The anomalies are interesting, they are a "mistake" the computer algorithm makes when trying to 'smooth' a river in an "unsmooth" area. For instance a river, coming down a mountain ... which is mostly what we deal with. the river at its source is high, at its outfall low. When the river makes turns and comes down in elevation, the algorithm gets a little confused, and hence, you get a wall of water ... or sometimes a pyramid 100 meters high! You rarely see these from the air, but down on the water, they are a real problem.
At first, we covered them with rocks and mists ... but they were still very difficult to maneuver. Wilson Riiver is an example of that. So I had to learn how to deal with the flattens (thanks to Rod Jackson). I was then able to "smooth" many of these "errors" and make the waterways passable for boat traffic. So I have gone back to many of our river runs, including The Landings and have put "sloped polygons" there to replace the water errors.
The "problem" with these for the designer, is that only the scenery developer knows there is a flatten there (if it is done correctly). I couldn't even find some of my own. So I started marking them. You will go by a totem pole now and then on a river ... look closer ... that is where a flatten starts or ends. The number of bushes at its base gives you the CVX Number CVX#2 that you'll find in your scenery folder. The bushes are on the side of the totem pole where the flatten is. So if you see a totem pole with 2 bushes and they are beyond the totem pole, you are going into a flattened area. If the bushes are before the marker, you are leaving a flattened area. So for those who "know" this ... if they see a problem on a river, they can say, "Hey Doug, I'm seeing a problem with CVX 3 on the Wilson River" ... and I'll know exactly where the problem is, can pull up the "work" file for it and adjust the polygon. Now you are learning all my secrets!!! :-)
Below is CVX2 that you will find at The Landings. I also included the "polygon" that lets you kind of see how it is done. Each of those points along the edge of the polygon represent a shoreline or where the polygon starts or ends in the river. In this case, the depth difference was 6 feet, giving us two impassable walls of water of about 3 feet each. The points along the edge of the polygon gradually increase in altitude (all in meters) to the one before it ... so you literally get a river that is sloped. Your boat is going "up" 6 feet there, but you barely notice it.
The most difficult one height wise was at the headwaters of the Sheemahant River ... there was a 12 foot difference between the lake there and the river. I had to make a polygon that went up 12 feet in less than 100 meters ... LOTS of curves, and there are probably 100 points in the polygon's outer edges, each with a specific altitude. But the user, simply "drives" over that area in about 2 minutes and barely notices s/he is going "up".
- Example: "Uncheck Owikeno Lake" in your scenery library ... then go to N51 50.96 W126 6.06 heading 345. You will see the above-mentioned "wall". "Save" that location and then END FLIGHT and go back to the scenery library and recheck Owikeno Lake. Then go to the saved flight so you'll be at the exact same place. Kind of a difference, huh? That's what we've learned to do with these problems. This same example gives you and idea of what we are doing with the riverscaping. Back up a little and raise altitude and look at that final stretch to the lake ... then reclick Owikeno Lake and take a look at the difference.
We've left a few rocks and mists in there on purpose, because that's the way those rivers really are ... they are not lakes. When you think that the Sheemahant rises 130 meters over 30 miles, you are talking about a significant altitude differential that you have to make "passable". At Owikeno Lake, the lake is 7 feet higher than any of its rivers coming into it. we use almost all of the rivers there, so slopers had to be placed at the outfall of each river.
Watch for the totem poles along the rivers ... that's your clue.
Doug