Landclass and Scenery enhancements of Namibia, southwestern Africa
File Names: namibia_lc.zip
Author: Holger Sandmann, hsandman@sfu.ca
Date of Release: April 2004
Version: 1.00
Replacement landclass file for the entire country of Namibia (S15-30 E11-25) and parts of western Botswana. Based on the new Global Land Cover 2000 Project data, the landclass file is still quite basic but better (I hope) than the FS original. In addition, I used Ground2K4 to more accurately represent natural and man-made features in five areas throughout the country, including Windhoek, Swakopmund/Walvis Bay, and the Fish River Canyon. Meant to be used with my Namibia LOD9 add-on mesh series.
For excellent information about and images of the real-world Namibia, see these URLs: http://www.namibweb.com/ and http://www.phototravels.net/namibia/
I have included the landclass source files for anyone interested in improving on the current version (with EZ-Landclass or other utilities). Also included is the EXCEL spreadsheet, which I used to assign FS landclass values to the GLC2000 classes.
Due to significant changes in FS2004 to vector and polygon coding, the special scenery enhancements cannot be used with FS2002. However, the landclass files work well in FS2002.
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Features of this package:
* Completely new landclass file (i.e., the distribution of generic textures and autogen features across the landscape) for all of Namibia and western Botswana (S15-30 E11-25).
* Five areas enhanced with more accurate road and railroad system, bridges, golf courses, reservoirs, (dry) river beds, and hand-edited local landclass file:
> Windhoek city area (FYWE, S22.6 E17.1)
> Swakopmund (FYSM, S22.7 E14.5), Walvis Bay (FYWB, S22.9 E14.5) and northern Namib-Naukluft Park (S22.7 E14.9)
> Omaruru (S21.4 E15.9) and Erongo (S21.6 E15.5) areas; northeast and north of Karibib (FYKA)
> Brandberg massif (S21.1 E14.5), Namibia's highest mountain (2579m); 87nm northwest of Karibib (FYKA)
> Fish River Canyon (S27.6 E17.6), Namibia's very own "Grand Canyon"; south of Keetmanshoop (FYKT).
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Installation in FS2004 (FS2002 users see "Installation in FS2002" section instead!):
1) Extract namib_lc.zip to a temporary directory, making sure that the "use folder names" option is enabled.
2) Move the "Namibia scenery updates" folder into your "FS9\Addon Scenery" folder.
3) Start up FS2004 and add/activate the "BC HS Bella Coola" folder with the Settings > Scenery Library > Add Scenery function. Level of priority is not important as long as it is above (in the Scenery Library window) the default Africa scenery. Shut down FS2004 and restart to rebuild the Scenery Library.
4) That's all - except for the "issue" of the dry riverbeds, so please read on!
With the exception of the two rivers that border Namibia to the North and South (Cunene and Orange, respectively) the country doesn't have any perennial (year-round flowing) rivers and streams. However, the default FS scenery shows lots of streams, all of them colored blue. You have three options: (1) leave them as is; (2) disable the default stream files; or (3) replace them with an altered version of mine, which changes the blue stream texture to a dry riverbed color (see some of the comparison screenshots). If you choose Option 2, follow Steps 5 and 6 only; for Option 3, follow Steps 5 to 7:
5) Move the "temp hold for Namibia" folder into your "FS9\Scenery\Afri" folder.
6) Open your "FS9\Scenery\Afri\scenery" folder and move (don't copy!) the following files into the "temp hold for Namibia" folder:
Please double-check in the "temp hold for Namibia" folder that it contains the files listed above. There are many files with VERY similar names in "FS9\Scenery\Afri\scenery " and it's easy to grab the wrong one.
7) If you want to use my replacement dry riverbed files, open the "replacement dry riverbeds" folder and move the 13 .bgl files into the "Namibia scenery updates\scenery" folder (not "FS9\Scenery\Afri\scenery"!).
Time to enjoy the scenery!
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How to Uninstall - FS2004
1) In FS2004, delete the reference to "Namibia scenery updates" in the Settings > Scenery Library window.
2) In the "FS9\Scenery\Afri" folder, move the *.bgl files from the "temp hold for Namibia" folder into your "FS9\Scenery\Afri\scenery" subfolder, then delete the "temp hold for Namibia" folder.
3) Delete the "Namibia scenery updates" folder from your "FS9\Addon Scenery" folder.
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Installation in FS2002:
1) Extract namib_lc.zip to a temporary directory, making sure that the "use folder names" option is enabled.
2) Delete the "temp hold for Namibia" and "replacement dry riverbed files" folders.
3) Open the "Namibia scenery updates\scenery" folder and delete all files except the seven .bgl files that start with "LC_".
4) Move the "Namibia scenery updates" folder into your "FS2002\Addon Scenery" folder.
