Atlanta Skyline for FS2002
by Bill Molony, Atlanta GA USA
bmolony@bellsouth.net
8/19/02

Atlanta Skyline for FS2002 is add-on scenery filling out the Atlanta Metro area by adding over 100 buildings & other structures. It is as close as possible to the real world using real photos wherever practical and faithfully precise dimensions and proportions. Included are many favorites such as:
	Turner Field (home of Atlanta Braves baseball)
	Georgia Dome (home of Atlanta Falcons football)
	Georgia Tech Bobby Dodd Stadium (football)
	Georgia Tech Alexander Memorial Coliseum (basketball)
	The Varsity (worlds largest drive-in fast-food restaurant)
	The Big Chicken (see below)

To get just a small idea of how much has changed, check the included screen print:
	Overview Downtown from East at Dusk.jpg
That just compares the downtown area and only a small part of it at that. To see a more dramatic comparison, check these out:
	OVERVIEW Downtown from East Dusk.gif
	OVERVIEW Downtown from South Day.gif
	OVERVIEW Downtown from North Night.gif
These last 3 files are animated GIF files. You must have a viewer capable of viewing animated GIFs. If you click on them and no animation appears, try IrfanView, a free image viewer which I have found to be outstanding with almost any graphic file type. It is available at a number of sites including:
	http://www.irfanview.com
	http://irfanview.tuwien.ac.at/english.htm
	http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2192-10021962.html

For more information and details, see further down below in this ReadMe file.

This scenery was designed specifically using FS2002. It has NOT been tested in any manner with any other versions of the simulator.

-------------
INSTALLATION:
-------------

Be sure to read this entire file first before installing. Installation
is really very simple. It's the instructions that are complex! :)

1 Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your FS2002 ADDON SCENERY
  folder. It will probably be:
	"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\..."
  but yours may be different depending on where you installed FS2002.

2 Within your FS2K2 "ADDON SCENERY" folder, you should
  find already existing folders named "Scenery" and "Texture".
  NONE of these files will go into those folders!

3 Unzip the ZIP file directly into the "ADDON SCENERY" folder:
  (see the Installation Cautions section below regarding unzipping)
  It should automatically create the following new subfolders:
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline\Scenery"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline\Texture"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field\Scenery"
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field\Texture"
  The correct files should automatically go where they belong.

4 Run FS2002.

5 From the FS2002 "World" menu, choose "Scenery Library".

6 In the "Scenery Library" window, click the "Add Area" button.

7 From the "Select Scenery Directory" dialog that appears,
  navigate to the folder you created above:
  "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\"

8 Within the "...\Atlanta By Molony\..." folder,
  Select the "...\Skyline" folder.

9 Near the bottom of the dialog box beside Scenery Area Title,
  you should see the word "Skyline". To make it easier to
  recognize, change "Skyline" to read "Atlanta Skyline"

10 Also be sure that "Use this scenery directly" is checked.

11 Click the "OK" button.

12 On the "Scenery Library" screen that reappears, "Atlanta Skyline"
   should be at the top of the list. Click the "Move Down" button
   several times so that the "Atlanta Skyline" entry is below "Airport
   Libraries" but anywhere above "Atlanta".

13 Again in the "Scenery Library" window, repeat the same steps for
   Turner Field as follows. Click the "Add Area" button.

14 From the "Select Scenery Directory" dialog that appears,
   navigate to the folder you created above:
   "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\"

15 Within the "...\Atlanta By Molony\..." folder,
   Select the "...\Turner Field" folder.

16 Near the bottom of the dialog box beside Scenery Area Title,
   you should see the words "Turner Field". To make it easier to
   recognize, change "Turner Field" to read "Atlanta Turner Field"

17 Also be sure that "Use this scenery directly" is checked.

18 Click the "OK" button.

19 On the "Scenery Library" screen that reappears, "Atlanta Turner
   Field" should be at the top of the list. Click the "Move Down"
   button several times so that the "Atlanta Turner Field" entry is
   below "Airport Libraries" but anywhere above "Atlanta".

