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{{installing}} | {{installing}} | ||
[[ | A default installation of [[FlightGear]] comes with a limited set of [[scenery]] to keep initial download sizes small. It includes the region around the featured airport for each release (Iceland since FlightGear 2020.1), and the area containing the airport used by the [[Cessna 172P]] tutorials (Hawaii, including PHTO). When [[TerraSync]] is enabled (by default as of FlightGear 2024.1.2), additional scenery is automatically downloaded, installed and updated for whichever location around the globe a user visits. | ||
[[ | |||
This article explains '''how to manually install scenery''' for people with limited internet access, and how to install [[Howto:Install scenery#Custom scenery|custom sceneries]] that are not available through TerraSync. If you locate yourself at an airport and see nothing but water, you probably did not install that scenery area (correctly). | |||
== Scenery types == | |||
There are four scenery types, in increasing level of detail: | |||
; World scenery 2 | |||
: Reasonable level of detail global scenery, with objects such as landmarks and airport buildings. Has not been updated since 2013. | |||
; World scenery 2 | |||
: Reasonable level of detail scenery | |||
; TerraSync scenery | ; TerraSync scenery | ||
: | : World scenery 2 terrain with constantly updated scenery objects added by fellow FlightGear users to the [[Scenery Objects Database|scenery objects database]], and worldwide [[OSM2City 1st Worldbuild|OpenStreetMap-based buildings]]. Most of the terrain and airport layouts have not been updated since 2013. | ||
; [[World Scenery 3.0|World scenery 3]] | |||
: Experimental scenery with updated terrain, airports and objects. | |||
; Custom scenery | ; Custom scenery | ||
: Non-official scenery covering all the way from small areas to very large areas, often with a high level of detail. | : Non-official scenery covering all the way from small areas to very large areas, often with a high level of detail and up-to-date terrain and airports. | ||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:SOTM-Sept17.jpg|Hawaii scenery - "weeping wall" waterfalls at Mount Waialeale on the island of Kauai, near PHLI | |||
File:SOTM_2019-06_Ice_and_fire_by_vnts.jpg|Sicily scenery - the [[volcanos|volcano]] Etna snowcapped in winter with a low level eruption, near LICC | |||
File:Bell_412_in_Iceland_(Flightgear_2019.x).jpg|Iceland scenery - having [[:Category:Screenshots_of_overlays|overlays]] enabled shows extremely high 3d detail like small rocks, plants, or individual grass blades | |||
File:SOTM-Mar19.jpg|Madrid scenery with [[Areas_populated_with_osm2city_scenery|OSM2City output]] for Spain | |||
</gallery> | |||
== Obtaining scenery == | |||
=== World scenery 2 === | |||
[[File:Worldscenery-text.jpg|thumb|World scenery tiles]] | [[File:Worldscenery-text.jpg|thumb|World scenery tiles]] | ||
World scenery 2 is available in tiles of 1 by 1 degree. To find an airport's coordinates and corresponding tile: | |||
# Go to the Wikipedia page for the airport in question (e.g., {{wikipedia|Honolulu International Airport}}, PHNL). | |||
# Find the co-ordinates (often at the top or right and side, marked with a small globe). For PHNL these are 21 N 157 W. | |||
# Round the coordinates to their nearest multiple of 10. Round up for Southern and Western hemisphere coordinates, and round down for Northern and Eastern coordinates, as illustrated by the image. PHNL yields w160n20, while 21 N 157 E would yield e150n20. clarifies this rule. | |||
Scenery tiles can be downloaded from [https://www.flightgear.org/download/mirror/ these mirrors]. On most of them the latest scenery can be found under <tt>/Scenery-v2.12</tt>. | |||
=== TerraSync scenery === | |||
{{Main article|TerraSync}} | |||
The [[TerraSync]] scenery is automatically downloaded and synchronized as needed while FlightGear is running when the built in TerraSync utility is enabled. As an alternative, especially suited for users with limited internet speeds, scenery can be prefetched before starting a flight via the [[TerraMaster]] tool. | |||
