Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Just a curiosity, but is their any way to use the scenery in some of the FSX missions for free flight? For example, in the mission Whiteout, is their any possible way to take the scenery of Cascade Locks airport and use it as typical scenery to make it show in free flight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Interesting question! Does Cascade Locks not show at all in Free Flight? Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Yes it does show up in free flight with the hangars microsoft added to the airport in Acceleration. However in the mission it has static aircraft around the airport. I'm using this airport as an example. Is their any way to make mission scenery for a particular airport show up not only in the missions, but in free flight as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Another example is tutorial 5: Approaching the airport and mission Midwest Fly-in where Eagle Creek airport has static aircraft placed around the airport in both mission, where in free flight they aren't their. I'm asking if theirs a way to enable mission scenery to show up at those airports in free flight as well, not just in the missions. One final example, is the Reno Air Racing missions. In those missions you have the grand stands full of crowds, with static aircraft and unlimited race aircraft on display near the grand stands. These scenery sets only show in missions and i'm curious if I can make them show up in free flight as well. There is no problem with my FSX: Steam Edition, it's just a curiosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I can't speak for any other Mission, but the FCLP_FSX_vol2 scenery shows up quite nicely in Free Flight. I don't know how Adventures fit in to your question, but the Arapima Adventure shows up in free flight, as long I keep it selected in the Scenery Library. Those are the only two things I know for sure. Not really helpful, but it's all I got... Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Ok thanks for the tips. Wonder if the mission scenery files for some airports are hidden in the addon scenery section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Just looking through some of the Mission parameters, the static aircraft are AI from your sim that placed there. You can probably populate you smaller airports with an AI program like WOAI (freeware) or another payware AI addon. Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Yes it does show up in free flight with the hangars microsoft added to the airport in Acceleration. However in the mission it has static aircraft around the airport. I'm using this airport as an example. Is their any way to make mission scenery for a particular airport show up not only in the missions, but in free flight as well? Well, just checking out the small airstrip at Cascade Locks, Ore. and I did manage to spot one lone static aircraft. Looks like a Cessna Skymaster. Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Hi Johnny, It is possible, and not too difficult, to make mission scenery permanent. A lot depends on your current setup and familiarity with FSX other than simple jumping in the cockpit and flying. Here's an overview of what's needed: First, a version of FSX that includes the SDK with it installed and the OPT working. The freeware program "SPB2XML" for converting the mission SPB to the XML format required by the OPT. Next, with the mission open in the OPT you can delete everything other than the mission scenery and save the result as an XML. And finally, create a BGL from the XML using BglComp and put the BGL in an active scenery folder. Once you have things setuo and are familiar with the tools, making scenery from any mission permanent is a straight forward and simple task. Jim F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Yea I have FSX: Steam Edition which has everything from Gold Edition except the SDK. Oh well worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Well, just checking out the small airstrip at Cascade Locks, Ore. and I did manage to spot one lone static aircraft. Looks like a Cessna Skymaster. [ATTACH=CONFIG]196900[/ATTACH] I actually used to have that scenery for Cascade Locks part of a Columbia Gorge Airports scenery addon pack that included Troutdale, The Dalles, and Cascade Locks, which I still do have these addon sceneries for these airports but on my old FSX cascade locks had 2 buildings nearly on the runway so i disabled the scenery for Cascade Locks. When I got FSX:SE I reinstalled the Columbia River Gorge Airports pack but disabled the Cascade Locks airport scenery in case the building on the runway issue shows up again. I actually do like the addition microsoft did to Cascade Locks by adding the 2 custom hangars at the airport, so I guess I'm fine with the way cascade locks is. Plus, I have FTX NA GA Traffic and GA traffic fly into Cascade Locks which when they are parked, they look like static aircraft, which looks great as eye candy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Hi again Johnny, The SDK is included in the Steam version and installed by default if I remember correctly. The SDK is missing some tools but the only tool missing for making the mission scenery permanent is BglComp but this can be found online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 FSX:SE does not include the SDK, 'tis true. Having said that, you CAN download and install the Prepar3D v1.4 SDK, which you can get from HERE. Scroll down to the bottom entry to find the v1.4. It's a little "trick" the FSDeveloper forum dug up. May not be what you're looking for, but you CAN get a version of the SDK for SE. I've installed it and it works just fine for me, and I have FSX:SE. Hope this is a little help... Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Hey Pat, I wasn't aware that the SDK was no longer included with Steam. I know it was originally but with the developer tools missing. I don't have the steam version installed now but the SDK folder was located in the main FSX folder as I recall. Perhaps someone who installed FSX-SE recently could check and shed some light on this. Jim F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 I was searching around google about FSX Steam Edition and SDKs and by the looks of it you can download Prepar3D's v1.4 SDK that will work with FSX and you can download for free. http://www.prepar3d.com/support/sdk/ I might give this a try (backing up my original SDK files). