Okay you Michigan fans... Would you believe the Youppers are from the south? Hmmm, would you believe that there is a Upper Peninsula on the UP? How about: Would you believe that people live up there in the winter too? In all seriousness, would you believe that the Keweenaw Peninsula is probably one of the best kept secrets of Michigan?
Ignored again in the release of FS-2004, the Keweenaw Peninsula is rich with timberland, mountains, streams and lakes, and has a couple hundred miles of shoreline on the largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior. This scenery package is our attempt to correct the negligence that the peninsula has experienced in all flight simulation packages to date.
Before you yell that the lighthouse at Copper Harbor is now a steel tower structure, we are well aware of that.... Though pretty much a purest myself, trying to make everything as realistic as we can, I am taking an artists license to reactivate the 1866 lighthouse and intentionally did not construct the automated beacon on a standard steel tower. To put it simply, this hand built stone lighthouse is too pretty to be replaced by a steel antenna tower.
To the south, the drawbridge between Houghton and Hancock is a nightmare of steel structure that becomes a work of artful engineering in the real world. Our original intent was to animate the bridge until we found out that when the Quincy mine closed, the railroad shut down, the bridge was lifted to the up position and the railroad deck became the automobile deck. Be sure to check the bridge at night. If you dare, use the light reflection on the water to fly under the bridge, but don't let the FAA catch you.... We believe that light reflection on the water is a new technique to the hobby. We are proud to introduce it to you here. Personally, I think this could be used in several circumstances in our hobby and hope that it catches on with other scenery designers to improve our flying hours.
Atop the hill, between the bridge and the airport, take time to stop by the Quincy mine. The Quincy copper mine is still open but only for tours. If you enjoy architecture, lift house #2 (represented here) is very unique in the mining industry. Chopper pilots will find ample area to land and few trees to impede a nice low level hover while taking in the view.
Should you be sim-flying a chopper, be sure to stop at the Hill Top Gift Shop for a cool refreshment before flying back to Houghton County Memorial (KCMX). The gift shop is open 24 hours a day, but unless you know the area, I would not suggest a night landing... The terrain is realistic, as are the trees.
You will find the number of textures required for this project is high. Please understand that most of the textures had to be custom made specifically for the scenery within this project. Some will be used on other projects, using the same name when possible. If you find that you already have a specific texture, please allow this version to overwrite anything older.
We sincerely trust that you will enjoy this scenery package and welcome you to download other Michigan scenery packages that we have completed. We also welcome you to visit the BozAir web site at http://www.bozair.bravepages.com/index.htm
SPECIAL NOTE
A new version of a Special Effects file is included with this scenery set. I am including a copy of the original file and the revised file. This effect file will cause all obstruction lights on antennas, bridges, etc., to be brighter, able to be seen from a greater distance, and slower in the blink process. Personally, I think it looks much more realistic. If however, you do not like the revised version, delete it and rename the included, original file by erasing the 'ORIGINAL' portion of the file name.
Also included is a new texture file to be placed in your Flight Simulator 9\Effects\Texture sub-directory.
Installation
If you are using the default (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9) file structure, you may unzip the entire scenery set to your Addon Scenery directory. Please read the following for additional file relocation that may be necessary.
* A folder containing DOCUMENTATION is provided and contains this information. After reading it, there is no need to retain it.
* A folder containing EFFECTS files is provided. This folder contains several files, which must be placed in your FS9 'Effects' sub directory. For information, this file provides the working elements of the lighthouse beam along with one for obstruction lights.
* Within the EFFECTS folder, there is a sub directory for TEXTURE(s) that are required for this scenery. Please move the file(s) to the TEXTURE sub directory that accompanies your EFFECTS directory.
* A folder containing SCENERY files is provided. This folder contains the numerous BGL files that are required to place the scenery. You may move the complete folder to your file structure by 'click and drag' or you may perform a 'select all' function and either cut & paste or copy the files to your scenery structure.
* A folder containing LANDCLASS files specific to the area of scenery is provided. It is suggested that a separate Scenery Library folder for LandClass files be used if you do not already have one. Simply move all LANDCLASS files to this folder. For those not informed, LandClass files provide trees where trees should be and towns where towns should be. They are of the BGL variety but as stated, should be in a folder of their own.
* A folder containing TEXTURES is provided. This folder contains all of the various texture files required to make the scenery look like it should. As with the SCENERY files, you may move the complete folder, do a 'click and drag' or perform a 'select all' function and either cut & paste or copy the files to your scenery structure.
Remember to ADD to your Scenery Library
This scenery will not be visible if you do not add it to your SCENERY LIBRARY within FS-2004 / FS9 program. To complete this:
* Start your Flight Simulator program and select SETTINGS screen that appears when you would normally select a flight. The SETTINGS tab can be found in the lower left portion of the window.
* This will open a SETTINGS window. From this window select SCENRY LIBRARY, which should be about in the middle of your screen and the lower part of the window.
* When the SCENERY LIBRARY window opens, you will see a line of buttons along the right side of the window. From this row, select ADD AREA.
* The ADD AREA window will then open allowing you to enter your file structure for the scenery.
* If you have used the automated installation, your file location will be C:\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery\Keweenaw Peninsula. You can use your mouse and point to the Addon Scenery directory, then Keweenaw Peninsula sub-directory. This will show the name Keweenaw Peninsula in the SCENERY AREA TITLE window and you can press OK.
* You may also select whether you want to cache the scenery. You may select to cache or leave it as the default.
Enjoy The Keweenaw Peninsula
Copyright and Distribution
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THIS IS FREEWARE SCENERY Copyright (C) 2004 James C. Bosworth & Al Heline
IT IS INTENDED FOR THE ENJOYMENT AND FREE USE BY THE FLIGHT SIMULATOR COMMUNITY AND MAY BE DISTRIBUTED TO, UPLOADED AND/OR DOWNLOADED TO THE INTERNET FOR FREE OF CHARGE USE BY THE PUBLIC, SO LONG AS ALL FILES REMAIN INTACT AND THIS TEXT FILE IS INCLUDED. HOWEVER, THIS SCENERY MAY NOT BE SOLD, UPLOADED OR DISTRIBUTED TO ANY PERSON, BBS, ORGANIZATION OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF ENTITY WHICH INTENDS TO OR IN ANY WAY PROFITS FINANCIALLY OR OTHERWISE FROM DISTRIBUTION OF THIS SCENERY. ALL RIGHTS, INCLUDING OWNERSHIP AND COPYRIGHT ARE RESERVED BY THE ABOVE.
AS STATED, THIS SCENERY IS OFFERED AS FREEWARE. EVERY ATTEMPT TO TEST THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SCENERY HAS BEEN TAKEN, HOWEVER, WE CANNOT ASSURE THAT IT WILL WORK ON EVERY SYSTEM MANUFACTURED AND WE CANNOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED ON ANY SYSTEM.
This scenery was tested using Microsoft Flight Simulator 9, on a pair of home built computers - an Athlon K7 1.4GHz processor, Asus V7700-Pro GeForce2 64MB video card AND an Intel Pentium 4 -478 2.0GHz processor with 512MB of DDR memory feeding a PNY Verto GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB DDR Ram video card. It was created with FS Architect 2002, GMAX, and Ground2K4.
We thank the following people for the use of their macro's and texture files:
Russel Dirks (who wrote EZ Landclass), Robert Palmer & Matthias Breuckner, Kern Pegg, Jimmy R Martin, John de Langristin, and Christian Fumey (author of Ground2K4 V5.1).
Without their products, this scenery wouldn't be possible.
