TILEPROXY
BETA 8 (Tileproxy_Beta8_Nov16.zip) A
Brief "Getting Started" Tutorial
("Quick
Guide" Last Updated: June 14th, 2010: Map Service 1 Version Update to 473) |
TileProxy and FSX: Over Marble Canyon,
Arizona |
Before Proceeding: |
Please Note: I am not the author of the TileProxy program...
...I'm
just an enthusiastic fan who created this 'Quick Guide"
in the hopes it may help
more FS enthusiasts get up and running in a jiffy.
The credit goes to Christian
Buchner who conceived, designed, and created
TileProxy. His ongoing dedication to it's development and evolution, and his tireless hours spent improving upon it and updating it have given thousands of FS enthusiasts around the world what we have longed for since FS first began: The Real Planet Earth to discover and explore.
The TileProxy
Forum at Avsim is dedicated exclusively to the program. There you can get help, ask questions, and share your TP experiences if so inspired. If you have any questions about TP, the forum is the place to get answers. Christian (user name "cbuchner1") monitors the forum regularly along with many other enthusiastic and experienced users from around the world, most of whom are happy to lend a hand to those who may need it.
If you're new to TP, have questions, or have just discovered a fantastic place to fly or explore, drop in and introduce yourself...
Happy Landings,
Ed Truthan
|
Important Announcement: |
To All TP Users:
This tutorial and the files contained herein refer only to installations of the TileProxy Beta 8 version, (Beta 8 was released on 10/28/2008; the November 16th, 2008 build is the currently available version). All previous versions (Beta 7 and before) of TileProxy are no longer supported by either the TileProxy author, Christian Buchner, nor the authors of this tutorial. For more information concerning this, please see the Christian's formal announcement of the Beta 8 version here:
BETA 8 RELEASE ANOUNCEMENT
See Changes compared to Seventh Beta Release (from the TP manual) |
It Is Essential That You... |
...TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS TUTORIAL CAREFULLY....IN
IT"S
ENTIRETY.
Many common first time setup problems are addressed in the pages and sub-pages below. Please read them carefully, including the "Some Tips and Troubleshooting" section after the tutorial. Trust me, it will save you a lot of headaches further down the line.
Since
TileProxy is an ongoing Beta phase project which is frequently
being
updated and
improved upon, this tutorial and the downloads it provides
will be updated to accommodate and provide for these improvements.
It's therefore a good idea
to check back frequently at both the TileProxy
Forum and here to be kept abreast
of updates and the nature of these improvements and new
features as
TileProxy
development progresses.
Also...when you can...take the time to read the TileProxy
Manual too. You'll learn more about TP than you ever wanted to know. |
A Brief FAQ: |
WHAT IS
TILEPROXY?
Created as
FREEWARE by Christian
Buchner, it's a real-time interface between Microsoft's
Flight Simulator X and the Internet.
It will
download photo-terrain textures from online map services by acting
as a proxy
server and file
format converter. This tool turns your
Flight Simulator into an interactive 3D map browser unlike anything you
have experienced before. In FSX resolution levels of up to 30cm per pixel
can now be achieved. It may also be used with Flight Simulator 2004
(FS9) though texture resolution
is limited to 4.75 meters per pixel, (as pictured above...still very
nice!). With the latest version (Beta 8) Dual Core (and above)
PC's now experience very
fast
load
times
in FSX.
For older
machines, FS9 will enjoy faster load times than FSX however.
Recent versions of TileProxy now also include
global
water
masks
so FS
water
bodies and
shorelines,
with the usual reflections and FS water effects, are present!
Many flight
simmers may tend to shy away from trying it because it appears at
first to require too much setup. This really isn't the case. Once
you've
done the initial setup you're always only two clicks away from flying
real life photo based ground textures anywhere on Earth where
there is good online coverage available at the map
servers that TP is configured to use.
Because of EULA issues concerning the use of online map textures
the ProxyUser.ini file is not configured by default to direct itself
to
the online map sources, so we as "End Users" must therefore
configure it. So to make it even easier, I will
supply a pre-configured ProxyUser.ini file
here
to
get you going. You should only have to edit this file if you want to
change map
servers, or experiment with the increased resolution levels available
in FSX.
The rest of the setup isn't that tough at all, and anyone
can be up
and
going
in
a
matter
of minutes
by following
the
five simple
steps outlined below. It's not as complicated as it looks. When
you have the time I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you
read the entire TileProxy
Manual It's chock full of valuable information and tips.