====Downloading with | ==== Downloading with TerraMaster ==== | ||
{{Main article|TerraMaster}} | |||
[[File:TerraMaster r32 - Global view.png|thumb|TerraSync scenery in TerraMaster]] | |||
TerraMaster is a stand alone scenery manager that can download and synchronize TerraSync scenery. It also makes it easier to maintain and get a good overview of downloaded TerraSync scenery. It is a cross platform graphical application written in Java. | |||
TerraMaster allows the FlightGear user to manage scenery tiles easily, selecting which tiles to download, synchronize or delete, and viewing the downloaded/not yet downloaded tiles at a glance. TerraMaster is highly recommended not only for managing scenery tiles easily especially if you are downloading and managing scenery from a computer that does not have FlightGear installed. The downloaded tiles are put into a folder which can then be loaded by FlightGear. | |||
=== World scenery 3 === | |||
{{Main article|World Scenery 3.0}} | |||
=== Custom scenery === | |||
Custom scenery is available for certain specific areas. They are distributed separately either due to being only part of a single landmass that has not been re-built completely, being work-in-progress, waiting to be integrated to Terrasync, their license, or because their level of detail is not suitable for low-end machines. | Custom scenery is available for certain specific areas. They are distributed separately either due to being only part of a single landmass that has not been re-built completely, being work-in-progress, waiting to be integrated to Terrasync, their license, or because their level of detail is not suitable for low-end machines. | ||
* [[Suggested Airports/Scenery]] for a list of custom scenery projects and an update on state of well developed areas. | |||
*[[Suggested Airports/Scenery]] for a list of custom scenery projects and an update on state of well developed areas. | * [[Project3000#Download_the_software_and_shared_models|Project 3000]] for buildings and objects for 4000+ airports. | ||
*[[Project3000#Download_the_software_and_shared_models|Project 3000]] for buildings and objects for 4000+ airports. | * [[Earthview#Installing_and_using_customized_textures|Earthview high resolution]] texture packs. Earthview is Flightgear's orbital renderer capable of handling large view distances without numerical problems. People using high altitude and space craft should select the texture pack that their GPU can handle - [[Earthview#Requirements|depends]] mainly on GPU memory (VRAM). | ||
*[[Earthview#Installing_and_using_customized_textures|Earthview high resolution]] texture packs. Earthview is Flightgear's orbital renderer capable of handling large view distances without numerical problems. People using high altitude and space craft should select the texture pack that their GPU can handle - [[Earthview#Requirements|depends]] mainly on GPU memory (VRAM | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:Asia.jpg|[[Earthview]] orbital renderer at high sun - with high resolution texture packs installed. | |||
File:SOTM_2019-04_Space_Sauna_by_GinGin.jpg|Earthview orbital renderer at low sun showing light from cities. The [[Space_Shuttle|Space Shuttle]] shows the glow from the heat of hypersonic re-entry. | |||
</gallery> | |||
==Installing | == Installing world and custom scenery == | ||
Always install scenery outside the <code>[[$FG_ROOT]]</code> directory. See [[#Technical details]] below for an explanation. | |||
# | |||
=== | {{caution|'''Do not mix scenery''' types in the '''same directory'''. It may cause problems like custom scenery being overwritten by the TerraSync or TerraMaster utilities, TerraMaster getting locked etc.}} | ||
=== GNU/Linux === | |||
If you are under a Linux operation system and you are not using a graphical interface to extract the tar archive, you can use one of the two following set of commands in a shell terminal. | If you are under a Linux operation system and you are not using a graphical interface to extract the tar archive, you can use one of the two following set of commands in a shell terminal. | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="shell"> | |||