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi Johnny, I'm not certain of what's going on here. When the Steam edition was originally released all the tools required for mission creation were included and worked fine. With that version, in order to make mission scenery permanent all that would be needed, were SPB2XML and Bglcomp and another file that was included with Bglcomp. As I had FSX installed I didn't have to look elsewhere for Bglcomp. Do you currently have an SDK folder in your main FSX folder? I know it's possible to download the tools that were omitted from the Steam version of FSX but seem to recall some added capabilities to the OPT that may be incompatible with the disc version. Maybe someone can advise. Jim F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi, As a test I installed Steam and FSX on a 1GHz netbook. I found the SDK folder in the main FSX folder. I checked dll.xml and the reference to the OPT is there but disabled. I haven't changed further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 My curiosity got the better of me so I tried to enable the OPT in steam. I noted the path statements were for the disc version so I corrected it to point to the steam version for the OPT, the Traffic Toolbox and the FX tool and changed all the disables to false. I started FSX and was greeted with questions if I wanted to enable each of the tools and whether they should be trusted I answered yes to all and after FSX started I had Tools on the menu with each tool as a selection. I chose the OPT and all appeared to be working correctly. It's amazing how smoothly FSX runs on a 1GHZ netbook with low scenery settings. Incidentally, I always use the Turbo mode of Advanced SystemCare to prevent background tasks from running and have a batch file to run FSX at Above Normal priority. Jim F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 If I was wrong, I apologize. I read through the FSDeveloper forums for something else, and that's where I read about FSX:SE not coming with the SDK. And how to use the P3D v1.4 instead. Just now, I looked at the SDK folder in SE. I got FSX:SE the day it came out, BTW. I'm a cheap SOB. Errr, pardon, FRUGAL. VERY frugal... Anywho, It looks like you're right, Jim. I've got the SDK.msi file, which I am going to presume is the installer for the SDK. I do apologize. I was mistaken. I wonder why the guys over at FSDev, most of whom are a LOT smarter than I, would say what they did about it. Maybe they meant a specific tool they needed wasn't included, but to me, it SEEMED as though they were indicating it hadn't been included at all, and that's why you needed the P3D one. Oh well, live and learn :D If I'm not very careful, I can learn something new every day. I'll be more careful tomorrow :D :D Good luck, John. I hope all this babbling has helped you out some... Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 The SDK file included with the Steam Edition is not complete and missing most of the SDK files, which is why people look to either the P3D 1.4 download, or the SDK from the boxed edition, if one has it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi Pat, No problem. I couldn't locate any SDK.msi in the steam files I downloaded. If I recall correctly that file was used to update the SDK when Acceleration was installed using the disc version. I do know that when I just installed FSX-SE the sdk was installed automatically. While looking at "fsxsdk.chm" I noticed they've added a disclaimer that it was a preliminary version. All the missing tools are referenced as if they are still included. Except for the missing tools which are readily available for download from the P3D site the SDK is 100% complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 Ok I installed the P3D V1.4 SDK for my FSX (backed up original) and I can't get the toolbar option to show up in-flight to use object placement tool. Here's the code in my dll.xml file: Launch dll.xml False False Object Placement Tool False False ..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll Traffic Toolbox True False ..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll Visual Effects Tool True False ..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll I think it might be incorrect paths to the SDK, but I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi Johnny, I know there are some differences between the FSX and P3D OPTs. I do not know of any specific problems with using the SDK from P3D but you may be inviting trouble. I suggest using the FSX SDK until you're familiar with it. You're path statements are wrong in dll.xml. Here's what I have: Launch dll.xml False False Object Placement Tool False False C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll Traffic Toolbox False False C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll Visual Effects Tool False False C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll My installation is strictly default so if your file locations are different the path statements will have to be changed accordingly. Jim F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy the Pilot Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 Ok I added new paths to my FSX SDK folder: Launch dll.xml False False Object Placement Tool False False C :\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll Traffic Toolbox False False C :\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll Visual Effects Tool False False C: \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll However I still don't have a tools option showing in my free-flight drop menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandjfrench Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi, Eliminate the spaces between the C and the colon in the path statements. Hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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