5) Start up FS2002 and add and activate the new folder with the Settings > Scenery Library > Add Scenery function. Level of priority is not of importance as long as the folder has a higher priority than the Africa default scenery.
6) That's all! Time to enjoy the scenery!
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How to Uninstall - FS2002
1) In FS2002, delete the reference to "BC HS Bella Coola" in the Settings > Scenery Library window.
2) Delete the "BC HS Bella Coola" folder from your "FS2002\Addon Scenery" folder.
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A few tips for using these files:
* The best times for flying above some of the more subtle topographic features, such as the endless chains of dunes in the Namib desert, are early morning and late afternoon. The shading engine of FS does a pretty good job of enhancing areas of low relief.
* Vance Roberts (Wizardd) has published an excellent replacement texture for railroads (roadpac1.zip). The same package also contains various road and highway replacement textures. Personally, I use the FS default day textures and the wonderful night textures by Lynn and Bill Lyons, contained in their "GA Water, Roads and Airport Textures" package (fs9watga3.zip).
* I use Johan de Vries' OceanFX 2 utility along with Ed Truthan's water textures and effects (oceansfx.zip, oceanstx.zip, ofx20sa.zip); my screenshots were made with the 'deep water' set installed.
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Known Issues:
Here's a list of visual and technical problems with my add-on mesh and scenery enhancements that I am aware of (please let me know if you find others!):
1) Incorrect textures: Unfortunately, the FS design team didn't provide us with a very good choice of texture sets for dry landscapes; moreover, some of them (like the ones used in the US Southwest) are regional in nature and cannot be used directly in places like Africa. I've done my best to pick those textures that best match the GLC2000 description or the satellite images but it's still less than perfect. Note also that your Namibia might look very different from my screenshots if you're using one of the many replacement texture sets.
2) Repetitive textures: For the same reason (lack of texture diversity) and the relatively coarse classification of the GLC2000 data, particularly the northern and eastern parts, vast areas of Namibia consist of one or two textures only, which makes for a pretty boring landscape - far more boring than in reality. For a few areas I have changed single-class areas into a more-or-less random mix of two or three texture types but there's only so much one person can do ;-)
3) Incomplete Orange River: The Orange River forms the boundary to South Africa. As part of my Fish River enhancements I also modeled the Orange River as FS water; however, where the satellite image coverage ends, the wide river does too.
4) Missing Victoria Falls: The world-famous falls (bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe) are not included in the default FS and are not part of my scenery enhancements (yet). Currently, free satellite imagery, which I could have used as a basis for Ground2K4-based add-ons, is unavailable for this area. Perhaps a second version of my project will include a rendition of the Victoria Falls.
5) Strange "bridge" in Swakopmund: This is actually meant to model the famous jetty, which was constructed in a failed attempt to provide Swakopmund with docking space for large ships. See this site: http://www.namibia-travel.net/centralnamibia/swakopmund.htm
6) Sunken or raised lakes and airfields: Any high-res terrain mesh tends to reveal the often-inaccurate default lake and airport elevations. Fortunately, there are very few of both features in the vast country of Namibia ;-)
7) Incompatibility with 3rd-party scenery add-ons: Any add-on terrain mesh can negatively impact scenery add-ons outside of default airports. In some cases, adding or adjusting a flatten switch (e.g., http://www.fs-traveler.com/flatten.shtml) will work, in others the scenery itself might have to be changed.
8) Impact on frame rates: High-resolution terrain meshes do need reasonable CPU power for acceptable frame rates, though the impact is generally much less noticeable than those of detailed scenery add-ons or many AI aircraft (Note that the lake and shoreline replacements, new transportation network, and landclass files have no or very little impact on frame rates). If you experience frame rate drops that are clearly due to the terrain mesh (i.e., while flying out of sight of airports, scenery add-ons, AI aircraft), try reducing the terrain mesh quality slider to 80% or less, autogen density to normal or less, and perhaps the water effects slider as well. Reducing visibility to 20 miles or less helps but is not necessarily desirable for flying. Finally, I keep the target frame rate locked to around 20, which helps with texture and terrain refreshing when flying faster planes.
For the scenery enhancements with Ground2K4, I used free Landsat 7-ETM satellite imagery as base maps (the images needed to be pre-processed and re-projected with GIS software), available at http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/clf/en or http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml.
The Global Land Cover 2000 Project data are available at http://www.gvm.jrc.it/glc2000/defaultGLC2000.htm. I used the binary version of the regional "Africa v3.0" file. The formal reference for the source data is:
The Land Cover Map for Africa in the Year 2000. P. Mayaux, E. Bartholomé, A. Cabral, M. Cherlet, P. Defourny, A. Di Gregorio, O. Diallo, M. Massart, A. Nonguierma, J.-F. Pekel, C. Pretorius, C. Vancutsem, M. Vasconcelos. GLC2000 database, European Commission Joint Research Centre, 2003. http://www.gvm.jrc.it/glc2000.