20 Click "OK". The scenery should reload.

----------------------
EDIT SCNEREY.CFG FILE:
----------------------

You can go to Atlanta immediately if you wish and begin exploring. But there is one final procedure that needs to be done. There are a couple of lines that must be added to your FS2K2 Scenery.CFG file. These lines remove some default scenery (small areas in the vicinity of Centennial Park and around Turner Field) so that it will not interfere with my new scenery additions.

So before continuing, exit from FS2K2 and follow the remaining instructions below.

In Windows Explorer, navigate to your "...\FS2002" main folder. In that folder find the file Scenery.CFG. Right Click on it and choose "Open With..." and select "Notepad". When it opens, navigate to the bottom of the file. There you should see several lines that look approximately as follows:

---->	[Area.XXX]
	Title=Atlanta Skyline
	Local=ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline
	Remote=
	Active=TRUE
	Required=FALSE
---->	Layer=XXX

---->	[Area.XXX]
	Title=Atlanta Turner Field
	Local=ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field
	Remote=
	Active=TRUE
	Required=FALSE
---->	Layer=XXX

In the lines above some are marked with "---->". Those point to the numbers such as "[Area.XXX]" and "Layer=XXX". In each case, yours should have numbers where mine simply show "XXX". The numbers that appear there are controlled by FS2K2 and will be different from mine depending one what other add-on scenery you may have installed. The numbers are not significant to this installation. DO NOT CHANGE THE NUMBERS!

But what should be changed is to add two new lines. And they should be placed as the last lines of each section. Edit your file to add two lines beginning with the word "Exclude..." as I have  marked below with "---->":

	[Area.XXX]
	Title=Atlanta Skyline
	Local=ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline
	Remote=
	Active=TRUE
	Required=FALSE
	Layer=XXX
---->	Exclude=N33 45.77,W84 23.95,N33 45.53,W84 23.46,all

	[Area.XXX]
	Title=Atlanta Turner Field
	Local=ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field
	Remote=
	Active=TRUE
	Required=FALSE
	Layer=XXX
---->	Exclude=N33 44.77,W84 23.65,N33 44.22,W84 23.24,all

Simply copy and paste the lines into your file in the places shown (DO NOT COPY THE "---->"). Note that the two lines are almost but not quite identical. It is important that the correct line go into the correct position.

The installation is complete. Go to Atlanta to enjoy the new scenery! But note the following:

Don't be surprised or concerned when you momentarily see almost all white on the ground in a few places. FS2K2 begins by painting default scenery first and then gradually adds details. Unfortunately, add-on scenery is last in the priority order. If you fly into the area, the change is much more gradual and realistic.

Also, you MAY notice in a few places that the scenery may flicker a bit--particularly the sides of some buildings. Those are called "moire" patterns. They are caused by the difference in resolution between the patterns on the object and the resolution of the dots that make up your monitor screen picture. You will even occasionally see this on TV when someone wears checkered pattern clothes. There is nothing that can be done to make them go away. They have nothing to do with my scenery specifically. If you notice, it will happen with many default buildings throughout the FS2K2 world.

You will also find in the folder "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline" several files other than this ReadMe file:
	Atlanta Skyline List.doc
		Contains a list of all buildings and some
		additional info about each of them you might
		find interesting.
	ScreenPrints.zip
		Contains screen prints of all buildings so
that you can recognize them.

---------------------
INSTALLATION CAUTIONS
---------------------

Be sure your ZIP program is set to "Use folders" so that the correct subfolders will be created and the files will go into the correct folders. If not, then be sure you manually create the following folder structure under your "...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\" folder:

  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline\Scenery
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Skyline\Texture
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field\Scenery
  ...\FS2002\ADDON SCENERY\Atlanta By Molony\Turner Field\Texture

The reason for the "Atlanta By Molony" part of the path is that I have other Atlanta scenery available for download and it simplifies things to keep them all together. If you already have my scenery for Stone Mountain and/or changes for KATL, and you followed those instructions correctly, then those folders will remain where they are unchanged and will fit into the above described folder structure perfectly.

Put all of the .BLG files in the appropriate Scenery folders.
Put all other files in the appropriate Texture folders.

