1. Why do I sometimes see lines on frozen lakes and glaciers?
2. How do I install the Misty Moorings Basic files, where do they go? What do I do after I install them?
3. Installing the Misty_Moorings_Traffic.zip file ... how do I do this?
4. This "over writing" scares me, could you explain what is happening when I do this?
5. How do I make use of the FSE files?
6. How do I put in a typical addon scenery from Misty Moorings, (like Dan's Hideaway)?
7. AFCAD files, where is the proper place for them? And what is AFCAD anyway?
8. What should the "order" of scenery areas be in the scenery library?
9. Is there a way to save hard disk space when adding all the addons?
10. Why do AI aircraft fly into mountains in Misty Fjords?
11. How do I remove an addon scenery? FSE too?
12. How do I remove the "Key" to Misty's Place?
13. How do I maximize framerates?

In fact, everyone will see this effect on glaciers and larger frozen lakes when Water Effects (reflections) are turned on (though the "severity" of the problem probably depends on system specs). It's a problem with the way FS displays the mip maps (i.e., variable resolution) of polygon textures. When approaching from a distance, FS loads lower-resolution versions of the textures first, gradually replacing them with the higher res versions. Somehow, some of the low-res textures don't fully cover the display grid and thus the underlying water (and it's shiny effect) peek through at the seams of the grid. It's a bug "made by MS" but an easy workaround is to disable Water Effects during winter. Actually, the issue is described on P.18 in the color manual.

Installing Misty Moorings Basic package, where do all these files go?

What do I do after I place them?

When you download the Misty Moorings Basic package and open the zip file you will find two things: A folder named: "Misty Moorings Temp" and a Readme.txt file.

When you open the Misty Moorings Temp, you will see the following folders: Addon Scenery, Misty Moorings, Scenery and Weather. Here's where they go:

Addon Scenery ... copy it and paste it into your Flight Simulator 9 folder (the main flight simulator folder), it will over write the Addon Scenery folder that is there. This puts the AFCAD files in their proper place automatically.

Scenery ... copy it and paste it into your Flight Simulator 9 Folder (the main folder), it also will over write the Scenery folder that is there. This puts a file automatically into scenery/world/scenery.

Weather ... copy it and paste it into your Flight Simulator 9 folder (the main flight sim folder), it also will over write the Weather folder that is there. This automatically puts a new weather startup situation into FS9.

You put the Misty Moorings folder where you usually put your addon scenery. If you do not have such a place, you should create one. In my Flight Simulator 9 folder, I have created a file I named "DougScenery".

(Structure C:.../Flight Simulator 9/DougScenery/)

All of my addon sceneries go into this folder. So in my case, I would copy the Misty Moorings folder and paste it into my "DougScenery" folder. Later, when you download one of the Misty Moorings Addons, you should put them in the same place following the same procedure.

(Structure C:.../Flight Simulator 9/DougScenery/Misty Moorings/)
(Structure C:.../Flight Simulator 9/DougScenery/Raptor's Roost/)

Next, you must "install" the scenery into FS9.
1. Open Flight Simulator to the start page (blue page).
2. In the lower left hand corner, click on "Settings" ... this brings up the Scenery Library
3. Click on "Scenery Library" and a list appears of the sceneries you have.
4. Click on "Add Area" ... go find your addon scenery folder (DougScenery)
5. The window will show all the sceneries you have in there (Misty Moorings)
6. Click on Misty Moorings and the list changes to Scenery and Texture
....Do not click on these, you have already established your path to Misty Moorings
7. Now click the OK button. You will now see Misty Moorings on the top of the list.
....Note: you must have all Misty Moorings addon sceneries ABOVE (on the library scenery list) of Misty Fjords scenery and Misty Fjords landscape. [Explained Here]
8. Click on the OK button and EXIT Flight Simulator.
9. Restart Flight Simulator and it will pick up the new scenery area ... go fly!

You follow the above 9 steps for all Misty Mooring addon sceneries.

How do I install the Misty Moorings AI Traffic files?

When you download the Misty_Moorings_Traffic.zip file and unzip it, you will see a folder named "Misty Moorings Traffic". Inside this folder are the following folders: Addon Scenery, Aircraft, Effects and Scenery. The easiest and quickest way to install these is to copy all of them and paste them into your Flight Simulator 9 folder ... over writing what is there. This automatically places all of the files in the proper places.

