General Aviation AI Generator

[falcon409]

I don't do Commercial Airliners for AI. . .strictly GA and only the smaller Airports. Does anyone know of a good Payware/Freeware program that generates AI traffic for General Aviation airports? I found one for FSX (freeware) but it has no option to scan for airplanes or airports outside of FSX so it's useless as 90% of my airports and airplanes are kept outside of the default folders.

[Odie]

Hey Falcon,

ORBX has one for North America on its freeware page. I don't know about the limitations you mention and how it handles them.

[Ganter]

I use this - no scripting required and very easy to use:

https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1671/fsx-ga-traffic/

It found my various attempts at scenery kept in additional folders to the FSX default addonscnery folder.

Couldn't find it in the library here so it's from Flyawaysimulation, here's the blurb:

GA-Traffic second release candidate. GA-Traffic is the first fully automatic general aviation (GA) traffic generator, now for FSX. Features: Generate GA traffic for every installed airport of the whole FSX world at once; Fully automatic detection of installed planes and airports; Simulate different GA traffic behavior; 'Virtual landing fees' unique algorithm to avoid GA traffic generation on busy commercial airports; Amphibian planes used only near seaports; Amount of plane usage selectable for every livery; Different plane usage (taxi, business, rental, student, club and private) selectable for every livery; Unique 'Make AI' function to reduce the texture size of add-on planes to hold the frames per second up.; Proofed aircraft files for correct AI flying behavior; Integrated TrafficTools from Lee Swordy, no need to manual generate the traffic files. By Markus Brunner. (Previous version had 1526 downloads.)

[falcon409]

I use this - no scripting required and very easy to use:

https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1671/fsx-ga-traffic/

It found my various attempts at scenery kept in additional folders to the FSX default addonscnery folder.

Couldn't find it in the library here so it's from Flyawaysimulation, here's the blurb:

GA-Traffic second release candidate. GA-Traffic is the first fully automatic general aviation (GA) traffic generator, now for FSX. Features: Generate GA traffic for every installed airport of the whole FSX world at once; Fully automatic detection of installed planes and airports; Simulate different GA traffic behavior; 'Virtual landing fees' unique algorithm to avoid GA traffic generation on busy commercial airports; Amphibian planes used only near seaports; Amount of plane usage selectable for every livery; Different plane usage (taxi, business, rental, student, club and private) selectable for every livery; Unique 'Make AI' function to reduce the texture size of add-on planes to hold the frames per second up.; Proofed aircraft files for correct AI flying behavior; Integrated TrafficTools from Lee Swordy, no need to manual generate the traffic files. By Markus Brunner. (Previous version had 1526 downloads.)
This is the one I tried yesterday and it was unable to scan the scenery folders outside of the main FSX Addon scenery folder. The only way I could get it to locate them was to go directly to each scenery folder for each scenery and click on the AFCAD bgl. . .I have way too many sceneries to do each one separately so this program got the boot very quickly.

[falcon409]

Hey Falcon,

ORBX has one for North America on its freeware page. I don't know about the limitations you mention and how it handles them.
Installed it last evening Odie so I'm getting ready to go take a look and see if it is working. Thanks for the HU.

REPORT: Nope, this appears to be strictly for Orbx Payware and Freeware Airports:
"This pack will give you AI aircraft coverage at all Orbx payware and freeware airports plus North America Regions."

I originally read that last part to infer that any North American airport would get the benefit, but after going through a large list of my custom airports, I've seen no sign of any GA or small jet activity. Yes I have the traffic sliders set correctly and yes I used the control panel in FTX Central to set the specifications for the AI generation. So it appears that program is a wash as well.

[Bjoern]

TrafficDataBaseBuilder from the SDK works better than "GA Traffic" for me.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526965.aspx#TheTrafficDatabaseBuilderUtility

It's a bit time consuming to set up initially, but once most data is in, generating a new, updated file is quite easy.

[SabreAce]

TrafficDataBaseBuilder from the SDK works better than "GA Traffic" for me.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526965.aspx#TheTrafficDatabaseBuilderUtility

It's a bit time consuming to set up initially, but once most data is in, generating a new, updated file is quite easy.

I'll second the use of TDBB for GA setup. Since the Airport listing is filled via dump from within FS9/X, it's easy to keep that list updated as you install new or updated scenery.

I then run the generated traffic file through AI Flight Planner (http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AIFP). That way, I can use the Subset tool to make sure that, for example, the only place I'm going to see GA that has UK-based textures on them are in flights in and out of the UK. Don't need good ol' G-AKSI showing up landing in California and flying in from Vegas.

[dhasdell]

Falcon , have you checked that the Orbx free AI a/c are in the Airplanes folder, and that there's a traffic bgl somewhere accessible? This might be important if you don't have other Orbx stuff installed.

