This marks the begin of an block of visual scenery commands.
There are different types of area blocks with different properties. When I started
the SCASM project I simply chose the first byte of the hex code as a name for them.
The visibility ranges are different for each type. I do not know the absolute limits.
I have different values from different sources for them. It seems there are also differences in different FS versions.
type |
5 |
0...22 km (0...40 km) |
8 |
40...130 km (invisible 0...40 km) |
B |
0...255 km (0...130 km) |
A |
Used mainly for calling lib objects in CFS1 and FS2000+
sceneries. It is reported that this type gives better frame rates than type 5.
This type can only contain 255 bytes of BGL data. |
E |
This area type seem to be a very special one. It is used to define a
library of bitmaped tiles in CFS1. This type can contain more than 64kb of data and
has a very large visibility range. The disadvantage is that only one
Area( E .. ) type per active scenery can be used.
This Area type maybe discontinued in versions later than FS2002. |
In FS2000 there are some new Area types available. The purpose of these types
is unknown.
4 |
maximum code length 245 bytes
(some designers use it for lib objects with good results). |
7 |
maximum code length 245 bytes |
6 |
no size limit
You can use several of these types in one scenery. |
9 |
no size limit |
C |
no size limit |
R |
special SCASM option, see Area(R) |
I obseved the range can be influenced by the scaling factor and the V#
parameters of the RefPoint() command.
|
Lat/Lon |
location of this area |
Rng |
range in km units (integer ).
It seems this value controls how long this area needs to be hold in the scenery
buffer. This does not automatically mean that the objects in this Area() are
displayed, since the visibility is also controled by the V# parameters in the
reference points (within this Rng limit). Since it is told FS5.1 can only hold about
256 k bytes of scenery, you should not use unrealistic large values to avoid wasting
memory. |
Note! In FS5 a single scenery area is limited to 16kB. SCASM 1.6g/1.67 (and above) is
testing this limit and will produce an error message, but the scenery is compiled
correctly up to about 24..32 Kb (depending on the current buffer status).
FS98 is able to handle larger objects. Use SCASM's SET()
command to enable larger object compilation.
It is reported that FS2000 does not show the maximum visibility range.
|