Freeware scenery in V4?

[falcon409]

Every so often I get this voice on my shoulder telling me to go ahead and get V4. . . .then another voice says "fugetaboutit, stick with V3.4". So my concern is that all my sceneries will have to be recompiled specifically for V4 before they'll work. My stuff is pretty simple, just agn files for vegetation and bgl files for buildings and ground texture. Surely that should be universally acceptable regardless of the sim version? Right? lol

[Dimus]

That is correct Ed. All my sceneries worked straight as there is no code in them, just content. Haven't tried yours yet but I'm sure they'll work.

[gman5250]

Your stuff should be fine Ed, the basic format should not be affected. All four of my scenery packages, including the big one at KRNO plugged right in and looked even better than v3. If you run into any difficulties, I'll be glad to lend support.

The thing with v4 is this. You will be able to extend your skill sets and learn even better techniques. Your work is great...it should be in v4. IMO

The thing to bear in mind is that v4 is going to require a good card. My GTX780 is low end of the scale, but works extremely well.

[falcon409]

Thanks for the replies guys. Gordon, I'm running an NVidia GTX 970/4gig card which I've been real happy with after coming from 600 Series card with 2gig. Looks like I may have to cave to the little voice at some point and make the leap to V4, lol

[gman5250]

Thanks for the replies guys. Gordon, I'm running an NVidia GTX 970/4gig card which I've been real happy with after coming from 600 Series card with 2gig. Looks like I may have to cave to the little voice at some point and make the leap to V4, lol

Four gig card will treat you real well Ed. I think you will be happy with your decision.

[paiken]

You really don't need to think twice about switching to P3dv4. I made the jump on release day, and even on my overage Dell XPS 8300 with a Nvidia GTX660 video card I'm getting THE BEST frame rates and overall fluidity of any sim platform I've had.

[spatialpro]

Go for it Ed, you won't regret it!

[falcon409]

Made the purchase and installed last evening. Getting ready to migrate the available Orbx Products over to V4 along with Aircraft/Gauges/Effects/Sounds/etc. I'll also move a few Scenery's in just to have a look-see. A slow process deliberately to be sure everything that comes over works well with the new 64bit and I don't get any problem areas.

[Daube]

Careful with the OrbX sceneries, there's a specific process to migrate them, if I remember correctly. The latest FTXCentral does that for you. But you might have read the other topics about this already

[falcon409]

Daube, I already had the latest version of FTXCentral so I didn't have to upgrade that and according the FTX Website if I have V3 installed then FTXCentral simply copies all necessary files over. However that's not what it did, it asked me to run the migration tool first and then after that I checked the "FTX Global Range" menu and it showed that none were installed. I ended up having to download and install each one rather than it copying everything over as it was supposed to. Not a big deal as it didn't take very long, but curious why it didn't work as it was supposed to.

Something else I noticed, I use FSTramp and I ran the database collection program to see if it recognized the new version (actually all I had to do was point it to the new installation). When it loaded the information it showed a duplicate of everything I have loaded in V3.4. So I'm unsure if it is simply "sharing" that info from 3.4 or if it actually moved/copied all that over as part of the initial install.

Proceeding cautiously, lol

[Crusader]

Ed , you might have a look at this freeware program " P3Dv4 Addon Organizer " I found over on the Avsim (P3D forum) . The P3dv4 version just came out last Tuesday . It takes a lot of the work out of manually messing with the C:/documents/P3Dv4 using the xml method of adding scenery which is favored by Lockheed Martin . I've used it with George Keogh's outstanding Hawaii Scenery parts 1-3 which by the way had a lot of different parts . I tested it on top of Orbx FTX Global and it works fine . I have not completely checked the entire scenery package out yet . I just made a folder named P3Dv4 Hawaii Scenery and it made the xml and placed it in C: P3Dv4/documents , it shows up in the P3Dv4 Scenery Library and it works ! I'm not a programmer but this program is simple and easy to use . It does almost everything as you will read in the link below . Adds the xml's (either individual sceneries xml's or several sceneries into one xml . You can add or delete the scenery , move the priorities up or down in the Scenery Library . activate or deactivate in the Scenery Library , allows you to edit , it even makes backups of all your cfg files .

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/5...ht-way/?page=3

There is a link to the program towards the bottom of the page from the developer ( Lorby-SI )

Ed , getting ready to add your New England scenery to a folder I made up to put them all in , " Ed's New England Scenery " . I might try to use the program to group all into one xml .

