The Landscape Project is a file with special format, which contain the full information for landscape image rendering. You can save the project of your landscape and continue work with it later.
Default extension of the Landscape Project files is "FLP".
For open and save projects options please look to the File menu.

The FLL Loader is a small utilite to load Fractal Landscapes Library without runnig of the Fractal Explorer. Normally, you need to start FE, run FLL and load old project to continue work. It's too difficult way. We has passed by this way many times. In the FLL ver.1.04 the special loader for FLL has been added. It only load FLL and close after FLL termination. Now you not need to run FE to work with old landscape projects - select it in the Windows Explorer and click twice. Also, you can run FLloader directly.
After you start FLloader directly you will see the very simple landscape. Now you can open the old project or create new. To create new project select the File menu and choose New project option.

When you select the "New project" button or menu item the height map generator window shows. It allow you to generate new terrain data (source mesh) with one from five methods (all methods based on the Perlin Noise algorithm).

Map size - change size of the mesh.
Generator - select one from the five methods to generate meshes. All methods are various and will generate essentially different types of maps.
Gradient - defines a saturation of the map. For "Bret Mulvey" generator - right position is a most sated. For another generators - left position is a most sated.
Max height - define height difference between black and white points. The black points is a lowest areas of the terrain. Real height is 0 ("sea" level). And the white points - is a highest areas. This value defines the real height of the white points. Default value - 100 standard units.
Redraw - reinit internal generator of the random numbers and create new mesh. Also, mesh will recreated after any changes of the Gradient value.

Movement
Walk step - defines a value of the one step size. With greater values you will moved quickly, with smaller values - slowly.
Rotation step - defines a speed of the direction changing (in degrees).

Polygon offset
This two values will changes terrain height above the water plane. The sence of it: if some terrain's polygons has same height as water plane it will be draw above water. Increase this values to have terrain and water render correctly. Also, sometime this option will have no visible effects, we don't know why...

Antialiasing level
If you use the resume rendering method (menu Render) this value will determine level of the image antialiasing. Greater values will produce some strange effects.

Sound
The WAV file will play after finishing of the rendering if it took 5 seconds and more. You can enable or disable sound notifycation and load another WAV file.

Autosave settings
The most part of options defines a kind of figure. A configuration of the FLL determined by several options. You can enable or disable autosaving of the FLL state.

Q. Can I create animations with FLL ?
A. No, we work to implement this, but now we have no good results and can not apply it. We will continue work with it. And, of course, any help, suggestions and opinions about this will be good for us.

Q. I want to load my older landscape projects.
Is you keep the compatibility with FLP files created by previous FLL version ?
A. Yes, of course ! We try to keep compatibility with 1.02 and 1.03 version of the FLL. In the oldest landscape projects the new options will be set into default values. Unfortunatelly, images will have little differences. It is connected that we correct some mistakes in rendering procedures.

Q. My good P-II computer with the Riva TNT2 video is too slow to render landscapes. Why ?
A. Why ?!? You try to render landscape from 300x300 (or greater) fractal image ! Simple calculation: 300 multiply 300 = 90000 squares, 90000 multiply 2 = 180000 triangles. The 180000 triangles with texture need to be rendered !!! May be P-III 850 with GeForce DDR video will render this mesh quickly, but not the Riva TNT 2.
Little hints about speed optimizations:

• first of all, use 64x64, 128x128 or 256x256 source fractal images for building of the landscapes;
• check the "Cull faces" item in the "Options" menu;
• use the "MIN filter: NEAREST" and "MAG filter: NEAREST" modes in the "Terrain texture" menu. In this case textures will look not same good as with another options, but you will select good modes for final rendering;
• use textures with power-of-two dimensions. Good texture sizes: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, ets. Not god, but not bad: 48, 96, 160... Any non-even size is a very slow textures !
• build the landscape from different parts: first, work with sky plane, then disable it, next - work with water plane, then disable it, next - work with terrain. After finish each from the all parts - enable all parts and render the final image;

Q. I work with FLL some time and I get the very strange image after I run the FLL again. What is it ?
A. Really, you tried to use the "OpenGL info" window. You have changed the "Mode number" value and have pressed the "Use for rendering" button.

In this case, you have changed the pixel format for the OpenGL rendering context used by default. Each videomode support up to 12-30 pixel formats with various opportuninies. Many from them are not supported by the hardware graphic accelerator. Many - can not be used for rendering into overlapped window. Besides the different formats differ from each other by size of the depth buffer (called Z-buffer).

FLL requires 16/24/32 color bits, 24/32 depth bits and 8 stencil bits pixel format !!! Any another modes will produce some "strange" effects.
We recommend you to choose RGBA pixel type mode with the "Double buffer" flag enabled.

In common, select first pixel format number (№ 1) and push the "Start render" button. Check for FPS. Then select next mode number and render preview with it... Good mode numbers are present in the first ten modes (modes from 1 to 10) - you not need to lost the long time for searching.

Q. Sometime I get error message "Invalid pixel format". Any ideas ?
A. Really, you tried to use the "OpenGL info" window. You have changed the "Mode number" value and have pressed the "Use for rendering" button.

Look the previous question to get hints about pixel formats (mode numbers) selection.

Another hint: if you can't select good mode number, try this steps:

• close FLL
• open the fractal.ini file with Windows Notepad
• find the [OGLForm2] section
• find the "ModeNumber" value and set it to zero (or delete this line)

When FLL will started again the best mode number will be selected automatically.