Changes since the 20051014 release  
Changes for both versions:
 
Texture mapping changed, so you have to download your livery again.
The KingAirPlugin is available for Linux now, please let me know if it works for you.
Changes for the 8.20 version:
 
Removed the wing numbers, the rotated bodies create drag now in 8.20.
Tweaked prop and drag to get flight performance similiar to 8.15.
Added blank sideviews to avoid the nasty scrolling when switching views around.
Added a very simple cockpit object, only one plate with the 2d panel mapped to it. This gives you a smooth transition from 2d to 3d view.

Hello!
 
Here is an update and just a few factoids related to the new global  
scenery for X-Plane we are working on!
First we will start off with the basics, which I am sure almost all of  
you already know, to give you an idea of the scope of this project....
 
Read on!
 
There are 1000 bytes in a k on your hard drive.
 
There are 1000 k in a meg on your hard drive.
 
There are 1000 meg in a gig on your hard drive.
 
So, how many bytes are in a gig on your hard drive? A billion!
 
In both Windows and Mac OS, getting info on a file or folder ("get  
Properties" or "Apple-I" ) shows you file size in K, Meg, or GB... that  
number indicates the size of that file or folder.
 
if a file is 8 gig on your hard drive, is it also 8 gig on the dvd you  
are copying it to. (ASSUMING DRIVE AND DVD BLOCK SIZES ARE THE SAME).
 
a folder that is indicated by the operating system as being 8.4 gig  
does of course fit on a DVD that has 8.5 gig of free space.
 
you can get 8.5 gig of stuff on a double-layer dvd-9 format DVD.
 
a file on a mac can be copied to windows
 
the new elevation data from Space Shuttle Radar Mapping mission, just  
released a few weeks ago, covers the whole planet earth between +/- 60  
degrees latitude.
 
the new elevation data from Space Shuttle Radar Mapping mission, just  
released a few weeks ago, gives the elevation of the ground.
 
the space shuttle radar mapping mission provided all the needed DEM  
(digital elevation map) data to build excellent scenery.
 
the X-Plane global scenery is not done yet... we are still working on  
it.
 
The global scenery will take about 56 gig if hard drive space, so you  
better be sure you have at least 56 gig free on your hard drive free!
 
This is because you have to install the entire planet of scenery if you  
want the new global scenery.
 
Personal computers write DVDs when sitting in a room that is  
room-temperature.
 
We are sorry the scenery takes so much space... it is because the  
storage format is not as efficient as I would like.
 
 
Anyway, this is just an introduction, and any computer user worth his  
salt already knows most of that stuff, and some of it is clearly  
obvious.. more details to follow soon!
 
 
 
austin

HOLY CRAP DID YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE ME??????????
EVERY SINGLE THING I JUST TOLD YOU I =>USED TO THINK<= WAS TRUE.
BUT NOW I KNOW THAT EVERY SINGLE THING I JUST TOLD YOU WAS A LIE.
THERE WAS NOT ONE SINGLE, SOLITARY, TRUE STATEMENT IN THAT EMAIL I JUST  
SENT YOU.
YOU THOUGHT EVERYTHING I SAID WAS TRUE.
YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS.
YOU THOUGHT STATEMENTS LIKE "a folder that is indicated by the  
operating system as being 8.4 gig does of course fit on a DVD that has  
8.5 gig of free space" WERE TOO OBVIOUS TO EVEN MENTION.
I USED TO THINK THAT THESE STATEMENT WERE TRUE AS WELL.
BUT OVER THE LAST MONTHS, AS WE HAVE GENERATED THE GLOBAL SCENERY, I  
HAVE LEARNED THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE STATEMENTS IN THE PREVIOUS  
EMAIL WAS A LIE.
 
READ ON!
 
 
There are 1000 bytes in a k on your hard drive.
WRONG! It's 1024. 1024 bytes makes up a k on your drive, despite the  
fact this is not proper math or english, to fool you.
 
