hjwalter

Did you re-install the sim from scratch after un-installing it completely and then removing any residual files ? If not then that's your initial way to go. Good luck amd let's hear if you were successful. Regards Hans

Looking forward to Emmanuel's newest products and if his future HKJK is any better (= more detailed) than the one I now have and especially if he has modelled the immediate "shanty town" area directly around HKJK, then I will (try to) be the first in the lineup to download/install it. My reason for being interested in all East African airports and airfields is that I've actually been to most of them myself. Hakuna Matata. Hans

JSMR, I've had the FS9 HKJK Jomo Kenyatta airport for quite some years now, along with a number of other airports/airfields in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Pemba and Zanzibar. It's a great area to (VFR) fly around in and especially between the "Safari" airfields like, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Mt. Kenya Safari Club, Lake Manyara and those in the wildlife parks. However, I found HKJK itself a little too barren for my own personal liking and have therefore enhanced it strongly by adding many (fantasy) EZ and RWY12 scenery objects, e.g. static (local paint) aircraft, trees, apron vehicles, parked cars, etc. just to make it look and even feel, somewhat better. I also added many local paint AI aircraft and flight plans, so much so in fact that it was necessary to increase the number of Afcad parking positions at HKJK. I've had no technical problems with the original HKJK. After reading your post I did a search myself to see if I could (re-)find HKJK somewhere but was not very successful. To me it seems that the original vendor has pulled the plug on it, but why ? Good luck anyway though. Regards Hans

Agent00729, Thanks very much for your explanation and my reaction is now that I find it more than strange that a commercial scenery developer/vendor makes the installation of their products (in-)directly dependent on a customer's version of Windows. Bad for sales and for their reputation in my opinion. In any case a definite first for me in my very many years of simming. Could it be that "Addon Manager" is just another name for the much critisized and problem ridden "Auto-installers" ? Regards Hans

Agent00729, I've never used "Addon Manager" since I began with simming more than 16 years ago and only now have I even heard about it's very existance. Instead I've been using the standard FS9 procedure for adding new sceneries and have never had any reason for trying anything else. However, if you've never used this standard procedure before, it could amount to a bit of an adventure when trying it for the first time. So here goes: For safety reasons I use a non FS9 related working folder into which I always unpack any new sceneries and only after I've checked everything and have gotten rid of any unessary ballast, do I begin with actual installations into my FS9 as follows: First you place (copy/paste) your new scenery, possibly from your "safety" folder like I would have done, to where you normally store all your sceneries. Then open FS9 and on the very first screen you get to see, the one which has a number of selections down the left hand side and beginning at the top with: "Getting Started", you scroll down to "Settings" and select it by clicking on it. Then click on the "Scenery Library" tab to the right of it. You now get to see your scenery library, to the right of which you see an "Add Area" tab. After you have clicked on this tab you need to navigate to where you have stored your new scenery. Click on it's main (airport name) folder and a new window will appear quoting the directory path and below it the airport name, which can be edited if you so wish. Click O.K. and you will get to see "Scenery" and "Texture" in a next window. Click anywhere in the blank area of that new window and your new scenery will become directly visible and active in your scenery library. You're now done but you may wish to edit the Priority via the "Move Down" tab on the right. Now shut your FS9 down and re-start it. Then open any flight anywhere on earth and select "Go To Airport", in your case "KORD", from the "World" drop down menu. Your new Chicago-O'Hara airport should now be up and running normally. Good luck and lets hear if you've now got it working correctly. Hans

1. Do you problem airport sceneries appear normally in your scenery.cfg file and and are they all activated ? 2. Do your problem airports appear normally in your addon scenery folder and do the links from your scenery.cfg point to them correctly ? 3. Are all necessary BGL files of your problem airports present in your Airport name/scenery folders ? 4. Are all related BMP texture files present in your Airport name/texture folders ? 5. Could it be that your (example) problem airport is payware and that it has not (yet) been unlocked correctly for use ? 6. Have you tried installing your problem airport(s) via the normal FS9 procedure instead of via Addon Manager ? Can you please supply an example freeware download file name for (one of) your problem airport(s), so that I can test it myself and then report my findings in this thread. Thanks and regards Hans

The file name for the Waikato carrier I was referring to above is: Waikato1.zip Good luck Hans

This is normally not possible because both aircraft use different model files and even if you would specify both models within your aircraft folder, along with their separate texture folders, you will most certanly have trouble with all the differences in the then combined aircraft.cfg file. Regards Hans

What could be so specific about your carrier/fulcrum combination ? Does IRIS have this as a combination, either as pay- or freeware ? Why not try Severn Rewetti's old but excellent Waikato carrier, positioned off the East coast of New Zealand's North Island and while you're at it, also download and install Rob Barendregt's catapult and cable trapping system. I believe it (from memory) was called "carrier-ops". Works great. Regards. Hans

