Jim Robinson

The main "Flight SImulator 9\Texture" folder (not the Scenery\World\Texture folder) is actually on disk2 in MSGAME3.CAB. You can open it with WinZip or whatever and extract it to a temporary folder with "use folder names" checked and you should find inside, the complete default Texture folder (as well as the Gauges, Indeo, Lessons, Messages, Modules, Script, Uires, and Weather folders incidentally) ...but, that doesn't take into account that possibly some of those files get replaced when you add the 9.1 update. I don't think they do but I'm not 100% positive on that. IMHO a better approach to a foolproof backup of FS9 would be to temporarily rename your existing Flight Simulator 9 folder something like Flight Simulator 9.off and make a new, empty Flight Simulator 9 folder in it's place. Install FS9 from the disks into the empty folder, add the 9.1 update. Move the new fresh FS9 installation off onto a backup disk somewhere and set permissions on the backup so that no files may be moved, deleted, or added which will prevent dumb-thumb mistakes from modifying it. Files can still be copied out of the backup folder but Windows won't let you actually modify anything unless you remove the permissions first. Finally rename the Flight Simulator 9.off folder back to Flight Simulator 9 and then you can copy whatever you need from the backup into the active FS9 installation to restore whatever you need.

Sounds like "Simon" and "Snave" might be the same person? Snave certainly fit's the description. Very blunt, but usually right, lol.

I think for the sub to work you have to enable bathymetry which is under Graphics > World. I'm not sure how you "fly" it though but at least that lets you go under water. EDIT: and I think you have to be in an area where bathymetry is available, I just tried it off the coast of Washington and I was able to go under water but it looked horrible. I was sort of able to control it with throttle and rudder but I couldn't make it do much. There's probably something in the learning center about it but I hate reading, lol.

I'm ashamed to admit I know the avatar controls but "CTRL+SHIFT+E" puts you in avatar mode, "CTRL+SHIFT+E" again takes you back out again but you have to be close to the aircraft or you can't get out. "Jump" is "F", "C" is "crouch", and "R" is "run". I use the stick, down elevator makes him go forward, left aileron makes him turn to the left, right aileron makes him turn right, up elevator makes him do an about face heading the opposite direction. Rudder left or right moves the camera around him so try to use aileron and elevator without touching the rudder for best results. When you hit "R" for "run" he'll go a lot faster but IIRC there's no "slow", he's either running full steam ahead or he's standing still. You can use "Jump" and "Crouch" while he's running or walking, he can jump over stuff, crouching while running looks creepy as hell. Press "R" again and he'll return to walking speed, you'll have much more precise control. I like to make him walk up to one of the Orbx PeopleFlow ladies and "jump" trying to get her attention. He looks ridiculous. I LMAO. She couldn't care less, she's completely unimpressed, thinks he's just another clown trying to win her affection. Seems very realistic to me, lol.

You don't really have to play with the numbers, you can calculate it to the pixel. Say you're gauge background is 533px x 214px and you're running 1920 x 1080 screen resolution. Take the width (533) divided by 1920 and you get 0.2776041666666667. Now take the height (214) divided by 1080 and you get 0.1981481481481481. You can then use window_size=0.278, 0.198, it will come out plenty close enough. Obviously if you're placing multiple gauges on a particular window (like a radio stack for example) you'll need to use the total width & height of all the gauges combined to do these calculations. For the position you need to take a screenshot of your panel at the full 1920 x 1080 resolution. (I think you can even do this in MS Paint) Then make a selection box 533px wide and 214px tall. Move it around on the screenshot, put it where you want it, then fill it with a color (or just paste the gauge background as a layer if you're doing this in PhotoShop, Gimp, PSP, etc.) Now make another selection from the top left corner of the fill rectangle all the way up to the top left corner of your background screenshot. Note the selection's size. Say it comes out 1154px x 793px. Do the math again, 1154/1920=0.6010416666666667 and 793/1080=0.7342592592592593. Use window_pos=0.60, 0.734. Saves a lot of guesswork, trial & error, you can nail it on the first try. Jim

