FS2004 Downloads- Windows Vista

[EIEGAA]

I'm really keen to download a few new aircraft for FS2004. Only problem is I'm computer illiterate! I've checked the guidance pages here but I can't make any sense of it. Can anyone please give me a step by step guide of how to download aircraft from this site please! Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

EIEGAA

[Boikat]

Step 1)

[homebrewer]

I did exactly as you described, Boikat. I got nothing. I do see the folders for the two airplanes I put into the Aircraft folder of FS9, but they do not show up in the list of aircraft that can be selected to fly under Create a Flight. If it means anything, I Copied the entire unzipped download file and Pasted it right onto the Aircraft folder. What's my next move? Thanks for helping me get started on something that has intrigued me for months...

[Boikat]

First question:

[homebrewer]

Thanks for the comeback, Boikat.  Yes; I did unzip the entire folder. I have several dozen unzipped planes that have been just setting there, waiting their turn at the wild blue yonder for about three years. Some planes went in with no problems; others did not show up. A few that were crudely drawn were rejected after I'd seen them in action, and they were taken out with no problems. Others disappeared into the Aircraft folder and I can not find them therein or in the list of those you can select under Create a Flight.

I installed the Grumman F7F Tigercat and it's fine. The Skyseeker ultralight went in and it works OK, too. I put in a rough GeeBee R-1, then took it out. I put in at least half a dozen. I put in, then took out, some ugly thing called the SAR-1 or SRA-1 flying boat fighterjet. It put itself on the runway. Admittedly, getting up to speed was difficult. Lots of sparks...

I will have to look through my list to see what I put on and what should be there but is seemingly invisible. I put in an F-18 that didn't have a .config file. The unzipped folder showed a picture of the thing in flight, so I would assume it will make it onto the Create a Flight list, but it ain't in mine. This is what concerns me. I don't want a bunch of stuff hiding on my hard drive. Call me crazy, but I just don't.

[Boikat]

[quote]Thanks for the comeback, Boikat.

[homebrewer]

OK, here is a perfect example of the problem I am having. I downloaded and unzipped the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 from the Miscellaneous Downloads section, Page 25. I put each separate folder within the unzipped file into the Aircraft folder of FS9. I put the gauges folder into the Gauges folder under FS9. I looked in the .config file to see what was the manufacturer name, so I could find it in the list of aircraft under Create a Flight. The manufacturer is listed as United Federation of Planets. Great. I should be able to go to Create a Flight and find one Constellation Class starship awaiting my orders. "Ahead Warp Factor One, Mr. Sulu." Well, neither Mr. Sulu nor the ship was there. I do not even see the files for the Enterprise in the Aircraft folder. What happened to them? I installed an F-16 in Thunderbird colors just an hour or so before the starship was attempted. It is in the Creates, but not in the Aircraft folder. It does not have a 2D panel; just a totally black screen with a few tiny gauges or something toward the bottom of the screen. Either I am blind, dumb as a lamp post, or I am doing something about half wrong, because I get some of the planes I install, and none of the others. The files are going into the Aircraft folder, but they do not appear there when I look for them. I sure wish it was a requirement that all planes submitted to SimV had an auto-installer with them. That would put an end to this garbage. Mike Stone did it. Why can't everybody else?

I not too long ago this evening installed the Greyshade GSH-1 Speeder, again from Miscellaneous Downloads, Page 25. It works just fine. This one required that I create a new folder within the Aircraft folder, slide the four primary folders, the .config file and the .air file into the new folder, and do one other thing that I can't now remember (I think it had something to do with gauges). I did all that, started FS-- and there it was. I even went into the .config file and changed the performance parameters and the manufacturer name of the thing to better fit the available space under "Selected aircraft" in Create a Flight. NO problems. Could it be that some designers don't do as thorough a job in preparing their planes for primetime as others might? Or is it that I am just a noob and don't deserve more planes than Uncle Bill and the boys in Redmond will give me? I am at once delighted to put new planes in the line-up and frustrated that some don't show up, even after going through the same process with them as I did with the ones that did show up.

[commoner]

Hi HB...suggest you look at a couple of tutorials on installing a/c as it is pretty clear you have not got the basics right.........Look in the FS2004 FAQs for one such tute....

I just downloaded the Enterprise you seem to be having trouble with and it is one of the simplest installs you will find...some are I admit, more complicated and we can all have problems at times........

Open the Zip and you will see a FOLDER named    USS ENTERPRISE_1701  

Put THAT FOLDER (The whole thing) into the main Fs9 Aircraft folder

Open it and put the CONTENTS (not the folder) of the Gauges folder into your Main FS9 Gauges folder (over write if asked).....

...That's it ...it is just a matter of getting the folders and files in the right places.....nothing else will work.......Most guys steer clear of self installers as these can give you trouble by overwriting important files on occasion ....

you will find the Enterprise as in my ...pic.....commoner

[homebrewer]

Thanks, commoner. I will try it again.