After editing the positioning co-ordinates for your (new) gauge and saving the panel.cfg file concerned, it remains totally unnecessary to re-start your whole flight and especially when all you want to do is to see where your gauge has now been positioned on your plane's panel. As Tom in fact also points out, take the short cut by only re-loading/re-selecting your plane from the drop down menu. In that case only the plane will be re-loaded, including it's edited panel. Hans

Have you tried simply re-selecting the same plane after your new gauge co-ordinates have been correctly saved ? Regards Hans

Hi Guys, There's a very good reason for never deleting or disabling any default airports after they have been superceeded by new addon versions and that is because, amongst others, all ATC vectoring data remains directly linked to the default airports. It's also for this reason that addon Afcad/ADE header and runway data must remain exactly the same as the default data. Any differences, e.g. in airport names, will also cause visible duplicate airports in FSNavigator. ATC will vector you to any new runways for visual approaches only, even although they could be equipted with usable ILS/localizers, simply because these are not (yet) known in FS9. These then need to be declared in FS9 via, e.g. a utility program named "Approach Creator". The same holds true for any completely new airports for which no previously existing default airports existed. Hope this helps Hans

Andy, I've had Daryl Fisher's Cairns airport for years and it was therefore quite some years ago that I downloaded/installed it, which also means that there could have been some FSNav problems at that time but I do not remember any of them offhand. However, if there had then been any problems I would have solved them myself via Lee Swordy's very easy to use AFCAD program, may even have made a completely new Afcad file myself and based on the default situation. Not difficult at all. Here are some of the basics for your understanding: FSNav is not directly linked to FS9 but must, for correct functionality, remain synchronized with it at all times. E.g. You cannot edit something in an Afcad file and then expect to immediately see the change in FSNav. For this you need to run the FSNav Data Base Creation (DBC) function first. If the header data of any default airport is different to that of the downloaded one, the FSNav DBC function will process each separately, resulting in duplicate airports on top of one another and visible in the FSNav display, as you have seen yourself. Even a simple spelling mistake in the new Afcad header data, e.g. in the airport's name, will result in duplicate airports. It is therefore absolutely necessary to always see to it that any new addon airport's header data is exactly the same as that of the existing default one. The FSNav DBC function will only collect the basics, e.g. the runway(s), parking positions, navigational data, etc, from the default files while adding any new or edited data found in the addon higher priority Afcad files. It therefore also follows that any completely new airport scenery, which did not previously exist in FS9 or which somehow had it's default data de-activated/removed, must include all related Afcad data. If not, then although, e.g. it's runway is actually visible in the scenery, the FSNav DBC will not see it and the runway concerned will therefore not show up in the FSNav display. Well Andy, these are only a few of the basics involved but a very good tutorial is included in both the Afcad and ADE programs. Good luck and I hope this helps. Hans

According to Wikipedia the real Cairns airport has only a single active runway. The smaller GA runway was closed many years ago. Hans ??????

Where did you download this Cairns airport from ? File name please ? I would want to download it myself, to take a look at it myself and to then see if I can find a way to help you. Regards Hans

Tom, I immediately downloaded ModelConverterX and had a quick look through it's PDF file but apart from needing about 7 university degrees to be able to fully understaand all it's functions, I strongly got the impression that, as it's name already implies, it's main function is converting certain files from one FS version to another or in any case, something of that nature. However, on the very last pages (108 and 109, section 11.3) of the ModelConverterX.pdf file, I did find something which probably knocks the bottom out of my simple idea that it's the direct DISTANCE to a small scenery object, which decides which of the 8 LODs in a correctly mipped texture file, will be rendered. It explains something about so called "Drawcalls" for small scenery objects, e.g. my baggage carts, and the frame rate enhancing method of combining all necessary texture parts into a single texture (BMP) file, as opposed to multiple texture files, each containing those parts separately. Well, my baggage cart texture example is clearly such a "drawcall" version. Correctly mipped. Yes, ...... BUT ...... At the top of page 109 it says: "There is one catch to this drawcall batching and that is, when enabled, it will prevent the levels of detail from working". Oops !! I certainly do not have 7 university degrees but from this I now understand that I will need to get used to the fact that quite some scenery developers use these drawcall textures for the explicit reason of enhancing frame rates and that the short range small scenery object pop-ups are just something we simmers must learn to live with. The explanation goes further about the relation between object sizes, distances and LOD pixel values, which only now causes me to further understand what David above, has posted about object sizes and empty polygons. Anyway guys, thanks to all of you for a very good and educational thread. Hans

Roger, For me another very steep learning curve during the running of this thread and yes, Greg's explanation immediately put me off the thought that a model (MDL) file could simply be disassembled into legible (possibly XML) text, then edited and finally "re-compiled" back into the MDL file. More or less like with BGL files. Nope, I found another thread on this same subject somewhere and inwhich Scott exclaimed that what I really wanted to do was in fact structurally protected and that only the original author of the scenery would be able to do any editing, etc. So, I sent the author an e-mail, hoping that he is still active and am now awaiting his respons. ========== Tom, Because my question/problem was not a structural FS9 issue but only a very specific detail, I did not look at any general slider positions. Anyway, thanks for your reaction. Stay healthy to all. Hans

