Q400 cold and dark!

  • EDIT Since this topic became more about getting the Q400 cold and dark and some people might miss the given information I renamed it from 'Q400 FMS off?' to 'Q400 cold and dark!'

    Original post:

    I edited the q400.tmd and after making 44 changes I now always have a complete cold and dark cockpit whenever I get into the plane, thanks to the new beta. Nice! The only thing I couldn't get done is to turn of the FMS. Whenever I turn on the batteries all screens etc. are off (PFD, MFD, ED, MCDU, STBY COM, etc.) but the FMS is on right away. Not a problem at all, of course, but it would be nice if I could have that one turned off by default too (by editing the q400.tmd). Since you can actually turn it off this should be possible! If someone could tell me how to get this done I'd be much obliged. ;)

    Edited once, last by Jerryfly (May 26, 2019 at 10:07 AM).

  • Is it possible to share your file? I would love to also enter into this cold and dark cockpit😊

    Don't know if it's wise to share the file because things may stop working (or even worse) with any next update but below all are the changes I made to the q400.tmd (simply using Notepad). I was clever enough to save them all. ;) You may have to redo all these settings with every update but imho that's a small price to pay. ;)

    - I copied the first (original unedited!) lines of every entry that I changed up to the line that needs editing. I use the first line to find the entry and the last line is the line that needs editing (in the tmd there may be more lines following it). Behind the // you can see what the number should be changed to. I left the lines in between for reference.

    - The order is a bit random.

    - Make a backup of the original file first!!!!!! You need to put that original file back in case you do NOT want a cold and dark cockpit! Because...

    - ...all other default states won't work well anymore. So you cannot for instance reposition your plane anywhere else during a flight and I also think this setup only works when you place the plane on a parking spot. To solve that last problem (on an airport without parking spots) you should enable developer mode and assign a button to the Reload option it gives: this way you can quickly set the plane cold and dark also in places where it doesn't go cold and dark automatically (like on a take off runway).

    - Finally, it takes a second or two for the sim to apply all settings so when you start the sim things will be running for a very brief moment. Slightly immersion killing but it is how it is. ;)

    Now if someone could tell me how to turn the FMS off so it is cold and dark too...? ;) Would be nice because it is odd to turn the batteries on and see the FMS working immediately. EDIT I see I missed the control lock which (afaik) should be 'on' with cold and dark but I can't find that relevant entry either.

    BTW The line numbers are added by the Code tag of this forum: disregard them!


    Continued (because a post can't contain that many letters):

    Edited once, last by Jerryfly (May 25, 2019 at 11:17 AM).

    • Official Post

    I'm not sure it is possible to start the fms in the off position.

    As I said many times it is our intention to keep the default tmd file aircraft state as "running" because a lot of things depend on this. And if we add the option to load the aircraft cold and dark then it won't be via default tmd, there will most likely be a different configuration, like the clean, takeoff and landing configs.

  • I'm not sure it is possible to start the fms in the off position.

    As I said many times it is our intention to keep the default tmd file aircraft state as "running" because a lot of things depend on this. And if we add the option to load the aircraft cold and dark then it won't be via default tmd, there will most likely be a different configuration, like the clean, takeoff and landing configs.

    Okay, thanks, I am happy with what I’ve got right now (as far as the cold and dark Q400 is concerned) so no problem. I noticed I do get the startup screen of the FMS when I turn on the batteries which is quite nice already. This beta is a very nice step forward when it comes to systems! :)

  • Jerryfly May 26, 2019 at 10:06 AM

    Changed the title of the thread from “Q400 FMS off?” to “Q400 cold and dark!”.
  • I see I missed two settings:

    Code
                <[input_discrete][EmergencyExitSigns][]
                    <[string8][Input][Signs.EmergencyExits]>
                    <[tmvector2d][Range][ 0.0 2.0 ]>
                    <[float64][Value][1.0]> //change to 0.0
    
                <[input_switch][SwitchRecirclingFan][]
                    <[string8][Input][AirConditioning.RecirclingFan]>
                    <[float64][Value][1.0]> //change to 0.0

    If I missed some more settings let me know! ;)

    Edited once, last by Jerryfly (June 5, 2019 at 7:11 PM).

  • Could one post the entire file, please. Thanks

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  • Another tip: create a .bat to install the edited q400.tmd or restore the original one. I just did that and with a single click I now have either the default Q400 (for whenever I want to resume a flight or get in the air quickly) or the cold and dark one (for the real deal). You can even switch states with AFS2 already running: as long as you are on the runway you can run that bat, hit the Reload aircraft button and you will have the other state! :)

  • Bonjour Jerry ,

    EDIT Since this topic became more about getting the Q400 cold and dark and some people might miss the given information I renamed it from 'Q400 FMS off?' to 'Q400 cold and dark!'