There are 1000 k in a meg on your hard drive.
WRONG! its 1024. 1024 k makes up a meg on your drive, despite the fact  
this is not proper math or english, to fool you.
 
There are 1000 meg in a gig on your hard drive.
WRONG! its 1024. 1024 meg makes up a gig on your drive, despite the  
fact this is not proper math or english, to fool you.
 
So, how many bytes are in a gig on your hard drive? A billion!
WRONG! its 1.07 billion... a full 7% more than indicated by proper math  
and english, to fool you.
 
In both Windows and Mac OS, getting info on a file or folder ("get  
Properties" or "Apple-I" ) shows you file size in K, Meg, or GB... that  
number indicates the size of that file or folder.
WRONG! it shows the drive allocation, which is based on the 1024 rather  
then 1000 rule, which is off by about 2% for k, 4% for meg, and 7% for  
gig, to fool you.
 
if a file is 8 gig on your hard drive, is it also 8 gig on the dvd you  
are copying it to. (ASSUME DRIVE AND DVD BLOCK SIZES ARE THE SAME).
WRONG! the hard-drive people work in the 1024-base number system, and  
the dvd-manufacturers work in the regular base-1000 math system, to  
fool you.
for this reason, an 8 gig file on your hard drive (1024-based) is 8.56  
gig on your dvd (1000-based), to overflow your DVD and fool you.
 
a folder that is indicated by the operating system as being 8.4 gig  
DOES fit on a DVD that has 8.5 gig of space.
WRONG! it can NOT. an indication of 8 gig of hard drive allocation is  
actually 8.56 gigabytes of data... too much for an 8.5 gig dvd... no  
way can you copy that 8.0 gig file to your 8.5 gig dvd! this is to fool  
you!
 
you can get 8.5 gig (i mean 1000-based 8.5 gig, like dvds use!!!) of  
stuff in a double-layer dvd-9 format DVD.
WRONG! the dvd-9 only holds 7.95 gig. the name is designed to fool you.  
OF COURSE a dvd-9 holds only 7.95 gig. this is to fool you.
 
a file on a mac can be copied to windows
WRONG! The Macintosh can understand, but Windows can NOT understand,  
the ", /, \, and trailing space in a filename or directory, so many  
files can NOT be copied from a mac to a windows machine. Out of the  
50,000+ files that make up the X-Plane coding world, about 7 files have  
met that definition. This is to fool you.
 
the new elevation data from Space Shuttle Radar Mapping mission, just  
released a few weeks ago, covers the whole planet earth between +/- 60  
degrees latitude.
WRONG! Large swaths of data are missing from where they called off the  
mission a bit early, and since the shuttle was well SOUTH of the grand  
canyon, it could NOT see DOWN INTO the canyon, leaving big gaping  
"bottomless pits" where the radar could not "peer over the edge" from  
it's southern viewpoint. This is to fool you.
 
the new elevation data from Space Shuttle Radar Mapping mission, just  
released a few weeks ago, gives the elevation of the ground.
WRONG! the mission used radar which bounced off of solid objects...  
INCLUDING BUILDINGS.. the radar data for manhattan showed countless  
narrow little mountains, 50 feet wide and 500 feet tall. these  
mountains were actually radar returns from buildings. if you were  
looking for terrain elevation, this was to fool you.
 
the space shuttle radar mapping mission provided all the needed data to  
build excellent scenery.
WRONG! we fell back to the older "DEM" data in areas where the shuttle  
had to stop it's mission, where the radar returns could not peer over  
the edge into the grand canyon, and within a few hundred meters of all  
tall buildings, so we could get accurate elevation data for the entire  
planet for the global scenery.
 
the X-Plane global scenery is not done yet... we are still working on  
it.
WRONG! We just finished it. I just finished burning the last DVD 30  
seconds ago... now it is off to testing and to the factory... it takes  
a few weeks to be duplicated and shipped back to us.. we will put it on  
the web site the moment we get inventory in-house and test it!
 