HOW
FAST DO TILES LOAD, AND HOW FAST CAN I FLY?
Increasing
the ground tile loading speeds while flying has been the major challenge
in the evolution of TileProxy. The program must download and convert
thousands of JPG's on the run, convert them into bitmaps and load
them into FS as you fly. Tile loading speeds may vary greatly depending
on a
variety
of factors including
your PC
hardware
and internet
connection speed, and most importantly, how high a resolution level
you are requesting TP to download. Each increased resolution level
increases
the number
of tiles requested by the program exponentially. Balancing this "bottleneck"
with the power of your system is the key to getting satisfactory results.
With previous versions of TP Beta in FSX, speeds of more
than 80-100 knots,
would "outrun" the
texture loading rather quickly, causing recurrent blurries. Now, thanks
to
Christian's brilliant programming, if you have a Dual Core
or better machine, the latest (Beta 8) version of TileProxy enjoys
faster tile loading in FSX than previous versions. Speeds
of up to 150, 200 and even 300+ knots have been reported by users using very fast
machines with robust hardware and speedy internet connections. Depending on these various factors, your
performance may vary.
DOES
TILEPROXY CHANGE MY FS INSTALLATION SO I CANNOT RETURN TO MY DEFAULT
CONFIGURATION?
No, not fundamentally,
if you
If you choose to fly normally (i.e. without TileProxy active) you can
simply boot FS without starting TP first and fly with all default scenery,
autogen, etc. But TileProxy does ask if you wish to alter your FSX.cfg
and FS9.cfg files
so as to maximize
tile
loading
performance
and graphics
when
using TP and I recommend you accept them. These changes, though minor,
are described here and
are mostly changes to the
adjustable sliders in the FSX user interface display settings, but a
few are not, and may cause minor differences in the way your default
textures are displayed,
so
it's a
good idea to back
up your
FSX and FS9 CFG files before installing the
program. Then
, If you experience differences in default ground
texture behavior because of the minor tweaks TP adds to your .cfg
file, you can of course just switch to
the default
CFG file you've backed up.
(Personally,
after
using
TileProxy
I cannot
go back to flying with default ground
textures
so
it hasn't
been
an issue.)
Also, the
FS9 scenery.cfg is
backed up at install and TP world scenery areas are added to it. See this
page for more details.
Should
you choose to uninstall TileProxy, there's a handy uninstaller
right
in
the programs
menu
that
will remove
the program entirely.
MANY
THANKS TO THE AUTHOR...
Christian
Buchner has done a great job of creating and programming TileProxy,
works tirelessly to perfect and improve upon it, has spent
untold hours helping many users on the forum with advice
and help,
and has, without the slightest financial reward, succeeded
in offering us a truly revolutionary
way to enjoy FS. Through his exuberant work, VFR enthusiasts
in every corner of the global Flight Simming Community
can at last experience the true meaning of "As Real
As It Gets". Thanks
CB!.
|
Tileproxy Setup Tutorial: |
Ready
to go? Lets see if I can walk you through quickly setting
it up right. It's really only
5 simple steps. Forgive me if it seems a bit wordy but
the extra information herein is intended to be as thorough
as possible, to avoid any misunderstandings, potential
problems and the like, so don't
be discouraged, it's pretty much a piece of cake. This
should get you
going...
BEFORE
INSTALLATION: Please
read the following steps carefully, you will save yourself a lot
of headaches later. |
It
is essential that you
have a reasonably high speed internet connection to run TileProxy.
A 2 Mbit/s internet connection or faster is recommended. Attempting
to use
TP with anything near a 56k dial-up connection speed is mostly a "no
go" proposition.
During
install TP
backs up your original .cfg files, and then alters a few settings
in them to improve TP performance, but rest
assured,
should
you choose to uninstall TP in the future, the
TP unistaller restores your original FSX.cfg and FS9.cfg to
their original state. You can always fly without TP engaged and
still enjoy the FSX and FS9 default scenery as usual, but if
you experience slightly different performance due
to the minor changes the
TP installer
makes, you'll have the backups on hand. For more information
on back up file locations, and a list of the
.cfg changes TP makes, see this
page
Windows
Vista Users: Whatever version of Vista You're runing it's recommended you disable the User
Account Control (UAC) as outlined here. That said, though tileProxy
seems to function well with Vista, some users
have reported a few kooky problems, and a few just could not get
it to work, period . Some of these problems may originate in certain versions of Vista (64) requiring "signed drivers" which TP currently does not boast. Searching the TileProxy
Forum for answers to your specific symptoms if you have problems is probably the easiest way to get specific answers.
