BoF campaign object issue

[nschley]

I installed the lates BoF campaign over the weekend. Unfortunately there was a CTD during the start process and I discovered the large number of objects as a reason.
The BoF package contains 1.410 elements, adding the default objects and the required Lindsay Watt libraries there seems that the critical threshold has been exceeded.
Is there any possibility to reduce/limit the number of objects for the package?

Thanks for any hint
Norbert

[skylane]

Hello Norbert!

I had the same problem when I installed the BoF.
First, I suggest you make a dedicated, new install for this campaign.
Then what I did was to remove as many DPs as possible from the Objects_DP folder. I deleted most of the CFS1 objects and all the stock weapons. Then I looked at the Lindsay Watts trees. You don´t find many palms, gum- and eucalyptus trees in Europe, so I removed all those.
I also found a number of other objects that i think are not necessary. I put all the removed DPs into a folder to preserve them in case I should need one after all.
Right now I have 1640 objects in my BoF install, and this works for me.


Another possible way of reducing the number of objects would be to look at the weapons. Quite often, there is the same bomb from FDG, DBolt, Groundcrew, VirtualWings and so on.
The question is, can you just exchange them? I know how to edit a DP to change a weapon, but since my time is limited I have never tried this.
Can you, for instance, use an SC250 bomb from Virtual Wings on a plane that has previously used the SC250 from Groundgrew without adapting the hardpoints?

Cheers,
Wolfgang

[nschley]

Thanks Wolfgang, good hint!
Just one question: Which are cfs1 objects?

[Rami]

Nobert,

Before I start offering some suggestions, did you make sure to install the package on a dedicated "clean" install? If you include additional aircraft and ships, it can be problematic and cause some CTD errors.

[Devildog73]

Thanks Wolfgang, good hint!
Just one question: Which are cfs1 objects?

Continuing on Rami's advice for clean install...On a fresh, clean, pristine CFS2 install:

If you open two screens of file explorer; 1) mdlnames; search for "*" i.e. ("AAA_gun"=*Antiaircraft Gun Large). Everything with * is a CFS1 object. This gives you a list, print it.

2) Objects_DP; Now, look in the folder and pick out the matching dp files to your list of *CFS1 objects. [aaa_gun] You can delete them about 10 at a time from both. Once you delete 10 from each list, go into your Combat Flight Simulator 2 main folder, search for "filelist.dat" and delete them ALL. Search for ALL *.cdp files and delete them all. Search for ALL INDEX files and delete them all.

3) Descript.dat in INFO folder. Delete the 10 references here also:
[# AAA_gun
Large antiaircraft gun battery (CFS1 object). CFS1 objects have less detail and simpler damage effects than CFS2 objects. American antiaircraft
guns will fire at Japanese airplanes, even if placed on Japanese territory.]


Start CFS2 and let it rebuild all the indices and fly a single mission or free flight.

Now close the program and repeat 1), 2), 3).
Once you have all of the CFS1 objects and references removed, go into the SCENEDB\library folder and delete [scenery_cfs_library.BGL].

*** DO NOT DELETE MORE THAN ABOUT 10 FROM EACH AT ANY GIVEN TIME***

It is a time consuming, painstaking project, but well worth it.
Once done you will never have another problem with too many objects in your DP or mdlnames causing CTD.

Hope this helps...

[Captain Kurt]

Reducing the number of objects dp's is a good way to handle it. Another technique that may help in a dedicated installation like BoF is to remove all of the stock ships and aircraft if they aren't used. A quick way to do this without needing to modify the mdlnames.txt is to open the airplane or ship folder and delete everything inside except the Sound folder. This prevents problems with add on aircraft that have sound aliased to a stock plane, and CTDs because the game is looking for something listed in the mdlnames.txt file. The game no longer counts the folder with just the sound in it.

Skylane, the answer to your question is generally no. Unfortunately in most cases, you need to adjust hardpoints to substitute different designer's weapons.

