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FSXA The German Iron Curtain

Heretic

Heretic

Resource contributor
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6,830
Country
germany
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the "peaceful revolution" that at first ended the physical and then the political division in Germany. So here's a small project of mine...

Vector lines with custom line objects and textures at extreme density. Doesn't look good in all situations, but as usual, it's better than nothing.

The Berlin Wall is the easier part, as it was "just" 168 km long, compared to the 1300km+ of german-german border.

Here's what it looks like somewhere in Berlin:
Wall1.jpg


Vecor line processing oddities near the Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor (individual results may vary depending on underlying water-related and elevation data):
Wall2.jpg



This isn't bound to become much more complex as I've taken a simplifed approach from the start.
Yet, especially the inter-german border might serve as a VFR reference for the history buffs among virtual pilots and a constant reminder that forceful divisions never work out in the long run.
 
I remember it well. I worked in West Berlin and used to cross back and forth via Checkpoint Charlie to the East. The wall was quite forbidding up close and the small memorials to those who tried to cross from the East and failed are still in my mind.
 
I was born and grew up in Berlin (West) and I thank you for this project. Unfortunately, many people forget too quickly what this wall did to the people and the city. This inhuman wall seperated on a blow not only a city but also families. Danke für die Erinnerungsstütze!
 
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Before I can release this, I still need to check the licensing for the models as they're mostly from the Sketchup Warehouse. I needed to redo some of them in Gmax, but they still use the original author's textures.
The Warehouse FAQ is a bit unspecific about what can be done with them.



(I'm from the eastern part of the city, by the way.)
 
While madness struck Brazil, I was working a bit.

A new set of towers (BT9), the east-facing fence and longer individual segments to save as much resources as possible. Seen here near the (in)famous Axel-Springer-Hochhaus, which is located near the former Kochstraße, now Rudi-Dutschke-Straße and the former Lindenstraße, now Axel-Springer-Straße.

wall3.jpg



I, however, have two problems. First, I've set up the new tower as a variation in the terrain.cfg. Said variation is randomly chosen by FSX, but I almost exclusively get the BT9s instead of a healthy mix of BT9s and BT11s. Secondly, there are some areas in which I get no wall segments at all. This is either the hard limit for autogen objects per cell at work or an exclude bug related to the default library objects or nearby roads.
Any input on that?
 
Forget problem number two. Turns out that vector line-based autogen does neither like coastlines nor extrusion bridges or default (e.g. the Brandenburger Tor) or user-placed library objects (e.g. a buggy object in an EDDB AFX file). At least one side of the wall is now running continuously around Berlin.

Still couldn't figure out the thing with the watchtower variations though.
 
More work done on virtu-Berlin.

New Brandenburger Tor courtesy of Sketchup Warehouse (like just about everything else).
wall4.jpg



Since the wall itself isn't depressing enough, here is the Reichstag. There is no model for the state from the early 70s till the complete renovation in the late 90s, so here's how it roughly looked like when the wall was built in 1961. Also, the previously missing Soviet War Memorial is now present.
wall5.jpg



The Peter Fechter-Memorial. Imagine being in your early 20s and wanting to get someplace else. You climb the last wall to West Berlin and get shot by three people. You fall back into no man's land, scream for help and all anyone can do is throwing you first aid kits. The east german border guards do not help you, the western border guards can't help you and any civilians trying to get you out would suffer the same fate as you. This is just one of many people who died at the border between the GDR and FRG, but he just might be the most famous one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fechter
wall6.jpg



No Berlin Wall without Checkpoint Charlie, albeit this being "just" the current tourist version.
wall7.jpg



As the Warehouse is quite a find regarding well known Berlin landmarks, I've added a bit more. KaDeWe, Deutschlandhalle, Haus des Lehrers, Humboldt-Universität, Neue Wache, etc...
ModelConverterX makes the conversion process very easy.


Also, this was the first time that I've flown over the FSX Acceleration version of Berlin. I was really impressed by the amount of sights present in the city now! Kreisel Steglitz, Gasometer Schöneberg, Haus der Kulturen, etc...wow!
I also had no problem finding my way around the city thanks to the buildings and Ultimate Terrain's roads. Not bad for a flight simulator!
 
Finally did the objects for the actual outer border.

Border_Day.png


I've tried to introduce some variety in watchtowers, but the "randomly display a variation of a model" function for FSX' vectorline autogen does not work. So Berlin got the smaller, round watchtowers while the state border got the taller, blocky ones.

Night fliers can also see the strip now. (Naturally, the lampposts will not line up with the light splashes. But it was the most simple solution I could come up with.)

Border_Night.png


The artistic license taken for the state border is courtesy of the very limited possibilities within FSX. The actual border strip was as wide as 500m with much more variety in observation posts, no continuous lighting, narrower patrol roads, better camouflaged mine fields and a mix between different types of fences and walls. I've also left out the spring guns, "silent alarm" trap wires and any guards patrolling the strip.



Next up, I'll try to clean up the vector line as well as I can to make sure that it won't run across rivers.
 
This is the first I've seen this. Very nicely done. Thanks for keeping the memory alive especially with the second Cold War starting up.
 
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