cd SceneryDirectory | cd SceneryDirectory | ||
tar -xvzf input_file.tgz | tar -xvzf input_file.tgz | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | |||
or | or | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="shell"> | |||
tar -xvzf 'input_file.tgz' -C SceneryDirectory | tar -xvzf 'input_file.tgz' -C SceneryDirectory | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | |||
<code>input_file.tgz</code> should be substituted with the filename of the archive to be extracted (the filename should be completed with the full pathname or any other valid method so that the shell could find the correct archive). | <code>input_file.tgz</code> should be substituted with the filename of the archive to be extracted (the filename should be completed with the full pathname or any other valid method so that the shell could find the correct archive). | ||
=== | === Windows === | ||
Simply unpack the downloaded scenery into a directory of choice, using software like [http://www.winzip.com/ Winzip] or [http://www.7-zip.org 7-zip]. Once done, append this directory to <code>[[$FG_SCENERY]]</code> (in the launcher, this can be done under Add-ons > Additional scenery folders). | |||
=== | === macOS === | ||
Unpack the .tgz file either by double-clicking it and moving the resulting <code>wXXXnXX</code> folder to the Scenery folder described in the next line, or on the command line: | |||
<syntaxhighlight lang="shell"> | |||
tar -xvzf 'input_file.tgz' -C /Applications/FlightGear.app/Contents/Resources/data/Scenery | tar -xvzf 'input_file.tgz' -C /Applications/FlightGear.app/Contents/Resources/data/Scenery | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | |||
==Technical details== | == Technical details == | ||
===Scenery lookup and $FG_SCENERY=== | === Scenery lookup and $FG_SCENERY === | ||
FlightGear determines what scenery to use by looking at the [[Environment variables|environment variable]] (setting)<code>[[$FG SCENERY]]</code>. | |||
FlightGear determines what scenery to use by looking at the [[Environment variables|environment variable]] (setting) <code>[[$FG SCENERY]]</code>. There can be more than one scenery path in the variable, for example one path to to TerraSync scenery and one path to custom scenery. Scenery can be overlapping and a tile will be loaded from the first path in <code>$FG SCENERY</code> from which it is available. | |||
Should the paths in <code>$FG_SCENERY</code> not be valid, FlightGear falls back to <code>[[$FG ROOT]]/Scenery</code>. | Should the paths in <code>$FG_SCENERY</code> not be valid, FlightGear falls back to <code>[[$FG ROOT]]/Scenery</code>. | ||
===Directories and configuring $FG_SCENERY=== | === Directories and configuring $FG_SCENERY === | ||
For this reason it is | Mixing scenery types is almost universally a bad idea, and is unsupported. Also note that the scenery packaged with the base package/windows installer may not be the latest scenery. | ||
For this reason it is better to extract downloaded scenery files into a new folder, which we for the sake of this exercise will call <code>$FOOBAR/Scenery</code>. | |||
In this directory, create two subdirectories: <code>/Objects</code> and <code>/Terrain</code>. You should untar individual files into the <code>/Terrain</code> folder. | In this directory, create two subdirectories: <code>/Objects</code> and <code>/Terrain</code>. You should untar individual files into the <code>/Terrain</code> folder. | ||
Then you should set up $FG_SCENERY to use the new path: | Then you should set up $FG_SCENERY to use the new path: | ||
===Directory structure=== | * In the [[Qt launcher]]: | ||
====Terrain==== | *: Add the $FOOBAR/Scenery folder to Add-ons > Additional scenery folders. | ||
* On POSIX Clients | |||
*: <code>set FG_SCENERY="$FOOBAR/Scenery" + FG_SCENERY</code> | |||
* Via a command line option | |||
*: <code>--fg-scenery="$FOOBAR/Scenery"</code> | |||
=== Directory structure === | |||
