How to make scenery?

[simtex]

I'm interested in what makes it difficult to create screnery.

 

I don't actually want to make a map, but I'm very interested in what makes it difficult and how it is done.

 

I know that there is a wiki page which describes part of this process on a very technical level. However I'm more interested in a rather top-level view.

 

Let's say we're modeling a location in the US, e.g. some part of Nevada ;)

 

What do you do to get it done? First you need some basic map and then you will want to get into a lot of details. For the start there is at least the public domain TIGER data by the U.S. Census Bureau, then there are public domain elevation data from NASA. I'm quiet sure you can use those even in commercial applications.

 

What I'm not so sure about are other sources, like OpenStreetMap (X-Plane 10 uses it), commerial Maps (Google, Bing, ...) and different kinds of aerial images (you will need a proper license for most of them). What of those do you pick? Which ones do you have to avoid?

 

If you got this information somehow into your 3D model, what's next? Do you need someone "on-site" to take pictures and stuff? Or can you do everyting from a remote location?

 

What about military areas? Those are usually rather closed to the public. Do you have to guess on the details there or is the military so generous that you can actually get detailed data from those areas, too?

 

You would probably do some kind of automated import of most of the data into your model. But what exactly do you need to do afterwards? Do you need to "touch" every part or only those with sturctures on it?

[aaron886]

Big question. There's a wiki that may help you fill in the gaps, but elevation data is turned into a mesh using 3ds max, then populated with features using ED's proprietary tools in 3ds Max. Most important to be certain that your data is publicly releasable... as you say.

 

Not a very well-known or open topic at the moment, as evidenced by the lack of sceneries. Tools for ED's latest simulators (DCS:World base) are not yet available.