Posts by ApfelFlieger

Quote from sticky piston

Fs4 with mobile controls? Am I high or what? (Jokes aside, why fs4 has touchscreen controls?)

I create scenes and airplanes on my Mac and control the controls using the touchpad, which I find very practical.

On the Mac: CTRL+F8

For FS 4 there is APACHE as a functional aircraft (3 versions) created by larrylynx and V22 as an static XREF aircraft from the Hawaii project.

I am familiar with a similar effect when I connect an object outside an aircraft. The most extreme instance occurs when I experiment with the glider winch, as the camera is then positioned at a complete cable distance from the winch body.

Try to see if you can reset the camera with CTR+R.

Quote from Kutay

...

So I think parking positions should come first ... . If possible, the developers could set up a team for this. And if anyone has the knowledge, we can improve it together through modding.

Certainly - with the PCT, parking positions of all kinds can be added to any airport on Earth. In the PCT, with a few mouse clicks, an airport with 1 heliport can be created (mandatory), which can then be added with any number of parking positions. When using the 4-digit ICAO code of the airport and adding "pa", you get on the one hand the assignment without the airport being shown as its own airport in FS 4 - only the heliport and the parking positions.

The example shows 'LSZHpa'.

Unfortunately, I cannot assist with modeling objects because I do not have any knowledge in this area. My knowledge only begins when using already created objects, where I already have a great deal of knowledge both regarding scenes and aircraft.

I have not been aware of this until now that objects can be controlled from a plane that are not connected to the plane. I have already tried to control the elevators from the cockpit on a carrier - unfortunately, I have not been able to do it. I have also not found any report here in the forum that something like this has been successful.

What I know are automatically running out of time movements of objects in scenes. However, these are timed and are not triggered by a plane.

alphasixx

Do you want to primarily design scenarios or create individual objects?

(1) DESIGNING SCENARIOS:

Scenarios can be created very easily with the PCT. In the PCT, hundreds of XREF objects already available in FS 4 or, in addition, any number of own objects can be used very freely. Therefore, I am currently gradually converting all previous TMB objects from FS 2 to FS 4.

It is important for XREF objects that they already receive speaking names in the TMB when they are created.

(2) CREATING INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS:

All objects can be used as TMB or as XREF:

• When using TMB, the object is accessed via the TMB file name, and the content structure of the TMB does not matter. When using TMB, the object must appear more or less directly in the scene folder. The object must also be already codified in the TMB directory, because it cannot be rotated in the scene anymore.
  => My recommendation is to only provide TMB use for buildings that occur only once..
• When using XREF, the object is accessed through the internal geometry name within the TMB. Therefore, both the creation of the TMB and its creation should ensure that the automatic internal names 'part00', 'part01' etc. are individualized. The reward for this is that objects are only created and saved once and can then be used arbitrarily often in any orientation.
  => My recommendation is to always provide XREF usage for all objects that appear multiple times (car, ship, aircraft, animal, sign, ...).

This information is only relevant to users who create objects.

I am currently successfully transferring a large number of objects from TMB usage to XREF usage.

From this work I have some points for the creation of TMB objects that will in the future even allow for dual use:

(1) ORIENTATION TO EAST

The geographical orientation in FS 4 goes laterally from the South Pole towards the North Pole and longitudinally from the (western) datum line towards east to the (eastern) datum line.

For objects this means that their basic orientation (<[float32][direction][0.0]>) is the compass course 090°, i.e. east direction.

This is taken into account in the PCT by aligning all objects with the east direction when placed on the map.

However, many people orient objects when creating them more north-south, because this is also easier with the degree numbers. This now leads to the fact that the orientation of objects in the PCT does not match the turn marker and its degree display.

The example with the two cows may illustrate this:

When the two cows are placed in the PCT, both objects are automatically oriented eastwards by the PCT (see turn marker line). The two adjusted footprints show that the left cow is oriented north-south while the right cow is oriented east-west:

In FS 4, it then shows exactly how the two cows are standing. The left cow is oriented to the south and the right cow is oriented to the west:

=> My wish or recommendation is that all objects in the default setting should always be oriented towards the east. Then orientation and marking will always be consistent.

(2) ONLY UNIQUE ELEMENT NAME

There is a fundamental difference between TMB usage and XREF usage:

• When using TMB, the TMB file is accessed as a file. Therefore, the filename is used when accessing the file.
• When using XREF, the TMB filename does not matter because the element contained in the TMB is directly accessed.

Unfortunately, in many TMB files, the individual elements have automatically the standard names 'part00', part01', part02' etc. However, XREF does not work because there are hundreds of elements with the name 'part00'.

=> My wish or recommendation is that when creating objects, the internal names of the elements are also individualized so that they appear only once in FS 4.