The global scenery will take about 56 gig if hard drive space, so you  
better be sure you have at least 56 gig free on your hard drive free!
WRONG! Hard drives GET INCREDIBLY SLOW AND THEN GRIND TO A HALT AS THEY  
GET FULL, since they can no longer find free spaces big enough to hold  
your file... a thousand small spaces is not as good as one big space if  
you have one big file! You netter have at least EIGHTY gig free if you  
want to install the entire new set of global scenery.
 
This is because you have to install the entire planet of scenery if you  
want the new global scenery.
WRONG! The global scenery will come in SEVEN double-layer dvds for USA,  
CANADA, SOUTH AMERICA, EUROPE, RUSSIA, AND AUSTRALIA/JAPAN.. install as  
few, or as many, areas as you like.
 
Personal computers write DVDs when sitting in a room that is  
room-temperature.
WRONG! After writing about 4 out of the needed 7 double-layer dvds, the  
drive begins to overheat and everything starts failing. You have to  
close all the air-conditioning vents in your house except the ones to  
the computer room so that all of the cold air in the house is directed  
the computer room, and crank the AC to max, and close the door to the  
computer room, turning your computer room into a freezing tomb, working  
with your fingers getting numb at the keyboard, so that the dvd-burner  
does not over-heat after doing non-stop hi-speed double-layer  
dvd-burning of the biggest scenery project ever done (that i know of)  
for any flight sim.
 
We are sorry the scenery takes so much space... it is because the  
storage format is not as efficient as I would like.
WRONG!!!!! WRONG!!!!! WRONG!!!!! WRONG!!!!! Try compressing your  
average file with ZIP. How much does it shrink? Down to about HALF the  
size as before.
Now, try shrinking an image, for example, that is very simple, like a  
BMP of a bug blue square. How much does it shrink down when you ZIP it?  
A TON! Why? Because there is just not much information there! Now try  
compressing a BMP of a fabulous MONET painting, with all of it's varied  
colors and textures un-predictable variations... how much does THAT BMP  
shrink when you ZIP it? NOT SO MUCH!!!!! Why? Because there is so much  
MORE information that the compression algo simply cannot find any way  
to compress it down any more! So, the efficiency of a storage format  
can be implied by the amount it compresses.. the LESS it can be  
compressed by ZIP, the MORE information you had in your space before,  
implying an efficient storage of information! So, the average file  
compresses down by 50%... how much does a new-generation scenery file  
compress? ONLY 33%. It compresses LESS because the data is ALREADY  
TIGHTLY PACKED. In other words, it is NOT a wasteful format... all that  
55 gig of scenery data means you can fly a whole planet-full of x-plane  
scenery without ever seeing the same thing twice, and without ever  
seeing a clearly-repeating pattern.
 
and THAT is the truth.
 
 
Screenshots and more info to follow in the next week or so.
 
 
austin

i went to sleep last night, and the night before.
 
austin

i went to sleep last night, and the night before.
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of course i did not! how could i have, seeing the  
curve-balls i am dodging here? I just SAID i did, to fool you!
 
 
 
austin

Now, a common question was: How LONG does it take to install the
scenery?
 
The answer is as follows:
 
The 7dvd set include a cd with the USA and X-Plane 8.22 on it (8.22 is
8.21 plus a few little tweaks)
On my mid-range windows computer and older powerbook, i get an X-PLANE
cd install time of about one and a half hours. On the scenery DVDs it
is about half that (PER DVD). On a faster windows machine with it's
faster dvd drive, we are getting speeds that are a good bit higher than
that. (i think the dvd speed is a bit more limiting than the hard drive
speed here)
 
Another common answer was: How much will it cost?
The answer is that FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS, it will be pretty close to
our cost for the whole deal.. probably $29, though I still have to
figure out a little better what all of our costs really ARE on this,
but I am shooting to keep it UNDER $30 for existing customers.
 
So those are the common issues people asked my about... screenshots and
stuff to follow as we get them!
(see www.global-scenery.org for some prelims)