Windows
XP users: You should have at least XP
Service Pack 2 installed, as the
driver builds on the Filter Manager which is part
of XP SP2 only. SP3 is OK too. NET
Framework 2.0 is also a minimum requirement.
FSX
users: You should have
at least the FSX
Service Pack 1 installed, as TileProxy has been integrated
to work best with it and successive versions.
A. Open
the downloaded zip file and start the installation by double clicking
the "TileproxyInstaller.exe" and follow the prompts.
You should accept the installer's default location (in the FSX
root folder) for the main 'TileProxy" program folder. If you do
not have FSX installed then direct the installer to place
the
installation
in your FS9
root
folder.
B. At the "Install Options Page" the
installer will then ask you to confirm where you wish to
install two other folders. They are the "TileProxy Photoreal
World" folder (the converted
bitmaps FS uses) and the "Cache" folders
(the downloaded JPG's from the map servers). If you choose the default locations specified in the installer at "C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Games" you can move on to Step C below.
To Use A Custom Cache Location: Some people prefer to place these folders on another drive to prevent fragmentation of their OS drives. This is recommended, but not manditory. If you prefer to use an external drive or another location other than the default location specified above See This Page For Instructions.
C. Continue on with the install. I
recommend you accept ALL the default graphics settings during
install, especially the radio button for the FSX "'Terrain
Resolution" of
1.1 meters/pixel for FSX. Higher resolutions
are experimental
at this time (see Tip 4 of "Tips
and Troubleshooting" below) and
can bog down even very robust machines. You can change
all of these
settings
anyway at
a later
time
in the
ProxyUser.ini file if you wish to experiment with different settings.
D. When
finished you will find a new group of TileProxy shortcuts in your Start Menu. Familiarize
yourself with them. There are links to start TP, clean your
TP World folder, a Cache Manager application and more. More
information on these may
be found
in the TileProxy
Manual.
Why
do you need this file? The
ProxyUser.ini file is the heart
of TP and contains most of the configuration information
that TileProxy uses
to function
properly, set LOD parameters, water mask parameters, and
determine
which
map service is to be used. Because of EULA issues, the TP ProxyUser.ini
is not configured to operate by default without a few simple modifications
(the map server URL's). The link above contains two completely
"ready to go" .ini files (one each for FS9 and FSX) that will have
you
up
and
running
in a flash. (We update this file every so often due to map service updates, the last notation of which may be found to the right of the download link above.)
Important: If you decided you'd like your Cache folders on another drive
instead of
their default location
you'll need to edit a few entries in the ProxyUser.ini
file: See This Page For
Instructions.
Step
3. PUT THE PROXYUSER.INI FILE IN THE TILEPROXY ROOT FOLDER |
Now, simply
place one of
the ProxyUser.ini files (for the
FS version you want to fly, i.e. FS9 or FSX) in the main TileProxy
root
folder.
Backup
the original if you wish. I've included both versions because they
differ slightly the way they're configured. You'll
need to switch them out of the TP root folder if you decide to
switch FS versions, so keep copies of each on hand.
If you installed TP in your FSX root folder the
location to place theProxyUser.ini file
is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight
Simulator
X\TileProxy
If you do not use FSX and instead installed TileProxy in your FS9 root folder then of course the default location would be:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\TileProxy
Step
4. CONFIGURE THE PROXYUSER.INI FILE TO USE YOUR DESIRED ONLINE
MAP SERVICE |
Important Update (07/26/2009): At one time TP supported 4 Map Services. Map service 2 (Google Maps) is no longer supported by TP Beta 8, this tutorial, or TP author Christian Buchner and has thus been removed from the ProxyUser.ini file some time ago. In addition, Map Service #4 (Ask Maps) now appears to be utilizing Map Service #1 (MSN Virtual Earth) as their satellite texture provider, thus effectively making it a moot choice, or the same as choosing Service 1. This effectively now reduces the possible maps services TP can use to TWO, i.e. Map Services 1 (MSN Virtual Earth) and Service 3 (Yahoo Maps). Be sure then to configure your ProxyUser.ini file to utilize one of these two remaining services.