You had me at Alan Parsons. Best thing I've seen all day, really enjoyed it, nice work! :)

I'm a hardcore FS9er today! Really some incredible work! :)

I tried deleting those registry values (I had 4 of them, yes I backed up the key first) but it didn't fix the problem and one of them came back after I ran FS9 the first time afterwards. I don't run FS9 very often but I've had it installed since 2011 and I don't remember having this problem back then. I have UAC turned all the way down and I haven't allowed any Windows updates since they tried to force Win10 on us. I dunno, but happy 4th to all those who celebrate it. :)

I can't help or offer a suggestion but I experience exactly the same thing. I don't get the UAC prompt, maybe because FS9 is installed outside the Program Files (x86) folder? I double click the icon and get a "wait" cursor as if somethings happening and then it stops and nothing happens at all. I have to open the task manager and kill FS9.exe, then I double click the icon again and FS9 starts up normally, also this happens only after a reboot for me too. I also found through process explorer that there's an instance of rundll32.exe running and tied to fs9.exe after I've shut FS9 down. It interferes with shutting windows itself down, there's a brief screen that says "closing program blah blah" something or other, it's so brief I've never been able to read it. If I kill that instance of rundll32.exe in process explorer Windows shuts down normally. Also if I kill that instance of rundll32.exe in process explorer and try to run FS9 again I have to go through the "double startup routine" again so it apparently has something to do with rundll32.exe. No idea what though, also running Win7 64 incidentally.

Yeah I'm still on v4.5 too, I only made the switch from v3.3 in January and I beat my head against the wall for a month trying to free up enough disk space to do that. I'm still on Win7 too, which I understand doesn't support DX12 so I'd need to upgrade to Win10 to run P3D v5. I too have read a lot about v5's issues, and now with FS2020 supposedly right around the corner? I probably should just build/buy a new PC but who knows what FS2020 will need for hardware at this point? I dunno what the heck to do, lol. Fly when I feel like flying and stop worrying about it I guess. :)

Excellent shots Michael! That's really my kind of flight in an area I love to fly in. I thought I might try the TE Oregon out for myself but holy cow, I don't have enough empty space left on all of my drives combined to even download it! I guess I need to break down and buy myself a big-a$$ SSD specifically for Orbx scenery. Are you still running v4.5 or is that v5 BTW? Great screenshot thread as always! :) Jim

I think you're right - and those are misspelled too, lol. I don't even know what references them or how they're used. Maybe some missions use them I guess. I know the freeway traffic comes from vehicles_land.bgl in the scenery\global\scenery folder. The "Tourchoach" is a very nice model though.

They're mis-spelled in FSX and every subsequent version of P3D too I'm guessing (P3D v4.5 for sure), I wouldn't mess with them, anything that references them probably won't be able to find them.

Also are you using the FSX model? My model's filename is "TDSX738MAX_LEAPX1B--P2WM.mdl" (The FS9 version model is TDS738MAX_LEAPX1B--P2WM.mdl - without the "X" after TDS)

