FREEflow Florida *Dry Tortugas PREVIEW*

[Gridley]

A quick update for those interested - we're making good progress on the FREEflow Ultimate Florida package, though we're still weeks away from release. Here's some images from the keys to keep everyones' appetite wet!


7:00am - Departing the Key West area...
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip03.jpg

FSG's American Data roads and bridges line up like fingers in a glove:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip04.jpg

Over KEYW:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip05.jpg

Leaving it all behind...
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip06.jpg

Passing the Marquesas:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip07.jpg

The Dry Tortugas in the distance...right under that left over morning fog!
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip08.jpg

Right to left: Long Key, Bush Key, and Garden Key with historic Fort Jefferson (thanks to Toni Hiltunen!)
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip09.jpg

Fort Jefferson...
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip10.jpg

We'll just taxi east a bit, drop anchor and as soon as this fog burns off, have a great day snorkeling the brick wreck area...
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/T...ugasTrip11.jpg


Thanks for looking!

Best,
sg

[Vilk]

watch out for them sharx! they gonna eat ya and yer li'l apache awright! :-lol

great trip! don't bump into my cessna tonight if you're still there :-cool

[hornit]

I have one observation and a request! First off this is wonderful, looking forward to it, you have done a superb job! Thank you.

Second, could you send me your OceanHeightField.bmp(texture folder) and your 11 env_...._bmp's. They are located in the scenery/world/texture folder. Barring that maybe you can just tell me whose water you use. Your textures look like mine but your bumpmap for the waves and the sun effect are really good. Thanks for your time and the great work!

Hornit

campisij@bellsouthdotnet

[Gridley]

I'll post the water instuctions from the readme.txt (gotta be making progress - we've got a readme!)

---Begin Quote---
* Replacement water textures "morewatr.zip" (http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kdl/main/58/morewatr.zip)( http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php...isc&DLID=43631 ) by various authors compiled by Kevin Rangel - the water class included in this package was designed with these textures and will look best with them installed.

* Enhanced water reflection effects - these are a different thing than the textures above! There are many, but the hands-down best is Vilk's Water or "vater.zip" available at FSGenesis: http://portal.fsgenesis.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=UpDownload&file=index&req=viewdownloaddetails&lid=6&ttitle=Vater_(Vilk\'s_Water)
---End of Quote---

Install Morewatr first then Vater, select overwrite for all...that's it! Best water in the business!

Best,
sg

[flyboy208]

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...ed4475a10b.jpg


Looks truly amazing! As a Florida native I really look forward to the release of this package.:-cool

[Gridley]

Thanks for the interest, guys...

What kind of info are you looking for steve? Here's a general description, please let me know if you're looking for something more specific...

* Complete accurate hydrography for the entire state of Florida and adjacent states that share LOD5 cells (Coverage will be from the Mississippi River delta, through the keys). This includes every river, pond, lake, bay, estuary, marina, and ocean shores. Also, all major canals, some minor canals, and even some airboat trails are included.
* Complete accurate land class for the same area, with accurate placement of all population centers, agriculture, and natural features.
* Complete water class of the region, including reef structures and channels of the keys.
* A highly accurate representation of the Everglades and water conservation areas of southern florida - a truly unique geographic feature of the region - complete with tree islands, and levees.
* Adjusted placement of default airports which are not in correct locations.
* Enhanced scenery areas with detailed objects, such as Key West Marina, and the Miami shipyard. Additional areas are being made compatible as we speak - the Florida city sceneries by Toni Hiltunen, and enhancements by Dale Caruso.

That's about it, I think ;-)

I would say that in terms of development, we're in the "details" stage - we've got some excludes that remove objects from the middle of the ocean, but they only work sometimes - sorting that out. We've got tons of bridges to deal with between default, autogen, and FSG's american data...sorting that out. We need to texture some beaches to make them sandier, tweaks to the water class, things like that. The time consuming details.

I, personally, was hoping for another week - in all likelyhood, it'll be the end of the month...
We won't release this until we're confident its worthy...

Again, thanks for the interest!

Best,
sg

[VApilot2004]

Awesome looking Scenery :) I lived (ok only 3 months) and vacationed in Marathon as a teen - would love to FS around there !

Let me ask you this - or more of a suggestion - please do Stiltsville off Key Biscayne - great scenery from the air and (I know for a fact) from the water.

good luck - I am loooking forward to your finished product :)

kelly

ps I like your Apache !

[SteveH]

SG,

Thanks for the instructions for the water textures. They are fantastic. By the way, do you have any more information available for your project? It really looks great.

Thanks,
SteveH
(and, thanks again for the water information)