(Structure: C:.../Flight Simulator 9/Addon Scenery/Scenery/"AFCAD" (AF2.. files)
(Structure: C:.../Flight Simulator 9/Effects/ fx_AI_floatplane_spray...)
(Structure: C:.../Flight Simulator 9/Aircraft/"folders for various aircraft:)
(Structure: C:.../Flight Simulator 9/Scenery/World/Scenery/traffic Misty Moorings.bgl)

So there is no need to "add scenery" for the AI Traffic file for Misty Moorings.

Note on "over writing". If you look at the structure of the Aircraft folder above. When you paste, the program knows there is already a folder called "Aircraft" and is asking you if it is OK to over write it. What you are over writing is the "name" of the folder, not necessarily what is IN the Aircraft Folder. Next, the program starts adding the aircraft folders ... at this point you will probably not be over writing as all these files will be new and will be placed in the Aircraft file.

Note ... there is also an "updated AI Traffic files that adds more traffic look on the Environment Page on the AI Traffic download table. [here]

Look at the structure from FAQ 3:

(Structure: C:.../Flight Simulator 9/Aircraft/"aircraft folders")

When you copy the "Aircraft" folder and attempt to paste it into your Flight Simulator 9 folder, Windows sees a folder named "Aircraft" already there and warns you that you are about to over write it. What you are actually over writing at this point is the "name" of the folder (Aircraft), not what is in it. So at this point (and all at the blink of an eye) "Aircraft" is replaced with "Aircraft".

Flight Simulator 9/Aircraft is replaced by Flight Simulator 9/Aircraft = no change

Next, Windows looks inside the AIRCRAFT file and starts putting in the new folders. The aircraft folders inside the AIRCRAFT folder you are pasting are different from those already in the present Aircraft folder. So Windows simply places these folders in the Aircraft folder (adding them to what is already there) with no over writing. (The only exception would be that you might already have one of these folders .. if so, Windows will warn you again that you are about to over write something in this case you should always be careful that the file you are putting in is newer than the one it is replacing, but more often, you will find they are the same ... an over write is OK).

When a scenery enhancement is created with FSE, the program generates one,
two or all three of the following files:

1. filename.se2 - This is the static (non-moving) object file and contains
information that tells FSE where specific objects are located. These files
must be placed in the FSE Data folder (typically c:\program files\Microsoft
Games\Flight Simulator 2004\Lago\FSE\Data\). Almost all FSE enhancements
will have this file. The only time you won't see this file is when no static
objects were used (i.e. the scenery only includes moving objects and / or
sounds).

2. filename.sc - If sounds were used in the enhancement, FSE will include
the information in this file. These files must be placed in the Sounds
folder (typically c:\program files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator
2004\Lago\Common\Sounds\). Sounds are optional therefore not all
enhancements will have this file.

3. filename.osc - If the scenery includes object movement (vehicles, boats,
etc), that information is stored in this file. OSC files must be placed in
the 'tracks' folder (typically, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight
Simulator 9\LAGO\Common\Tracks\). Tracks are optional therefore not all
enhancements will have this file.

For all FSE projects, the 'filename' will be the same for all three types.
For example, if you were to create enhancements for Ketchikan Airport and
you named the scenery 'PAKT', the files would automatically be generated as
PAKT.SE2, PAKT.SC and PAKT.OSC.

After you have downloaded an FSE package, simply copy each file to its
proper folder. You should never get an 'overwrite' warning unless you are
replacing an existing package.

Objects and sounds are not included with the download. When you installed
the FSE program, the objects and sounds were installed with it. The SE2, OSC
and SC files only contain information that tells FSE where to put them.

Why are some files so large?

Sound files can be very large. We now have two files that are rather large by comparison, these are "Misty_Moorings_FSE.zip" and "JvH-FSESound-V1.zip" both of these are sound files for the many things FSE can do. These two files contain most of the sounds that would be used in an FSE enhancement. The Misty Moorings FSE handles sounds for most of the Misty Moorings locations. The JvH sound file is for Jaap van Hees' enhancements that use some of the new sounds. We ask all developers to try to use sounds from those two sound packs so we can limit the amount of downloading our users must do. So once you have the basic packages, the downloads will be smaller because the developers know you already have those sounds.