I can open both lower starboard cargo doors and also optionally display the belt loaders. I can also open both front & rear passenger doors plus there's a fuel door that opens on the underside of the starboard wing and a GPU door on the starboard lower fuselage near the nose gear. The galley doors opposite the two main passenger doors don't seem to open however but the CT trucks sort of obscure them when in place. Also my belt loaders don't seem to animate where on the 737-800 they did with baggage either moving in or out of the airplane, don't know what's wrong there. Then there's all the other stuff that can either be displayed or not, baggage carts, CT trucks, two options for fuel trucks, two options for tug position, a GPU unit or a GPU line that plugs into the ground, a bus, passenger stair trucks for each pax door, and "in stairs" for the FWD pax door that extends out of the fuselage. Maybe more that I haven't seen yet, lol. My panel folder has 4 subfolders: EXT_TEXTURE_ANIM -- EXTANIMBASE.BMP -- EXTTEST.xml -- TEST_BELT.bmp FDEHelper -- FDEInfo.xml Tds737ADVCONTROL -- TdsAUX.XML -- Tdsdebug.xml -- Tdsdebug2.xml -- Tdsdebug3.xml -- TdsEngRev.xml -- Tdsflasher.xml -- Tdsgearheight.xml -- TdsNosegearsteerling.xml -- TdsRudder_Elev.xml -- TdsSEA.xml -- TdsWingflex.xml -- Tds_AdvInit.xml -- Tds_Spoiler.xml Tds_util -- IN_OUT_IN.bmp -- IN_OUT_OUT.BMP -- ON-OFF_OFF.BMP -- ON-OFF_ON.BMP -- OPEN-CLOSE-CLOSE.BMP -- OPEN-CLOSE-OPEN.BMP -- SET_WAIT_SET.bmp -- SET_WAIT_WAIT.BMP -- Tds_Init.xml -- Tds_Timer.xml -- TDS_Util.xml -- Tds_utilbase.bmp -- UTILMENU_SEL0.bmp -- UTILMENU_SEL1.bmp -- UTILMENU_SEL2.bmp Here's my complete panel.cfg, the light panel is something I added myself, also I'm using the default 737-800 VC so I copied the default panel .bmps and B737_800.CAB into the panel folder (also had to copy the default VC textures into the main texture folder). // Panel Configuration file // Boeing 737-800 // Copyright (c) 1999-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. [Window Titles] window00=Main Panel window01=Radio Stack Window02=GPS Window03=Throttle Panel Window04=Overhead Panel Window05=Trim Panel Window06=Light Panel Window07=Utility Window08=FDEHelper Window09=PFD Window10=MFD Window11=EICAS Window12=Mini Panel [VIEWS] VIEW_FORWARD_WINDOWS=MAIN_PANEL,GPS_PANEL,THROTTLE_PANEL,OVERHEAD_PANEL VIEW_FORWARD_DIR=-1.000, 0.000, 0.000 //-------------------------------------------------------- [Window00] file_1024=737-800_panel_background.bmp file_1024_night=737-800_panel_background_night.bmp size_mm=1024 position=7 visible=1 ident=MAIN_PANEL gauge00=B737_800!pfd_screen, 189,548 gauge01=B737_800!pfd, 210,567,179,179 gauge02=B737_800!mfd_screen, 409,548 gauge03=B737_800!mfd, 430,567,179,179 gauge04=B737_800!eicas_screen, 740,548 gauge05=B737_800!eicas, 760,565,179,179 gauge06=B737_800!compass, 839, 39 gauge07=B737_800!autopilot, 561,330 gauge08=B737_800!knob_1, 329,501 gauge09=B737_800!knob_2, 390,501 gauge10=B737_800!knob_3, 830,480 gauge11=B737_800!clock, 77,570 gauge12=B737_800!attitude_backup, 630,444 gauge13=B737_800!adf_vor_backup, 630,662 gauge14=B737_800!alti_and_asi_backup, 631,555 gauge15=B737_800!gear_lever, 959,524 gauge16=B737_800!annunciator_below_glideslope, 214,517 gauge17=B737_800!annunciator_le_flaps, 854,516 gauge18=B737_800!annunciator_speed_brake_armed, 516,516 gauge19=B737_800!annunciator_auto_brake_disarm, 823,441 gauge20=B737_800!annunciator_anti_skid_inop, 812,517 gauge21=B737_800!efis_control_panel, 416,344 gauge22=B737_800!flap_indicator, 892,452 gauge23=B737_800!annunciator_panel_1, 267,361 gauge24=B737_800!annunciator_panel_gear, 958,454 gauge25=B737_800!Knob_N1_Set, 755,454 gauge26=SimIcons1024!ECU Icon, 433, 448 gauge27=SimIcons1024!Overhead Icon, 455, 448 gauge28=SimIcons1024!Kneeboard Icon, 477, 448 gauge29=SimIcons1024!ATC Icon, 499, 448 gauge30=SimIcons1024!Map Icon, 521, 448 gauge31=SimIcons1024!GPS Icon, 543, 448 gauge32=SimIcons1024!Radio Icon, 565, 448 gauge33=SimIcons1024!Other Controls Icon, 587, 448 gauge34=n_number_plaque!n_number_plaque, 95,731,67,19 [Window01] size_mm=159,441 position=8 visible=0 BACKGROUND_COLOR=16,16,16 ident=RADIO_STACK_PANEL gauge00=737-400!Comm 1, 0, 0,159, 68 gauge01=737-400!Comm 2, 0, 68,159, 68 gauge02=737-400!Nav 1, 0, 135,159, 68 gauge03=737-400!Nav 2, 0, 203,159, 68 gauge04=737-400!Transponder, 0, 271,159, 68 gauge05=737-400!ADF, 0, 340,159, 68 gauge06=737-400!Audio, 0, 409,159, 32 [Window02] size_mm=456,378 window_size=0.5 position=8 BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0 