"How to" : SimObjects in saved .FLT (Free Flight)

[xpelekis]

This is an ability that I discovered just yesterday, by reading :
"proof of concept...The saved-flight mechanism's ability to read an xml file"
at the "Read_Me" of this download -> http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post740584

So, the story is that you can have static Simobjects in your saved Free Flights !!!...

This is done by associating your saved .FLT file with an .XML file that contains
the positions of the various simobjects.

Can be used for :

- Spawning aboard a Carrier
- Place liftable simobjects (Helos)
- Place targets (for Tacpack users) and simobjects that act as AI defences (with FSCAI)
- etc...

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Procedure - method, is quite easy. Needs no other program apart FS and concerns
a simple editing of an .xml file (with Notepad only!).

A.) Use the .xml file included at the download of link above. Make a copy, right click
on it and at properties unchek the "read only" and "apply".
Now you can edit this .xml that contains 43 GUID entries (use as many as you need and
you can delete the rest of them). Rename this .xml as you like.

B.) Association between the saved .FLT and .XML, is done by adding this entry at the
bottom of FLT :

[ObjectFile]
File="Name of your xml"

C.) Entries in xml (that define each SimObject's position) is of this form :

<SimContain.Container InstanceId="{BB4A2655-1938-47bc-9542-8CC62FAB2BEE}">
<Descr>FSXatWarPack1_Truck_U375D_Barrels_Forest_mo v</Descr>
<WorldPosition>S10° 1' 0.426000",W161° 5' 57.980400",+000001.00</WorldPosition>
<Orientation>0.000,0.000,0.000</Orientation>
<ContainerTitle>FSXatWarPack1_Truck_U375D_Barrels_ Forest_ops</ContainerTitle>
<ContainerID>0</ContainerID>
<IsOnGround>False</IsOnGround>
</SimContain.Container>

To edit this with the proper data, just slew at the position you want to place a simobject
and use the red letters info at top of screen (co-ordinates, height, heading).

D.) About Height of a simobject, substract 3-4 feet from the given altitude of red letters
and use this, ie, lower than ground or sea level by 3-4ft (for sea, use -000004.00 as an example).

E.) Placing "Aircraft" simobjects on the ground : In this case only :

<IsOnGround>True</IsOnGround> (must be set to True)

+000000.00 (altitude in <WorldPosition> )

Otherwise, the plane will fly straight and keep going...

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Now, how cool is this ?...

PS : How I managed to make a quarter of an hour video for 5 lines info, is a "Christmas miracle" probably...

[Ganter]

This looks very interesting indeed.

Thanks for posting.

[PhantomP]

This is great stuff,and do you need to have FSX SDK installed?

[xpelekis]

No, SDK installed not in need.



Another feature I discovered it works, is that apart of SimObjects,
we can also have pre-recorded AI flying action (called "AI Playback"
in mission system).
Is similar to FS Recorder but the native FSX/P3D "video" recording
system is used instead to record a flight of an Airplane or Helicopter,
resulting in a file with .FSR extension saved in documents FSX folder.

The type of entry to be used in the .xml, is this one :

<SimContain.Container InstanceId="{f970b513-0b7e-415e-a894-f1d2fd8efdc2}">
<Descr>Write whatever here</Descr>
<WorldPosition>N38 9 11.250000,E127 8 46.323600,716.90</WorldPosition>
<Orientation>0.0000,0.0000,309.4200</Orientation>
<ContainerTitle>AI_Korea_S-55_ARMY_1</ContainerTitle>
<ContainerID>0</ContainerID>
<AIType>AirplanePlayback</AIType>
<AirplanePlaybackAI>
<Playing>True</Playing>
<Filename>MyFSRs/S-55_Army.FSR</Filename>
<TimeStamp>0.0</TimeStamp>
</AirplanePlaybackAI>
<IsOnGround>True</IsOnGround>
<EngineStarted>True</EngineStarted>
</SimContain.Container>

In this example, "S-55_Army.FSR" is the saved file and "MyFSRs" is the name
of a folder that I've created in my main FSX folder to place the various .FSR files.
Ie, I have pasted the .FSR file inside FSX/MyFSRs folder I've created.

AI Playbacks can also be vehicles or ships, if "drivable" versions of those are used
(ie, of the "Aircraft" type category).

This feature can be used to "live up" things a bit, just for eye kandy, or design of
more complex action scenarios...

Overall, the combined ability of associating simobjects placement & AI Playbacks
with a saved Flight, results in a big potential for saved Free Flight scenarios.

[roger-wilco-66]

Interesting find! I'll check out if it also works in P3D, but I would expect so.


Cheers,
Mark

[xpelekis]

You may need to use Yes/No instead of True/False though in P3D I believe.

For SimObjects I also expect to work in P3D also (v3 & v4). For AirplanePlaybackAI though,
I don't know if there is also a change in syntax of the above example.

Interested to hear your results if you try it.