FSX Aircraft don't have to be in Simobjects/airplane to fly

[simtech]

Perhaps I'm the only one that didn't know this, but I discovered something interesting about the FSX file structure. I had just flown Alphasim's F-101 after quite a bit of time of it being "hangar bound" and wished to make a couple minor changes to the Aircraft.cfg. I looked in simobjects\airplanes and lo and behold it wasn't there. How could this be..? I just flew it..it must be in the "airplane" folder. It wasn't. What I discovered is that a few months ago I had cataloged some of the aircraft by virtue of type: Warbird, military jet, military cargo, etc. and placed them in folders with the corresponding names under simobjects. I looked in the military jet folder and there was the F-101. I hadn't realized that FSX will load any and everything if it's in a type folder under simobjects. All of these show up under the aircraft selection menu. What I don't know tho, how to edit the "type" headings. Perhaps they're listed in FSX. cfg or the XML file somewhere. :dizzy: Who knew?? Learn something new everyday...terry

[falcon409]

Yep, been doing just that for years now. Those additional folders would have to be added to the [Main] section of the FSX.cfg file in order to be recognized. (Apparently this was added to your cfg file. . .otherwise the Sim wouldn't recognize the folders)

This is my section:
[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Bush
SimObjectPaths.6=SimObjects\Civil Jets
SimObjectPaths.7=SimObjects\General Aviation
SimObjectPaths.8=SimObjects\Military
SimObjectPaths.9=SimObjects\Misc
SimObjectPaths.10=SimObjects\WWII

[simtech]

:wiggle: Great, Ed... thank you very much for the tips on folder titles. I'll be doing that shortly, for sure. This sure makes cataloging so much easier.

[spokes2112]

Just a heads up on this..
If you comment out one line in the [Main] SimObjectPaths.XX listing all of the following will not work unless renumbered.

EX - this will not show Helos or Ground Vehicles

[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
//SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

EX - this will get Ground Vehicles back

[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
//SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

A tip? If you have AI vehicles and like to turn them off for any reason, just reorder your list and place them at the bottom. No fuss.
This turns off 7 & 8..

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\Misc
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.6=SimObjects\!_Airplanes_Alternate
//SimObjectPaths.7=SimObjects\AI Aircraft
SimObjectPaths.8=MyTraffic\Aircraft

[falcon409]

Ah, good info, thanks Roman!

[ian elliot]

This is intresting stuff, but not sure if its any practical use, You can select aircraft type from the drop down menu in sim, it does the work for you without you messing with the cfg.

As for ---- "If you have AI vehicles and like to turn them off for any reason, just reorder your list and place them at the bottom. No fuss."
This turns off 7 & 8.. Why not set the Ground Vehicle slider to Zero in the options menu ?
Why do things the hard way when you can do them the easy way :adoration:

[FlyingsCool]

Just a heads up on this..
If you comment out one line in the [Main] SimObjectPaths.XX listing all of the following will not work unless renumbered.

EX - this will not show Helos or Ground Vehicles

[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
//SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

EX - this will get Ground Vehicles back

[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
//SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

A tip? If you have AI vehicles and like to turn them off for any reason, just reorder your list and place them at the bottom. No fuss.
This turns off 7 & 8..

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\Misc
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.6=SimObjects\!_Airplanes_Alternate
//SimObjectPaths.7=SimObjects\AI Aircraft
SimObjectPaths.8=MyTraffic\Aircraft

It wasn't clear to me what you're trying to say. The order of items in the list doesn't matter. What you're doing is putting a // in front of the line makes it a comment line so FSX doesn't read it. But putting the AI aircraft line at the bottom or top won't change anything about how FSX orders the vehicles in the airplane selection window. You are correct that you do need to put a number for each item, i.e. SimObjectPaths.x=

[falcon409]

This is intresting stuff, but not sure if its any practical use, You can select aircraft type from the drop down menu in sim, it does the work for you without you messing with the cfg.

As for ---- "If you have AI vehicles and like to turn them off for any reason, just reorder your list and place them at the bottom. No fuss."
This turns off 7 & 8.. Why not set the Ground Vehicle slider to Zero in the options menu ?
Why do things the hard way when you can do them the easy way :adoration:
Of course you are 100% correct. What it comes down to is personal preference, pure and simple. For those of us who subscribe to this way of "categorizing" aircraft, it's a visible way of knowing that all GA are "here", all Military are "here" and all Experimental are "here" and so on. Might not make any sense to anyone else but it makes us happy, lol

[FlyingsCool]

Regarding cataloging your airplanes so they're easy to find, one thing that I do is edit every aircraft.cfg to set up their information consistently.

At the top you'll find a section like this for each texture set for the plane model you are looking at...
(p.s. always make sure that [fltsim.x] field is properly filled out. I don't think order matters, but obviously it's easier to manage them if you number the sections for each plane in order, starting at 0 then 1,2 etc.).