Greg, Thanks for your reaction. I'm certainly no scenery designer myself but somewhere deep inside me I just cannot imagine that a scenery designer/developer would purposely dispose of or decrease the positive effects of the "standard" mipmap technology and especially when this should specifically be used to enhance frame rates. Oh well, I'll see where this thread ends and if one or more of you experts will go as far as to say that my problem is impossible to fix in the way that I had imagined, then so be it and I'll then go searching for another problem. LOL. After all, as a result of all these covid lockdowns/curfews, etc. there's not much else to do, apart from trying to enhance my "one and only" FS9 even further. Regards Hans

Roger, I tried what you suggested, in VC mode with a zoom of 0.5 or less and the objects concerned do seem the pop up/disappear at greater distances but this does tend to make the whole external scenery look too far away and therefore less realistic. The same also applies when in 2D mode with the same negative zoom levels. Moreover, this is not the structural solution, if there is one, I was really looking for. Thanks anyway for your suggestion and I will certainly keep it in mind. Hans

Hi Guys, Thanks for all your reactions. I opened an example texture of one of my far too close pop-up scenery objects via the program "DXTbmp" and all looked well. The size of this particular texture without mips was 129 Kb and with mips, 171 Kb. Via the "Preview" ---> DXT1 dropdown menu I was then able to see a series of 8 mipped sub-textures, ranging from the top very detailed one, right down to the last almost invisible "pin-point" one. All very normal and technically correct. The only conclusion I can now come come up with is that the problem lies somewhere within it's XML based model (MDL) file, which calls for and processes this correctly mipped texture. However, to be able to search for and possibly fix such a problem, I would first need to be able to disassemble MDL files into something legible and also to afterwards be able to re-compile them back to their MDL files. Can any of you experts please advise me on this, e.g. which program(s) I would be needing ? Regards Hans

After a few hours of testing with XML based library objects randomly placed/positioned in one of my addon airport sceneries via the Abacus EZ program, it has turned out that the phyisical size of the objects do not make any difference. The normal sized objects and the (test) huge ones next to them, both appear and disappear at the same far too close and unrealistic distances from my taxiing or low flying aircraft. The textures concerned were originally DXT1 but changing them to DXT3 (= larger) made no difference either. Further ideas anyone ? Regards Hans

Thanks for your reply David and your theory is certainly new for me. I'm now going to do some testing and will post my findings in this thread. However, I must also point out beforehand that I cannot really imagine that something like this could be a structural problem of FS9 itself but as you point out, it certainly does concern small addon scenery objects only but definitely not all of them, hence me suspecting the different developer programming styles within their SCASM based BGL files. Thanks again. Hans

Hi Guys, In quite some of my addon airport sceneries the amongst others, (apron) objects, e.g. busses, tractors, passenger stairs, etc, only pop up and become visible at very short distances, e.g. while taxiing and/or approaching my (via ATC) assigned parking position. These distances are very variable and only seem and I repeat the word "seem", to be caused by BGL files made via the SCASM program. Disassembling such SCASM BGL files into their SCA versions is no problem nor are finding the texture files being called for but finding anything to do with possible pop-up distances within these SCA files, remains my big problem. However, I'm certainly no expert at this and need some help. The texture files concerned are all DXT3 or DXT1, are mipped and have alpha channels. Does anyone know where I should begin looking ? Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Hans

After many hours of trial and error testing there was only one option left and that was to flatten the Hierro (GCHI) afld elevation down to sea level. Not very accurate in terms of the local real life situation but I felt that a total deletion would be just too drastic for this overall beautiful island VFR scenery. However, this only solved the coastal "water walls" at both ends of the airfield but not for the rest of the island. However, I can (learn to) live with that, at least for the time being. The "reef" problem was solved by re-downloading/re-installing the complete CanarySim package. Problem was evidently caused by a missing file somewhere. Thanks for all your reactions. Hans

Greg, Thanks for your suggestion. I'll certainly look into it tomorow first thing. However, it must also be said that the other islands in the CanarySim archipelago, all with steep cliffs in some places, do not seem to have the water wall problem. The big question then remains: What could the other islands have what the Hierro island dosn't seem to have, or vica versa ? In the meantime I've also noticed that one of the other islands, Fuerteventura, has what look like offshore reefs (with ocean waves breaking on them) at varying distances from the visible land edges. These are quite obviously the correct shorelines but which seem to somehow be missing the visible coastal land reaching up to them. In the meantime I will certainly download the CanarySim scenery again, if only to see if it contains any specific installation instructions. Thanks again. Hans