This file contains brand new scenery for Atlanta's Stone Mountain area including Stone Mountain Britt Memorial Airport. To see just how much has changed, check two of the included screen prints:
02OverviewFrom10000ftBEFORE.jpg
03OverviewFrom10000ftAFTER.jpg.
The first of these screen prints is what exists in the default FS2K2 scenery--nothing but a terrible looking lake and a radio antenna.
The new scenery is as close as possible to the real world based on photos I made and personal observations. A major part of the change is the addition of high resolution satellite imagery that provides the base on which the remainder is built. For more information and details, see further down below in this ReadMe file.
This scenery was designed specifically using FS2002. It has NOT been tested in any manner with any earlier versions of the simulator.
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INSTALLATION:
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Be sure to read this entire file first before installing. Installation
is really very simple. It's the instructions that are complex! :)
1 Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your FS2002 ADDON SCENERY folder.
It will probably be "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\..."
but yours may be different depending on where you installed FS2002.
2 Within your FS2K2 "ADDON SCENERY" folder, you should
find already existing folders named "Scenery" and "Texture".
Create the following new subfolder:
"...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony"
3 Unzip the ZIP file into the folder:
"...\Atlanta By Molony\"
(see the Installation Cautions section below regarding unzipping)
4 Run FS2002.
5 From the FS2002 "World" menu, choose "Scenery Library".
6 In the "Scenery Library" window, click the "Add Area" button.
7 From the "Select Scenery Directory" dialog that appears,
navigate to the folder you created above:
"...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\"
8 Within the "...\Atlanta By Molony\..." folder,
Select the "Stone Mountain" folder.
9 Be sure that it says near the bottom of the dialog box beside
Scenery Area Title, "Stone Mountain".
10 Also be sure that "Use this scenery directly" is checked.
11 Click the "OK" button.
12 On the "Scenery Library" screen that reappears, "Stone Mountain"
should be at the top of the list. Click the "Move Down" button
several times so that the "Stone Mountain" entry is below "Airport
Libraries" but anywhere above "Atlanta".
13 Click "OK".
The scenery should reload. Go to Stone Mountain to view the new scenery. Run FS2K2, go into Slew Mode, and open Map View. To see an overview, enter these coordinates:
Latitude N33 47.5
Longitude W84 5.3
Altitude 10000
Heading 298
The new scenery area is so large, you will probably need to be at the 10,000' altitude in order to see the full breadth of the area. You will also need to pan your view down and press the "W" key to see it without the instrument panel in your way.
Don't be surprised or concerned when you momentarily see almost all white on the ground. FS2K2 begins by painting default scenery first and then gradually adds details. Unfortunately, addon scenery is last in the priority order. :( But if you fly into the area, the change is much more gradual and realistic.
If you want to be even more realistic, begin on the Tarmac at Britt Memorial Airport. Enter these coordinates:
Latitude N33 48.55
Longitude W84 7.05
Altitude 953
Heading 91
The mountain will be behind you.
Be sure your ZIP program is set to "Use folders" so that the correct subfolders will be created and the files will go into the correct folders. If not, then be sure you manually create the following folder structure under your "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\" folder:
...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony
...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Stone Mountain
...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Stone Mountain\Scenery
...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Stone Mountain\Texture
Put all of the .BLG files in the Scenery folder.
Put all other files in the Texture folder.
The reason for the "Atlanta By Molony" part of the path is that I have other Atlanta scenery available for download and it simplifies things to keep them all together.
It is possible to simplify installation further by just putting all of the .BGL files in the "...\ADDON SCENERY\Scenery" folder and all the rest of the files in the "...\ADDON SCENERY\Texture" folder. If you do that, you do not need to follow the instructions above concerning the FS2002 Scenery Library menu. But I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT! If you add scenery often, regularly putting your files in those can eventually cause filename conflicts. In fact, you can even put all of the files except the .BGL files in the main "...\FS2002\Texture" folder. But I even more STRONGLY recommend against that for that same reasons.
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MORE DETAILS ABOUT SCENERY FEATURES ADDED:
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Obviously the biggest change appears to be Stone Mountain itself. At first, creating that mountain certainly appeared to be the biggest hurdle by far! But as it turned out, that became almost the easiest. I used the GMax graphics editor that comes (semi hidden) with FS2K2. GMax has a HUGE learning curve but is extremely complex and powerful.
