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Q&A for:        FS2004 "Autogen X" TREES - OBJECT LIBRARY 

                     Release 1  -  November 23, 2004
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Please read the following Q&A before asking info/support or suggesting
improvements! - Thank you.


Q: Why do you provide different sizes of the same tree?
   Isn't it better to use the xml "scale" attribute?
A: I've been forced to provide different scaled trees 
   by a bug (surprised?) in MSFS9.1 (I haven't verified 9.0)
   The xml scale attribute forgets to work for the MDL9
   volumetric crash. My trees have a very precise crash detection.
   So if you set <scale="2"> you can happily fly through the top
   half of the tree but if you set <scale=".5"> for 30m trees you
   think to be safe flying 15m above them .... and crash!  
   To have many different size trees I suggest a min/max scaling
   of .9/1.2

Q: The seasons do not match exactly those autogen'ed!?
A: I know - Bill is better than Vivaldi. In fact he plays
   5 seasons! and doesn't tell anybody where to look to 
   know which season is while/where in flight.
   (My Q: Anybody knows where this bl*~y Var is?)
   The library works with the  4 seasons we all know, 
   with snow in Winter. The ag_engine sets the season
   using lat/lon and elevation. - example from my tests:
   In the area I live (around It-CH border) there is a very
   short Winter (late Nov./early Dec.), then it's hardwinter,
   but on the 15th of March it's already springtime.
    
Q: Why there aren't palm trees?
A: Superior X shaped trees require to be able to work with a texture
   well centered/balanced on the vertical axis. Default textures have
   only groups of palms. I don't like the funny result they produce
   when flying around them (as groups of conifers do!).  
   I've chosen not to include palms. They will be included into
   my next library (work is already in progress using Gerrish
   Gray's beautiful "trees_v3" textures).

Q: The tree crossing surfaces are oriented N/S & E/W. Is this 
   the best way to place them from the sunlight point of view?
A: NO! This is the easiest way to work with my MASM tools.
   The best results are achieved by setting the XML "heading"
   attribute between 25 & 65 or 115 & 155.
   BTW also the default ag_engine works this way, with few
   trees outside the suggested rotation.   

Q: How can I set the visibility range for my trees?
A: Sorry, you cannot do it with XML objects. This control is
   hardcoded in every model (size of vertical pixels). I tried
   to match the visibility of autogen trees.

Q: Any other difference with default autogen trees?
A: Yes, I think it's impossible to re-create the fade-in effect
   that autogen trees have. 

Q: Do the library work with FS8?
A: Absolutely NOT ... I think..! - I haven't tested with FS8
   but the included models use the latest MDL9 coding.
   Also I haven't tested with FS9.0 but there should be no 
   issues here. 

Q: What is the "commercial status" of this library?
A: Freeware - definitely. But as I've spent lot of time to
   understand the sunlight effect similar to the default
   autogen trees, I pretend that payware/shareware/moneyware
   authors create their own models/library and don't call
   my models/GUID's.

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