==== Terrain ==== | |||
The Scenery directory will show the following (scenery is shown for completeness and for easy reference to above): | The Scenery directory will show the following (scenery is shown for completeness and for easy reference to above): | ||
*Scenery/ | <tt> | ||
**Terrain/ | * Scenery/ | ||
***w130n30/ | ** Terrain/ | ||
**Objects/ | *** w130n30/ | ||
***w130n30/ | ** Objects/ | ||
*** w130n30/</tt> | |||
If you download a scenery module called <code>w90n40.tgz</code> | If you download a scenery module called <code>w90n40.tgz</code> and extract it in <code>Scenery</code>, the result will resemble something like the following: | ||
*Scenery/ | <tt> | ||
**Terrain/ | * Scenery/ | ||
***w09n40/ | ** Terrain/ | ||
***w130n30/ | *** w09n40/ | ||
**Objects/ | *** w130n30/ | ||
***w09n40/ | ** Objects/ | ||
***w130n30/ | *** w09n40/ | ||
*** w130n30/</tt> | |||
Note that the directory structure is already present in the tar archive, starting from the Scenery directory. Note that you have to extract the tar archive in the Scenery directory, not in the <code>$FG_ROOT</code> directory, because the Scenery directory is not present in the archive. | Note that the directory structure is already present in the tar archive, starting from the Scenery directory. Note that you have to extract the tar archive in the Scenery directory, not in the <code>$FG_ROOT</code> directory, because the Scenery directory is not present in the archive. | ||
====Objects==== | ==== Objects ==== | ||
Objects and models can be found at the [[FlightGear Scenery Object Database]]. | Objects and models can be found at the [[FlightGear Scenery Object Database]]. | ||
Line 173: | Line 160: | ||
Objects are really part of the scenery and can be found in the <code>Scenery</code> directory under <code>$FG ROOT</code>. | Objects are really part of the scenery and can be found in the <code>Scenery</code> directory under <code>$FG ROOT</code>. | ||
*Scenery/ | <tt> | ||
**Objects/ | * Scenery/ | ||
***w130n30/ | ** Objects/ | ||
*** w130n30/</tt> | |||
Any objects should be installed under the <code>Scenery/Objects</code> directory. | Any objects should be installed under the <code>Scenery/Objects</code> directory. | ||
====Models==== | ==== Models ==== | ||
Replaces the former <code>$FG_ROOT/Models</code>; stores all the shared objects. | Replaces the former <code>$FG_ROOT/Models</code>; stores all the shared objects. | ||
*Scenery/ | <tt> | ||
**Models/ | * Scenery/ | ||
***Airport/ | ** Models/ | ||
*** Airport/</tt> | |||
==== Airports ==== | |||
{{Main article|About Scenery/Airports}} | {{Main article|About Scenery/Airports}} | ||
As of FlightGear 2.4.0, this directory is used to extract airport data (like runway usage and parking spots) from. | As of FlightGear 2.4.0, this directory is used to extract airport data (like runway usage and parking spots) from. | ||
The directory tree might look somewhat overwhelming, but it simply follows the <code>Airports/[I]/[C]/[A]/</code> style. | The directory tree might look somewhat overwhelming, but it simply follows the <code>Airports/[I]/[C]/[A]/</code> style. | ||
*Scenery/ | <tt> | ||
**Airports/ | * Scenery/ | ||
***K/ | ** Airports/ | ||
****S/ | *** K/ | ||
*****F/ | **** S/ | ||
==Video tutorials | ***** F/ | ||
</tt> | |||
== Video tutorials (2020.x) == | |||
{{#ev:youtube|TNN_AZhaHPU|480px||Scenery installation for Flightgear 2020.x by Parnikkapore. Note this is recorded on a non-gaming laptop, and certain settings are not turned up very high.}} | {{#ev:youtube|TNN_AZhaHPU|480px||Scenery installation for Flightgear 2020.x by Parnikkapore. Note this is recorded on a non-gaming laptop, and certain settings are not turned up very high.}} | ||
{{#ev:youtube|YxWV4wk_dHw|480px||Terramaster tutorial for Flightgear by FGUK - 2017 but still valid in 2020.}} | {{#ev:youtube|YxWV4wk_dHw|480px||Terramaster tutorial for Flightgear by FGUK - 2017 but still valid in 2020.}} | ||
==Related content== | |||
*[[Scenery FAQ]] | == Related content == | ||
* [[Scenery FAQ]] | |||
[[Category:Scenery]] | [[Category:Scenery]] |