Before
you fly, you'll want to check to make sure the geographic area you intend
to fly is well represented with reasonably sharp texture resolution
and natural looking aerial or
satellite color. My INI files are currently pre-configured
to use Yahoo
Maps as the
texture
server (Yahoo
Maps has very good resolution
and color consistent coverage
of
most of the continental USA and many other locations abroad),
so if you've verified your area
has good
coverage
at
Yahoo
Maps
you can skip this step
and go right to Step
5 and
get to flying!
If
your not sure, take
a moment and do a brief online reconnaissance to find which
map service best
covers the
area you wish to fly.
You can then make the appropriate edit to the ProxyUser.ini
file and TP will use your preferred map service. To check your
location's coverage, here are links
to the 3 services TP can use:
www.flashearth.com lets
you compare the first 2 services in one handy browser window. Again,
the pre-configured .ini file supplied here is already set to
use Yahoo Maps as the online service, so if that's your choice, no modification to the .ini file is needed.
If
you'd like to change map servers: See
This Page For Instructions
1. Before
starting anything you
should disable your virus
software and any active
firewalls. I can't emphasize this enough. These
often stop tiles from loading for
many users.
2. Important
and Useful
"Monitoring"
Tip: When
using TP it's best to start FS in "windowed" mode
rather
than
full
screen
so
you can keep
an
eye on
the TP
loading
screen
in
case of errors.
To
start FS in
windowed
mode
boot
into
FS
first (like normal, i.e. without TP engaged), go to
windowed
mode
( View
Menu:
uncheck
Full
Screen),
and
then
shut
it
down
that
way.
Then
it
will
boot
again
in
windowed
mode
rather
than
full
screen.
This
way
you can
monitor
the
TP
DOS
window
to
see
how
many
tile
are
loading
per
second
and
be
aware
if
any errors
are
being
generated.
Also
before
starting
up,
it's
recommended
you
read
the
tips
outlined
in
the
"Tips
and
Troubleshooting"
section
below.
Ready
to go?
A. Start TileProxy from the START > ALL PROGRAMS > TILE PROXY > START
TILEPROXY menu link, and wait for TileProxy to Boot up (in
a DOS window). It will generate some lines of text and then stabilize,
indicating it's ready to go.
Important Step for FSX users: You will only need to do this once. If you installed Beta 8 over a previous version of TP you will need to place the new scenery entry entitled "World_LOD 8" below your "world_0000" entry in your scenery library BEFORE you load a flight. After checking that it is in this location, and/or moving it there, then proceed to loading your flight as outlined in the next step.
B. Then
boot FS and load a flight. Now wait a while. Depending on which
version of FS you're using it may take 5-15 or more minutes
to
download
all the textures from the internet and load them into FS (longer
usually for FSX than FS9). Be
patient. The FS loading bar will slow at certain places and seem to stall when tiles begin to download. This is normal. If you've started FS in "windowed" mode so you can see the LOD levels filling out in the TileProxy window you're on your way! Go wash the
dishes,
walk the dog, whatever.
If you've
configured everything
correctly
it should
load your flight soon enough.
|
SOME
TIPS and TROUBLESHOOTING: |
TIP
1 - FPS Limiter vs. Performance!
This is Important to Know and Utilize!
In FSX, The LOWER your
FPS limiter is set the better TileProxy performs. 12-18 FPS is
recommended.
In FS9 , conversely, the HIGHER your FPS
is set the better TileProxy Performs. Setting the FPS slider to "Unlimited" is
recommended.
TIP 2 - Tile
Loading Speed Issues
Increasing
the ground tile loading speeds while flying has been the major
challenge in the evolution of
TileProxy. Tile loading speeds may vary
greatly
depending
on a variety
of factors including
your
PC
hardware
and internet
connection
speed, and how high a resolution
level you are attempting to download. With previous versions
of TP Beta
in FSX, speeds of more than 80-100
knots, would leave you "outrunning" the
texture loading rather quickly,
causing recurrent blurries.
Now, thanks to Christian's
brilliant
programming,
if you
have a Dual Core machine,
this latest (Beta 8) version
of TileProxy enjoys faster
tile loading in FSX than
previous
Beta versions
of
TileProxy. Still, If you
find tiles are not loading
as fast as you fly, either
decrease your airspeed, pause
occasionally to allow
the texture
loading to "catch-up",
or decrease the resolution one level by
lowering
the "max_lod=" .ini
value by one factor. Alternatively,
you can also
switch over to FS9, which,
though lower
in tile
resolution (4.75 pixels/m)
may perform more swiftly, allowing
for faster flight.
