Strange Phenom

[Autothrottle]

I was playing my CFS3 two days ago when suddenly the game crashed.

I selected my groundcrew Bf110G-2 from my list and selected a 3001 droptank when the game suddenly went to black and crashed.

This also happened with Beaus Halifax, and some other aircraft I had installed.

I have all of the Avhistory weapons files current so every aircraft has its weapons loadouts installed from the weapons menu.

What I don't understand is why the game had to crash when I selected weapons loadouts. I have all the files there already.

I uninstalled and re-installed CFS3 with bated breath because I don't want this to happen again, especially as we all wait for Bravo/4 to release the newer aircraft.

This all started happening after I installed the Aeroplane Heaven Schmitfire to my game. If anyone else has any clues as to why this happened please drop me a line in this thread.

[HouseHobbit]

It may be that you are missing something in the Shared file inside of the aircraft folder, or pehaps there is something missing in the shared file inside of the weapons folder..I have had this problem in the past and I dicovered a corrupted file within my shared folders..
I hope that you are able to work this out..
Our beloved flight sims are as picky as a ex-wife in court ..
One of those things that have to be perfect in order to even have a chance..

[Autothrottle]

Do you need every shared file for every aircraft you have?

For example: A Bf110C from Simviation needs the Bf110c shared files from that site too correct?

It can't work with any other shared files for other 110's can it?

[noelberrier]

In fact what you need is the exact list of textures, sounds, weapons, ordanance ... for the aircraft you fly. Usually, those are included in the joint shared file. There is little chance you can find it in another shared file as naming conventions are different from one designer to another.

[wsmwsm]

I don't know if this will help but. . .

There are a small number of thirdparty aircraft in which errors were made in the loadouts. Check the XDP fille and make certain that the weapons (and pylons) listed there have EXACTLY the same name as the weapons you have available in the CFS3 Weapons folder. I noticed this in certain aircraft long after they had been installed due to the fact that I simply hadn't used a specific loadout. Then CFS3 suddenly crashed. Took me a while to realize there were minor errors in the XDP files.

[Autothrottle]

Okay. I got rid of the problem aircraft and re-installed CFS3.

The only aircraft from groundcrew I have is Greg's Kondor and a Hs-123 and a Ju-87b and I think I have their shared files sorted out.

I'm hoping the same problem doesn't occur with Nacts' Ju-290 and the Catalina.

I did a virus scan and a Disk check so there are no more problems for now... I hope.

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Autothrottle, a useful proggy in the addons section here at SOH is an xls file called "campaign generator 1.1" I think the older version is also here.
A lot of people don't know that one of the macros associated with this proggy is an aircraft weapons and pylons check.
It saves you a hell of a lot of time to run this as with one click you can check all the aircraft in your install. Often you pick up what wmsm said - there are several minor errors in xdp files floating about, referring to weapons or pylons but having a typo so that the requsiste weapon or pylon cannot be found.

The only drawback with cagen1_1.xls is that you need MS Excel or another software that will open xls files, and is able to run the macros. Microsoft triews to disable the macros when you open the file; you need the macros for it to work.

HTH,
D

[Autothrottle]

Hey Daiwiletti,

Thanks for the info. Is this the file you mentioned made by LB_industries? I saw another uploaded called list aircraft that's supposed to go along with it. Is this necessary?

Also , Should I backup anything in my CFS3 folders before running the campaign generator 1.1?

[Daiwilletti]

I haven't found the need for backup. It does not change files, only reads them.

You only need the one. List aircraft is another iteration of the same thing, although it may have some different macros - I haven't looked at it for ages.
The trick is to get the right path for your instal entered into cagen, and have a / forward slash as the last part of the file path.

[Autothrottle]

I saw someone mention having a macros. What is the right one to have and where can I find it to go along with the campaign generator to make it work?

[Autothrottle]

Hold on, belay that!

Everything is working now with the Excel program and Macros. However, my PC wants to know if its safe to use. I ran a anti-virus check on it and its clean, but isn't there a chance for the macros to allow trojans or spyware into my system?