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Outline of my Landclass file production (I don't claim this to be the most elegant method!):
1) Import africa2000_v3_binary.zip into IDRISI GIS, subset Namibia (S15-30 E11-25), and export as .tif.
2) In EXCEL, work with africa_v3_2000_legend.xls to correlate the GLC2000 classes with appropriate FS landclass values (using the EZ-Landclass Gallery and other pictorial guides for the selection, as well as trial and error).
3) In Photoshop, change the grayscale index values of the .tif (Image > Mode > Color Table) to the new index values; save image as .raw.
4) With Grises50, change .raw image to 16-bit .dem format.
5) Use Jim Keir's Slartibartfast (unpublished beta) to convert the landclass .dem file into the FS-native LOD5 .raw format, ready for compilation with resample.exe or further editing in EZ-Landclass.
6) Additional hand editing in EZ-Landclass (e.g., feathering of edges, and extending sand and salt pan areas).
7) Several rounds of error-checking with TMFViewer and in FS, and subsequent changes with EZ-Landclass.
8) Final compilation with the FS Resample.exe suite of tools.
1) Idrisi32, commercial Geographic Analysis and Image Processing software, for pre-processing of GLC2000 data and Landsat 7 imagery. Available at http://www.clarklabs.org.
2) Grises50 freeware utility, by Jokin Bedialauneta, for converting grayscale .raw files into 16-bit BSQ .dem files. Available at http://www.scenery.org/design_utilities_b.htm
3) "Slartibartfast", by Jim Keir, for auto-generating multisource landclass files (and many other features). Not yet released, but see http://www.jimkeir.co.uk/FlightSim/index.html.
4) EZ-Landclass, by Russel Dirks, for editing landclass files and determining the best choice of a class (with his excellent test area). Available at SurClaro.com and other FS file servers.
5) MS TMFViewer utility, for testing and quality checking of compiled mesh files. Provided with the MS Custom Terrain Textures SDK, available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2002_downloads_sdk.asp
6) Ground2K4 V5.33, by Christian Fumey, for adding lakes, roads, railroads, bridges, hydro dams, as well as editing shoreline and landclass replacements. Available at SurClaro.com and other FS file servers.
8) LWMViewer, by Jim Keir, for displaying FS default vector and polygon files and de-compiling into editable ASM source code. Available at http://www.jimkeir.co.uk/FlightSim/LWMViewer.html.
9) BGLC.exe, by FS Development Team, for re-assembling the edited default vector and polygon files. Part of the FS2002 MS BGL Compiler Software Developer's Kit (SDK) http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2002_downloads_sdk.asp.
10) DefArea V2.0, by Christian Fumey, for excluding incorrectly placed shorelines, roads, and rivers. Available at SurClaro.com and other FS file servers.
In addition, I used MS Wordpad for text editing, Photoshop 5.01 for image editing, MS EXCEL97 for spreadsheets, and Snapper for in-flight screenshots.
As with my previous design projects, I found the following sources of information extremely useful:
1) Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2002 Terrain SDK documentation, available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulator/fs2002_downloads_sdk.asp
2) Steve Greenwood's (Flight-Sim Traveler) webpages, which are full of excellent information, tips, his own add-on meshes, and links to other resources: http://www.fs-traveler.com/welcome.shtml
3) Discussions on AVSIM's Scenery Design and Mesh Scenery Design conferences: http://forums.SurClaro.com/
4) John Childs' bottomless "Digital Terrain Modeling and Mapping Journal" webpages: http://www.terrainmap.com/
Obviously, any digital data would be worthless for FS enthusiasts without the wonderful free software tools to put them into Flight Simulator. I am very grateful to the authors of the software I used. Also, many thanks to everyone in the active Flight Simulator community for providing such great and diverse freeware add-ons and active discussion forums. As usual, thanks to J for her blank but simpatico stare at my time-consuming 'hobby' ;-)
I dedicate this project to my mom, who spent many years of her youth in and near these beautiful areas of Namibia.
This scenery is released as Freeware. As an End User you can do whatever you want with these files. For redistribution on storage media or via the Internet (which I encourage), a number of conditions apply:
1) The archive must be distributed without modification to the contents of the archive. Redistributing this archive with any files added, removed, or modified is prohibited.
2) The inclusion of any individual file from this archive in another archive without my prior permission is prohibited.
3) No charge may be made for this archive other than that to cover the cost of its distribution. If a fee is charged it must be made clear to the purchaser that the archive is freeware and that the fee is to cover the distributor's costs of providing the archive.
4) I request a brief email notifying me of the website and/or procedure used for redistribution.
