User manual

FSDG Thessaloniki X
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INTRODUCTION
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the fifth largest and most populated city in the
Balkans and a popular tourist destination in Greece and worldwide.
At about a million inhabitants, it is considered Greece's cultural capital, renowned for its festivals,
events and vibrant cultural life and has recently been ranked by Lonely Planet as the world's fifth-best par-
ty city worldwide. More importantly, it is also a city with a continuous 3,000 year old history, preserving
relics of its Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman past, and of its formerly dominant Jewish population. Many of its
Byzantine churches and a whole district of the city in particular, are included in UNESCO's World Heritage
list.
SCENERY TECHNOLOGY
Thessaloniki scenery deserves a special mention in this manual as it is shown in unprecedented de-
tail within this scenery add-on. We have covered (by 90%) approximately 20 sq.Km. with models designed
using on-site imaging. The endless list of models includes typical buildings of Thessaloniki, shipping and
industrial areas, famous and non-famous landmarks, churches, football stadiums, shopping centers, ani-
mated entertainment parks and much more. The city scenery is further enhanced by full coverage with
night textures, hand-placed vegetation and 3D lighting.
Greece is known for its ‘bumpy’ terrain, something that is also dangerously evident while ap-
proaching LGTS from the east on a descent to land RW34. This is why the city was designed in 3D studio
with custom-made technology that allows the accurate placement of thousands of buildings and ‘confor-
mation’ of 3D models on top of a customized mesh. This way, we could accurately place any scenery on top
of uneven terrain and further use texture baking techniques on the ground to enhance the 3D depth of the
scene.