[Emile]

Hello,
I do not find this excell program.
May I have more informations like the name of who made it?
Thanks in advance

[Daiwilletti]

Hold on, belay that!

Everything is working now with the Excel program and Macros. However, my PC wants to know if its safe to use. I ran a anti-virus check on it and its clean, but isn't there a chance for the macros to allow trojans or spyware into my system?
Hi Autothrottle,
I got cagen1_1.xls from here at SOH. It was fine when I got it. Would be strange for a file stored at SOH to suddenly acquire a malicious code.
@emile : have you looked under cfs addons, under "other" or "betas"? That's where I'ld start.

cheers,
D

[Autothrottle]

So how do you use this program? It shows all of the XDP files, Weapons Loadouts and Guns and stuff, but everything is in Green bars all the way down. I don't know how the program tells which are the right formats for the aircrafts or not.

How do I use this Program? Also, How can I tell the files match or not?

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Autothrottle,
first you need to get the correct filepath for you instal. Follow the following format C:\install pathway\ (don't forget the final backslash).

Then select cell 14A (if you are using campaign i.1.xls not another version). Then click the list aircraft files. Then you can select weapon and pylon check for all aircraft.

HTH,

[Autothrottle]

Thanks for tha advice. However I'm still new to this program and I don't know how it works fully.

It has everything you said with the lists of Aircraft XDP's, Guns, and Pylons. All of the lists are showing what allegiance the weapons and aircraft belong to in green, but you mentioned it only checks to see if the files match. In slot 14A lets say for example in the weapons category: I have all Groundcrew and Avhistory Weapons installed; it says 105mm45_round.xdp, in the Aircraft,vehicle,guns and pylons list next to it it says :105mm45_round.

Is this what you are talking about with all the files to see if they match or not? I just wanna make sure.

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Autothrottle,
I don't do much with the list weapons option. it is handy if you want to check weapon xdps because its the quickest way once you have tje list of wepons in front of you, you can open each xdp in turn using the button up the top right. I guess the ETO compilers used this tool as a quick check that they had added the appropriate effects lines to all the appropriate weapons. It certainly saves time for that operation.

But what I was really pointing you to is the "list aircraft" option. Here you can check the aircraft xdps for the ENTIRE install, with the weapon and pylons check. It takes about five minutes to run after you have cliked the check button. Once its run it lists any probles identified in a right hand column the key things to look out for are NP (no pylon) or NW (no weapon). These problems cause crashes if the plane tries to randomly spawn in a campaign mission, or if you try to select the plane in QC mode. Sometimes in QC mode the plane can be slected, and you only get a freeze/crash if you select the particular problematic loadout with the missing pylon or weapon.

Once you have a plane with one of these problms, you can highlight the cell in the xdp column on the far LHS, and then click the top right "open xdp". Once the xdp opens in notepad you can scan the loadouts section to look for anything obvious with the pylon or weapons. Often you spot a simple thing like a typo, or a giveaway is when four of the lodouts specify GC rockets and one specifies a Dr prefixed rocket. You will find your weapons folder does not have the DR rocket. I just found this recently for an ETO Beau, from memory.

Its a simple and quick thing to edit the xdp to refer to the GC rocket rather than the DR rocket. Then delete the BDP!! don't forget this step!!

Then run the weapon check just for the one aircraft in the aircraft list xls proggy (unless you want to stare at the screen for five minutes while it checks the lot again, lol.

The next most useful feature of the proggy is to list the ships. Again, here you can quickly check nationalities, statr dates, etc so you can see what is going to spawn for your particular campaign era. If you have a highly modified install, you may find that you are missing a key type of ship (destroyer, auxiliary) for the period you are using. this can explain lack of spawning targets when you fly anti ship missions for example.

HTH,
D

[Autothrottle]

Thanks for the assist, I'll continue to monitor the aircraft in the lists you gave me.

I don't think Ill have much problems because most of the aircraft I have now have the correct XDP and pylons and weapons settings. The real issue with me are newer aircraft like Natctpilotens Ju290 and his Catalina. I'm not sure they might have aliased groundcrew weapons and pylons. Do you think newer aircraft cause problems like these or is it just a myth?