VISIBLE=0 ident=GPS_PANEL gauge00=fs9gps!gps_500, 0,0 [Window03] //file=ECU\ecu_background.bmp size_mm=265,394 position=0 visible=0 BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0 ident=THROTTLE_PANEL gauge00=B737_800!ECU, 0, 0 [Window04] //file=Overhead\overhead_popup_background.bmp size_mm=581,529 position=2 visible=0 BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0 ident=OVERHEAD_PANEL gauge00=B737_800!overhead_popup, 0, 0 [Window05] size_mm=194,154 position=1 visible=0 BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0 ident=MISC_POPUP_1 gauge00=B737_800!trim_popup, 0, 0 [Window06] size_mm=150,75 position=0 background_color=1,1,1 visible=0 ident=338 window_size_ratio=1.00 gauge00=lgt_pnl!light_panel, 0,0,150,75 [Window07] VISIBLE=0 position=2 size_mm=298,104 child_3d=0 background_color=0,0,0 ident=Utility gauge00=Tds_util!Tds_Init, 0, 0 gauge01=Tds_util!Tds_Timer, 0, 0 gauge02=Tds_util!Tds_Util, 0, 0 [Window08] VISIBLE=0 position=2 size_mm=450,200 child_3d=0 background_color=0,0,0 ident=FDEHelper gauge00=FDEHelper!FDEInfo, 0, 0 //-------------------------------------------------------- // Full Size PFD [Window09] Background_color=0,0,0 size_mm=341,341 position=6 visible=0 ident=500 gauge01=B737_800!pfd_screen, 0,0, 341,341 gauge02=B737_800!pfd, 30,27, 280,280 //-------------------------------------------------------- // Full Size MFD [Window10] Background_color=0,0,0 size_mm=341,341 position=7 visible=0 ident=501 gauge01=B737_800!mfd_screen, 0,0, 341,341 gauge02=B737_800!mfd, 30,27, 280,280 //-------------------------------------------------------- // Full Size EICAS [Window11] Background_color=0,0,0 size_mm=341,341 position=8 visible=0 ident=502 gauge01=B737_800!eicas_screen, 0,0, 341,341 gauge02=B737_800!eicas, 30,27, 280,280 [Window12] position=6 size_mm=221,211 child_3d=1 background_color=0,0,0 ident=MINIPANEL gauge00=B737_800!pfd_screen, 0, 0 gauge01=B737_800!pfd, 21,19,179,179 [VCockpit01] size_mm=1024,1024 pixel_size=1024,1024 texture=$737_1 background_color=23,17,52 gauge01=B737_800!overhead_popup, 4,4,581,529 gauge02=B737_800!pfd, 6,536,260,260 gauge03=B737_800!trim_popup, 6,801,194,154 gauge04=B737_800!annunciator_speed_brake_armed, 6,961,51,28 gauge05=B737_800!annunciator_below_glideslope, 6,994,52,27 gauge06=B737_800!annunciator_panel_1, 64,961,132,40 gauge07=B737_800!mfd, 347,536,260,260 gauge08=B737_800!autopilot, 205,801,463,90 gauge09=B737_800!annunciator_panel_gear, 205,895,66,71 gauge10=B737_800!annunciator_le_flaps, 204,974,100,28 gauge11=B737_800!annunciator_auto_brake_disarm, 275,895,47,27 gauge12=B737_800!annunciator_anti_skid_inop, 275,925,37,27 gauge13=B737_800!flap_indicator, 308,960,59,59 gauge14=B737_800!compass, 325,895,91,62 gauge15=B737_800!compass, 370,960,50,50 gauge16=B737_800!clock, 424,896,105,105 gauge17=737-400!Transponder, 589,4,190,78 gauge18=737-400!Nav 2, 589,87,190,78 gauge19=737-400!Nav 1, 589,169,190,77 gauge20=737-400!Comm 2, 589,249,190,78 gauge21=737-400!Comm 1, 589,330,190,78 gauge22=737-400!Audio, 589,411,190,40 gauge23=737-400!ADF, 589,454,190,80 gauge24=B737_800!eicas, 704,541,260,260 gauge25=B737_800!adf_vor_backup, 757,908,104,105 gauge26=B737_800!attitude_backup, 533,896,104,105 gauge27=B737_800!alti_and_asi_backup, 641,909,103,103 gauge28=B737_800!efis_control_panel, 672,815,143,76 [VCockpit02] size_mm=512,512 pixel_size=512,512 texture=$Posky_ACU background_color=0,0,0 gauge00=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_AdvInit, 140,80,140,80 gauge01=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsAUX, 140,80,140,80 gauge02=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsRudder_Elev, 140,80,140,80 gauge03=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsEngRev, 140,80,140,80 gauge04=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsWingflex, 140,80,140,80 gauge05=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsNosegearsteerling, 140,80,140,80 gauge06=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_Spoiler, 140,80,140,80 gauge07=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsflasher, 140,80,140,80 gauge08=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsSEA, 140,80,140,80 gauge09=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsgearheight, 140,80,140,80 [VCockpit03] size_mm=512,512 pixel_size=512,512 texture=$EXTANIMBASE background_color=0,0,0 gauge00=EXT_TEXTURE_ANIM!EXTTEST, 0, 0, 512, 512 [Default View] X=0 Y=0 SIZE_X=8192 SIZE_Y=3600 [Color] Day=255,255,255 Night=255,255,255

