Bill Potvins Object Placer

[No Dice]

Has anyone been able to get this program to " SEE " CFS2, I have done everything but can not get it to work as the instructions.
I am attempting to use it to place some CFS2 effects as staic objects in my Alaska Scenery.


The download and instructions can be found here: http://www.mwgfx.co.uk/


Any Help, more than welcomed,

Dave

[Blood_Hawk23]

did you rename your folder. it seems its looking for Combat flight simulator 2. i don't thing you can change that. i'll have to play with it to see more.

[No Dice]

No Sir,
It is in the proper spot and in the FS2002 SDK Effects folder, But according to the instructions, It gives me my choice of sims.....that is a no go.

As you already know, I am quite used to working in scenery programs.....This one has me beat, I am doing something wrong.

I have tried even putting into the main CFS2 folder, then CFS1 folder.............still no go.

Confused in Biloxi, Merry Christmas by the way

Thanks for the help

Dave

[Blood_Hawk23]

No Sir,
It is in the proper spot and in the FS2002 SDK Effects folder, But according to the instructions, It gives me my choice of sims.....that is a no go.

As you already know, I am quite used to working in scenery programs.....This one has me beat, I am doing something wrong.

I have tried even putting into the main CFS2 folder, then CFS1 folder.............still no go.

Confused in Biloxi, Merry Christmas by the way

Thanks for the help

Dave

Its actually looking for Combat Flight Simulator version 2. as well as combat flight simulator version 1. I wounder if that might be the issue. try changing the folder name and see if that helps. I'll install it and give it a go.

[Blood_Hawk23]

it seems that i will have to reinstall CFS2 so that it is in the registry. i think that will be the limitation of this software. is scans for the versions its looking for/ so if your not installed with what it wants it wont find it. and you can tell it to look for others.

[No Dice]

Could it be the "NO CD" program that messes it up ?

I will try an Install on my "C" rather than "program files" ???

[Blood_Hawk23]

Could it be the "NO CD" program that messes it up ?

I will try an Install on my "C" rather than "program files" ???



i'm going to add a fresh install. maybe it has to be unaltered. I'm not sure.

[No Dice]

Cancel That, I have a fresh install of FS2000...Forgot I put it there last week, wanted some gauges for my Helos.
It seems not to find that either........HhMnnn

[Blood_Hawk23]

Cancel That, I have a fresh install of FS2000...Forgot I put it there last week, wanted some gauges for my Helos.
It seems not to find that either........HhMnnn


does it have to be in the same folder?

[No Dice]

I have tried putting the program and then the program along with the SDK into the CFS2 main folder, no go either way.

[Blood_Hawk23]

I'm at a loss. what ever its looking for its not finding it.

[No Dice]

Same here, too bad, I had hopes for that program.

Thanks for the efforts, Merry Christmas sir.

Dave

[Blood_Hawk23]

Same here, too bad, I had hopes for that program.

Thanks for the efforts, Merry Christmas sir.

Dave


Your most welcome. I'll give it another try later. I'm working the next couple nites so I won't be able to do anything till tuesday.

Have a Marry Christmas.

Till Later,
John

[Sarg Willy]

Hi Dave ,, could not find that utility at Martin,s site , and I don,t know if this will work for what you want , But it,s an old cfs-1 bgl placer , called Staffs vr 12 , should still be at Utilites , Simviation , I,ve used it to place the cfs-1 London bgl structures and bridge , and it will allow you to scale the visual size closer to Cfs-2 spec,s

[No Dice]

Thank you Sarg,
I actually wanted to use it to place effects in my static scenery for Alaska, ie: smoke ect.

It is also available on my site along with the required SDK just below it.
http://thefreeflightsite.com/Utilities2.htm

Just can not seem to get it to work which is a bit strange for Bills programs, he was always one of the best.

Take a peek at the scenery here if you wish:
http://thefreeflightsite.com/Projects_1.htm

Thank you for your suggestions, Happy Holidays!

Dave

[rhumbaflappy]

Hi all.

Bill Potvin's object placer won't work in Windows 7 or 8. From the documentation:


The Registry is scanned for all versions, (6.1, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0) of the Flight Simulator series and you may select among them.

The registry is much different for the newer Windows.

Dick

[rhumbaflappy]

Both Bill Potvin's object placer and the original object placer produce a ".csv" file. this is a comma-separated-value file... just a text file in fact.

