Using the country packs

Up till know, we have learned how to create land class files from scratch. But this is not really the end of the story, indeed, it is perhaps only ten percent of the work. In addition to this, for the FSLandClass software to work, it was necessary to create a system that allowed transfer of geographical data from high quality maps into the FSLandClass software system. This required:

1) The purchase of many digital maps. They all are different, even if they have similar names and there are many technical issues with them, for example, sometimes the meanings of colors are not consistent within one map.

2) A lot of image processing and pattern recognition to get the relevant information from the CDs into software. This took months.

3) Compacting this data into a manageable format and combination of different input sources including DEM height data.

4) The design of easy to use packaging - the FSLandClass software system.

The solution to this are the country packs. The relevant data for a single country, that may cover several land class files, is compressed into a simple to use format. To start using it, all you have to do is to copy all the files of the country pack into the FSLandClass directory, select File, Read and move to the correct coordinates.

| Once this is done, you will see that the line at the bottom of the screen contains additional information. One item is the height above sea levels, others have to do with the result of the analysis of the maps. Now you should select New fill and check the box Use GeoData. As background it is best to select something appropriate, because it will be used for those areas where there is no other data available. For most of Europe, "random fields" is the best choice. Next you get a dialog that lets you change the subsequent algorithms. You can make selections to get more or less population or forest density, and you can modify the climate zones. Here you see the defaults try varying them to see the results.
| Note that you have to select values in all three fields! The equivalent height indicates which height difference is equivalent to 1 degree in latitude. Making this bigger has a major impact because it shifts the permanent snow limit up, but has more smaller impacts on the climate. It seems that 140 is adequate at 50 degrees. Below 25, a value of 120 may give more natural results, above 65 degrees you may try 160.

Examining the coast lines, you will often find a line of grass squares produced by FSLandClass. The reason for this is that these are squares which the program identified as sea areas. It happens that small corners of these are sometimes found "outside" the sea. If nothing was done about this, they would show up as small water triangles behind the shore line, only a few metres in size. To avoid this happening, FSLandClass covers them with grass - a few metres of grass behind a shore is quite likely to be realistic. The above dialog shows three additional check boxes that are only necessary in a few specific locations. Some of the great lakes, for example the Michigan Sea, are produced in FS2002 as sea with coastlines, and are not filled. So FSLandClass has to identify them. If there are no great lakes, do not check that box. To reduce coastline problems, FSLandClass sources information about whether an area is sea or not from the USGS DEM data and maps. If the maps you are using contain islands that are not in FS2002, you may want to check this box. Note that the red rocks box will use class 69 in high mountains instead of 133. Also note that the box "Meadow type grass" has the following impact:
| It has been observed by several users that the grass textures available as plains do not look authentic in many areas which contain intense agriculture. The regions in the east of the US are one example, meadow regions in Europe are another. You can see here an example obtained from the data with the default setting "Meadow type grass" unchecked. This does not show how it looks in reality, the colors being unrealistic in fall and winter. Look at the middle of this picture, it is too empty.
| When you check the "Meadow type grass" box, many of the plain classes will be randomly replaced by class 94, which gives an intense green color. The overall color of the region becomes much greener, as does the specific appearance of grass areas. Class 94 also adds a few buildings (farms) to the scenery, and in my opinion, the current admixture works. If you want this parameter to be user adjustable, please tell me.
| Version 1.3 contains the isle of Jamaica as a working example. Please note that this version contains a lot of special support for the western hemisphere. Among this is support for the Great Lakes Area, which is very special in FS2002. Experiment with this island to see how you can easily create Landclass scenery for FS2002, including manipulating it in a paint program. Or just enjoy the beauty of LandClass scenery by flying along the shores and over the mountains.

This example uses the default values of 12 for the city constant and the wood constant. You can see a small town with little houses where is is something similar in real life. |
This example uses 9 as a city constant and 15 as the wood constant. Now, the center has changed into a bigger city, and some rural areas with low population have become more populated. You can also see that the woods on the hills are reduced. |
At the other extreme, here a value for the city constant of 15 and a value of 9 for the wood constant has been used. Now you can see that only the densest part remains populated and that the wooded areas have increased. You can see that this simple mechanism alows you a wide variation of FSLandClass output. |

The climate zones are characterized by zones where palms can be found. The distribution of vegetation depends on this variable. This means, that by shifting the palm limit up, you also move all other limits like the transition of deciduous forest to pine forest and even rock to snow by one degree for every 100m in height. This gives you a huge powers to modify the general appearence.

To summarize the way you create a new fill from an existing country kit before manual changes, follow the following list:

- Start the program.
- Read the files.
- Select New fill.
- Check the Read Force box and ensure the Use GeoData is checked.
- Press the button that describes the best, or single background class.
- Choose the parameters.
- You obtain a new fill.