It is possible to simplify installation further by just putting all of the .BGL files in the "...\ADDON SCENERY\Scenery" folder and all the rest of the files in the "...\ADDON SCENERY\Texture" folder. If you do that, you do not need to follow the instructions above concerning the FS2002 Scenery Library menu. But I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT! If you add scenery often, regularly putting your files in those can eventually cause filename conflicts. In fact, you can even put all of the files except the .BGL files in the main "...\FS2002\Texture" folder. But I even more STRONGLY recommend against that for that same reasons.

------------------------------------------
MORE DETAILS ABOUT SCENERY FEATURES ADDED:
------------------------------------------

I have often heard complaints that Microsoft did not include such and such building. Some particular ones in Atlanta include the Atlanta Stadium even though it existed in earlier versions of the simulator. Of course, one of the obvious reasons is that it takes a lot of extra time to design these items and it is much easier and faster to just stick a bunch of stock generic buildings in to approximate existing structures.

But there is probably an additional concern as well. I can imagine that they need to be fairly careful that they are not violating trademark registrations and copyrights. You must remember that even architectural plans and building designs are almost always copyrighted material! And if that is the case, then I am also probably taking a big chance with this scenery add-on myself.

Wherever trademarks are an integral part of the building design I have taken great pains to include that trademark if at all possible. I have attempted to be as accurate as I can considering the medium I am working with. But I feel those are an important part in adding to the realism of the scenery.

I have also included at the end of this file a standard waiver that I do not wish to usurp the rights of any copyrighted material. If there are those who feel injured, please let me know and I will take all reasonable actions to remove the offending object.

As for the buildings themselves, you might think it was easy to create themjust throw in a few boxes and paint the textures onto them from the actual photos. In a few cases it was indeed nearly that easy. However, in many, many cases, that couldnt be further from the truth. In many cases, creating the textures was a painstaking task at best. But then you get to the building structures. Some of them were extremely complex and involved many separate parts that needed to be integrated together. And then each part required its own portion of the texture.

So this is not just a matter of adding a bunch of new generic buildings in order to fill in. I did a great deal of research on the various buildings from a wide variety of sources and collected many photographs of each from many different angles. Then from those photographs, I created the texture files. In each case, I had to create both day and night versions. Be sure to check out the night versions as you fly the area! Then I used the GMax graphics editor that comes (semi hidden) with FS2K2. GMax has a HUGE learning curve but is extremely complex and powerful. With Gmax, I created the structures, applied the textures, and then placed them accurately in the FS2K2 scenery.

That last step was not so easy either. Finding the correct Latitude and Longitude coordinates was only part of that process. Then I had to adjust the position to fit into the default scenery. Considering the infinitely complex task they had, the FS2K2 programmers did a really unbelievable job in modeling the real world. But there are also glaring errors everywhere. Not every roadway or other object is placed exactly where it should be. So to fit my scenery objects into that mosaic required a fair amount of compromise.

I attempted to leave all the default buildings as is and then fit mine among and between. There were MANY places where that was a real juggling act! In particular, fitting the 6 buildings of the Peachtree Center group was a real challenge to say the least. There were a couple of places where it was impossible. I had to remove a few items in the vicinity of the Centennial Park and likewise around Turner Field.

In almost every case, the buildings were created at their exact relative hieght and girth. But again, there had to be a few exceptions. For instance, in almost the exact spots where I needed to place two of the tallest buildings, the Peachtree Twin Towers at 191 Peachtree Street and the Georgia Pacific Tower, there were already two building in the stock sceneryand they were taller than they should have been!!!! :(

So what I did was after I created those two buildings, I then scaled them slightly larger (about 10-15% each). As a result, I lost a bit of the accuracy of scale but I gained in being able to place the building in the approximate location they should really appear. By placing them there, the existing buildings were totally enclosed INSIDE of the new buildings! Worked like a dream! :)

But other than that, I was really surprised how well it all came together. And I was even able to add in a few surprises. The overall intent was to better model the true Atlanta Skyline. But amongst many of the tallest buildings there are also some small gems so take some time to do a little sightseeing. The following guide may be of some help. It generally covers the area from south to north.

