This describes how to convert a copy of X-Plane 10 for Mars flights. You will need about 40 GB of disk space to complete the installation steps described below.
The files to download from http://cdn.isdg.com.au/downloads/mars_v1.1/ are:
docs.zip
Documentation describing the installation, and
more (3 MB)mars[1-9].zip
The base mesh as nine zip archives (each
about 1.8 GB)bitmaps.zip
Mid- and far-distant scenery (680 MB)ter.zip
Renamed copies of selected terrains (6 kB)dds.zip
Customized textures (80 MB)apts.zip
The airport layouts, suitable for editing with
WED (220 kB)dsf_files
A 180×360 bitmap indicating availability of DSF tiles (64 kB)apt.dat
A consolidated description of all airports (34 kB)earth_nav.dat
All navigational aids (42 kB)sky_colors_mars.png
Sky colors (61 kB)sun_glow_mars.png
Sun colors (76 kB)"Global Scenery/X-Plane 10 Global Scenery/"
.
The downloaded files are named mars[1-9].zip
. These are related
to another downloaded file, dsf_files
."Custom Scenery/"
.
The downloaded file, named apts.zip
, contains all Martian
airports as individual scenery packages."Resources/default scenery/default apt dat/Earth nav data"/apt.dat
with the one provided."Resources/default scenery/default atc/Earth nav data"/atc.dat
,
deleting all but first controller."Resources/default data/earth_nav.dat"
with
the one provided.Resources/bitmaps/
need to be replaced with
those in the downloaded file bitmaps.zip
.There are a lot of customizations, so I strongly advise you to
create a copy of your X-Plane10 folder, and make all Mars-specific
customizations to the copy. I put my copy in a folder named
M-Plane10
.
rsync -a --include='/Custom Scenery/KSEA*' --exclude='/Custom Scenery/*' --exclude='/Global Scenery/*' --exclude='/archive/*' X-Plane10/ M-Plane10
.
The exclusions mean that it should take only a couple of minutes to copy
the required files. Cloning X-Plane is even faster if you have a BTRFS
partition — for more about this, see
Storing multiple XPlane versions efficiently
from the X-Plane.org forum.
The copy should resemble the following. Also shown is a summary of all the modifications that are needed to convert X-Plane to M-Plane.
M-Plane10/ |-- Aircraft/ |-- Airfoils/ |-- Custom Data/ |-- Custom Scenery/ | |-- KSEA Demo Area/ Keep this Earth scenery pack | |-- KSEA Demo Terrain/ Keep this Earth scenery pack | |-- Global Airports/ Delete this, and all other scenery packs | |-- Global Scenery/ Delete this | : : Insert Martian airports | `-- scenery_packs.ini Delete this |-- Extra Aircraft/ |-- Global Scenery/ | |-- Bug Fixes/ Delete this directory | |-- Recuts 1030/ Delete this directory | |-- X-Plane 10 Global Scenery/ New base mesh goes here | | `-- Earth nav data/ | | `-- ±n0±nn0/ | | `-- ±nn±nnn.dsf | `-- README.txt |-- Instructions/ |-- Output/ |-- Resources/ | |-- bitmaps/ | | |-- skycolors/ | | | |-- sun_glow_*.png Modify these | | | `-- sky_colors_*.png Modify these | | |-- Earth Orbit Textures/ | | | |-- ±n0±nn0.dds Replace these files | | | `-- ±n0±nn0-nrm.png Replace these files | | |-- earth{1,2}.dds Replace these files | | `-- earth{1,2}-nrm.png Replace these files | |-- default data/ | | `-- earth_nav.dat Replace this file | |-- default scenery/ | | |-- default apt dat/ | | | `-- Earth nav data/ | | | `-- apt.dat Replace this file | | |-- default atc/ | | | `-- Earth nav data/ | | | `-- atc.dat Modify this file | | `-- 1000 world terrain/ | | |-- terrain10/ | | | |-- spr_*_dry_fl.ter Replace these files | | | |-- spr_*_dry_sflat.ter Replace these files | | | |-- red_spr_*_dry_fl.ter Replace these files | | | |-- red_spr_*_dry_sflat.ter Replace these files | | | `-- apt_tmp_dry.ter Replace this file | | `-- textures10/ | | |-- apt/ | | | |-- apt_cld_dry.dds Replace this file | | `-- soil/ | | |-- red_rock_*.dds Replace these files | | `-- sand_*.dds Replace these files | |-- dlls/ | |-- fonts/ | |-- GNS430/ | |-- menus/ | |-- plugins/ | |-- shaders/ | |-- sounds/ | |-- text/ | |-- dsf_files Replace this file | `-- settings.txt |-- tools/ | `-- WED Suggestion, in case you want to modify airports |-- Weapons/ |-- Airfoil-Maker-i386 |-- Airfoil-Maker-x86_64 |-- Plane-Maker-i386 |-- Plane-Maker-x86_64 |-- XPlane10DVDInstallerLinux |-- X-Plane 10 Installer Linux |-- X-Plane 10 Installer Linux 32-bit |-- X-Plane-i386 `-- X-Plane-x86_64
Since X-Plane 10 no longer has a built-in way of switching between Earth and Mars, the general strategy adopted here is to fool X-Plane into thinking it is still on Earth. This means providing it with directories and files that have Earth-like names, but the content of those directories and files is Martian.
