WELCOME.

First we need to look at the scenery configuration file in the main FS 2000 folder.

Below are a few entry's copied and pasted from my scenery.cfg file.

[Area.108]
Title=Rome
Local=scenedb\cities\rome
Active=TRUE
Layer=108

[Area.109]
Title=Tokyo
Local=scenedb\cities\tokyo
Active=TRUE
Layer=109

[Area.110]
Title=Bobs field
Local=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2000\scenedb\Bobs 3\scenery
Active=TRUE
Layer=110
Flatten.0=0,n7 17.23,e168 45.1,n7 17.23,e168 46.24,n7 16.49,e168 46.24,n7 16.49,e168 45.1

There is an entry for Rome, Tokyo, and a scenery I made with Airport 2.6 on an
Island in the arctic ocean.
the last entry has a flatten switch used to flatten the terrain to a specified altitude
where I have placed the scenery. This stops the hills and valleys high and low places
in the default terrain from interfering with the new BGL scenery.

It is composed of the.

Command it self: ( Flatten.0=0 ) you are limited to a set number of switches you can
use in a single "Area" or scenery entry and is designated by the first number in the
command. The first 0 in the command tells FS this is switch number 0. If we need to
flatten a different area in the same scenery file we would just add another command
line that looks this ( Flatten. 1=0 ) and so forth until we reach the maximum allowed
For this scenery Area.

The second number after the = sign is the elevation we want the scenery flattened
too in feet. ( Flatten.0=0, )followed by a comma.

Next is the Geographic longitude and latitude coordinates separated by commas for the area being
flattened, It specifies a four cornered area in a clockwise or counter clockwise
direction around the area
I use a clockwise direction. Lets take a look at this.

In the switch below the first set of coordinates are highlighted.

Flatten.0=0,n7 17.23,e168 45.1,n7 17.23,e168 46.24,n7 16.49,e168 46.24,n7 16.49,e168 45.1

This translates into North 7 degrees 17 minutes 23 seconds
by East 168 degrees 45 minutes 1 second.

This is an X location on the globe and is the top left corner of the area being
flattened. The next set is for the top right corner then the bottom right and finally
the bottom left corner. and that's about it for the Switch it self.

Important Notes

You can use SLEW mode to find the longitude and latitude coordinates of an area
BUT the seconds are not used in the SLEW readout, it is reading out as
degrees minutes and 100th of minutes, so a read out of n7 17.25, on the
screen in SLEW mode means north 7 degrees 17 minutes 25 1/100th of a minute rounded to
1/4th of a minute or 15 seconds.
Remember to take this into account if you use SLEW to find the coordinates.

The flatten switch
Can be used if you find a floating runway and need to bring the terrain up to it.
But be careful if there are buildings they may be set at a different elevation and will
be placed under ground if you flatten to big an area or, you may find yourself falling
down the side of the hill when you taxi to the terminals If you flatten to small an area
or to high an area. It works best with the little airports that just have a runway
and no buildings.