Read it over , sounds good so far , A lot of people on Avsim are trying it with good results , very simple to use . I choose the route of making and grouping scenery folders for P3Dv4 only . I know this is a little extra work but I'll be able to manage scenery better for v4 . Everyone will have their own way , whatever works for them best . I know there some good payware organizer programs but this is very good IMO .

Rich

[falcon409]

I'll give that a try. In fact, when I loaded V4 and took a look in the Scenery Library, it only contained the default airports and the Orbx products I just installed. Obviously what I was seeing in the FSTramp Menu was left over from 3.4 and not indicative of what was actually installed in 4.0.

As for the way the Organizer works, I have always kept my scenery outside of the Sim and actually on a separate drive. I also have all my scenery separated by Regions/States so setting it up in the organizer should go fairly easily as the Organization is already there, I'll just have to select each region and give it it's own xml file.

[Daube]

Sorry for the trouble, Falcon :/
In fact, I'll probably have to go through the very same problems when I install v4.
Actually, my OrbX sceneries are still from FSS, I have never found the courage to install that FTXv3 and "migrate" my licences, and possibly have to download everything again...

[falcon409]

Sorry for the trouble, Falcon :/
In fact, I'll probably have to go through the very same problems when I install v4.
Actually, my OrbX sceneries are still from FSS, I have never found the courage to install that FTXv3 and "migrate" my licenses, and possibly have to download everything again...

No problem at all Daube, just a learning experience is all. Actually, once all your products are registered through Orbx, the process for installing and organizing your scenery is pretty painless and I've not experienced any problems with that side of it at all. It can sometimes be a bit slow in downloading and installing the first time around, but for the most part it's the best way to go.

[Crusader]

I'll give that a try. In fact, when I loaded V4 and took a look in the Scenery Library, it only contained the default airports and the Orbx products I just installed. Obviously what I was seeing in the FSTramp Menu was left over from 3.4 and not indicative of what was actually installed in 4.0.

As for the way the Organizer works, I have always kept my scenery outside of the Sim and actually on a separate drive. I also have all my scenery separated by Regions/States so setting it up in the organizer should go fairly easily as the Organization is already there, I'll just have to select each region and give it it's own xml file.

As you I try to keep all scenery out of P3D's folder . I read Orbx loads theirs into the root folder because Global for example replaces default textures etc . Love v4 ! I've been able to fly in areas where I usually got OOM's . As Gman noted , " We are in a new era of fightsimming " . Looking forward to the AC and scenery devs to upgrade their installers to v4 compatibility .

Have a good day ,

Rich

[gman5250]

Just a HU Ed,

Take some time and bring yourself up to speed on the Options/Add-Ons features. You can manage your add-ons by using this facility, and it gives you the choice of enabling or disabling via that menu. Some of the developers are updating installers to use this folder.

If you have Flightbeam, FSDreamTeam, A2A etc. they are pointing their updated installers at the Add-ons folder. Before you begin to migrate, make sure you are pointing at the same folders the updated installers are using.

It's a bit more of a learning curve, but I am finding the new option to be very convenient.

[falcon409]

Just a HU Ed,

Take some time and bring yourself up to speed on the Options/Add-Ons features. You can manage your add-ons by using this facility, and it gives you the choice of enabling or disabling via that menu. Some of the developers are updating installers to use this folder.

If you have Flightbeam, FSDreamTeam, A2A etc. they are pointing their updated installers at the Add-ons folder. Before you begin to migrate, make sure you are pointing at the same folders the updated installers are using.

It's a bit more of a learning curve, but I am finding the new option to be very convenient.

Payware Scenery-wise I have very little (actually only two) outside of Orbx and as far as Aircraft go, again, very little that is payware. . .most of mine (FSX Native Only) are freeware. I don't fly Commercial aircraft, don't even use them as AI. . .same with Military. Everything I fly is GA.

[gman5250]

Payware Scenery-wise I have very little (actually only two) outside of Orbx and as far as Aircraft go, again, very little that is payware. . .most of mine (FSX Native Only) are freeware. I don't fly Commercial aircraft, don't even use them as AI. . .same with Military. Everything I fly is GA.

When I did the work for ORBX, I had full access to all of their scenery. Funny thing was, I was so busy I never took advantage of it!

