Posts by ApfelFlieger

In the Flight-Sim.org FAQs are examples of how to save users' AddOns:

• https://flight-sim.org/index.php?faq/

(1) I have a Mac and save the images from Wales, for example, like this:

• /Users/[loginname]/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/images/eu/gb/…

(2) Others omit the subdivision by continent and save it that way:

• /Users/[loginname]/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/images/gb/…

(3) Still others save in the folder "addons", here care must be taken that there is first exactly one folder level with the country and then the division into the functions:

• /Users/[loginname]/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/addons/scenery/gb/images/…

I have tried all 3 ways and decided on (1) because this variant works best for me on the Mac with both FS2 and FS4.

I took a look at what the tm.log registers for the airports from the tool:

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(1) ERROR messages:

I have ERROR messages for these three airports.

2.42-tmsimulator: ERROR: (airport invalid icao='N14' tsc='/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/N14/N14.tsc')
2.42-tmsimulator: ERROR: (airport invalid icao='S40' tsc='/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/S40/S40.tsc')
2.42-tmsimulator: ERROR: (airport invalid icao='U70' tsc='/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/U70/U70.tsc')

FS4 also has a bug with an airfield:

2.80-tmsimulator: ERROR: (airport invalid icao='L05' tsc='scenery/airports/custom/us/l05/l05.tsc')

My question now is what can be automated in the tool to prevent errors from occurring, and what needs to be included in the instructions to avoid errors on the user side?

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(2) SKIPPING airports

I found the SKIPPING notice at three airfields:

2.72-tmsimulator: skipping duplicate place 'scenery/airports/be/ebbl/ebbl.tsc'. icao='EBBL' using '/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/EBBL/EBBL.tsc'
2.72-tmsimulator: skipping duplicate place 'scenery/airports/be/ebkt/ebkt.tsc'. icao='EBKT' using '/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/EBKT/EBKT.tsc'
2.72-tmsimulator: skipping duplicate place 'scenery/airports/be/ebos/ebos.tsc'. icao='EBOS' using '/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/airports/act_airports_all/EBOS/EBOS.tsc'

My question is whether FS4 automatically prefers user airports to FS4 airports, so that one does not have to delete existing airports in FS4 if one wants to create them oneself?

It now works again without the hint - and even without clearing the cache.

Very nice, thank you.

Unfortunately, as always after an update, I have the "For development purpuse only" ads again:

It is very different for cultivations outside airfields:

-- there are partly large areas with an automatic cultivation in FS4 like e.g. in Western Europe

-- as far as I know, there is not yet the SDK to convert the different cultivations of users

Quote from IZ0JUB

...

https://flight-sim.org/filebase/index.php?filebase/84

I have moved the great post with the beautiful image files to the folder
- addons/scenery/... [FS4 & FS2] .../eu_ie (ireland)

so that both FS2 and FS4 users can find it directly.

Der neue Link ist:

• https://flight-sim.org/filebas…ry-tile-north-of-belfast/

@ FS2 users

All images always work with both FS2 and FS4.😀

The triangles at the airfields are created when the surface of the airfields is not flat enough for the artificial asphalt surfaces to be fully visible over them.

The best remedy is to optimise the mesh network for the airfields, which will be done.

Alternatively, the asphalt surfaces can be hidden, but this only looks good if the images of the airfield are high-resolution, which again is not always the case with military airfields.

I'll see which airfields look good without artificial asphalt surfaces.

Unfortunately I can't say anything about the Thrustmaster Airbus X Sidestick, I didn't know there was anything new.

It is done, the new page

• https://flight-sim.org/filebase/index.php?entry/1344

is in operation.

admin

Yesterday I found a simple way (see my contribution in this post) to export and convert the tap files of the airfields with a few clicks and make the result available again as a zip file in Flight-Sim.org to everyone (!).

Since the test is successful, I am creating a better page than the test page.

If there are any objections from IPACS to this, please let me know. Otherwise I would put the page online tomorrow.

I am currently making do with the addition "- IN PROGRESS", but this can only be an interim solution.