I'm trying to work around the same problems with the upgraded and expanded 82nd Fighter Group campaign I am finishing up now. Because of the huge geograhical area it covers, England, North Africa, the Mediterranean Theater, Germany, Austria, Balkans, Eastern Europe, the number of airfields, ground objects and the number of different aircraft, it means there has to be very strict managment of the dp numbers as well as the aircraft and ships. Otherwise it CTDs, or won't load free flight, won't load missions, etc.

[Devildog73]

I forgot one important thing:

Some add-on scenery builders use CFS1 objects in their scenery. If they do, you will have to replace that specific object back into all three areas of your install, i.e. mdlnames.txt, descript.dat, and OBJECTS_DP.

I'm not certain about the scenery_cfs_library.BGL, but I haven't put it back in my SCENEDB\library folder and the scenery still works, (I think because the item is included in the add-on scenery BGLs)....

[Captain Kurt]

DD that's true. I use some of the CFS1 vehicles in airfield traffic in my campaigns.

Since it is the dp quantity that counts and not the object .bgl's, the way to do this is to simply remove the CFS1 dp's that are not being used and put them in a separate folder. But leave the mdlnames.txt and the scenery_cfs_library.BGL alone. You do have to have the scenery_cfs_library.BGL for the object model to appear in the game. When a mission has a CFS1 object in it, it will call out the missing object and may not load. Go to the separate folder with the CFS1 dp's in it, find the object dp and put it back into the OBJECTS_DP folder. That way you will only have the CFS1 dp's you have to have in the game.

[Rami]

Kurt and Lee,

Perhaps this will help. Including Dunkirk, this is a listing of the scenery objects (GSL) required for a full ETO install. It's not 100% complete yet, but it is a good start.

[nschley]

Thank you all for your valuable hints and tricks!
It has been some time that I have digged in to CFS2 so deep. Now I got at least the object issue solved.

Regarding the default objects I noticed that from all the dp files, one called „groundunit“ was absolutely necessary to get the sim started, at least in my installs.

To reply Rami, yes I installed the package to a dedicated clean install and by reducing the number of objects the sim starts now. But, I did not find the time so far to check out if really everything works fine. Let’s see, I think it‘s part of „enjoying“ this old game to discover this.

In the past, I had a lot of multiinstalls on my disk (different Theaters, and within them different campaigns, ...), which was the reason for putting my sceneries somewhere outside of the different installs. Similarily, regarding the aircrafts I made this also with all the models, panels, sounds, aliasing them to the aircraft cfg. All this saved some disk space (which was more necessary in the past than nowadays) and sometimes made new installs a little easier. Obviously, doing things like that leads to some problems with complex campaigns.

Br
Norbert

[Devildog73]

Thanks Rami!

Also, I would prefer that we all working on D-Day stuff, NOT duplicate efforts, wasting time on stuff, so:

As I was going along building bridges over the rivers in the Normandy area, I noticed something quite striking.
I took off from Azeville near Utah Beach and flew directly south to St. Lo.
I then flew along the dirt road from St. Lo to Cherbourg on the north coast.

Missing from CFS2 are: Carentan, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Valognes. ALL are important to D-Day.
ALL need to be built, because there isn't even the CFS2 default European towns textures where the towns should be located.
In fact, there is nothing but default forests and fields from St. Lo to Cherbourg. Not even a farm house, barn, or church.

Rami, are you or anyone else working on building the towns listed above?
If so, should I stop putting bridges for roads and railroads over the rivers?

Ddog

[kdriver]

Hi Lee,

Go to AVSIM and download the FS2004 Normandy and Channel Island scenery by Toni Agramont: https://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=141426

There are a few big BGL files over 1MB. Don't install them. It's not perfect for CFS2 but it is a starting point for making missions and a template for making GSL scenery.

Have you had a look at Rhumba's shorelines for CFS2 from last year? Perhaps the relevant BGLs for Normandy can be extracted from that package.

Send me an email to let me know how you went.

Cheers,

Kevin

[Devildog73]

Kevin,

I have RIchard's GSW Shorelines and water along with his regions installed.