    Original post:

    I edited the q400.tmd and after making 44 changes I now always have a complete cold and dark cockpit whenever I get into the plane, thanks to the new beta. Nice!

    Please, give me your file, or show here all the lines you changed for cold an dark.

    And would you like to give me your .bat file that I will modify. it would be very nice, I think your idea great.

    Merci beaucoup.

  • Bonjour Jerry ,

    Please, give me your file, or show here all the lines you changed for cold an dark.

    And would you like to give me your .bat file that I will modify. it would be very nice, I think your idea great.

    Merci beaucoup.

    All the changes are posted already in my various posts above! You may have to click on Display More to seem them all. I think it's better not to share this file and to let people edit their own file so they know how to get things done after the next update (which may render the file useless). It won't take more than 5 to 10 minutes to get this done and you're good to go.

    I will post the content of my .bat as soon as I get the change (hopefully this evening, otherwise somewhere this week).

  • Un séjour sans faille


    Thank you it's super nice:)

    Sorry, but your information is imprecise finally for me :)

    should you add your lines of code to the original file (copy) at the very beginning of the file. which contains 39178 lines. Or create another file with only your lines of code.

  • And would you like to give me your .bat file that I will modify. it would be very nice, I think your idea great.

    Here's how I did it. OBVIOUSLY you have to change all paths to the ones on your PC!!!

    The following information can easily be seen in the code below but I will explain it anyway, just to be sure. ;)

    - My edited Q400 files are backupped on my computer (!) in the folder 'D:\Downloads\Aerofly FS 2\Q400 Cold and dark'

    - In that folder there is a folder called 'Edited' which contains the edited q400.tmd and a folder called 'Original' which contains the original 4q00.tmd

    - The .bat file will copy the q400.tmd I want into the appropriate AFS2 folder which in my case is 'D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator\aircraft\q400'

    - It will overwrite the existing one without a message or warning

    - Create a new file with something like Notepad and copy the following code into it. MAKE SURE to change all paths to match yours

    - Save the files and rename them to (for instance) 'Q400 edited.bat' and 'Q400 original.bat'

    - Place them anywhere you like (like on the desktop)

    - Double click on the one you want and that should do the trick

    Here is how my bat files look. First the one to enable the cold and dark cockpit:.

    Code
    xcopy /s/y "D:\Downloads\Aerofly FS 2\Q400 Cold and dark\Edited\q400.tmd" "D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator\aircraft\q400"

    And here's the one to restore the default Q400:

    Code
    xcopy /s/y "D:\Downloads\Aerofly FS 2\Q400 Cold and dark\Original\q400.tmd" "D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator\aircraft\q400"

    should you add your lines of code to the original file (copy) at the very beginning of the file. which contains 39178 lines. Or create another file with only your lines of code.

    You shouldn't add anything! You need to only EDIT the lines of code in the existing original q400.tmd AFTER making a backup of it! All the lines I posted are in the q400.tmd already: the only thing you need to change is the Value of each posted entry: change it into whatever the line that reads '//change to' says!

    Example (to have the master battery switched off by default): check these lines of code: you need to search in the q400.tmd for the first line <[input_switch][SwitchMasterBattery][] (just copy the first line in the search field) and then change [1.0] to [0.0] as indicated (in this case it will be the third line of the entry). I only left that second line (string8) in so you can check you are editing the correct entry and which line needs editing (in this case the third).

    Code
                <[input_switch][SwitchMasterBattery][]
                    <[string8][Input][Electrics.MasterBattery]>
                    <[float64][Value][1.0]> //change to 0.0

    After editing the lines should look like this:

    Code
                <[input_switch][SwitchMasterBattery][]
                    <[string8][Input][Electrics.MasterBattery]>
                    <[float64][Value][0.0]>
  • jerry :)

    it's really nice of you.

    .bat files works great. but i have a problem with the q400.tmd.

    I put you my original file / q400.tmc

    Stp tell me if you have the same thing. because i search in notpad ++:

    <[input_switch] [SwitchMasterBattery] []

    and he does not see this line, nor the others !


    here my file Q400.tmd

    q400.zipq400.zip

  • That's because you added two spaces to that line... :/ Did you copy the line from my post and paste it into the Search field of notepad or did you type the line...? You should copy it so it matches exactly: add just one space and you won't be able to find it. I found the proper line in your q400.tmd immediately after copying the relevant line from my post into the search field.

    This is how the line looks (ignore the number in front of it which is added by the forum software):

    Code
    <[input_switch][SwitchMasterBattery][]

    And this is what you posted in your post:

    Code
    <[input_switch] [SwitchMasterBattery] []

    See the added spaces?