--------------
THE GRAND TOUR
--------------

Southside:

On the southside of the downtown area, the most dominant feature is of course Turner Field, home of the perennially first place Atlanta Braves. Seems they are always the bridesmaid, never the bride. They keep running up the best record in baseball yet blow it in the playoffs. Oh well! :) But the field is also famous for having been the primary host site for the Centennial Olympics. Of course it was twice that size then. After the Olympics, they tore half of it down to make it smaller for the Braves. Under the stadium you will see the true ground surrounding the area including most of the parking areas. Within the parking lot you can still make out the outline of the older Atlanta-Fulton County stadium which hosted both the Falcons and Braves since back in the 1960s. It has since been demolished.

Right beside Turner Field you will notice a little signactually it really isnt so little, it is really exaggerated a good bit. It is an official Georgia Welcome Sign as it appears at the state line on the various interstate highways. I just stuck it there because I thought it looked neat! :) I used it to create the little visual icon used to advertise this download. Oh well, hope you can forgive that little bit of weakness! :)

A little north of Turner Field, is the southern edge of the downtown area. Check out the fresh coat of gold I added to the Capitol dome. In the real world, it really is covered with real goldextremely thin sheets made from ore mined here in Georgia. I know it really doesnt look very goldish. I really could not get the right color. But I still think it beats what was there originally. More importantly, it stays lit at night. Although tempted, I didnt replace the stock Capitol Building. It really was a pretty decent replica if not exact. About the only problem with it was that it is not lit at night. Hopefully my gold dome addition helps somewhat. It was an interesting challenge to get that new dome placed exactly right.

And while visiting the Capitol, dont miss the Atlanta City Hall next door (to the immediate southwest). And on the east side of the capitol are two government buildings named for a colorful former state legislator. They try hard to use the official name James H. Floyd Veterans Memorial Building. But when alive, he always went by his moniker, Sloppy Floyd, and that is what everyone calls the twin towers as well.

Downtown:

Over on the west side of the downtown area (the main part of Atlanta), are a couple of buildings that serve to house much of the federal governments presence in Atlanta. The Russell Federal Building houses some of the Federal Courts and the Sam Nunn Federal Center serves as a major office site. The latter stands on the grounds of the now defunct Richs department store where for many decades a giant Christmas Tree served as the center piece of a regular Atlanta traditional Christmas celebration. On the northeast corner of the older building, you can still see the famous wall clock. Over on the east side of the downtown area sits the giant Grady Memorial Hospital, the areas general emergency care facility.

If you look deep into the middle of the downtown area you may spot the entrance to Underground Atlanta right across the street from the Wachovia Bank of Georgia. Obviously it is impossible to simulate Underground Atlanta itself, but you can easily spot the Centennial Olympic Tower. When the great ball is being lowered on Time Square each New Years Eve, we Atlantans are celebrating with the Big Peach Drop from that tower. :) And if you look really close near the base of that tower, youll see the entry arch for Underground Atlanta.

Also hidden among some of the downtown skyscrapers is a smaller building called the AT&T Communications Bldg. It really is not a skyscraper but by the time you add its microwave tower it somehow sneaks up high enough to make it into the skyline.

Of course among the most obvious parts of the Skyline are 3 of the highest, the Georgia Pacific Tower (giant stair steps), the Westin Peachtree Plaza (the big cylindrical buildingtallest hotel in the world!), and the Peachtree Twin Towers, the 4th tallest building in Atlanta (actually I could not find a real name for that building other than its address 191 Peachtree). The latter particularly stands out with its Greek Parthenon styled top. Be sure to check that out at night. It may seem overly bright but it really is pretty much that bright in the real world.

Most of the northwest corner of the downtown area is devoted to Ted Turner World. :) Surrounding the CNN Center (which is also the Omni Hotel) is the Centennial Olympic Park (Those are supposed to be fountains in the park shaped in the form of the 5 Olympic Rings. :), the World Congress Center, Phillips Arena (home of Hawks Basketball), and the Georgia Dome (Falcons Football).

