post right now but I can send it to you if you want through a PM.:ernae:

[jackedwardmorris95]

I have Wolfi Forest tress lay out that he never uploaded. I cannot find Wolfi post right now but I can send it to you if you want through a PM.:ernae:

That would be great!

[Jagdflieger]

One can make their own layout files for various forest from the tropics to the northern latitude evergreen forests. Once made, they can be inserted via the Mission Builder. One problem with layout files, is that the file gives you the grouping of objects in the axis that they were originally saved as. You have the option of using the layout file at its original location or you can place it anywhere in the world depending on your needs. To reorient the axis of the layout file objects, the group of trees, buildings, ships, planes or combinations of all, can be rotated to fit the terrain, town or airfield being built or used.

The screen shots below try to help explain the rotating feature in the MB for layouts or other groupings of objects. While the shots depict buildings, they could just as well have been trees. Once in position, you can then add them to the GSL layer as a permanent part of you installation. Once mastered, you can use your library of layout files to fit any terrain, location or theater. It gives you tremendous flexibility and makes for efficient construction of detailed areas in your cyber world. Thanks to Leroy10, Pen 32 and Cody Coyote for discovering all these great features of CFS 2.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------


To move your added layout file around, an all axes:

1. Left click on one of the objects to turn it green.
2. Hold Shift and Left click outside the group of objects and drag your cursor around them. You will create a box around them and the objects will all turn green.
3. Once they are all green, you can move them anywhere on the map and place them where you want them on their original axis.
4. Now you'll need to orient their axis to fit the terrain or the harbor.
5. Hold Alt and place your cursor at the point you want the Layout to rotate around. A red + will appear at the rotation point.
6. Hold alt and then click and drag the group of objects around around the rotation point (Red +) until you are satisfied with the orientation.
7. When you are satisfied with the orientation, left click outside the group of objects and they will turn white and be locked in position.
8. Save and continue on with the mission building project.

Like the MB GSL tools, most of this detail about the layout files was not included in the CFS 2 handbook or the internal Help file. Instead, it was discovered gradually by Leroy, Pen32 and others.
Any cluster of objects in the MB (other than GSL scenery) can be manipulated in this manner.

[Devildog73]

Thanks Jagd, for the link to dog1's stuff.

Much of that is going to find a home in my 5th USAAF scenery for Bong, McGuire, Kearby, and Lynch missions.

Thanks to Rami, I am getting the hang, I think, of building dyn files for the missions, though they are still a bit rough. Now to learn how to do the campaign cmg files..........:isadizzy:.

Each mission is taking hours, literally, to build. Rami has been taking hours to add the dyn files. I have been taking his finished products back into MB and looking at his triggers and events and then attempting to copy what he is doing as I build the missions.

These ground textures of dog1's will cut some of that time down.
WOO HOO!

[Jagdflieger]

DD,

Yep, a good mission can take days and a campaign months to build. One needs a good bit of time without kids or the wife around!

To make a good campaign file, just use the stock MS campaign file and then edit it to reflect your mission names and campaign description and then add or subtract missions as required as well as taking care with the allegiance. It's pretty intuitive once you look at the file closely.

[Devildog73]

SO if I am understanding you correctly, there is no automated system within CFS2 to MB into campaigns like we can with missions.

Yes, I understand what you are saying about days, weeks, months. It is the daily interuptions that delay for days my getting back into some of the mission writing. I was working on Bong 3 and 5 and somehow now cannot open them. "Improperly formatted" errors come up. I will have to go back, read the book and get them rebuilt before I am even close to ready to upload them.

BTW, I am finally approaching Bong 20. He is going home for 30 days leave December 1943, a direct order from the general staff. That shifts me back over to McGuire in Lightnings and Kearby in Jugs until bong returns. FLASHFORWARD: When Bong returns, he and McGuire team up on some missions. Look out IJAAF and IJNAF!!

[Jagdflieger]

No, no animated system that I know of. It's just a simple edit of one you already have.