I hit upon the idea of creating a New Folder (named after the airplane I just unzipped) in the Aircraft folder under FS9 immediately after unzipping the file. I put everything on my Desktop for easier access. Once I have unzipped, I click-click-click my way to the Aircraft folder of FS9. I open that, and with two Windows panes open, I slide the relevant files from the unzipped airplane file across the screen and into the Aircraft, Gauges and Effects folders of FS9. It worked every time I tried it. I was even able to put the Fokker DR-1 triplane from FSX into FS9 and it flies great. I was very proud of myself for that one. I have seen that some files do not have an .cfg file. Those planes I just trash out of hand. If it doesn't have a config file, I have no way of knowing whom is its manufacturer or what it is called under the "Selected aircraft" listing under Create a Flight. I'm taking baby steps at this. All you FS professionals please give me a break...

I see that when I slide gauges from the unzipped plane into the Gauges folder under FS9, I get this screen telling me that a "Gauges" folder already exists, and do I want to overwrite, which will cause the loss of all data in the folder in question. I say "Yes to all" and click it, hoping for the best. It seems to work OK, because all my previous planes are still there and they still work. It still unnerves me to ostensibly overwrite a folder that I believe carries all the gauges for all the default planes, et cetera. I hedged my bets and copied the Aircraft file to my Storage drive before I began mucking about with it. I did not store the Gauges folder in my other drive. I wish I had. Well, FS still seems to work, my newly downloaded planes are there, and my creating of new folders for the unzipped planes seems to work. I might as well just keep doing it that way, but still look for the better, more professional way-- like it's supposed to be done...

Thank You to all who replied. I will be most appreciative when the time certainly comes that I need ask for assistance again...

[Hagar]

I see that when I slide gauges from the unzipped plane into the Gauges folder under FS9, I get this screen telling me that a "Gauges" folder already exists, and do I want to overwrite, which will cause the loss of all data in the folder in question. I say "Yes to all" and click it, hoping for the best. It seems to work OK, because all my previous planes are still there and they still work. It still unnerves me to ostensibly overwrite a folder that I believe carries all the gauges for all the default planes, et cetera.

From what you're saying you're pasting the Gauges folder into the FS9 root directory. Despite commoner's instructions I would strongly advise you NOT to overwrite existing gauges when installing addons. Any developer who knows what they're doing will rename modified gauges to prevent this. To install new gauges first open the Gauges folder in the extracted zipfile. Then select the complete contents (click Edit/Select All) & paste the files/folders into the FS9\Gauges folder. I repeat, DO NOT overwrite files/folders if prompted.

[homebrewer]

That worked fabulously, commoner. Thank You so very much. Why is it that each gauge (about 20) had to be slid into the Gauges folder one at a time? This is the first time I have had to do that in my extremely brief tenure as a downloader and installer. It worked, so I ain't going to grouse about it...

I installed that twin-engine N-1 thing from Star Wars (same page of the Miscellaneous downloads from which the Enterprise came), but I didn't get the gauges to drop in. Any hints as to how I get 'em? The thing is just plain fun in which to dink around. Great visibility from its open cockpit.

I took some screens of the Enterprise and sent one to my brother. He's a genuine Star Trek nut.

Thank You again, sir.

[homebrewer]

I shall do as ordered, Hagar. Your instructions sound like the right thing to do, even to my uneducated FS ears...

[Hagar]

I shall do as ordered, Hagar. Your instructions sound like the right thing to do, even to my uneducated FS ears...

It's not an order, simply advice from many years experience. You're not forced to take any notice of what I say.

I tried the N-1 thing you mentioned. Please note that all downloads will vary in some way. There as many ways of configuring downloads are there are for installing them. In this case look for a file named n1.cab & paste it into FS9\Gauges. There are also 2 x FX files named fx_N1_exhaust_port.fx & fx_N1_exhaust_stbd.fx. Paste these into FS9\Effects. This is all covered in the author's installation instructions in readme.txt.

1)After downloading the zip, locate it, and extract the file to a temp folder.

2)Copy the folder N-1  over to your FSX Simobjects/Aircraft folder.

3) Copy the n1.cab,  gauge files over to your FSX Gauges folder. Copy the effects fx files to the sim's effects folder.

PS. Note that the above instructions are for FSX which has a different location for the actual aircraft. For FS9 paste the N-1 folder into FS9\Aircraft.

[homebrewer]

I do not have FSX installed on this computer. I have it (still in the jewel case), but I have read within these pages that four-cores need a special tweak executed to make the sim recognize either the chip in general or each core in particular. I can barely install a download; messing around with chips and cores and what all is a tad above my pay grade at this juncture...

[Hagar]

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. I don't have FSX either. According to the author's Readme the N-1 you mentioned is compatible with FS2004 & FSX but his instructions are for FSX only. To get those gauges working paste the file named n1.cab into FS9\Gauges.