The more difficult part of the process was how to "Paint the Ground"--or more specifically, what to paint it with. I found that www.MapQuest.com not only provides door-to-door mapping but also, in many areas of the USA, has aerial photos of the exact same areas as the maps. I went to the Stone Mountain area, viewed the aerial photos, and copied them. That gave me MANY small sections! Using Paint Shop Pro, I pieced them together into a mosaic. Then I subdivided the mosaic into exact 2000 sq meter sections--about 30 of them! These were saved as .BMP files. The mosaic as a whole was used as a background in Airport for Windows to help place objects accurately.
It is a bit more complex than this, but in general the steps in GMax were:
Create a checkerboard of about 30 Planes.
(2000 sq meters, 0.1 meters AGL to hide the default ground)
Apply each of the mosaic files as Material to the appropriate Planes.
Then for those sections that were to become the mountain,
Convert each Plane to an Editable Mesh--in this case there were 4 of them.
Select by Vertex
Turn on Soft Selection and vary the FallOff as appropriate
Gradually select and raise the selected Vertex sets as needed
It was a neat process--sort of like "pulling" the mountain up out of the ground. Then I just exported all of this in sections to .BGL files. I did run into problems at first where the compile to .BLG file refused to work. But at the time I was trying to use the entire mosaic and one huge Plane for the entire area. After MUCH experimentation and trial and error, I found that I had to cut the thing into smaller pieces and generate separate .BGL files for each piece.
I used BMP2000 to convert the .BMP into Extended .BMP files for FS2K2. I found BMP2000 much faster and easier to use than ImageTool.
From that point I had Stone Mountain and the surrounding ground area spreading out over many square miles. I even amazed myself with just how realistic it all looked--far exceeding any hopes I had at the beginning of the project! All that was left was creating all the other scenery items:
Britt Memorial Airport:
Be aware that Britt Memorial is not in the FS2K2 database. That's because the airport no longer exists! It was formerly a general aviation airport. But it was closed in 1996, when it was converted into a parking lot for the tennis & aquatic Olympic events being held at the adjacent Stone Mountain Park. After the games, the airport owners decided that it would be too costly to reopen the airport. The airport site is now the parking lot for the Tennis Center. Now with this scenery, Britt gets a dusting off and new life! :)
I used Airport for Windows to create the actual runway. But because the new ground scenery was 0.1 meters AGL, the runway was hidden. So I used GMax to recreate the Runway--0.2 meters AGL. Same goes for the Tarmac and everything else at the airport--even the real Fuel Area is hidden below the ground and was then recreated 0.2 meters AGL--check out my version of the MicroGas pump. :) That makes the runway/fuel area act as they should--including ILS landings and fill up the tanks actions. I even added a working VOR. The frequencies are:
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VOR/DME 109.50
-------------------ILS------Heading
Rwy 35 110.55 354
Rwy 17 110.60 174
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Obviously, since it is not in the FS2K2 Database, then you will not find it in Map View. And since there is no ATC, it would be of no help to have Tower frequencies. Just use the announce on any frequency you wish.
All of the aircraft on the tarmac have engines running but all but one are totally stationary. There is one dynamic aircraft that flies a standard left pattern taking off to the north, turning left, flying south over the Riverboat, the east end of the mountain, and Conference Center, turning left again and landing--then the pattern repeats over and over. It is NOT an AI aircraft--very dumb! (at least in comparison to the FS2K2 AI Aircraft) But at least it will wait for you if you get in front of it--even if you are in slew mode and stopped dead in front of it. :)
Other features:
If you look closely at the carving you will see that it is in relief! If you are not familiar with Stone Mountain, you should be aware that it was carved at least in part by the same man who carved Mount Rushmore. Only ours is LARGER! :) It includes Confederate heroes--President Davis, General Lee, and General Stonewall Jackson--all on horseback.