Just east of that area are 4 buildings collectively called the Atlanta Market Center (Atlanta Merchandise Mart, Atlanta Gift Mart, Atlanta Apparel Mart, and the Inforum). These buildings host hundreds of thousands of visitors each year attending conventions in the retail merchandise industrynot open to the general public.

Just east of there is the Peachtree Center area including at least 8-10 buildings built by John Portman, a world renowned architect who has built some of the largest buildings all over the world. Portman is generally credited as the Father of Atlantas Skyline as most of the tallest buildings in the area are his work.

Almost hidden but still holding its own after many years is the Hyatt Regency with its distinctive blue space ship revolving restaurant. There was a time when that was one of the most dominant features of the skyline. Now it can only barely be seen. If you look really close, youll even see the Hyatts outside swimming poolwhat an archaic momento of the past! :)

A little more easterly is the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Somehow that hotel always looks pregnant to me! :) Then holding down the far east corner is the older Hilton Hotel with its distinctive triangular roof top restaurant.

The most northerly giant of the downtown sector is the relatively new SunTrust Plaza, the second tallest building in Atlanta. Working out how to reproduce the intricate top to that tower was a real challenge. I dont know if my version is totally accurate, but I think it is pretty doggoned close. And just north of that is a smaller but very distinctive Peachtree Summit. It is VERY triangular to say the least.

Midtown:

Now we cross into the generally newer yet also older section of Atlanta. Before we cross the interstate, we see the Coca Cola Plaza dominating the western side. That is the world headquarters of the most popular brand name on the planet.

Under the Coca Cola buildings watchful eye is Georgia Institute of Technology, or more simply, Georgia Tech. The most obvious sign from the air is Bobby Dodd Field where the Yellow Jackets battle Atlantic Coast Conference teams each fall. They used to be part of the Southeastern Conference, but most University of Georgia grads will say that they ran Tech out of the SECcouldnt stand losing so much! (Guess you might have figured out I am a UGA grad! :) In spite of that, Bobby Dodd Field still hosts the annual Georgia/Georgia Tech fall classic each Thanksgiving.

Across the street south of the Tech Stadium is an interesting set of buildings. Even though essentially sitting on the edge of the Tech Campus, they actually serve as dorms for Georgia State University. The GSU campus is located on the east side of the down town area but they purchased these dorms a few years ago. They were originally built as the Olympic Village that housed athletes from all over the world for a few weeks. Then they were sold to GSU.

Just a bit north of the stadium are the athletic practice fields and then the circular Alexander Memorial Coliseum, home of Georgia Tech basketball.

Now lets cross the interstate and visit a real Atlanta Tradition! Im hungry and ready to hear the famous word Whatllyahave. Ill have a couple of steaks (hamburgers), onion rings, and an FO (Frosted Orange). That means Im at the Varsitythe worlds largest drive-in restaurantbetter known locally as the Greasy V! :) They say no food there is over 24 hours old! Hmmmm, hmmmm, good!!!! :)

Once we get our fill of that, we continue the tour. First we need to back up a little bit south to find the very distinctively jet black Georgia Power Company building. For some reason, to me it always looks like it is going to fall over. Next is the One Georgia Center. It has gone through several owners over the years. Currently it houses the SouthTrust Bank headquarters.

Towering over it is the tallest building in Atlanta, the Bank of America Plaza. That golden crown is far more distinctive than I could ever reproduce in the simulator environmentquite a sight to behold!

Another nearby giant is the Bell South building. But dont pass that too quickly. Take your helicopter down for a closer look. Backed up against the base of the east wall youll find the Fabulous Fox Theater, one of the grand old buildings from the early days of the last century. It almost met the wrecking ball a few years back but a huge public outcry won the day. It still continues to host broadway style shows on its giant stage and the grand pipe organ still gets an occasional workout.

And then across the street is the old Georgian Terrace hotelhidden among its giant rivals. Even the grand old Ponce still stands in majestic overview of the famous intersection of Ponce de Leon Ave. and Peachtree Street. A couple of blocks west and you might even spot the great old Biltmore with its distinctive old time roof towers. This is all in the area called midtown and was made famous in the wonderful movie Driving Miss Daisy!