1. Download the Dan's Hideaway zip file "danshideaway.zip"
2. Unzip it: you will find the following: Dan's_Hideaway folder and a Readme.txt
-- Readme.txt ... tells you about the addon you are about to install
-- Dan's_Hideaway Folder: has two files in it Scenery and Texture
3. Copy the "Dan's_Hideaway Folder and paste it into the place where you usually place your addon sceneries. [explanation here]
4. Add the scenery area inside FS9 [explanation here]

As a rule of thumb, all AFCAD files should be placed in Addon Scenery/Scenery

(Structure: C:../Flight Simulator/Addon Scenery/Scenery/[all AFCAD files])

AFCAD files all start with an AF2_ prefix and end with a .bgl extension. If you have duplicates, you can and probably will run into trouble. To avoid this, always put them in the file indicated above. It is a good idea to do a "search for file" on your computer and see if you have any stray AFCADs search for "AF2*.bgl". If you find a stray, CUT it and PASTE it to the Addon Scenery/Scenery folder. (Be sure you CUT it or you'll still have the duplicate!)

What can an AFCAD file do?

AFCAD, (Airport Facility Computer Aided Design) is a Copyright 2003 by Lee Swordy.

Runways
You can add, delete, move or modify runways. This includes all runway markings, lighting, approach lights, VASI and similar visual landing aids. Although you cannot create your own runway surface textures, you can choose from an array of stock surface types from concrete to water.

Different runways for takeoffs and landings
At airports that have parallel runways, you can change which runways ATC assigns to user and AI aircraft for takeoffs and landings. Note that you cannot make ATC use crossing runways or runways at different angles simultaneously.

Taxiways
You can add, delete, move or modify taxiways. This includes taxiway markings, lighting, surface type, and designations (e.g. taxiway "B2"). In addition to the visual appearance and location of taxiways, the routing of taxiways also controls how ATC routes user and AI aircraft around the airport.

Aprons
You can add, delete, move or modify apron surfaces and apron edge lights. Apron surfaces can be used anywhere extra pieces of pavement are required around airports, not just at terminal buildings.

Parking
You can add parking spots (gate and ramp parking) and modify or delete existing parking spots at airports for your own use, or to increase the AI levels at an airport. Parking can be added at airports that do not currently have it. Any number of parking spots can be added. You can also adjust gate parking so that aircraft doors mate with existing boarding bridges (jetways). Parking is required in order for AI to operate at an airport, so adding parking will also allow you to program AI to use airports that do not currently have it.

Airline Gate Assignments
Microsoft added to FS2004 the capability to assign specific airlines to specific gates. You can also designate classes of aircraft to use certain classes of parking, such as GA aircraft to ramp parking, cargo aircraft to cargo parking and military aircraft to mil parking .

ATC and communications
You can add, delete, and modify communications frequencies. Adding a tower and/or ground control frequency is all that is needed to add ATC to any airport that does not already have it, you do not need an actual control tower scenery object to have ATC operation. Note that FS2002 required ATC to be present at an airport in order for AI to operate there but FS2004 no longer has that restriction, AI can now operate even at uncontrolled airports.

Navaids
You can add new navaids or modify stock navaids (ILS, Marker Beacons, VOR / DME, NDBs).

Helipads
You can add new helipads or modify stock helipads.

Start locations
Every airport comes with default start locations for your aircraft at the end of each runway. These can be changed to be at different locations, such as at the taxiway entrance to a runway.

Control tower view
The location for the control tower view of your aircraft (selected by pressing the ‘S’ key twice in FS) can be changed. This can be placed at the actual control tower location, if there is a tower, or any other location or elevation.

Shifting airports
Some third party replacement airports do not line up properly with stock Flight Simulator airports. This can cause the AI to taxi and take off and land on the grass instead of runways and taxiways. AFCAD allows you to shift the entire airport, or realign specific taxiways, runways and parking to correct this.