Currently, I am adjusting these names for all objects being transferred. For example, with the cows, this would then look like this: in the TMB file 'animal_cow.tmb', the names of the two elements are no longer 'part00' and 'part00', but 'animal_cow_large_black_white' and 'animal_cow_holstein_black_white'.

(2) ONLY ONE ELEMENT FOR EACH OBJECT

When using TMB, it does not matter how many elements an object is made up of. The highest number I am aware of is 21 elements in a TMB file.

However, when using XREF, each element is accessed individually, which leads to a labor-intensive process in the PCT. However, I have found that on all objects so far (including the more complex ones), the internal division into multiple elements can be bypassed and the various materials can be consolidated into one patch list.

=> My wish or recommendation is to use only 1 element for each object.

Finally, one more word about the two uses as TMB and as an XREF object:

• All objects that only exist in 1x are very suitable for TMB use.
• All objects that appear multiple times are very suitable for XREF use.

The picture shows, for example, all the ships I have already transferred as a kind of puzzle, from the smallest tugboat to the aircraft carrier, from the passenger ferry to the cruise ship:

I sent my version to Rodeo for testing. However, the TMB is currently in a txt version and therefore requires far too much storage space. So before a publication, we still have to manage to make the txt version of the TMB a compressed version again.

I don't know (yet) any way to actively turn something on at POI.

It has now been almost 8 years since beautiful scenes created by users for FS 2 were published on the unfortunately closed Flight-Sim.org platform. With switching to FS 4, many scenes no longer fit because in FS 4 TMB objects cannot be turned in another direction.

XREF objects do not have this limitation. Therefore, the question is whether and how TMB objects can be used as XREF objects? And the answer is that it is possible. This also works without any problems if there is only 1 geometry element in the TMB file whose name appears only 1x in FS 4. Unfortunately, most elements have the names 'part00', 'part01', etc. However, if you now make these names unique, then the individual objects can be successfully used as XREF objects.

The example shows the INTREPID SEA AIR SPACE MUSEUM by Rodeo created 2018 with a CONCORDE, the submarine NAUTILUS and the aircraft carrier INTREPID - newly as XREF in FS 4:

The 3 objects were ordered with the PCT, which is simply brilliant for that.

I have already adjusted many TMB objects so that they can be used as XREF objects. However, the TMB files still need to be properly compressed again and the individual copyright rights need to be checked. This can therefore take a little longer.

If I have such errors, I use the built-in video recording function in the FS 4 and keep winding back and forth. With this, I can very quickly recognize the possible starting points for troubleshooting.

Quote from aenbacka

I am working on exporting the latest model, but of some reason I get some artifacts in the air when loading it.

From my experience, such a thing occurs when the affected object is incorrectly connected to the parent object.

flightxtreme created 2018 for the FS 2 AEROBATIC BOX MARKER as TMB objects. With the FS 4, the AEROBATIC BOX MARKER could no longer be used, because with the FS 4 the orientation of TMB objects could no longer be changed. (see Aerobatics)

PCT offers a simple way to use your own XREF objects. Therefore, I have now started converting many of the classic TMB objects from FS 2 into XREF objects for FS 4.

This way, AEROBATIC BOX MARKER can now be used in FS 4 as an XREF object.

The data for the elements TARMAC, LINE, GROUNDTEXT, TAXISIGN and JETWAY are cryptically stored in the 'icao.tmb' - and they only get there by converting an 'icao.tap'. There is no way around a TAP.

There is also the idea of extending PCT in such a way that TAP files can also be created, preferably with all elements. However, there is no timetable for this yet.

Then only the conversion would be missing to have a complete app that can directly create both AIRPORTS and POI.

Quote from Aerofly Fs4 Fan

I also would like to try creating an airport. How do you get access to ACT (Airport Creation Tool). If anyone can give me I can try.....😉

The ACT only runs in the beta test.

However, with PCT, another option is available to create airports and heliports. And in the thread "How to create easy airport ..." there are further extensive information.

Both suggestions have been available for a long time in this forum in various threads, in which you can also read why these suggestions are not so easy to implement.

Quote from JackL

Another nice one is AG4362- Farrenberg

It doesn’t pull up when you search “AG4362” for some reason, so just go to the map, and it’s at 7:00 on a clock compared to Stuttgart.

In the field for the ICAO code, 4-6-digit codes can be entered, which could also be searched and found by FS 4 in the menu "Location" so far. With the current beta, however, only the airfields with a 4-digit code can be searched and displayed in the FS 4. There is also a separate thread.

For this reason, all airports with a 6-digit code must now get a 4-digit one.

It will - and the PRE-BETA version of the C-130H can also land and start there:

Thank you for your offer with the pictures. I think I won't need them because Rodeo has already revised the TTX and TMB files in early 2026. My job is now only to marry the objects with the function files TSC and WAD so that everything works in the folder AIRPORTS. And my goal is also to take into account the well-known innovations "under the hood". As I know the FS 4, it will probably crochet a bit again in one place.