Scenery issue!

[zmack]

Hi folks!

I'm one o those guys preferring to figure things out myself, but these ones is outta my comprehension.

FIRST:

I downloaded a scenery for airport ESSA (Arlanda, Stockholm, Sweden). NOTE: The add-on is for fs2002 and I'm using fs2004. Is that crusial?

Anyways... The scenery is there all right, but as you might imagine the AI aircrafts are taxing on the grass, through the buildings and... phuuu.

I figured I had to edit the AI or the airport itself in TTools or AFCAD... but... uhm. I can't figure out how. Is this perhaps because the scenery is from 02?

Someone please tell me how the heck I get those planes on the taxi- and runways!

[MattNW]

For the scenery issue you'll either have to edit the airport or look for the same scenery for ACOF. Some sceneries work from Fs 2002 and some don't. I had a great floatplane scenery package that updated a bunch of floatplane bases but when I moved it from Fs 2002 to ACOF I had to delete two of them since it put the docks about a hundred yards inland. There's just a tiny difference between 2002 and ACOF at some airports.


The easiest fix for the sounds would be to just alias the sounds from the one airplane that's missing sounds to the one that isn't.

Here's a copy of a plane that aliases to the c172:

[fltsim]
alias=c172\sound


Just replace the c172 with the folder name of the airplane you want to alias yours to.

[RollerBall]

Nooo!  ::)

If you like that scenery and it's all there, don't bin it. I'm using some very old sceneries from previous sim versions in FS9 and if you can see it, it's working.

All you have to do is move the parkings and taxiways with AFCAD2

With the scenery installed and active, fire up AFCAD2 and open the country..state..city..airport (you'll see it's there as a 'mod'). If you have FSUIPC free version installed and have FS9 running at the same time you can Alt-tab between FS2004 and AFCAD and see exactly where you are in both progs making it the simplest thing to relocate the things you want (everyone and their dog who uses AFCAD will recognise this!)  :)

The commonest thing with old sceneries is that the scenery 'height' is wrong (AI planes either have their wheels in the ground or are suspended above the surface). Then you just use JABBgl to alter it.

Look - now there is NO REASON to throw away any old sceneries that you like and want to use in FS9 so long as they show up properly.

Make the most of it because versions that will come after FS9 WILL NOT be compatible with the old scenery bgl files so all the existing scenery will be redundant.

Bloody mad if you ask me.

[zmack]

I fixed the sound, it was just a missing gauge...

Now to the scenery... It seems like the constructor has left the NEW scenery with the OLD data and attached a AFD-text file.

It begins with:

"; Flight Simulator Airport ESSA (Arlanda)
; File generated by AFCAD Version 1.1
; HomeFile( "eurnwafd.bgl" )
;
Set( fsvers 0x800 )
Header( 1  N59:44.3107 N59:33.8959 E17:52.9153 E18:06.7077 )
AI_Border( N59:44.3107 N59:33.8959 E17:52.9153 E18:06.7077 )

Container( APT 1 )

   APLocation( N59:39.1162 E17:55.1166 38.40 )
   ICAO_ID( ESSA )

   ;---- Runways and associated ILS units
   RwyLoc( N59:39.1105 E17:55.1019 38.40 10.370 -2.3 10636 148 L 1 CEMENT 0x55 762.0 )
       Navaid( N59:40.1057 E17:55.4609 38.40  10.370 109.900 LOC   NONE 2 "SSA" )
       Navaid( N59:38.4059 E17:54.6954 38.40   3.000 109.900 SLOPE NONE 2 "SSA" )"

.......and so on, and so on.... Will this file fix the AI for the scenery? PLEASE be specific in what you'd do with the textfile.

It seems like ESSA lies in another .bgl file in fs02 than in fs9. WHAT TO DO?

And hey, what's JABBgl?  ???

[RollerBall]

Sorry - the txt file is an AFCAD1 file for FS2002. It's of no use for FS2004

Afraid you'll have to make your own new FS9 AFCAD file. It's totally different but easy to do if you take the time to read the excellent and very clear instructions that Lee has included with the package.

JABBgl is a free utility that you can download if you need to change airport heights to solve the probelm(s) I mentioned.

[zmack]

okay thanx! i'll do my best

[JBaymore]

Make the most of it because versions that will come after FS9 WILL NOT be compatible with the old scenery bgl files so all the existing scenery will be redundant.

Bloody mad if you ask me.

Rollerball,

Oh Oh!  

Haven't been reading much lately...... so this caught me.  What's THIS all about?  How do you know?

best,

..................john

[RollerBall]

Hi John

As you know, the new XML scenery SDK was issued end of last year and updated with corrections to make it work properly and remove all the errors it contained in February.

XML will be the new scenery standard in future MS flight sims which will not be backward compatible as has been the case up to now unless something happens to change their minds.

FS9 is the first version that can use XML scenery and is backwards compatible.

It will not therefore be possible to use BGLC/SCASM scenery in future sims. All scenery designers will have to learn GMax (that will mean I stop designing as I have a life) and objects created in GMax will have to be incorporated in object libraries (so they get a GUID) or into the sim directly (I think) via the new MKMdl SDK.

Almost all of the current great scenery that is currently around will therefore not be usable in future sims and will have to be re-made fom scratch in GMax.

This is how I understand the situation. Frankly I think it will be a disaster as will the people who made non-GMax scenery want to remake it? I doubt it. Over time (a long time probably) stuff will reappear as it is recreated (probably by different people in many cases) but I think that when the next sim comes out there will be a dearth of add-on scenery for quite a while if as I suspect all but only the most recent stuff has been made using GMax objects that can be quickly put into a 'replacement' scenery package.

Roger

PS

There is a small glimmer of hope. There are some BRILLIANT scenery guys out there who are working on converters but so far nothing has come to fruition. If they are successful it will be possible for non-GMax objects to be incorporated into libraries (so they get their GUIDS) but existing sceneries will still have to be re-made in XML using the objects from the libraries.

[zmack]

OK, so PLEASE anyone skilled with AFCAD 2?

What's the easiest way of editing the scenery to match fs04?

Is it to swap between flight sim in top-down view and afcad? Seems a little tedious to me... Am I too convenient?