There's a couple folders from the base model download that need to be installed as subfolders of the panel folder. There's a folder in the base download called "Tds_util" which has to do with the gauge itself, obviously you have that working, but there's also a folder named "panel\Tds737ADVCONTROL" which contains a bunch of XML gauges that have to do with the animations. They're called out in my panel.cfg in the VC sections like this: [VCockpit02] size_mm=512,512 pixel_size=512,512 texture=$Posky_ACU background_color=0,0,0 gauge00=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_AdvInit, 140,80,140,80 gauge01=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsAUX, 140,80,140,80 gauge02=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsRudder_Elev, 140,80,140,80 gauge03=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsEngRev, 140,80,140,80 gauge04=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsWingflex, 140,80,140,80 gauge05=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsNosegearsteerling, 140,80,140,80 gauge06=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_Spoiler, 140,80,140,80 gauge07=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsflasher, 140,80,140,80 gauge08=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsSEA, 140,80,140,80 gauge09=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsgearheight, 140,80,140,80 Do you have those? Jim

If you have it installed correctly Shift+8 should open the "Tds_Util" window where you can open and display all sorts of things:

They had those plexiglass tubes back in the day when I was flying where you stuck them to the bottom of the tank and held your finger over them while you pulled them out, and then they were graduated according to the aircraft you were flying, pretty much you just checked to make sure the gauges more or less coincided with the dip tube within a tolerance of a few gallons to ensure the gauge hadn't gone completely wonky. They weren't very precise, I never left the ground without an extra hour of fuel beyond what I calculated I would use. I don't think I ever made a flight long enough that I couldn't carry an hour's reserve. Had to buy fuel at KTTD once though for the return trip back to 65S. About all I remember about that flight was she climbed like a SOB departing at basically sea level with just me and some fuel onboard, and a Mooney from the dealership that left 30 min after I did made it to 65S and back to Troutdale with a signed check for 101LL, (a C185 the FBO I was working for was trying to buy) before I even made it home lol. I was flying a 160 HP Skyhawk, N3857Q.