Here's one named test.txt ( .csv not needed ):


; Generated by BGLPlacer 8.0
;
; format for each line is the following:
; EFFECT, <fx file name>,<Lat>,<Lon>,<Alt>,<Pitch>,<Bank>,<Heading>,<Den>,<Extra Params>
; LIBRARY, <Library object name>,<Lat>,<Lon>,<Alt>,<Pitch>,<Bank>,<Heading>,<Den>,<SHADOW=#;SIGNAL=#;RADIUS=#;SCALE=#>
; WINDSOCK,,<Lat>,<Lon>,<Alt>,<Pitch>,<Bank>,<Heading>,<Den>,<POLE_COLOR=RRGGBB;SOCK_COLOR=RRGGBB;HEIGHT=##;LENG TH=##;LIGHTED=0/1>
; BUILDING,,<Lat>,<Lon>,<Alt>,<Pitch>,<Bank>,<Heading>,<Den>,<Params...>
;
LIBRARY,"094198841h,04875592Ah,09A1A34A6h,031CB5841h",S009* 25' 08.9900,E160* 03' 43.1000,AGL,0.00,0.00,0.00,Very Sparse,"SHADOW=1;SIGNAL=2000;RADIUS=14;SCALE=65536000"
LIBRARY,"09797FC57h,08A930060h,011D14AC5h,0A028DC06h",S009* 25' 05.4800,E160* 03' 35.5300,AGL,0.00,0.00,0.00,Very Sparse,"SHADOW=1;SIGNAL=2000;RADIUS=14;SCALE=131072"
LIBRARY,"09797FC57h,08A930060h,011D14AC5h,0A028DC37h",S009* 24' 53.7000,E160* 03' 52.6400,AGL,0.00,0.00,0.00,Very Sparse,"SHADOW=1;SIGNAL=10000;RADIUS=140;SCALE=218453"


It places 3 objects near Henderson.

Instead of <Library object name> I used a GUID ( note the format ). Also the Lat and Long is formatted quite specifically. AGL is At-Ground-Level. SIGNAL is the range at which the object pops into view. RADIUS is the radius of the object's footprint. The SCALE is a bit tricky. A SCALE of 1 is 65536 and most fs2004 objects are built to this scale. 65536000=0.001 218453 = roughly 0.3 655360=0.1 131072=0.5 The scale of 0.5 is figured as (65536 / 0.5), and is common to many CFS2, fs2002 objects.

Drag'n'drop the txt file onto BGLC_9.exe, and it makes an object placement BGL. Sorry, you can't destroy these objects. Or from a command line:

BGLC_9 test.txt

I could make a placement tool using FSUIPC for the aircraft position, and heading, and a text file with the GUID, and signal,radius and scale of the default objects...

Dick

[No Dice]

Thank You Dick, I will give it a go.

Merry Christmas,

Dave

[rhumbaflappy]

Hi Dave.

I have found a problem with the csv-created BGLs made by BGLC. Any rotation ( heading ) of the object produces a duplicate object at 0.0 heading overlapping the rotated object. This is the fault of the internal BGLC compiler, and there is not much to do about it. :(

I may still struggle on with creating an object placer using scasm-based code. Then I can place the "Returns" where they are needed, and we can more easily toggle shadow display and crash.

Dick

[No Dice]

Hello Dick,
What I am attempting to use it for is placing effects, ie: smoke stacks , forrest fires ect into static scenery.

No luck as of yet, But I am about to test another effect now.

Being the wizard that you are, your interest is much appreciated.

I have tried the FS Effects program that produces .api's for FS2002 but had had no luck with that program in CFS2 either.

Have a Great Day,

Dave

[rhumbaflappy]

Hi Dave.

My understanding is that effects only work in missions, and only when used with an object's DP file. I don't believe CFS2 can show an effect statically.

Dick

[No Dice]

Hello Dick,
At this point I am more than sure you are correct. Afterall...I do know who I am talking to ( I still type with 2 fingers, you write code ) and you have my upmost respect.

I am going to attempt to get my windows 98 up and running to give it one more attempt, only because Bill's object placer was set up for effects in CFS2 ( according to his instructions) why would he do that if it could only be done thru the mission builder. Other than that, I will be back to FSDS V2 and see what I can create with that.
Martin did some work in CFS1 with fire and smoke....But it just does not look good by todays standards in CFS2.

Thank you for your mesh and Cell Grid that I use for my scenery, I could not have my hobby without them.


I will attempt to update some pics before the wife puts me to work on preparations for family tomorrow.

http://thefreeflightsite.com/Projects_1.htm

Be safe sir and Thank you again,

Dave