It should already be obvious that I am a Linux user, and so you may have to translate my instructions. E.g. 'directory' → 'folder', and '/' → '\', etc. But if you are willing to hack X-Plane's configuration files, then I am sure you can cope!
You can put the documentation anywhere. For example, put docs.zip
into M-Plane10/
and unzip. Then point your browser at
M-Plane10/docs/index.html
Change to M-Plane10/Global Scenery/
. The new Mars base mesh
will be put in the subdirectory./X-Plane 10 Global Scenery/
, however
you should first delete all other subdirectories: ./Bug Fixes/
,
./Recuts 1030/
, and any others that may contain Earth-related data.
Assuming you have downloaded the nine zip files mars[1-9].zip
,
move these nine files to M-Plane10/Global Scenery/X-Plane 10 Global Scenery/
,
and unzip. This will overwrite/create subdirectories
./Earth nav data/±n0±nn0/
, and install all 63360
base mesh tiles.
Finally, move the downloaded file dsf_files
into the directory
M-Plane10/Resources/
.
cd M-Plane10/'Global Scenery' Delete patches rm -rf 'Bug Fixes' rm -rf 'Recuts 1030' Unzip base mesh cd 'X-Plane 10 Global Scenery' rm -rf * Optional mv <wherever>/mars[1-9].zip . About 2 minutes for f in mars?.zip; do unzip $f; done About 5 minutes Deal with dsf_files cd ../.. cd to M-Plane10 mv <wherever>/dsf_files ./Resources/
For some reason we need to preserve the default scenery pack for KSEA,
i.e. M-Plane10/Custom Scenery/KSEA Demo Area/
and
M-Plane10/Custom Scenery/KSEA Demo Terrain/
. But –
other than these two directories – the entire contents of
M-Plane10/Custom Scenery/
should be deleted, including
Global Airports/
and scenery_pack.ini
.
Then move the downloaded file apts.zip
into
M-Plane10/Custom Scenery/
. Unzipping this file will
create all Martian scenery packs. The packs are named by their
codes — MAAB, MACL, etc — and each pack comprises just
two files:
"Custom Scenery/MA??/earth.wed.xml"
which is used
by WED"Custom Scenery/MA??/Earth nav data/apt.dat"
which
is used by X-PlaneAdding these scenery packs is optional, since the following step
adds all airport layouts via a single consolidated apt.dat
.
But if you plan to elaborate the airports using WED, then you should
install all scenery packs.
X-Plane10 will generate a new version of scenery_pack.ini
,
which simply lists all scenery packs alphabetically. This ordering is
fine, since all packs are independent.
cd M-Plane10/'Custom Scenery' Delete all scenery packs, other than KSEA find . -maxdepth 1 -path ./'KSEA*' -prune -o -exec /bin/rm -rf {} \; Optionally unzip downloaded scenery packs mv <wherever>/apts.zip . unzip apts.zip
The consolidated airport layout file apt.dat
should be copied
to M-Plane10/Resources/default scenery/default apt dat/Earth nav data/
.
This ensures that basic airport layouts will always be present, whatever
you do to the custom scenery.
cd M-Plane10 mv <wherever>/apt.dat Resources/'default scenery/default apt dat/Earth nav data'/
The air traffic control configuration file
M-Plane10/Resources/default scenery/default atc/Earth nav data/atc.dat
contains dependencies on particular Earth airports. This can be fixed
by opening the file in a text editor, and deleting all but the first 18
lines. This means there will be just one generic controller for the
entire planet.
Replace Resources/default data/earth_nav.dat
with the one
provided. This file contains NDB and ILS nav aid data for all airports.
The other two navigation files, earth_fix.dat
and
earth_awy.dat
, are not correct for Mars — but they are
harmless.
cd M-Plane10 mv <wherever>/earth_nav.dat Resources/'default data'/
Apart from the base mesh and overlay DSFs there are two other
representations of the planet's basic topography. These have lower
resolution, and are used to render scenery in the middle distance
(latitude resolution ~0.01°) and scenery in the far distance
(latitude resolution ~0.2°). The data for each tile is contained
in pairs of files, xxxx.dds
and
xxxx-nrm.png
, which work in tandem.
