realism maps scenery tips galen@flightsimhq.org -- to do update all maps with more start points scenery colours for sea, sky ----- MAPS: Atoll north is 0 and cutout island south is 1 and well defended carrier 2 spots no ground info ATSUGI open island with ground targets enemy targets as well YAMOTO some mountains ----- Map Making tips sea color GND 20 60 80 snow ice ? GND 250 250 250 sand? GND 154 130 118 grey sky approx SKY 150 150 160 high cloud approx SKY 220 220 250 too light sky SKY 37 123 209 corn flower blue (seems too vivid) SKY 100 149 237 ------- from the ys TK site Map Making I cannot tell you how to create your new map, because then it will not be your map. So I will tell you what I know about the files that are used to create the maps, and then you can do the rest. There are three main files needed for for the maps. mymap.fld This file is concerned with all the geology of the map. It contains the terrain files (or references to them), which parts the aircraft is allowed to land on and not crash (for example the runway) and optionally the references to the objects on the map. The layout of it is like this: The first line just defines that it is a field file and should usually be just FIELD but this may be changed in later versions of YS flight. The second and third lines define the colour of the sky and the ground, the values are the amount of red, green and blue, and can be from 0 to 255. After this are the built-in terrain and picture files. These are just the same as the .pc2 and .ter files but at the top of them have PCK "00000000.ter" 29(for example). The speechmarks (" ") are needed because it tells YS flight that the file is built-in, and the number is the number of lines in the file (from the TerrMesh and the End or the Pict2 and the EndPict). After this are the definitions of terrain and picture files. If the file is built-in into this file (see above) then include the speechmarks, otherwise do not. If it is a terrain file it should look something like this (this file is built-into the field file): TER FIL "00000001.ter" POS 1000.00 0.00 -2000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 ID 1 END or if it is a picture file (this is not built-in): PC2 FIL si_map.pc2 POS 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 ID 1 END The third line is the position of the file relative to the origin of the map. The first value is the X (horizontal) position, the second if the Y (vertical) position, the third is the Z (depth) position, the fourth is the X rotation, the fifth is the Y rotation and the sixth is the Z rotation. You have to imagine this as if you are flying a plane at the same angle as the horizon (0), not as if you are looking down onto the map. The fourth line is the value of the IFF of the object, for more on this see the files included with YS flight. After this are the definitions of where the plane can touch the ground and not crash (usually runways). RGN ARE -29.990000 -1499.950000 29.990000 1499.950000 POS 3092.86 0.00 2519.84 0.00 0.00 0.00 ID 1 TAG "RW" END The second line is a rectangle of the area that the plane can land on, I think this is as if you are looking down onto it. The first value is the X start line, the second is the Y start line, the third is the X end line and the fourth is the Y end line. mymap.stp This file contations the start positions that YS flight will use and the names of the start positions. N RW36_01 C POSITION 3092m 1m 1325m C ATTITUDE 0deg 0deg 0deg C INITSPED 0.0MACH C CTLTHROT 0.0 The first line is the name of the runway. Spaces cannot be used so I suggest using an underscore (_). The second line is the start position. Again from an in plane view. The first position is the X position, the second the Y position, the third the Z position. The third line is the rotation of the plane (I am not sure why is is labelled ATTITUDE though). The first is the X rotation, the second the Y rotation and the third the Z rotation. The fourth line is the initial speed, in mach. The fifth line is the value that the throttol will be set to (at a maximum of 0.999... because if you set it to 1.0 YS flight will report an error). There are also the following other things that I expect can be set: CTLLDGEA TRUE - Landing gear down if TRUE CTLBRAKE FALSE - Brake on if TRUE CTLSPOIL 0.0 - The value of the spoiler CTLABRNR FALSE - Afterburner on if TRUE CTLTHROT 0.0 - The value of the throttol CTLIFLAP 0.0 - The value of the flaps I expect there are more things that can be set but I am not going to test and list them all! mymap.yfs This file contains all of the information about the objects. GROUNDOB TERMINAL GNDPOSIT 2952.77m 0.00m 2648.33m GNDATTIT -91.13deg 0.00deg 0.00deg IDENTIFY 0 PRTARGET The value of the first line here (TERMINAL) is the name of the object to place at this position. The second line is the position of the object (againfrom an aircraft view), the first value is the X axis, the second value is the Y axis, and the third value is the Z axis. The third line contains the rotation information, the first value is the X rotation, the second value is the Y rotation and the third value is the Z rotation. The fourth line I think is the IFF code of the building (from 0 to 3, I think, not 1 to 4). The fifth line I have no idea about. There are a few more things you need to know first about the files so dont go yet! The terrain (.ter) file can be edited using the Gegeo program which you can get from http://member.nifty.ne.jp/ysdynamics/impulse/impulsee.html by downloading WinUtil2. The picture (.pc2) file can be edited using the Gepic program which you can again get from http://member.nifty.ne.jp/ysdynamics/impulse/impulsee.html by downloading WinUtil2. There is no support provided with these programs so if you need help please post a message in the YSFlight.tk Portal. Also to get your map working you will need to add an entry to the scenary\scenary.lst file. For example: SMALL_ISLAND scenary/smallisland.fld scenary/smallisland.stp scenary/smallisland.yfs The first part is the name of your file the will appear in YS flight, whilst the second is the paths to the files needed (like with the aircraft.lst file). So now you should know how the files needed to make a map work it should be quite easy to make your new map. First though before you even start creating the new files I suggest three things: planning; more planning; yet more planning. I cannot emphasise how much planning you actually need to do, because it is a lot easier to change something before, not after! If you have any questions please feel free to go to the "Pilots Lounge" to ask any questions regarding making maps or to add knowledge of your own. This will help everyone by posting it publically. Thanks to Taskforce for helping me find my bearings.