The flag should then be designed so that there are two positions:

- RED -- visible only to participating authors

- GREEN -- visible and downloadable for all users

So, now I have tried out whether the current 112 airfields can be converted "in one go". It works and is ready for download:

• https://flight-sim.org/filebas…-new-fs-airportcreationt/

I have given some more thought to how the airfields from the FS AirportCreationTool can be made available to the general public for download.

My concrete suggestion is:

IPACS sets up a database where a zip file of the ICAO.zip pattern can be stored for each airfield, and this database is linked to the FS AirportCreationTool.

Then the process would be:

• IPACS and/or a small group of dedicated users (I would join) look up daily in the FS AirportCreationTool which airfields have been newly created or added.
• their ICAO.tap files are downloaded and converted
• the resulting ICAO.tmb-, ICAO.toc-, ICAO.tsc- and ICAO.wad-files as well as the ICAO.tap-file are compressed into an ICAO.zip-file
• the ICAO.zip file is uploaded to the database
• the menu in FS AirportCreationTool at each airport is extended by the item "Export airport", which automatically contains a link to an ICAO.zip file

Voila - that's it

I have already tested whether the toc-files can be transferred to the tap-files : Yes, it works in principle.

However, there are some boundary conditions that have to be taken into account:

• Designation of the individual data fields
  - With FIND&REPLACE I have changed the FS2 designations into the FS4 designations.
• Lower case of the xref objects:
  - With FIND&REPLACE (one after the other for a, b, c, ...) I changed all upper case letters into lower case letters.
  - If you don't do this, the FS AirportCrationTool shows every wrong spelling of an xref-object during import.
• Orientation adjustment:
  - This is the most time-consuming part, because no FIND&REPLACE can be used here, but you have to go through object by object. When converting, it should be noted:
  -- FS2 has its own orientation:
  ---- 0° is at 3 o'clock
  ---- counting counter-clockwise
  -- FS4, on the other hand, is "normal":
  ---- 0° is at 0 o'clock
  ---- clockwise counting
  
  This results in:
  - if the FS2 orientation is in the range 0°-90°, the following applies:
  -- FS4° = 90° - FS2°
  - if the FS2 orientation is in the range 91°-359°,
  -- FS4° = 450-FS2°.
  
  This can also be easily calculated in Excel with a small formula.

Die Flugplatz-Dateien für den FS4 sind online, viel Spaß:

• https://flight-sim.org/filebas…im-isle-of-man-airfields/

Die Original-Dateien finden sich im FS AirportCreationTool.

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The airfield files for FS4 are online, have fun:

• https://flight-sim.org/filebas…im-isle-of-man-airfields/

The original files can be found in the FS AirportCreationTool.

Quote from admin

@ApfelFlieger: Can you try and check again, it should no longer show the 'for development only' text.

👍😀

Quote

As for converting the airports, I am afraid we can't change that. The web tool is not supposed to include the conversion process.

Pity.

We should consider in the community how we can make airfields completed in the tool available to the general public in a similar way to FSCloudPort.

We already have a platform with flight-sim.org, but putting every airfield from the tool there now also makes it confusing.

One idea could be to include a link in the tool to a database in which the converted airfields are stored.

Overall, I like the FSCloudPort, where you can search for your airfields from the map.

Great work.

I will now adapt the already prepared airfields so that they fit well with the images (let's see if only for FS4 or even FS2 and FS4🤔).😎

admin

By now we have 101 airfields in the tool. In order to use them, you have to

- first download the tap file and

- then convert it.

Overall, I find this too cumbersome for the simple user.

=> Is there any plan to make it possible to download the converted files in addition to downloading the tap file?

Since yesterday, the base map from Google is darker again and has the (annoying) notes "For development purposes only", which was in the past also sometimes and then was gone again.

=> Where does this come from and can I influence it myself?

Quote from NFelix

Hi

I tried that, but the heliport shows on the map, but not in the scenery

Unfortunately, FS4 does not currently show helipads from the tap file.

Therefore I am currently working with a trick:

- I use an FS2.tsc/wad with a free ICAO code to display objects (e.g. a helipad) from FS2 in parallel to the FS4.tsc/wad.

As an example, I attach "Quatum River Mountain North" from the project "PNW: Quatam River v2.0", which I am currently upgrading for FS4. Here you can see how I use ca9305 files as well as 9305h1 files to display objects.