The downloaded file bitmaps.zip
comprises:
Contents of bitmaps.zip
|-- Earth Orbit Textures/
| |-- +00+000.dds
| |-- +00-010.dds
| | :
| |-- -90+170.dds
| |-- -90-180.dss
| |-- +00+000-nrm.png
| |-- +00-010-nrm.png
| : :
| |-- -90+170-nrm.png
| `-- -90-180-nrm.png
|-- earth1.dds
|-- earth2.dds
|-- earth1-nrm.png
`-- earth2-nrm.png
To install, move bitmaps.zip
into
M-Plane10/Resources/bitmaps/
and unzip. This will
overwrite all Earth-related scenery files, but not affect other
bitmap files.
cd M-Plane10 unzip <wherever>/bitmaps.zip -d Resources/bitmaps
Be aware that these secondary scenery files are fundamentally limited to elevations of only -429 to 8848 m, whereas Mars has much of its surface outside this range. Consequently there will be visual artifacts of varying annoyance. One trick (which may or may not help) is that you can uncheck the option
in the menu . Then X-Plane renders scenery using only the base mesh and the four far-distant scenery files.The directory M-Plane10/Resources/bitmaps/skycolors/
contains
10 files sun_glow_*.png
and 10 files sky_colors_*.png
.
They are specific to Earth, and the 10 versions refer to different atmospheric
conditions.
Version 10.36 only. Fortunately there are also two Mars-specific files in the same directory. The plan is to replace all Earth-specific files with copies of the two Mars-specific files. One (BASH-specific) way to do this is:
cd M-Plane10 pushd Resources/bitmaps/skycolors/ for type in clean foggy hazy hialt mount ocast orbit snowy socked stratus; do ln -sf sky_colors_mars.png sky_colors_${type}.png ln -sf sun_glow_mars.png sun_glow_${type}.png done popd
Version 10.41+. There are no Mars files
supplied in newer versions of X-Plane, but we can re-use the
files from earlier versions. Both sky_colors_mars.png
and sun_glow_mars.png
are provided as part of the
downloaded package. One (BASH-specific) way to create the
twenty required files is:
cd M-Plane10 mv <wherever>/sky_colors_mars.png Resources/bitmaps/skycolors/ mv <wherever>/sun_glow_mars.png Resources/bitmaps/skycolors/ pushd Resources/bitmaps/skycolors/ for type in clean foggy hazy hialt mount ocast orbit snowy socked stratus; do ln -sf sky_colors_mars.png sky_colors_${type}.png ln -sf sun_glow_mars.png sun_glow_${type}.png done popd
Finally: However you go about it, you want to end up with
sky_colors_clean.png
,
sky_colors_foggy.png
, etc), which are all
copies of sky_colors_mars.png
,sun_glow_clean.png
,
sun_glow_foggy.png
, etc), which are all
copies of sun_glow_mars.png
.The directory M-Plane10/Resources/default scenery/1000 world terrain/terrain10/
contains short text files (named '*.ter
'), which provide parameters to the renderer.
Fifteen of these need to be replaced with copies of 15 others.
One way to do this is to unzip the contents of the downloaded file
ter.zip
in the directory Resources/default scenery/1000 world terrain/terrain10/
cd M-Plane10/ unzip <wherever>/ter.zip -d Resources/'default scenery'/'1000 world terrain'/terrain10/
Another way is make links. This is more complex, since
it makes no use of the downloaded file ter.zip
. However
it is more robust to any future changes in how Laminar represents
terrains, since it manipulates your own .ter
files.