NOTE: AN UPDATE --- I M P O R T A N T - - (01/20/2005)

There is some confusion about putting our sceneries "above" or "below" the "Misty Fjords scenery" and "Misty Fjords landscape." Holger and Brent have given us new information that changes what we have been saying in the "readme.txt" files. So you may have to adjust your scenery library accordingly.

Any add-on that builds on the Misty Fjords base landscape should be placed above the two MF entries ... by "above" we mean when you are looking at the library settings screen on your computer. [see screenshot of correct order].

This includes all Misty Moorings sceneries, so as you look at the scenery library on your computer screen, these should be toward the top of the list with Misty Fjords sceneries and Misty Fjords landscapes down the list, under any Misty Moorings addons. Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words, so look at the [correct scenery library order] screenshot.

Note: we are changing our readme.txt files to reflect this new information.
Note: for more information on mesh conflicts, check [this thread]

Consolidation of add-ons from the same author can sometimes save space. Most designers tend to re-use textures for various add-ons and one can save a lot of HD space and Scenery Library entries by combining individual add-ons. Thus, one
could have a "MMI add-ons by Bill Dick"; folder and place new
additions of his in the corresponding scenery and texture subfolders.

However, ALWAYS (!) test new add-ons separately first to see whether
they are compatible and whether you like them. If yes on both accounts,
then move them into the consolidated "Bill Dick Scenery" folder.

From Phil Cayton:
When we build scenery in mountainous areas we just will not be able to make some of the aircraft patterns avoid the mountains altogether. We try our best to make the routes so that the majority of mountains are missed but can't get them all right when weather becomes a factor. I think of them as on-the-field atmosphere and, once they land or depart, I don't think about where they go.

From Doug:
For those of you who follow AI aircraft around, well we too worry about your welfare. The suggestion for now is fly with the "crash off" feature activated. For those of you who enjoy airplanes flying into mountains (and we think we know who you are), remember, Misty Moorings, Inc. brought this feature to you first ... and at no extra charge!

But to be serious, we are learning more about this aspect of the program every day, so we are not saying it will never be fixed. But there still are some "secrets of Misty" we are trying to learn. Don't we wish we knew now what we will know the day I come in and remove this FAQ for you? But remember, while you are sleeping, In the mists of Misty, the Elves of Misty continue to labor over solving this problem for you.

With Misty Moorings, Inc, we are trying to satisfy a range of people from those who want Misty Fjords to "stay the same" as the day Holger created it, to others who would hope we will turn PAKT into something like JFK! So the scenery addons we have will suit none of you all the time but some of you all the time. Such is the diversity of the community we are trying to serve.

One of the nice features about Flight Simulator is the ability to not only add new scenery packages, but also to remove them just as quickly. At Misty Moorings, Inc. we hope you like all our sceneries, but if one does not suit your particular taste, it can easily be removed and you are right back where you were before you put it in. The following instructions will help you delete an addon scenery package:

ADDON SCENERY REMOVAL ......................................

1. Open Flight Simulator
2. Click on SETTINGS and select SCENERY LIBRARY
3. Find the scenery addon in the list you wish to deactivate or remove.
... to "deactivate" the scenery, uncheck the red checkmark
... to "remove" the scenery, highlight the scenery and click on "Delete Area."
NOTE: deactivating the area allows you to recheck the box later and reuse it while deleting the area totally removes it from Flight Simulator
4. Press "OK" and shut down Flight Simulator
5. When you restart flight simulator, your changes will take place

For complete deletion:
1. After you have done steps 1 through 5 above ...
2. Go My Computer and find the to the directory where you usually add your addon scenery
3. Find the folder with the name of the scenery you are going to delete
4. Right click on the folder and select "delete" ... the folder is deleted

Your scenery is now deleted and you are back to where you were before you added it.

FSE SCENERY REMOVAL .......................................................

To remove the FSE you need to be aware and look in three folders...

Lago\FSE\Data for .SE2 files
Lago\Common\Sounds for .SC files
Lago\Common\Tracks for .OSC files

The FSE we create will have the name of the scenery in the file names and
usually begin with my FSE code. I.E. - 3B9BB7F1_deer_trail_airstrip.SE2

Not all sceneries will have the .OSC files but all will have .SE2 and .SC
files.

Once you remove these files, that FSE scenery addon will be deleted and you are back to where you were before you added it.

Summary .......................