Uptown:

Probably the biggest standout in this area is the giant One Atlantic Center. It was originally built for Big Blue and hence is still known locally as the IBM Tower. Actually it was sold to some Japanese consortium within a year of when it opened many years ago. Even after more than 15 years, it still stands as 3rd tallest building in Atlanta.

Immediately across the street is what almost appears to be an infant version of One Atlantic Center, the Atlantic Center Plaza. It is clear the architects wanted to capture the same look as its big brother! :) And on the other side is the very distinctive GLG Grand Four Seasons Hotel that also blends in yet still stands out.

Anchoring the more northern end of the uptown area is generally known as Colony Square. The area includes the Colony Square buildings 100 and 400 and the Sheraton Colony Square. There was one more building in the area but I was never able to get a name for it so I just called it Colony Square Bldg 2. Hmmmm, oh well! :)

Also in the area are some smaller but very beautifully crafted buildings called, The Campanile, the Mayfair Renaissance & Tower, and the Promenade II. Finally capping off the end of the uptown area are the various buildings comprising the Woodruff Arts Center. George Woodruff for whom they are named was the creator of Coca Cola! The Arts Center houses among many other things, the Atlanta Symphony and the High Museum of Art. The latter is a particularly distinctive architectural design.

Buckhead:

After you leave the mid town area there is a long break before the next major sections. And most people bypass a huge amount of it quickly when driving because the traffic is terrible. So they jump on the interstate and then GA 400 (the only toll road in Georgia!) and end up directly in Buckhead.

But when they do that they miss a huge amount of Peachtree Street. You see, the world famous Peachtree Street starts in downtown Atlanta but goes seemingly forever all the way a long ways north of Buckhead. And all along that famous way are a lot of classic and even much newer high rise buildings that they miss. If you are still flying your helo, you can visit those areas while skipping right over all the slow moving traffic. And Peachtree Street will be easy to seejust follow the high rises northward!

Along the way you will get to see Park Place, The Phoenix, the Concorde, and One Buckhead Plaza. Park Place is particularly notable because it is owned by and is the Atlanta residence of Elton John! I understand that is one of his most frequented homes of the many he owns all over the world. One Buckhead Plaza, right in the middle of downtown Buckhead, is notable for its gothic cathedral look.

Buckhead is sort of a secondary Atlanta. It is generally home of the more ritzy class of Atlanta (or at least it used to--some would argue it still is). The area just north of the Buckhead downtown has become home to some of the largest buildings in the Atlanta areacertainly a very near second teer as compared in terms of number of hi-rise buildings in the metro area.

Perhaps the most distinctive building in the area is the Atlanta Financial Center. It is particularly intriguing because it straddles a major thoroughfare, GA 400, a 6-lane interstate-like toll road. Whats more, running down the middle of that highway is a major link of the MARTA RailwayAtlantas high speed rapid transit system. And when I say straddles, I mean that literallythe highway and MARTA rails run directly under the middle of it. The building was built before GA 400 or MARTA arrived but specifically and intentionally over the route. The tunnel was built as an integral part of the buildings foundation. It was a VERY interesting challenge to build in FS2K2.

There are many more hi-rise buildings surrounding the areamore than I will try to detail. But two in particular I feel are noteworthy for their design: The Pinnacle and One Buckhead Loop. I like the former because of its unique top designit sort of looks like a big beach umbrella. It was a particularly interesting challenge to model in the simulator. One Buckhead Loop I thought was so neat because it looks like it has 4 little country houses built right on top of this hi-rise building. It is also interesting because it was built into and integrated into a shopping plaza.

The Malls:

The dozen or so shopping malls I added are spread out over the greater metro areafor the most part way out in the burbs away from the big hi-rise skyline. But they are all fairly important visually from the air so I felt they needed to be added.

There is nothing special about them except that each set of buildings are a little different in layout. So I laid out each a little differently. But it is sort of like taking the same set of blocks and mixing them up a bit. They do sort of mimic the real layout of each mall but dont count on them looking much like the real mall beyond the very basic layout.