[fltsim.0]
title=ALPHA T-34A, Bare Metal
sim=T-34
model=A
panel=
sound=
texture=A1
kb_checklists=T-34B_check
ui_manufacturer=Beechcraft
ui_type=T-34A Mentor
ui_variation=bare metal
ui_typerole="Military Prop - Trainer"
ui_createdby="Alphasim Ltd"
description="© ALPHA Simulations 2004\n\nThe T-34 Mentor was a result of Beechcraft's private effort at creating a trainer based on the Bonanza. The new aircraft had tandem seating and a conventional tail rather than the distinctive Bonanza V-tail. Known as the Beech Model 45 Mentor, the aircraft first flew on December 2, 1948. A total of 973 T-34A and T-34B aircraft were ultimately ordered by the USAF and US Navy. In 1960, the USAF adopted an all-jet training program, whilst the US Navy phased out the T-34B in favor of the T-34C Turbo Mentor. The T-34 was widely exported, with Japan, Argentina, Great Britain, and the Phillipines being among those countries to use the type. Many are still flying, although a number of Airworthiness Directives regarding the wing have grounded these until compliance has been shown."
atc_heavy=0
atc_id=
atc_airline=
atc_flight_number=
atc_id_color=0000000000
atc_parking_codes=T34
atc_parking_types=M000
visual_damage=0

The lines of import are the bolded lines above. These are used to sort airplanes in the "Select Aircraft" menu. There are three pulldowns at the top, Aircraft Manufacturer (ui_manufacturer), Publisher (ui_createdby), and Aircraft type (ui_typerole). You can put whatever you want in these fields, and FSX will then display them in the pull-downs.

In FSX they created a new parameter ui_createdby. So I always change ui_manufacturer to the aircraft's manufacturer, and change the ui_createdby to the author of the airplane model. Then I can use the pull-downs to filter airplanes by those fields. For ui_typerole, again, you can make up whatever want. Personally I've standardized on the following:

Aerobatic
Collings Foundation
Commercial Airliner
Four Engine Prop
Glider
Golden Age
Ground Vehicle
Historic
Military Jet
Military Prop - Bomber
Military Prop - Fighter
Military Prop - Observation
Military Prop - Trainer
Military Prop - Transport
Modern Military
Propliner
Regional Jet
Rigid Airship
Rotorcraft
Single Engine Prop
Single Engine Prop Amphib
Single Engine Prop Floats
Single Engine Prop Ski/Wheel
Single Engine Prop Turboprop
Twin Engine Jet
Twin Engine Prop
Twin Engine Turboprop
WWI

You can create whatever categories you want, and they will be listed under Aircraft type: in the Select Aircraft menu.

One very important caveat about ui_typerole, and I imagine this may be true for all fields: Once you label a plane ui_typerole, all the rest of the planes of the exact same ui_type in that aircraft.cfg file will use that same value for typerole, no matter what you put in in ui_typerole for the other planes.

So, for instance, if I have ui_type=B-17G in an aircraft.cfg, and I want some to be ui_typerole="Military Prop - Bomber", but one of them I want to be ui_typerole=Collings Foundation", I have to change the ui_type for that plane to be something else, like ui_type="B-17G Collings"

Another interesting fact you may have noticed is that if "Show all variations" is unchecked, then the label under the picture is just whatever is in the ui_manufacturer ui_type fields. If you check "Show all variations", then it displays ui_manufacturer ui_type ui_variation.

Also, if there is no ui_typerole for a plane in a aircraft.cfg, that plane ends up being put in the typerole "Legacy".

Whatever text you put after a \\ will not be read by FSX and is useful for creating comments so you can remember what you were thinking.

By taking the time to be consistent in all my labels, it makes finding the planes I want much easier, and my OCD doesn't go wild when I look at any of the pull-downs :playful:

[Dangerous Beans]

You can go further with this if you want to have some of your planes on a different hard drive by putting the full path in the SimObjectPaths line
e.g.

[Main]
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc
SimObjectPaths.6=D:\MyPlanes

The only thing to bear in mind is that if any of them use sounds or panels that are aliased to planes in your main install they wont find them so you would have to copy the relevant parts over to the other drive too.

[WarHorse47]

This is intresting stuff, but not sure if its any practical use, It's a lot easier to locate a specific aircraft folder when all the ai aircraft are relocated to another folder. I have a lot of payware, freeware, and ai aircraft and am constantly moving flyable aircraft (folders) in an out of my primary Airplanes directory.

[ian elliot]

Might not make any sense to anyone else but it makes us happy, lol

Maybe i shouldn't have been so hasty, as someone who is constantly tinkering with his own install, i should understand :biggrin-new:


It's a lot easier to locate a specific aircraft folder when all the ai aircraft are relocated to another folder. I have a lot of payware, freeware, and ai aircraft and am constantly moving flyable aircraft (folders) in an out of my primary Airplanes directory.

A big light bulb has gone on over my head, my Ai outnumber my flyer's, about 4 to 1. there is wisdom in what you speak, one of the benefits for me is a lot quicker load up time for flights. What would be great is if a switch could be invented to select folders in flight rather than hand editing cfg's, sort of like Aicarriers selecting what carrier you want half way through a flight, just dreaming :biggrin-new:

[WarHorse47]

Maybe i shouldn't have been so hasty, as someone who is constantly tinkering with his own install, i should understand :biggrin-new:



A big light bulb has gone on over my head, my Ai outnumber my flyer's, about 4 to 1. there is wisdom in what you speak, one of the benefits for me is a lot quicker load up time for flights. What would be great is if a switch could be invented to select folders in flight rather than hand editing cfg's, sort of like Aicarriers selecting what carrier you want half way through a flight, just dreaming :biggrin-new:Hold that thought. :untroubled:

I use Formation Toys on occasion. When you select your aircraft folder, I selected the folder with the AI Aircraft which look just as good and have lesser impact on frame rates because they lack a panel, etc.

[simtech]

There are many ideas that have been illuminated that otherwise would have gone unknown. Many thanks to one and all who contributed to this subject. This is but another example where while engaging FSX, one can learn something new and useful every day.:dizzy:I'm especially intrigued to placing additional aircraft off the main FSX drive and being able to pull them from a secondary drive.. very interesting, indeed.