AI Traffic Issues

Hello all,

I've moved from FSX Professional Edition to FSX Steam Edition which works quite more smoothly and without crashes. The issues I am describing here are the same in both so I don't think the FSX Edition has anything to do with it.

I have two issues :

1 - AI Aircraft not departing at the time specified in the Flight Plan,

2 - AI Aircraft arriving much earlier than the time specified in the Flight Plan.

I must precise that this is not ALL AI aircraft, only SOME of them, but too many.

I design my Flight Plans using Lee Swordy Tools, in other words, manually. I just write down the Aircraft, Airports and FlightPlans text files. I get the flight time from FSX's Flight Planner, with the planes's aircraft cfg file cruising speed set at the same value as that of the Lee Swordy's Aircraft text file. I hence get the flight level and the flight duration (from the Direct GPS option) from that Flight Planner.

I do not change the flight duration and then write the Flight Plan Leg as follows :

AC#001,NZ-MAL,17%,Week,IFR,0/18:00:00,@0/18:45:00,080,F,0001,NZWR

with the next Leg departing 1 hour and 30 minutes later, ie. :

AC#001,NZ-MAL,17%,Week,IFR,0/18:00:00,@0/18:45:00,080,F,0001,NZWR,0/20:15:00,@0/22:06:00,060,F,0001,NWWN

and so on.

When the Flight Plan is complete, I compile it using AIFPC to have the days adlusted to FSX. Now, for some reason that I don't know, the resulting Traffic.bgl file does not work with FSX. None of the planes show up, as though the Flight Plan does not exist. So, to make it work, I decompile that Traffic.bgl file with AIFPC again, which proved to show up the following AIFPC issue :

When the original Flight Plan time is 00:00:00, AIFPC does not adjust the day to FSX days, except if that day is 6 in which case AIFPC correctly adjusts it to 0. Days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 remain unchanged and must be adjusted manually in the decompiled text file.

Once that file is corrected, I then compile it using Lee Swordy TTools.exe, resulting in the Traffic.bgl file that works with FSX.

And that is how I do it.

Why do some AI aircraft not depart or show up when they should, I don't know. Can anyone please help me on that matter ?

Thank you so much for your kind cooperation.

Pierre_NC

I am assuming that when you write AIFPC, you mean Don Grovestine's AI Flight Planner, commonly abbreviated AIFP.

If that is the case, then you must be using a terribly outdated version, because as long as I have been using AIFP, it has corrected for FSX days, and the output .bgl file has been compatible with FSX.

For the most recent version, go here:

http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AIFP

On the left side, go to "Latest General Release" and get it.

If you have issues, the AIFP developer forum is at AIG, here:

https://www.alpha-india.net/forums/index.php?topic=9594.4950

Jorgen

Hello Jorgen and thank you so much for responding so quickly.

Well, that AIFP you mention is a complete different one to the AIFPC I have so I'm gonna download it and try it.

Cross my fingers and see how it goes.

Thank you so much again.

Pierre_NC.

Hi Pierre,

I didn't even know of AIFPC!

But have fun - and again, if you run into issues, Don Grovestine is very active in the developer's forum, and very responsive with advice.

Jorgen

Putting the @ symbol in the plan does not work. Not in ttools, and not in aifp. They both will calculate arrival time themselves. Even when you put an @symbol time, they will overwrite that with their own time.

Aifp can compile directly for fsx. Shifting the days.

And you can create trafficplans with it directly. Without making the .txt files first.

I found the FSX traffic planner is somewhat quirky.

As Top Gun suggests, AIFP is a complete & powerful program for generating traffic files.

With a very good manual...