TerraBuilder 2

TerraBuilder 2 (v1.91 Beta) - Release Notes
January 11, 1999
Misho Katulic, author

The following are notes on setting up and running TerraBuilder for the first time, and a quick tutorial on SynthWizard. Unzip the TerraBuilder 2 zipped archive into New, empty folder. Place "NoMatch.bmp" texture into the "Combat Flight Simulator\texture" folder. Release version will have an installer program that will automate such tasks.

Take a look at the ONLY group 8 texture in CFS Texture Folder: 080808s1.bmp. It looks like a large parking lot in the middle of the city. I don't know why MS decided to "throw it out" from the "01" (Urban) group. I'm guessing that, being a Combat Simulator game, it might have been a destroyed city block after a bombing raid, and they would selectively replace textures after bombers have destroyed a city. If you feel comfortable with it and only for the purpose of TerraBuilder Scenery design, rename this texture to "010101s8.bmp". This will move it to the 01 (URBAN) group and it will be ready for TerraBuilder use. This however, will probably upset execution of CFS, so I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're using CFS frequently. If you leave it as it is, TerraBuilder will recognize it as a separate landscape group with only one texture in it. Any of the smart fitting functions will not work on it. You will be able to insert it and fit the textures around it manually. Also, not renaming it will cause you to have up and coming extended texture set 08 (MOUNTAIN) treat this texture as its own.

Important tip:

If TB crashes, it will not reach the point where it automatically saves CFG file before exiting. It is suggested that after you set up your paths and synth textures, close TB and open it again. This will save CFG file properly.

Run TerraBuilder by double-clicking on TerraBuilderL.exe or TerraBuilder.exe. First time TerraBuilder runs, a message will appear:

Click OK to continue. This just means that the CFG file was not found, and the new one will be created. This is normal for the first-time operation.

Next, click on the

button, or choose "File|Preferences..." option. This is the main TerraBuilder Preferences Panel.

Here, choose your platform: CFS or FS2000. FS98 scenery creation is disabled for this BETA version. It will be functional in the upcoming release. Select "APPLY".

Choose all relevant paths. To use SynthWizard, you must have CFS installed. For Synthetic textures path, choose "textures" folder in Combat Flight Simulator Directory. Only CFS textures will work with SynthWizard. Select "APPLY".

A Synth Textures List box appears initially empty. Select "Scan Textures". Select "Yes" when warned. TerraBuilder scans the Synth Texture location you defined in the previous menu for specific synthetic textures. When it is done, 8 primary CFS texture classes appear in the List Box. Initially, all of the synthetic texture classes (groups) will have "<no name>" designation. Double click on each designation and give it a name. The above names are highly recommended, as they represent the texture classes correctly. Select "Load on open". This option will tell TerraBuilder to Load the selected texture classes every time it is started. If you have a computer with a lot of RAM, you can select all classes. If not, select only classes which you're going to work with. Do not select "Scan Textures" again at this time. This option will erase all the designations and scan for new texture classes. You will need to do this when you add new texture classes which are in the works (Rocky Mountain, and Mountain snow). Select "APPLY".

Here, you will define the color codes for each synth texture class. Color codes are used in Synthetic Scenery design so that the various landscape texture classes are easily recognizable and distinguished. Double click on each item and select a color from color dialog. Above color are recommended. Also, select wether you want to have color coding displayed or not by checking "Show Synth Tiles Color Coded" check box. By checking this box, Zoom level selector becomes active, and here you can define at what zoom level textures turn to color coded blocks. Select "APPLY".

That's all there is to setting up TerraBuilder for the first time. You can now move on to using the Scenery Wizards. Follow the instructions on the Wizard panes. Updated documentation will be available soon.