Now, I spend all of my time in my own scenery and airplanes doing the development work, so I still don't use much of the other stuff I've accumulated over the last few years. I think you are going to be surprised at your own scenery in V4.

[Roadburner440]

Just a caution on freeware is that if you have simple BGL's then it will work.. So far I have yet to figure out how to get more complex freeware with custom autogen buildings working. KVQQ (NAS Cecil Field) all the ground textures show but absolutely no buildings. The one thing with P3Dv4 is there is no "Addon Scenery" folder, so I have been playing around with how to install scenery. For the current time I put stuff in the P3dv4/scenery/Cities folder and that seems to work well, and will work for any normal scenery.

[falcon409]

Just a caution on freeware is that if you have simple BGL's then it will work.. So far I have yet to figure out how to get more complex freeware with custom autogen buildings working. KVQQ (NAS Cecil Field) all the ground textures show but absolutely no buildings. The one thing with P3Dv4 is there is no "Addon Scenery" folder, so I have been playing around with how to install scenery. For the current time I put stuff in the P3dv4/scenery/Cities folder and that seems to work well, and will work for any normal scenery.

The buildings were most likely compiled for FS9. I compile for FSX and all my buildings display just fine. You can make an Addon Scenery folder with a "texture" and "scenery" folders inside. I also maintain all my scenery outside of the main Sim folder.

[Roadburner440]

Thanks Falcon. That might definitely be the issue as Cecil was compiled for FS9, and NavyChief recompiled it for FSX. I have ran in to other issues too trying to get other airports working where taxiways aren't displaying and such. Might very well be the same problem. I did create an Addon Scenery folder like you suggested, but still the same thing occurred. I may just need to do what I've never done before and get down in the weeks and learn some scenery stuff for once.

[Dimus]

Taxiways not showing in sceneries compiled for FSX is an issue with P3D since v2. It is a simple checkbox tick if you have ADE to recompile the scenery. I had to update all of mine this way.

[falcon409]

Thanks Falcon. That might definitely be the issue as Cecil was compiled for FS9, and NavyChief recompiled it for FSX. I have ran in to other issues too trying to get other airports working where taxiways aren't displaying and such. Might very well be the same problem. I did create an Addon Scenery folder like you suggested, but still the same thing occurred. I may just need to do what I've never done before and get down in the weeks and learn some scenery stuff for once.

Dimus is correct in referring you to the ADE Program. The missing taxiways can be easily corrected using that program.

As for Scenery, there are two ways to handle them and it has been the same since FS9:
1) Use the Addon Scenery system: Set up a texture folder and a scenery folder inside then dump every bgl file into the "scenery" folder and every bmp/dds and agn file into the texture folder, then go into the Scenery Library in the Sim and make sure that the "Addon Scenery" folder is active. Simple. . .however not a very good way to do scenery now a days as everything is globbed into two folders and you have no control over the individual sceneries.

2) Setup a Scenery Library outside of the Sim. Mine is called "Flightsim Scenery Folder", a screenie is shown below. Everything related to any scenery I own is placed there (with the exception of payware which I allow to install where the installer is set to install).



Inside each folder (For Regions/States) are the individual areas folders:



Inside the "Maine" folder for instance are all the custom sceneries I've done for the State.



. . . .and inside each airport folder is it's respective "scenery" and "texture" folder.



While my way looks too elaborate, it works for me because it all comes down to the basic idea for maintaining control of airport scenery. Keep Airport Scenery individualized, in the Scenery Library browse to that folder and activate it in the library. "If" you have Orbx installed make your addon scenery airport sit above Orbx. in FTXCentral you can set an "Insertion Point" for addon scenery so that Orbx doesn't move it's scenery back to the top every time you do an update or Migration.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more, but there's no reason your scenery shouldn't work easily every time if you follow the basic setup. Custom buildings that do not show. . .only one reason I can think of if they're no visible and that is that they aren't compiled correctly.

[falcon409]

lol, messed up. . .the last two images should be flipped, sorry.

[Roadburner440]

That is pretty cool Falcon and thanks for the suggesting. To be honest I never really thought of doing anything like that outside the normal file structure, but it makes so much more sense. Also keeps things in a good order so I know where to find files if they need to be updated. When I did the reinstall of UTX/GEX and all my FlyTampa airports they of course handled that on their own. FlyTampa I had to follow their instructions and manually apply updates for v4 and delete a few files. I am very happy with the switch to v4 even if some of the older freeware scenery isn't compatible out of the box.