Too much brush and scrub in airport infields, it should all be just grass.

[Kirk66]

Noticed when I took off from Ramstein and landed at Hahn, there is way too much brush and bushes in the infield of airports, between runways and taxiways, and alongside runways. Note that this seem to be a problem in other maps as well, but really stands out on NATO airfields (where I was stationed and flew out of at the time portrayed).

Airports all have standards for clear areas around runways to keep birds and game away, and to minimize obstructions to vision of airfield signs. So pretty much everything around the runways is cleared and mowed. 

Having random bushes obscure distance markers is not a good idea...

Otherwise...GREAT MAP! Can't wait to drop an LGB into my old office on Ramstein.

Vulture

[Hiob]

I agree with you.

I think the reason (no excuse) for this is, that ground clutter isn‘t placed by hand, but sprinkled across the map by procedural methods. Same as with other maps.

I would love to see this improved (generally on all maps).

[Lace]

Agreed.  Airfields are generally very well tended.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

6 hours ago, Kirk66 said:

Can't wait to drop an LGB into my old office on Ramstein.

[Boosterdog]

7 hours ago, Hiob said:

I agree with you.

I think the reason (no excuse) for this is, that ground clutter isn‘t placed by hand, but sprinkled across the map by procedural methods. Same as with other maps.

I would love to see this improved (generally on all maps).

I noticed that the scrub "wipe" is absent from agricultural fields so presumably areas can be masked. 

[OneEyeRoss]

The lawns in the towns is also not right.  It is the generic long grass of the fields.  But, I will also admit that this is a pretty small issue, since the map is just amazing.

[Hiob]

1 hour ago, Boosterdog said:

I noticed that the scrub "wipe" is absent from agricultural fields so presumably areas can be masked. 

I don’t know actually, that was just an assumption. But I think this is how it works, yes. 

[Boosterdog]

2 hours ago, OneEyeRoss said:

The lawns in the towns is also not right.  It is the generic long grass of the fields.  But, I will also admit that this is a pretty small issue, since the map is just amazing.

Sadly that is the only grass you get in DCS. Hellishly dangerous when there is a tiger loose. 

[Smith]

Yes, this is the only Problem i have with this otherwise awesome map.

The grass shouldn't be like that on airports:

 

I would like to know from Ugra media if they will make that better or if it will stay like that.

Edited April 19 by Smith

[swartbyron]

For those who don't like the look of the bush and scrub on the airfields, it can harmlessly be removed the following way.

Hide or rename the following files to remove bush and scrb;

GermanyColdWar.sd5 Anabasis_setifera.ref Azalea.ref JuniperShrub.ref

Hide or rename the following file if you want to remove the small trees found at some airfields;

KousaDogwood.ref

They can be found here;

C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\terrains\GermanyColdWar\surfaceDetails

When you restart the sim the bush and scrub wont load and you will be left with just green grassy fields.

The best bit is, this wont break IC because no files were replaced or changed. 

You will have to do this every time you repair or update DCS as the scrub will be restored.

How to?

The simplest way is to create new folder with in your surfaceDetails folder and name it _Hide, then the move the files you want to hide into there. 

Don't worry DCS and the map will run just fine with out them. 

Edited April 22 by swartbyron

[Hiob]

1 hour ago, swartbyron said:

For those who don't like the look of the bush and scrub on the airfields, it can harmlessly be removed the following way.

Hide or rename the following files;

Azalea.ref and GermanyColdWar.sd5

They can be found here;

C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\terrains\GermanyColdWar\surfaceDetails

Don't worry DCS and the map will run just fine with out them. 

When you restart the sim the bush and scrub wont load and you will be left with just green grassy fields.

The best bit is, this wont break IC because no files were replaced or changed. 

You will have to do this every time you repair or update DCS as the scrub will be restored.

 

 

Oh, very interesting! I assume that works similarly on other maps?

Probably slight performance boost from it too, no?

[swartbyron]

21 minutes ago, Hiob said:

Oh, very interesting! I assume that works similarly on other maps?