David

[Ganter]

This is the one I tried yesterday and it was unable to scan the scenery folders outside of the main FSX Addon scenery folder. The only way I could get it to locate them was to go directly to each scenery folder for each scenery and click on the AFCAD bgl. . .I have way too many sceneries to do each one separately so this program got the boot very quickly.


Dump your additional scenery/ AI folders to the default addonscenery folder IN the addonscenery folder - let GA Traffic scan and do its stuff - then it will have created the .bgl. Job done.

Then move your additional folders back to where you want them to be - their location is now irrelevant.

Fly.

[falcon409]

Dump your additional scenery/ AI folders to the default addonscenery folder IN the addonscenery folder - let GA Traffic scan and do its stuff - then it will have created the .bgl. Job done.

Then move your additional folders back to where you want them to be - their location is now irrelevant.

Fly.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm not going to pull 200+ scenery folders from the setup I currently have just to get a program to recognize them. No worth it just to get some GA traffic. Understand, there have only been a few times in the past 20 years or so that I actually had any AI traffic to speak of. Early systems I had suffered from any AI in any realistic numbers so I never used it. I started using AI Flight Planner two or three years ago to setup traffic to some airports I did around the Block Island, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard area. . .mostly to see if it worked. . .it did. . .I got tired of it and never used it again. . .back to no AI. I have some new airports I've done and wanted to setup a regular schedule of flight in and out of the airports. . .I can do without it though.

[Ganter]

I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm not going to pull 200+ scenery folders from the setup I currently have just to get a program to recognize them. No worth it just to get some GA traffic. Understand, there have only been a few times in the past 20 years or so that I actually had any AI traffic to speak of. Early systems I had suffered from any AI in any realistic numbers so I never used it. I started using AI Flight Planner two or three years ago to setup traffic to some airports I did around the Block Island, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard area. . .mostly to see if it worked. . .it did. . .I got tired of it and never used it again. . .back to no AI. I have some new airports I've done and wanted to setup a regular schedule of flight in and out of the airports. . .I can do without it though.


Well, you could bung them all in one folder and drag them all into (FSX Default Addonscenery) - let GA Traffic chew on it - then scatter them back.

Depends how much you want AI Traffic I suppose. Your shout - you OP'd what you wanted - the internet has responded with advice.

Now might be a time to consolidate and organise your sub folders in to a "Save, Save Not" / decision to keep/ hierarchy - and as a bonus get lots of other guys piloting wings around you.

Your sim. Your way. Peace.

[falcon409]

Well, you could bung them all in one folder and drag them all into (FSX Default Addonscenery) - let GA Traffic chew on it - then scatter them back.

Depends how much you want AI Traffic I suppose. Your shout - you OP'd what you wanted - the internet has responded with advice.

Now might be a time to consolidate and organise your sub folders in to a "Save, Save Not" / decision to keep/ hierarchy - and as a bonus get lots of other guys piloting wings around you.

Your sim. Your way. Peace.
Understood. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Ganter]

Understood. Thanks for the suggestions.

Wait, a few hundred sceneries? - that would a right PITA to do then. I only have a dozen or so.

It's a pity there isn't a more straightforward solution for populating FSX/ P3D with GA AI. An opportunity awaits for some bright spark...

[expat]

Ed, like you I have no airliner traffic, only GA and some military. I make up my AI environments manually, using ADEX, TTools and AIFlightPlanner. I have GA flying around Connecticut (Fishers Island, White Plains, etc) and Naval stuff around naval air stations, e.g., Cecil, Key West, and also in SEA. I have some planes parked all the time and just few doing patterns/TNG's to give the area some life. Key is to keep the number of flightplans to a minimum.

[Bjoern]

I'll second the use of TDBB for GA setup. Since the Airport listing is filled via dump from within FS9/X, it's easy to keep that list updated as you install new or updated scenery.

I then run the generated traffic file through AI Flight Planner (http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AIFP). That way, I can use the Subset tool to make sure that, for example, the only place I'm going to see GA that has UK-based textures on them are in flights in and out of the UK. Don't need good ol' G-AKSI showing up landing in California and flying in from Vegas.

For repaints, I generally prefer generics without registrations.

I figure if you can isolate UK airports in the dumped airport list and save those in a new one, you can save yourself the extra step in AIFP. Cutting the aircraft list down to the titles of those with certain registrations isn't much of a problem.

Since I'm running two flavors of GA AI, business aircraft and private aircraft, I've generated an exclusion list for large airports since I figure that most of those are very unwelcoming to small, slow traffic clogging up approach and departure queues.

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/world-airport-data-by-passengers-movements-etc.442161/#post-792539

If this file is parsed after the actual airport file, TDBB will disregard the airports listed in it.