7/29/98

   TEXMTN allows one to create textured mountains for FS5/FS95/FS98 scenery
with an easy Visual Basic interface.


   INSTALLATION:

   This program was written with Visual Basic 4.  As a result, most users
will need some 32-bit run-time drivers.  The following files:  VB40032.DLL,
OLEPRO32.DLL and MSVCRT40.DLL need to be in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM subfolder.
If they are not, you may download them from the www.flightsim.com "Must Have
Files" library.  When those DLL files are in place, simply put the TEXMTN.EXE
file in your \SCENERY subfolder and run it from there.  The program creates
small BGL files.


   USAGE:

   Upon running the program, the opening screen presents five "buttons," 
whose function is described briefly here and in greater detail below.  The
first three buttons each lead to a screen which creates a specific type of
mountain.  The MODIFY MTN button presents a screen which allows the user to
change an existing mountain, without re-creating it from scratch.  The EXIT
button, of course, returns the user to the Windows 95/98 environment.


   1-PEAK MTN:

   What the program actually does is create rectangular "terrain areas" with
different numbers of terrain "points."  The area type which I call a 1-peak
mountain consists of a grid of nine points, which may be visualized like the
following diagram:

                       ^      *    *    *
                       N
                              *    +    *

                    Origin >  *    *    * 

The * symbols represent the perimeter points and the + symbol represents the
central "peak."  Enter geographic coordinates for the SW corner (origin) of
the mountain, with the understanding that the mountain will be created to the
north and east of that point.
   Next, enter the length (north dimension) and width (east dimension) for
the mountain.  You may also enter a "heading" (in degrees) which will rotate
the mountain clockwise around the origin.  Leaving the heading box blank will
orient the mountain towards due north (0 degrees).  Finally, before entering
point elevations, you must choose a texture file name.  This will be the name
of an R8 file which will be used to texture the mountain.
   You may actually use any 65536-byte (256x256) texture file, as long as it
has been renamed with the .R8 extension and exists in the \TEXTURE folder.
Some of the Microsoft Hawaii textures (.HAW) make nice mountains.  FS5 has
many default textures which work well too.  The picture on the opening screen
of TEXMTN was made with the BROADF.R8 texture file.  Of course, you may also
create and use your own home-made textures as well.
   After entering the texture file name (DON'T ENTER THE .R8 EXTENSION), you
will need to enter the elevations for the nine terrain points.  For your
mountain to look right, all the outer, perimeter points need to be on the
ground.  Run FS5 and slew around the proposed area to check for local Above
Mean Sea Level (AMSL) elevation.  In most cases, you will want all eight of
the perimeter points to be identical.  If so, you may click the Common
Perimeter Elevation button.  Doing so presents you with a single text box in
which you will enter the elevation for all eight.  Then simply enter the
elevation for the "peak," click the done button, and go run FS5 to look at
your new mountain.  The new file is called NEWMTN.BGL.  If you like it, you
must rename it, or it will be written-over the next time the program is run. 
   Although a 1-peak mountain is simple to visualize and easy to create, it
is basically just a pyramid.  As a result, I have included two additional
options which allow creation of more complex mountain shapes.


   4-PEAK MTN:

   This option creates the following 16-point grid:

                     ^     *     *     *     *    
                     N
                           *     +     +     *

                           *     +     +     *

                  Origin > *     *     *     *

If you make all four peaks (+) the same elevation, you will get a truncated
Maya pyramid.  If, however, you give the peaks different elevations, you may
create some fairly interesting mountains.


   9-PEAK MTN:

   This option creates the following 25-point grid:

                     ^     *     *     *     *     *
                     N
                           *     +     +     +     *

                           *     +     +     +     *

                           *     +     +     +     *

                  Origin > *     *     *     *     *

Very interesting-looking mountains can be created with this option by giving
the peaks different elevations.


   MODIFY MTN:

   Because a mountain doesn't always appear in FS5 just the way you imagined
it, this option lets you change parts of it without starting over.  THIS
OPTION ONLY WORKS ON A FILE NAMED NEWMTN.BGL.  If you want to copy a favorite
mountain shape to an additional location, copy the mountain to NEWMTN.BGL,
modify it, then give it a new name.  Otherwise, entering new geographic
coordinates will move your mountain to a new location.  Please be sure to
enter a COMPLETE set of coordinates.  Simply entering a new latitude, for
example, will NOT save your old longitude.
   You may also change mountain length, width, heading and texture with this
option by entering data in the appropriate text boxes.  Each modification is
accomplished by pressing the nearest DONE button.  In this fashion, you may
make one or several modifications from this screen.  The MODIFY PEAKS button
takes you to a new screen where you may change point elevations.


   MODIFY PEAKS:

   This option lets you modify the elevation of each individual peak.  It
also allows you to specify a new perimeter elevation.  If you need to modify
perimeter points individually, you need to start over <G>.  As with the
previous screen, THIS OPTION WORKS ONLY WITH NEWMTN.BGL.


   This program is freeware; please feel free to share it.  It should not
harm your computer but, if you imagine that it has, I accept no liability.


Chuck Dome
CIS 72723,734
chdome@worldnet.att.net
Visit my home page at http://home.att.net/~chdome