FS X modified terrain.cfg file
The terrain.cfg file is one of the most powerful and sophisticated aspects of Flight Simulator. This document defines all the terrain elements and provides the basis for determining the attributes of the ground that you see while flying.
- What this modified terrain.cfg does
- What if I don't want water on slopes?
- Scenery designers: special notes
- Credits
- Support
What this modified terrain.cfg does
The principal change for most users concerns the display of water.
Many users of previous versions of Flight Simulator complained of water climbing up slopes, and found this to be unsightly. The FS Team changed the display of water so that wherever a certain amount of slope is encountered, rock is displayed instead of water. The result is no more water climbing up a hill.
Unfortunately, this can lead to just the opposite problem - if there should be too great a slope in a body of water, for example a river, then rock will display when it should not.
Here, for instance, is the Thames River in London where the rock is plainly visible in the middle of the water:
The included modified terrain.cfg will ensure that water is always displayed where it should be, and never rock. as can be seen in the following image:
In addition, this modified terrain.cfg provides a certain number of additional options for scenery designers, so that they can improve the FS world and provide you with a better experience.
This modified file does not remove anything from the default Flight Simulator terrain engine, but only changes the display of water and provides more possibilities for scenery design. Therefore, you have nothing to lose, and can only gain by installing it.
In addition, by installing it now, you will ensure that any future scenery that makes use of the additional options will immediately display correctly as soon as you start using it.
The original terrain.cfg file is located in the root directory - normally, this should be
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X
but can vary if you have installed to a different directory or on a different hard drive. In any case, if you cannot find the file, simply run a search on your hard disk, and follow these simple instructions.
1. rename the original file, for example, to terrain_original.cfg
2. place the included file in the Microsoft Flight Simulator X root directory
3. that is it!
To uninstall:
1. delete the terrain.cfg file
2. rename the terrain_original.cfg to terrain.cfg
3. That is it!
What if I don't want water on slopes?
Perhaps you feel that it is better to have the occasional patch of rock in a river than water climbing up a slope.
No problem. Please install this modified terrain.cfg anyway, as it will still provide many advantages for future scenery, and follow these simple instructions;
1. after installing the file as per the above instructions, double-click to open it (using Notepad)
2. scroll down to the sections
// Hydro Polygons - Default - Perennial
[Texture.194]
Name=Hydro_Polygons_Default_Perennial
Color=FF2938FF
guid={CB2D5672-CCBC-429B-BA43-2EA24E37EF4C}
LegacyId=1209
Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE_0
Size=4
FlattenMode=slope
FlattenPriority=41000
ExcludeAutogen=Yes
RenderToTexture=Yes
RenderPriority=81000
Water=Yes
...........
to
// Hydro Polygons - Generic Ocean - Perennial
[Texture.199]
Name=Hydro_Polygons_Generic_Ocean_Perennial
Color=FF2938FF
guid={2D103429-89EB-4CB3-A61E-E188E79C77E7}
Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE_0
FlattenMode=slope
FlattenPriority=41000
ExcludeAutogen=Yes
RenderToTexture=Yes
RenderPriority=81000
Water=Yes
3. there are 6 sections defining FS X water bodies. In each section, you will find the key:
Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE_0
4. in each section, change this to
Textures=OCEAN_SEA_LARGE_LAKE
Please notice that the only difference is the missing ( _0 )
5. That is it!
Scenery designers: special notes
The complete list of modifications is included at the top of the terrain.cfg file. Here, for your convenience, is a review of the changes.
1. 3 new land class values have been added. They existed in previous versions of FS, but were not carried over to FS X.
- 252-custom seasonal
- 253-custom non-seasonal
- 254-transparent
2. in the section on VTP Layer Render Priorities, dealing with legacy terrain elements, airport skirtings and parks, layer 7, had an incorrect RenderPriority of 30000. This was changed to the correct value of 20000, corresponding to the relevant textures in the list.
3. FS 9 legacy shorelines, textures 2-109, did not have a GUID, or a width, making them unusable with the new vector process. They all receive these attributes, thereby providing a much greater variety of shorelines than the default FS X elements.
4. shorelines for dry water bodies, (textures 10, 28, 37, 64, 100) had a wave effect attached, which is quite improbable. They were removed from the entries, although it should be pointed out that dry water bodies do not yet work in FS (although there are instances of such textures - try Muroc Lake/Edwards AFB!)
5. the shoreline for perennial urban lakes, texture 41, was missing the wave effect. This was added.
6. the legacy airport backgrounds, textures 167-185, had a flatten mode specified, when, as you may remember, they did not flatten in FS 9. This has been changed to remove the flatten.
7. the land class polygon that displays a white coral beach referenced the tansand texture, as it had in FS 9 as well. This now uses the white coral beach texture, land class value 137.
8. the default FS X hydro polygons all referenced the rocky slope class 100, ocean_sea_large_lake, thus displaying unwanted rock in water. This has been changed to class 0, ocean_sea_large_lake_0.
9. the same was done to the legacy water flatten and mesh-clinging water polygons, textures 380-381, so as to avoid the same problem.
10. in FS 9, it was possible to draw polygons and assign one's own textures using land class values 252-custom seasonal, 253-custom non-seasonal, and 254-transparent. This was no longer possible in FS X. So, these elements have been added as textures 383-385 (although it should be said that there are great advantages to using Resample for placing custom textures, and not this old-style method.)
11. there may be designers who specifically wish to make use of the rocky slope water, class 100. To this end, a texture entry, 386, has been added.
12. in addition, those who wish to place wave effects without being forced to use a thin shoreline, and its corresponding beach texture, can now use the new entry 387.
13. finally, there were comments concerning the utility right-of-ways that display as grass corridors with pylons. Therefore, a new entry for towers with no grass corridor has been created, 388.
All vector scenery now requires using the GUIDs that are defined in the terrain.cfg. Since this is not the easiest document to scroll through, a simple table of all vector elements with their corresponding GUIDs is included in spreadsheet format for your ease, and should provide a handy and simple means of finding the necessary GUID.
If your scenery project makes use of the additional options in this modified terrain.cfg, please remember to either distribute this terrain.cfg along with your scenery package, or to instruct your users on where to get it.
The terrain.cfg file is the work of Adam Szofran, who is in charge of terrain development at ACES. The document is extremely long and complex, very sophisticated and exceptionally powerful. It is all to his credit that FS terrain is so advanced and innovative.
Richard Ludowise and Luis Féliz-Tirado, while testing Flight Simulator X, devised the modifications to the original file, in hopes that users of Flight Simulator X and scenery designers could gain some benefits. We hope that you will find our changes useful, and that they will provide you with a greater awareness of all the possibilities of the terrain engine.
For any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to post in the Avsim Scenery Design forum
http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=123
where you will find many competent and helpful enthusiasts.
Richard Ludowise (rhumbaflappy)
Luis Féliz-Tirado
November 2006