FSX Autogen File Format

Flight Simulator X Autogen File Format
First draft
March 2009
Compiled by Paavo Pihelgas

Contents
I Preface.......................................................................................................................................................3
II Mandatory Sections.............................................................................................................................4
File Header..............................................................................................................................................................4
Version Information.............................................................................................................................................4
Height Profile..........................................................................................................................................................4
III Optional Sections................................................................................................................................5
Custom Texture Sheet.........................................................................................................................................5
Vegetation Polygons.............................................................................................................................................5
Vegetation Regions...............................................................................................................................................6
Generic Buildings..................................................................................................................................................6
Polyline Buildings.................................................................................................................................................7
Library Objects......................................................................................................................................................8
IV Additional Notes................................................................................................................................10
You are free to share and adapt contents of this document, as long as you attribute the
authors and distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible
license.
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FSX Autogen File Format 2
I Preface
Among many other features, Flight Simulator 2002 introduced Autogen system. It's name is
derived from „automatically generated scenery“. For the first time, the whole terrain was co-
vered with vegetation and buildings, greatly improving the flying experience.
Full coverage was achieved by creating metadata file (so-called „Autogen file“ with .agn ex-
tension) for every texture used to render ground textures. Those metadata files carry informa-
tion about building and vegetation placement for a specific the texture sheet.
In Software Development Kit, Microsoft offers a tool – Autogen Annotator – for creating
Autogen files. Its features and functionality are probably more than enough for most uses, but
power users may need more flexibility. This document is aimed at them.
The following pages describe the Autogen file format of Microsoft's Flight Simulator X.
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II Mandatory Sections
1 File Header
Offset Length Format Description
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „RIFF“
4 4 int Size of the remaining file
8 4 char[4] Autogen identifier, always „AGNX“
2 Version Information
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „VERS“
4 4 int Size of the remaining records in current section (4)
8 4 int Version, always 13107
3 Height Profile
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „GBDD“
4 4 int Size of the remaining records in current section (16)
8 4 int Percentage of 1-2 floor buildings
Remarks:
• Height profile is used by Generic Buildings only.
• Valid values for percentages are from 0 (0%) to 20 (100%).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
III Optional Sections
1 Custom Texture Sheet

0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „GBTE“
4 4 int Size of the remaining records in current section
8 variable string Texture name (without the extension)
Remarks:
• Custom texture sheet is used by Generic Buildings only.
2 Vegetation Polygons
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „PREG“
8 ... ... Vegetation polygon subrecords
For every group of polygons with a common GUID:

0 4 char[4] Subrecord identifier, always „PRDE“
8 16 GUID GUID of the vegetation type
24 ... ... Polygons
For each polygon:

0 4 int Number of points
4 ... ... Points
For each point:

0 4 float X coordinate in the LOD13 cell
4 4 float Y coordinate in the LOD13 cell
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Remarks:
• Valid values for coordinates are from 0.0 to 1.0.
• Upper left corner is at (0.0; 0.0) and lower right corner is at (1.0; 1.0).
3 Vegetation Regions
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „VGRG“
8 ... ... Vegetation region subrecords
For every group of regions with a common GUID:

0 4 char[4] Subrecord identifier, always „VGRE“
24 ... ... Regions
For each region:

0 4 float X coordinate of the NW point in the LOD13 cell
4 4 float Y coordinate of the NW point in the LOD13 cell
8 4 float Width
12 4 float Height
Remarks:
• Valid values for coordinates from -0.5 to 0.5.
• Upper left corner is at (-0.5; -0.5) and lower right corner is at (0.5; 0.5).
• Valid values for width and height are from -1 to 1 (1 = the whole span of the cell).
4 Generic Buildings
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „GBLD“
8 ... ... Generic building subrecords
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For every group of Generic Buildings with a common GUID:
0 4 char[4] Subrecord identifier, always „GBLR“
24 ... ... Buildings
For each Generic Building:

0 4 float X coordinate of the first point of front side
4 4 float Y coordinate of the first point of front side
8 4 float X vector to the second point of front side
12 4 float Y vector to the second point of front side
16 4 float X coordinate of the third point
20 4 float Y coordinate of the third point
Remarks:
• Valid values for coordinates from -0.5 to 0.5.
• Valid values for width and height are from -1 to 1 (1 = the whole span of the cell).
• Default roofs („Default Autogen 1 roof“) are used if roof type GUID is empty.
5 Polyline Buildings
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „PBLD“
8 ... ... Vegetation polygon subrecords
For every group of Polyline Buildings with a common GUID:

0 4 char[4] Subrecord identifier, always „PBDE“
8 16 GUID GUID of the Polyline Building type
24 ... ... Polyline Buildings
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For each Polyline Building:
0 4 bool Connect endpoints
4 4 int Number of points
8 4 float Building width
12 ... ... Points
Remarks:
• Valid values for building width are from 0.0 to 1.0, where 1.0 is LOD13 cell edge length.
For each point:

0 4 float X coordinate in the LOD13 cell
4 4 float Y coordinate in the LOD13 cell
Remarks:
• Valid values for coordinates are from 0.0 to 1.0.
• Upper left corner is at (0.0; 0.0) and lower right corner is at (1.0; 1.0).
6 Library Objects
0 4 char[4] Section identifier, always „AGN2“
8 ... ... Library object subrecords
For every group of Library Objects with a common GUID:

0 4 char[4] Subrecord identifier, always „A2GE“
8 16 GUID GUID of the library object
24 ... ... Library objects
For each library object:

0 4 float X coordinate of the first point of front side
4 4 float Y coordinate of the first point of front side
8 4 float X vector to the second point of front side
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 4 float Y vector to the second point of front side
16 4 float X coordinate of the third point
20 4 float Y coordinate of the third point
Remarks:
• Valid range of coordinates is from -0.5 to 0.5.
• Valid range of vectors is from 0.0 to 1.0. Vector (1.0; 0.0) aligns face with x-axis.
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IV Additional Notes
• All Autogen files created with Annotator tool have a specific property in Polyline Build-
ings set to 1. During the research, it was discovered that this parameter controls if be-
ginning and end of a building are connected. This previously unknown feature widens
the use of Polyline Buildings.
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FSX Autogen File Format

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FSX Autogen File Format

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Flight Simulator X Autogen File Format

Compiled by Paavo Pihelgas

1 Custom Texture Sheet

For every group of polygons with a common GUID:

For each polygon:

For each point:

For every group of regions with a common GUID:

For each region:

For each Generic Building:

For every group of Polyline Buildings with a common GUID:

For each point:

For every group of Library Objects with a common GUID:

For each library object:

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