I got one working playing an ambient airport sound. I made one for summer with distant mowers, Ravens, and tweety birds and another for winter with heavy equipment, chainsaws, and geese. Already had the .wavs (and the placement) from an Orbx airport I built so all I had to do was rename them. I used effectparams=MOY (month of year) in the placement to have the summer one play April through September, then the winter one plays January through March and again October through December. Took 6 placements of the effect(s) in total because you can't define the months Jan-Mar AND Oct-Dec in a single placement. Here's a working example if anyone wants to dissect it, sound plays on the ramp at 65S airport, change the coordinates in the .xml to put it somewhere else. I didn't have an existing "amb_gexp2a.wav" or "amb_gexp3a.wav" in my Flight Simulator 9\Sound folder but if you do don't let these overwrite your existing ones! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vMuiZ0n_QJu4kCP8TM0yH26iBIpCbJ1L/view?usp=sharing

I think this program might be able to do what you want: https://secure.simmarket.com/lorby-si-where-are-my-aircraft-wama_fsx-p3d.phtml Another option would be to set up AI flights using a weekly schedule where they all leave for a short flight on Sunday night at midnight and return a few minutes later, the rest of the week they'd be sitting there in their parking spots waiting to depart. A 3rd option would be to convert them to scenery objects and place them with an object placer program. There's a (freeware I believe ) program called SAMM (Static Aircraft Model Maker) that can convert them, I'm not sure whether it can actually place the models too as I've never used it. ModelConverterX can also convert a flyable plane to a static scenery object. I've done that successfully myself. Jim

I use xcopy rather than robocopy. Apparently robocopy can /purge a backup directory of files that have been deleted from the source directory where xcopy can't, but frankly that scares the hell out of me, lol. I make backups because I may want to revert one day, if I purge files that have been deleted there's no way I can restore a deleted file if that's what I decide to do. I'd rather have a mess of obsolete files in my backup folder and be able to find something I obsoleted 3 years ago than lose it completely by mirroring. Something I obsoleted 3 years ago might be the code snippet I'm looking for today to do something unrelated that I vaguely remember doing in the past. I can see where /mir might have it's place if you where getting a package ready for uploading or something but for general backups I wouldn't use it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones. /PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source. /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).

This hits home with me because to me Empire Airways was an Idaho regional airline based out of Coeur d' Alene (KCOE) that operated Metro-liner turboprops between CDA, Lewiston (KLWS), and Boise (KBOI) in the mid- 80s. I flew with them a number of times in my younger days and even my beagle Bart got a ride between Boise and Coeur d' Alene on a Metroliner back in the day. I understand Bart was quite a hit at the terminal at CDA, nobody could shut him up when he discovered "grandma" was there to pick him up on the other end after he hadn't seen her for few months, lol. Empire Airways began life as Clearwater Flying Service in the late '70s flying cargo in Cessna 206's, years later after they gave up scheduled Metroliner service between the aforementioned airports they became a FedEx feeder operating ATR 42s between those same airports and a few others they added along the way. They can still be tracked to this day on flightaware, mostly flying Cessna Caravans nowdays under the airline code "CFS" which still harkens back to their Clearwater Flying Service days.

So for example I can cover my home state with Orbx NRM and CRM for about 7 gigs of bandwidth and $50-ish bucks if I buy it on sale. Actually I did that in 2015, both for $37.70, and they've given me free updates for 3 new sim versions since the initial purchase. I hate to be cynical but Orbx put a lot of work into those two regions and most of it wasn't automated, where are we now that some AI and some computer processing power can replace a couple years of hard work by a group of half a dozen or so dedicated developers working 18 hrs/day for a year? Having some problems with that. What I'm getting is this'll be a 500 Gb download/caching exercise for something that isn't much better than default FSX - but it'll have procedural grass. I live in Idaho BTW, the forgotten state. Boise might be interesting, the armpit of the state, everything else is gonna be really generic I'm thinking.

never mind.

All that is for a landing on 09, the challenge is to fly visual left traffic for 27.