And dont get down too close because you will find that for the most part they sit well above the surrounding ground. That was unfortunately necessary to keep the parking lots from flickering against the default scenery. Just keep in mind that the Flight Simulator is for modeling flying not driving! :)

Miscellaneous:

Finally there is only one other item that MUST be a part of Atlanta scenery. And that is the Big Chicken. If anyone ever gives you directions to come to some place in Marietta, invariably the directions will start with the Big Chicken. It is sort of a land mark that everyone knows where it is.

Of course from the air, it is almost impossible to findnot much help from 5,000 feet! :) But it is there if you are willing to do a little searching. Or better yet, just use these coordinates:
	N33* 57.35' W84* 32.17'

I could take the time to explain why the Big Chicken is so important but I wont. Instead, check out one of these web site for the full story:
http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/bigchicken.html
http://www.mariettasquare.net/bigchicken.html



These are only some of the things you can see. In many cases there is tremendous detail--more than what is necessary to just fly over. Take some time to go into slew mode and just explore. No telling what you might find. :)

-----------
TOOLS USED:
-----------

All of these additions were created using the following freeware tools:
	Gmax (stock version that comes with FS2K2
	Paint Shop Pro (ver 6.00) Jasc Software
	Bmp2000 (ver 4.00.19) Martin Wright

Be sure to try them and don't forget to thank these great people for putting out some outstanding software! In particular, while GMax is extremely powerful, it is also extremely difficult to learn.

And a very special thanks goes out to all those on the www.AFSIM.com and www.FlightSim.com bulletin boards for their excellent comments and ideas that have made my MSFS experience so much fun!

----------
UNINSTALL:
----------

Sorry but there is no automated uninstall. But since the install is really so simple, the uninstall is much the same way. Just reverse the procedure.

First go into the FS2K2 Scenery Library and remove the listings.
Then go to the folders listed above and delete them.

You should not need to remove the added lines in the Scenery.CFG file. When you remove them from the Scenery Library, FS2K2 will automatically remove them from Scenery.CFG as well.

However, there is one more thing you might wish to do. There may be individual buildings you dont particularly like for one reason or another. The way these were built, they are almost all stand-alone objects. If you browse the folders created during the install, you will see the actual building names used as filenames.

Therefore, to delete a specific building, look in the appropriate ...\Scenery folder and simply delete the .BGL file named with the same or similar name. You might want to make a backup copy of it first.

It is really not necessary to delete the texture file unless you just want to be clean. But if you do, then just look in the appropriate ...\Texture folder and you will see that the texture files are similarly named. Usually there will be a set of 2 files for each buildingone with the same name and the other adding _LM to the name. The _LM version is the night version of the texture.

And thats all there is to it.

--------------
CLOSING STUFF:
--------------

Be sure to download and try out other scenery files I have created:

Atlanta Airport Additions--brings KATL to life--particularly with nearly 400 new signs such as runway/taxiway markings and much more!

Stone Mountain and Stone Mountain Fireworksa major scenery addition for the Atlanta area; marvelous reproduction of the mountain and surrounding area.

I recently conquered the laser show and I hope to have that available soon.


That's it. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you have any problems.

Happy Flying!

Bill Molony
Atlanta GA USA
Under KATL Rwy 27L Approach
bmolony@bellsouth.net

---------------
COPYRIGHTS ETC:
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This scenery is made available for the private use of Microsoft Flight Simulator enthusiasts. It and all of it's components not owned by others are Copyright by Bill Molony--All Rights Reserved. All company logos and/or trademarks presented are copyrighted by their respective owners. You have the right to use this scenery for your personal enjoyment. Under no circumstances may this zip file be modified without express written permission. Use or redistribution on a commercial basis is strictly prohibited--do NOT attempt to make money using this scenery!

NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED--USE AT YOUR OWN RISK--I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES RELATED TO THE INSTALLATION OR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE!

By installing this scenery, you are agreeing that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of these copyright statements.

While this software is freeware--no money is expected--any donations will be accepted. :) You can support the author by sending cash or check (anywhere between one and one million dollars) in US money to:
	Bill Molony
	2704 Peggy Sue Lane
	Morrow GA USA 30260