Throughout the warm months, there is a laser show every night that is out of this world. The mountain becomes a giant "movie screen". Each night, many thousands sit on blankets spread on the grass in front of the carving to watch the show. Seeing and hearing Willie Nelson and Ray Charles sing "Georgia On My Mind" is tremendously inspiring. (I still have not figured out how to do night lighting yet. Would LOVE to duplicate the Laser Show and Fireworks display! If anyone knows how, PLEASE get me started in the right direction!)
Be sure to check out the Stone Mountain Train and Railroad terminal just below and to the right of the carving. Also the Memorial Building from which the Laser Show is projected and Stone Mountain Inn--an older but still nice hotel--just behind it. Next to the Inn you will see the real Southern Plantation home that was moved here from somewhere in Georgia.
If you follow the Skylift up the mountain, you will find the museum and viewing platform on top that is visited by tens of thousands annually. The SkyLift (as well as everything else on the mountain top) was an interesting problem. The .BGL files generated by GMax are not "solid" objects--you will find that you can fly right through them! :) But that means the Buildings and Skylift Tower would not "sit" on top of the mountain. I had to specify the exact altitude AGL for where these items were placed. And the Skylift Cables proved interesting as well. I created lines where I wanted them and then "bent" them. Then I converted the lines to Mesh and bingo--cables! :) LOTS of trial and error on that one :) And even more fun lining up the SkyLift Cable Cars so that they appeared to be "hanging" from the cables. Quite an interesting challenge!
Be sure to check out the Riverboat and it's nearby docking area. Immediately adjacent to that is the Carillon Bells that play hourly through the warm months. To the south of the Riverboat Complex, you will find the old Covered Bridge that was also moved there from another location and then a bit further south is the newer Marriott "Evergreen" Conference and Convention Center. A north departure from Britt Airport takes you immediately over the Lincoln Tennis Center. That was built for the Olympics when they were held in Atlanta in 1996.
These are only some of the things you will see. In many cases there is tremendous detail--more than what is necessary to just fly over. Take some time to go into slew mode and just explore. No telling what you might find. :)
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TOOLS USED:
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All of these additions were created using the following freeware tools:
Airport for Windows (ver 2.6 build 128) by Pascal Meziat
GMax (ver 1.3.0) Discrete
Easy Object Designer (ver 2.0.52) Matthias Bruckner
Paint Shop Pro (ver 6.00) Jasc Software
Bmp2000 (ver 4.00.19) Martin Wright
ImageTool (ver ???) Microsoft
Be sure to try them and don't forget to thank these great people for putting out some outstanding software! In particular, while GMax is extremely powerful, it is also extremely difficult to learn. EOD on the other hand is extremely simple to learn and work with and does a superb job on most smaller less detailed objects.
And a very special thanks goes out to all those on the SurClaro bulletin board for their excellent comments and ideas that have made my MSFS experience so much fun!
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CLOSING STUFF:
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Be sure to download another of my scenery files--Atlanta Airport Additions. It brings KATL to life--particularly with nearly 400 new signs such as runway/taxiway markings and much more!
I also HIGHLY recommend "FS2000 Southeastern U.S. Mountain and Elevation Scenery" freeware by Eddie Denney! It adds MUCH more accuracy to the elevations all around Atlanta and northward! Search on boards such as SurClaro for Eddie Denney or atlantaw.zip. It works super well with FS2K2!
That's it. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you have any problems.
Happy Flying!
Bill Molony
Atlanta GA USA
bmolony@bellsouth.net
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COPYRIGHTS ETC:
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This scenery is made available for the private use of Microsoft Flight Simulator enthusiasts. It and all of it's components not owned by others are Copyright by Bill Molony--All Rights Reserved. All company logos and/or trademarks presented are copyrighted by their respective owners. You have the right to use this scenery for your personal enjoyment. Under no circumstances may this zip file be modified without express written permission. Use or redistribution on a commercial basis is strictly prohibited--do NOT attempt to make money using this scenery!
NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED--USE AT YOUR OWN RISK--I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES RELATED TO THE INSTALLATION OR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE!
By installing this scenery, you are agreeing that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of these copyright statements.
While this software is freeware--no money is expected--any donations will be accepted. :) You can support the author by sending cash or check (anywhere between one and one million dollars) in US money to:
Bill Molony
2704 Peggy Sue Lane
Morrow GA USA 30260
