Scenery would be pretty boring if designers were limited only to having ojects appear as basic colours. By using textures, things will look more interesting, without increasing the complexity of the scenery.

All you need to start creating textures is a little imagination, and a good graphics program. This example was done entirely in Paint Shop Pro 7 by JASC. But you could also use other programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw. The paint program that comes with Windows is not capable of duplicating the effects shown here.

Remember that you should never alter other peoples' textures without their permission, and never claim responsibility for the work others have done.

Step One - Getting Started

Prior to FS-2000, all textures had to have a size of 256x256 pixels. That is no longer the case, but in this example, we will still use that size. So start by creating an image 256 pixels wide and 256 pixels high. Set the colour depth to 16 million, and use a black background. You should get something similar to what is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Step Two - The Basics

Create a rectangle, and fill it the the basic color you want the wall to appear, as in Figure 2.

Figure 2

While that may seen like a good basis to work from, it will look pretty plain in the Sim. So select the rectangle using the "Magic Wand" tool. Then go to the effects menu and choose "Add Noise." Select the amount of colour variation you want to see. Figure 3 shows a variation of 25%.

Figure 3

Now select a small strip across the top of the rectangle, and fill it completely with a new colour, as in Figure 4.

Figure 4

Add noise to this new section the same as before, and you'll be finished step two.

Figure 5

Step Three - Details, Details

So now you have an odd looking box in the middle of your texture. That isn't going to look much better than a plain colour. So let's add some detail. Select the same colour you used for Figure 4, and choose the text tool. Type in BANK. Stretch thetext so that it fills most of the top section of your rectangle. If you look closely, you'll be able to see the letters in Figure 6.

Figure 6

Your text may have been made on a new "layer." FlightSim textures can only contain one layer, so go to the Layers menu, and merge them now. To help make the lettering stand out a bit more, select the first letter with the Magic Wand, the use the Drop Shadow effect under the effects menu. Choose the size and colour of shadow you want, and then repeat this step for the other for letters, and you'll end up with something like in Figure 7.

Figure 7

Next, we'll create an effect which can look terrific if used sparsely, but can be easily over-used. We're going to give the appearance of pillars at the front of our bank.

Start by deciding how wide you think the pillar should be, then make a selection half that width. Re-select the colour you chose at the beginning of step two for your forground colour, and choose black as your background colour. Use the "Linear Gradient" fill effect to give you something like Figure 8.

Figure 8

Now switch your colours so that your colour from step two is the background, and choose a lighter colour for the forground. Create another linear gradient right next to the last one, and you should see what appears in Figure 9.

Figure 9

The colours may look a little un-natural, so you may have to smudge them. Use the "Retouch" tool if needed. Copy the whole pillar, and paste it as many times as you'd like it to appear.

Figure 10

Step Four - Finishing Touches

By adding noise to the lettering, and then covering up some of the outlines, you can give the impression that the letters are almost carved into the wall, instead of sitting on top of it. Try adding some doors, and decide what else is needed. Do you want windows? It's totally up to you. Take a look at Figure 11 for some ideas.

Figure 11

One last thing you may find is that your building doesn't quite seem 3D enough. A good way to fix this is to add more shadows. In this case, the pillars would cast shadows around the building, so try doing something with them, and maybe to the part of the roof where the pillars join up.

Figure 12

However you go about making them, textures will make your scenery much more interesting, and a lot more fun! Do you have design tips you'd like to share with other Flight Simulator enthusiasts? Send them in by E-Mail