Remember though to switch to
the FS9 ProxyUser.ini file before
doing
so!
TIP
3 - Try
The Moving Map
TileProxy
Beta 7 includes a "Moving Map" that
displays tile radius and resolution levels as
you fly. This function has caused occasionally crashes in FSX
for some users, especially when attempting to switch to full
screen. I've therefore disabled the DX9 "Hooking" technique
in the FSX and FS9 ProxyUser.ini file I've supplied here to minimize
hassles
in getting things
up and running for new users. If
you'd like
to try the moving map to see
if you experience crashes edit these three lines in the FSX ini
file:
"enable_hooking=No" > change
to > "enable_hooking=Yes"
"enable_dx9hook=No" > change to > "enable_dx9hook=Yes"
"enable_movingmap=No" > change to > "enable_movingmap=Yes"
TIP
4 - Trying out the 60cm and 30cm Super High Resolutions in
FSX
For some
system gobbling eye-candy, if you have a fast computer with robust
hardware
and you'd like to
try out the new high resolution
levels available in FSX: See
This Page For Instructions
TIP
5 - "Help,
I've Got All Black Tiles!"
This
was sometimes
seen problem with Beta 7 and FS9. If you experience this problem with Beta 8 try this handy
work around: See
This Page For Instructions
If
that doesn't work (or if your problem is in FSX), check to see
if you have left TWO sources selected in the ProxyUser.ini instead
the required ONE as outlined in step
4 above.
Shut down TP and FS, then comment out
the
extra
one
with a "#" sign, and repeat
step 5 and you may be OK.
If
that doesn't work, shut down and
reboot TileProxy and FS again and see if the problem clears. This
has
worked for some users. A few black
tiles are also an occasional and random
issue while flying, and the problem seems
to vary from rig to rig. Also make sure the area you are
flying in is covered with tiles of good resolution
in
the
first place
by checking the area first at the
map service your using's on line web site. If not try changing
to another map service with better
high level resolution and coverage.
More
information is in
the TileProxy
Manual and
various posts in the TileProxy
Forum .
TIP
6 - Use "Level
Mapping" to
increase the diameter of high resolution areas around your aircraft.
TP load map textures in decreasing rings of resolution around your aircraft, much like FS default textures load. Level Mapping is a fantastic way to increase the area of high resolution tiles in the immediate vicinity around your aircraft by forcing the the next lowest level to load the textures from the level just above it. It's very easy to implement and involves a few simple changes to the ProxyUser.ini file. One must be careful though not to overdue it or you may bring your flight Simulator to a standstill. If carefully utilized, in compliance with the strength of your system's ability to load and render tiles, it can be the crowning tweak that makes your TileProxy experience nearly perfect!
Click here for a brief "Level Mapping" tutorial.
TIP
7 - More Tips
Guidelines and suggestions for increasing
and tweaking your TileProxy performance
may be found toward the end
of the TileProxy
Manual in
the sections entitled:
" Some
Frequent Problems and Solutions",
" Troubleshooting and Maintenance",
and
" Improving
Terrain Loading Performance
in FSX"
TIP
8 -
Avsim's
TileProxy Forum (now offline, see news above) has
many, many more tips, recent TileProxy discussions, and more:
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showforum=284
TileProxy
author Christian Buchner monitors the forum and has provided
a great deal of support for TP users there. Occasional praise
is welcome too, so don't be shy if so inspired. For his
continuing
hard
work
to
provide,
as freeware, the single most revolutionary FS program to date...we
are all very grateful.
TIP
9 -
Read The Manual!
Answers
to many, many questions can be obtained from the information
compiled in the TileProxy
Manual.
Christian has allowed me to provide the online version
and the "quick
links" at top of the page can swiftly direct you
to the many topics contained within it. Again, I
HIGHLY RECOMMEND you
take some time and read it in it's entirety. You'll
know everything you always wanted to know about TP
and much more.
Hopefully
this tutorial will get some folks up and running without a hitch.
Yup, there's finally a real
world we
can explore!
Happy
Landings!
Ed Truthan
Email:
edtruthan@gmail.com
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