A question about which Aircraft Carrier files to download?

[Navy Chief]

In a couple weeks, I hope to go to Fred Sander's place to install his flight simulator software, and get him set up.

I will install some of the great freeware aircraft, scenery, and utilities that are available, including Javier's aircraft carrier.

With regards to that, I know there's more than one file to download. It gets confusing, figuring out just what to get, and what gets installed first, etc....

Is there a thread that outlines what I need to gather, so when I begin installing?

Oh, and any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!! I will keep a running list!

Thanks.

NC

[GypsyBaron]

Chief, one thing you might want to do, particularly if he has Vista or Win7, is to install
FSX outside of the default directory structure. Anything in the "Program Files"
directory is going to be a PITA to maintain and add to because of UAC.

I suggest a nice short path name like C:\FSX, or if he has more than one drive
or partition, install outside of the C: root drive. Any decent installer software will
find the path in the registry so there should not be issues.

As to addons procedure, I would take them one at a time and fire up FSX and test
after each addition. This may add some time to the process but will save time in
the end if something goes awry and you need to troubleshoot problems.

Vis-avis carriers, the aicarriersr2 package by Lamont Clark should be the first
thing to install, prior to adding the other non-default FSX carriers. Remember that
Java JRE 1.5 or later is required for that install.

Oh, and be sure to log on and bookmark the various forums on his machine so you
can search for "answers" when questions arise during the FSX & addon install process :)

Paul

[Tako_Kichi]

If he fancies a change from US carriers don't forget that the 'Flying Stations' guys did HMS Ark Royal and HMS Victorious for FSX.

http://www.flyingstations.com/

There is also a great French carrier out there too (don't have a link for that at the moment).

[Navy Chief]

Paul,

I don't even know yet what operating system he is using. He knows very little about computer, period. As for installing FSX outside the normal location, I am hesitant to do that because if he goes to install something later on, he won't know what to do if there's an issue.

This is going to be a steep learning curve for Fred! Something tells me that he and I will be on the phone a lot, discussing this!

Thanks.

NC

[big-mike]

Interesting thread.
installed aicarriers and the two carriers fromhttp://www.flyingstations.com/,
How can i add the new two carriers to the aicarrier file?
Thanks
Michael

[GypsyBaron]

Interesting thread.
installed aicarriers and the two carriers fromhttp://www.flyingstations.com/,
How can i add the new two carriers to the aicarrier file?
Thanks
Michael

It's pretty straight forward. You will use the name of the ship from the "title=" entry
of the sim.cfg file of the ship. That gets entered in the aicarriers.cfg file and the
position in a group tagged on. Here is an example from my cfg file:

[formation.13]
title=HMS Victorious
unit.0=Victorious_1940, 0, 0
unit.1=USS_The_Sullivans, 200, 400
unit.2=USS_Miller, -300, 50
unit.3=USS_Owen, 50, -700
unit.4=USS_Stephen_Potter, -50, 700

To add to this group I would add the next line:

unit.5=USS Some Ship of Your Choice, -100, 500

To create a new formation just use the next available formation.xx number
and add your new unit(s) under that heading.

You use any text editor to make the additions.

Paul

[GypsyBaron]

Paul,

I don't even know yet what operating system he is using. He knows very little about computer, period. As for installing FSX outside the normal location, I am hesitant to do that because if he goes to install something later on, he won't know what to do if there's an issue.

This is going to be a steep learning curve for Fred! Something tells me that he and I will be on the phone a lot, discussing this!

Thanks.

NC

I thought about that issue after I posted, Chief. If he has Vista or Win7, he will need some
hand holding in any event due to the over-zealious UAC issue so you WILL, no doubt, be
spending a lot of time on the phone :)

There is a neat free application called "Team Viewer" that allows someone to see your
computer and access everything remotely. A great tool for implementing "support".
The application has a VPN interface and is pretty secure.

I have used it to access my home computer from my netbook while traveling. I can work with the
file system remotely and run applications. I haven't tried to run FSX remotely but being able to
see what is going on as you talk someone through a procedure is almost as good as being there :)

Paul

[Roger]

I have to admit I chose to turn UAC off completely. No one else has access to my pc and I couldn't stand all the permissions rubbish.

[SkippyBing]

As a contrast I have UAC turned on at the second lowest setting with FSX installed in the Programs(x86) directory and have never had any problems with add-ons, modifying stuff etc.
At this level UAC doesn't throw a hissy fit when I change settings etc. but will ask me for permission when programs want to make changes to my computer. This way if some malicious software wants to start altering things it has to ask my permission first, which should set some alarm bells ringing!

[Navy Chief]

I thought about that issue after I posted, Chief. If he has Vista or Win7, he will need some
hand holding in any event due to the over-zealious UAC issue so you WILL, no doubt, be
spending a lot of time on the phone :)

There is a neat free application called "Team Viewer" that allows someone to see your
computer and access everything remotely. A great tool for implementing "support".
The application has a VPN interface and is pretty secure.

I have used it to access my home computer from my netbook while traveling. I can work with the
file system remotely and run applications. I haven't tried to run FSX remotely but being able to
see what is going on as you talk someone through a procedure is almost as good as being there :)

Paul

I have used Teamviewer before when I had some difficulty with a scenery file. A friend of mine in Germany actually logged onto my system and fixed it, using Teamviewer. It was amazing! But Fred would undoubtedly freak out. Something tells me I will be making regular trips to his place. Oh well, I like road trips! NC

[big-mike]

It's pretty straight forward. You will use the name of the ship from the "title=" entry
of the sim.cfg file of the ship. That gets entered in the aicarriers.cfg file and the
position in a group tagged on. Here is an example from my cfg file:

[formation.13]
title=HMS Victorious
unit.0=Victorious_1940, 0, 0
unit.1=USS_The_Sullivans, 200, 400
unit.2=USS_Miller, -300, 50
unit.3=USS_Owen, 50, -700
unit.4=USS_Stephen_Potter, -50, 700

To add to this group I would add the next line:

unit.5=USS Some Ship of Your Choice, -100, 500

To create a new formation just use the next available formation.xx number
and add your new unit(s) under that heading.

You use any text editor to make the additions.

Paul

That work`s.
Thank you very much.
Michael

[fliger747]

I hope he has Win7... The UAC in Vista was a real pain, not having permission to use your own files! But some things required turning it on, so a re-boot was necessary!

I hope he has Accel. The Nimitz as discussed ad infitum here is great for a modern carrier. For WWII the Maichel Davies Lexington (2nd version) and Valley Forge are great ships. The use if the AIships addon allows their placement and control.

T

[Navy Chief]

I hope he has Win7... The UAC in Vista was a real pain, not having permission to use your own files! But some things required turning it on, so a re-boot was necessary!

I hope he has Accel. The Nimitz as discussed ad infitum here is great for a modern carrier. For WWII the Maichel Davies Lexington (2nd version) and Valley Forge are great ships. The use if the AIships addon allows their placement and control.

T

I talked Fred into buying the FSX "Gold" edition, so I know he has Accel. But if I called him and asked if he is using Win7, his response would be HTF should I know? Seriously! He just doesn't know anything about computers. I have my work cut out for me.
NC