Try the scenery (it is free!) ... keep it if it suits your taste, delete it if it does not suit your taste. In the end, we hope to be a part of making YOUR Misty experience unique for you and your special needs.

The Misty Moorings, Inc Team

1. Go to your desktop (where the Misty.exe shortcut is located)

2. Right Click on the Misty.exe shortut

3. Select Delete

4. On "are you sure" ... select "Yes"

Basically the maximum is set by the user as juri said when the video processor can go above that it is stopped at that level and the extra processing power goes toward image quality or detail. There is also a minimum setting built in...it is 70% of the maximum. So if you lock at 25 the minimum is set at 17.5 when this point is reached the video processor starts cutting back on detail or image quality until the minimum is reached or can be maintained, in this case 17.5. This is also related to the settings you chose in the other areas. If you max out all your sliders and your VC can't handle it then it will always be trying to get to the minimum by cutting back on image quality.

I think the biggest killer of FR is the Clouds. that is why they have four different sliders that will have a big affect on your FR.

Sight Distance: How far away you can see. In most real conditions site distance is hardy ever over 60-80 miles. Setting this slider for anything more is unrealistic and draws on resources. You could get ATIS information and set it according to the real visability distance.

Cloud Draw Distance: How far away the clouds will start to be drawn. This should be set at a lower distance than Sight Distance, What's the use of drawing clouds that you cant see?

3D Cloud percentage: This determines how many clouds will be drawn in 3D. If you fly a lot in the spot plane view or look to sides alot this slider should be set as high as possible.

Cloud Coverage Density: How many or how much cloud density you can have. Again this is a FR eater. Less is better if your system can't handle intense graphics.

Simple Clouds: Should be used as a last resort to get your frame rates up.

FS2002 has a new feature that we have not seen before, it is the Maximum Frame Rate slider. If you ask
someone how it operates, you will get as many opinions as there are fingerprints. However, here is the real
deal:

The slider sets two values in your 2002.cfg file:

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=xx (where xx is the value you set your slider to.)

This is located in the (Display) section of your 2002.cfg file and does exactly what it says. It locks your max frame rate to that value and then assigns additional resources to other tasks (such as smoothing guage motion, pre-loading scenery, etc.)

LOD_TARGET_FPS=xx (where xx is roughly 70% (rounded)of the value of the slider).

This is located in the (GRAPHICS) portion of the 2002.cfg file. This gives a "minimum" setting for Frame Rate.

If you maintain within this 30 percent bracket, the sim will pump out all the detail you have defined in the rest of your sliders. If you drift below the minimum, then it will start dropping detail in an attempt to get above the minimum. The first to go is texture detail, which explains the "muddy" or fuzzy textures people complain about. Some settings do not
seem to be affected. Autogen, for example does not seem to ever get turned off, where some people have reported loss of AI traffic, and loss of building detail (High Res Airports such as KORD).

Microsoft put this slider in the sim, to maintain the smoothness that we all love. Stuttering not only is aresult of RAW frame rate, but also the CHANGE of frame rate from one slice of time to another. This is most evident in turns. When you pass from a low density screen to a high density screen (such as going past New York City skyline), your FPS drops suddenly. If you were pushing 60 FPS and you drop to 20, the drop in frame rate is more noticeable than if you had been at 20 all the time.

To maintain proper operation of the slider, First determine your "comfort zone". Set the slider accordingly. Then tailor your other settings so that your sim can maintain that at all times in all (or most) conditions.

Some of you may want to override the slider instead. To override the slider, you need to do TWO things.
Setting the slider to unlimited merely removes the "roof" from the slider, It does not do ANYTHING to
the LOD_TARGET_FPS value. Thus if you previously had your slider set to 30FPS, then your minimum is still
LOD_TARGET_FPS is still set to 21.

To maximize your range, first set the slider to 10FPS (lowest setting), this will set LOD_TARGET_FPS to 7.
Exit and restart simulator to make sure the LOD_TARGET_FPS value is written and saved to the FS2002.cfg file. When restarting, then set the slider to unlimited. This will remove the limiter from your video card, while maintaining the lowest setting for LOD_TARGET_FPS so that detail is maintained.

This from "Cloudman" on another forum, captured by Larry KSEA (Thank you both!)