cd M-Plane10/ tex=Resources/'default scenery'/'1000 world terrain'/terrain10 Dry flat 'spr' terrains → sand for zone in pol vcld cld; do ln -sf sand_${zone}_dry_fl.ter "${tex}"/spr_${zone}_dry_fl.ter ln -sf sand_${zone}_dry_sflat.ter "${tex}"/spr_${zone}_dry_sflat.ter done for zone in tmp wrm hot vhot; do ln -sf red_sand_${zone}_dry_fl.ter "${tex}"/red_spr_${zone}_dry_fl.ter ln -sf red_sand_${zone}_dry_sflat.ter "${tex}"/red_spr_${zone}_dry_sflat.ter done Temperate airports → warm ln -sf apt_wrm_dry.ter "${tex}"/apt_tmp_dry.ter
Either way the effect is that each file in the left column is modified to behave like the corresponding one in the right column:
Nominal terrain … | redirected to … |
---|---|
spr_pol_dry_fl.ter | sand_pol_dry_fl.ter |
spr_vcld_dry_fl.ter | sand_vcld_dry_fl.ter |
spr_cld_dry_fl.ter | sand_cld_dry_fl.ter |
red_spr_tmp_dry_fl.ter | red_sand_tmp_dry_fl.ter |
red_spr_wrm_dry_fl.ter | red_sand_wrm_dry_fl.ter |
red_spr_hot_dry_fl.ter | red_sand_hot_dry_fl.ter |
red_spr_vhot_dry_fl.ter | red_sand_vhot_dry_fl.ter |
spr_pol_dry_sflat.ter | sand_pol_dry_sflat.ter |
spr_vcld_dry_sflat.ter | sand_vcld_dry_sflat.ter |
spr_cld_dry_sflat.ter | sand_cld_dry_sflat.ter |
red_spr_tmp_dry_sflat.ter | red_sand_tmp_dry_sflat.ter |
red_spr_wrm_dry_sflat.ter | red_sand_wrm_dry_sflat.ter |
red_spr_hot_dry_sflat.ter | red_sand_hot_dry_sflat.ter |
red_spr_vhot_dry_sflat.ter | red_sand_vhot_dry_sflat.ter |
apt_tmp_dry.ter | apt_wrm_dry.ter |
The directory M-Plane10/Resources/default scenery/1000 world terrain/textures10/soil/
contains image files for all basic terrains. Amongst them are 15 files,
sand_*.dds
, which contain sand-dune textures that will be
used to approximate the dust dunes of Mars; and four files
containing rock textures. These files are referenced by the
.dsf tiles in the present distribution. I transformed the color of these
images to make them more Mars-like.
As well, I took the opportunity to redden the texture used at high-latitude airports.
To install the modified textures, unzip the contents of the downloaded file
dds.zip
in the directory Resources/default scenery/1000 world terrain/textures10/
unzip <wherever>/dds.zip -d Resources/'default scenery'/'1000 world terrain'/textures10/
This will overwrite four files soil/red_rock_*.dds
, 15 files
soil/sand_*.dds
, and one file apt/apt_cld_dry.dds
.
Run the customized copy of X-Plane found the directory
M-Plane10/
.
Make sure you go to
, and enable 'Extended DSF Scenery'. It helps a lot.Some of the problems with rendering distant scenery can be side-stepped by enabling 'atmospheric scattering'. However clear air is more realistic, and enabling 'atmospheric scattering' causes a bad artifact (an Earth-sized halo) when viewing Mars from orbit.
To make the sky cloud-free, select
and set uniformly clear skies. You can also set atmospheric pressure to something realistic (e.g. 0.3 mbar on Mount Olympus; 6.1 mbar at 'sea level', 11.5 mbar in Hellas Planitia). [However I don't recommend it if you are flying with conventional aircraft!]Earth | Mars | ||
---|---|---|---|
baro press at sea level | 1,013 | 6 | millibars |
For further realism there are selections that can be make under
:Earth | Mars | ||
---|---|---|---|
mu = GM | 3.986 | 0.428 | x 10^14 m3 s-2 |
radius | 6378 | 3396 | km |
g = GM/r² | 9.7983 | 3.711 | m s-2 |
You need to restart X-Plane after changing the planetary radius. Otherwise the plane and scenery components will have artifactual horizontal offsets – as much as hundreds of metres.
The above changes will be persisted in files contained in
M-Plane10/Output/preferences/
. This means that your original
Earth-based version of X-Plane will not be affected.
Hard question, but some ideas are as follows:
Those are just a few ideas. However that is just a start: there is 145 million km² — the same as Earth's land surface area — waiting to be explored!
And what craft to fly? A Fly-in was held 2017-03-05, which was an opportunity to test some options. The is a forum thread covering the 636th fly-in. The craft that seemed to work with X-Plane 10 include:
If you have problems with installation, or if the instructions are ambiguous, feel free to contact me.
If you spot less critical problems, then take a look at the concluding section of the Tool chain page. It contains my own notes about such problems, and what (if anything) can be done about them.
If you are on an earlier version of X-Plane10 you will see a dialog box pop up, inviting you to update to 10.51. If you proceed with the update from within M-Plane, then all Mars customizations will be overwritten by about 1 GB of downloaded data. So don't!
Just for completeness: The only way to update M-Plane to 10.51 is
to update your original version of X-Plane10 as normal, and
then create a fresh version of M-Plane by re-cloning X-Plane and
following the instructions above. Obviously there are short-cuts: above
all, just copy the Mars base mesh from your old version (everything under
M-Plane10/Global Scenery/
), rather than repeating the 18 GB download.
There will be no more updates to this package. In particular, there will be no version for X-Plane 11. It was just possible to hack X-Plane 10 — but X-Plane 11 is completely purged of everything Mars-related. Admittedly, installing the Mars base mesh is still possible. But most crucially, for me, the planetary radius is now fixed, which has the effect of doubling all horizontal distances — much reducing the impact of Mars' spectacular topography. Equally crippling is that fact that X-Plane 11 limits atmospheric pressures to Earth-like values.
Acknowledgements |