Probably slight performance boost from it too, no?

Yes, it should work the same for all maps. I've tried it successfully on South Atlantic too.

You can remove all or any off the vegetation this way including the trees.

I've not tested it but I would expect an FPS boost. The more types you remove the less vegetation to impact your frame rate.

Edited April 20 by swartbyron

[Hotdognz]

Urga Media should implement your 2 fixes the airbases and other places look so much better with these 2 files removed.

Sent from my CPH2333 using Tapatalk

[Volator]

19 hours ago, swartbyron said:

For those who don't like the look of the bush and scrub on the airfields, it can harmlessly be removed the following way.

Hide or rename the following files;

Azalea.ref and GermanyColdWar.sd5

They can be found here;

C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\terrains\GermanyColdWar\surfaceDetails

Don't worry DCS and the map will run just fine with out them. 

When you restart the sim the bush and scrub wont load and you will be left with just green grassy fields.

The best bit is, this wont break IC because no files were replaced or changed. 

You will have to do this every time you repair or update DCS as the scrub will be restored.

 

 

Does this remove the scrub only on the airfields, or on the entire map?

[Hiob]

48 minutes ago, Volator said:

Does this remove the scrub only on the airfields, or on the entire map?

The entire map I suppose.

[Slippa]

Mighty clever Swarty  cheers,

In MP Germany’s shuddering to a halt for me a fair bit. I could do with taking out half of Berlin going by my performance there. 

Cheers for the tip.

[swartbyron]

I've just updated my post to included some extra ref files for scrub and some trees.

This should give you the cleanest looking airfield without affecting the big trees and vegetation.

Pleased this has helped some of you guys. 

Edited April 22 by swartbyron

[Kirk66]

Nice! I'll definitely be giving it a try.

Is there also a file for the rocks than can be removed?

Vulture

[Smith]

10 hours ago, swartbyron said:

I've just updated my post to included some extra ref files for scrub and some trees.

This should give you the cleanest looking airfield without affecting the big trees and vegetation.

Pleased this has helped some of you guys. 

 

This looks really good. As i m away from my gaming computer for some time because of work, could you make a before and after your modification of this picture? Thank you a lot.

Edited April 21 by Smith

[swartbyron]

19 hours ago, Smith said:

This looks really good. As i m away from my gaming computer for some time because of work, could you make a before and after your modification of this picture? Thank you a lot.

Edit: Hi, If you scroll up, I’ve added some comparison pics to previous posts.

22 hours ago, Kirk66 said:

Nice! I'll definitely be giving it a try.

Is there also a file for the rocks than can be removed?

Vulture

Edit: Ive just checked, rocks and stones are removed when GermanyColdWar.sd5 is hidden. 

Edited April 22 by swartbyron

[cellinsky]

Immo, it looks better with all the clutter removed. And the main benefit for me: Micro-jitters in vr are gone when low down. Cool find, thanks.

[birkenmoped]

Examples of German air bases (1990) - Attention: poor quality / old “Super8?” videos.

But the details of the well-kept lawns on the airfield are recognizable!

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by birkenmoped

[Vee.A]

On 4/21/2025 at 6:26 PM, Smith said:

This looks really good. As i m away from my gaming computer for some time because of work, could you make a before and after your modification of this picture? Thank you a lot.

As I've seen mentioned before, the dirt around every single paved area also looks pretty strange. Most airfields in this kind of environment in general only consist of well kept short grass.

[Volator]

5 hours ago, birkenmoped said:

Examples of German air bases (1990) - Attention: poor quality / old “Super8?” videos.

But the details of the well-kept lawns on the airfield are recognizable!

 

 

 

Cool videos btw, especially the full autorotation down to the ground.

[Duck21]

16 hours ago, Vee.A said:

As I've seen mentioned before, the dirt around every single paved area also looks pretty strange. Most airfields in this kind of environment in general only consist of well kept short grass.

Ugra has been told exactly that many times back when the first previews started being shown. Unfortunately they have never commented on this issue and instead built the entire map like this.