I will get Toni Agramont's Normandy and Channel Islands and put it in.
If needed I will see if I can FSSC modify it if necessary.

Thanks,
Lee

Here is my scenery.cfg AFTER props:



[Area.012]
Title=Global Surface Water
Local=..\..\..\..\CFS2 Scenery\Global Surface Water
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=12

[Area.013]
Title=DEM_MESH
Local=SCENEDB\DEM_MESH
Active=TRUE
Layer=13
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.014]
Title=DEM_mesh LOD 8
Local=SCENEDB\DEM_mesh LOD 8
Active=TRUE
Layer=14
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.015]
Title=Global_Exclude
Local=SCENEDB\Global_Exclude
Active=TRUE
Layer=15
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.016]
Title=GSW ShoreLines
Local=ADDON\GSW ShoreLines
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=16

[Area.017]
Title=Exclude_Default_VTP
Local=ADDON\Exclude_Default_VTP
Remote=
Active=FALSE
Required=FALSE
Layer=17

[Area.018]
Title=CFS2 Coast Europe
Local=SCENEDB\CFS2 Coast Europe
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=TRUE
Layer=18

[Area.019]
Title=cfs2_eurw_LC_su_BETA4
Local=SCENEDB\cfs2_eurw_LC_su_BETA4
Active=TRUE
Layer=19
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.020]
Title=Eurw
Local=SCENEDB\Eurw
Active=TRUE
Layer=20
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.021]
Title=SC_Eurw_FeaturePack
Local=SCENEDB\SC_Eurw_FeaturePack
Active=TRUE
Layer=21
Required=TRUE
Remote=

[Area.022]
Title=FlatArea_V1-Noball
Local=SCENEDB\FlatArea_V1-Noball
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=22

[Area.023]
Title=ETO Airbases
Local=SCENEDB\ETO Airbases
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=23

[Area.024]
Title=scotland
Local=SCENEDB\scotland
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=24

[Area.025]
Title=LudendorffBridge_Rw-Deck
Local=SCENEDB\LudendorffBridge_Rw-Deck
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=25

[Area.026]
Title=Finninsh Sea
Local=SCENEDB\Finninsh Sea
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=26

[Area.027]
Title=TB_La_Rochelle
Local=SCENEDB\TB_La_Rochelle
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=27

[Area.028]
Title=V1
Local=SCENEDB\V1
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=28

[Area.029]
Title=Hawker Aircraft Factory
Local=SCENEDB\Hawker Aircraft Factory
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=29

[Area.030]
Title=CFS2BoB
Local=SCENEDB\CFS2BoB
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=30

[Area.031]
Title=NGermDen
Local=SCENEDB\NGermDen
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=31

[Area.032]
Title=B17Bases
Local=ADDON\B17Bases
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=32

[Area.033]
Title=EuroTargets
Local=..\..\Flight Simulator Add-ons\CFS2\Scenery\ETO\EuroTargets
Remote=
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
Layer=33

[Area.034]
Title=2TAF_ETO_Afds
Local=..\..\Flight Simulator Add-ons\CFS2\Scenery\ETO\2TAF_AFPak2\2TAF_AFPak2\2TAF_ ETO_Afds
Remote=
Active=FALSE
Required=FALSE
Layer=34

[Rami]

Devildog73,

The Channel Islands scenery will probably conflict with SdC's placement, and may affect the airfields on the island of Guernsey and Jersey.

[Rami]

Devildog73,

I didn't have any reason where I was working to build anything on the Cotentin Peninsula, so it's all yours, my friend. I apologize for my delay in responding; yesterday I spent the entire day down in Newport, RI with the family, touring the mansions and spending time along the water.

This morning, I had to contact the Mayo Clinic to make sure I get a refund of $330 for medication I had to front the cost of prior to receiving authorization, apply for a Teach Grant for the coming academic year at BSU, check my loan status, contact my SPED advisor about a waiver for a partial practicum in January, get caught up on reading my newspapers, approve uploads, catalog some pictures from yesterday, and I'm about to run out the door. This afternoon I should have some down time for CFS2.

[Devildog73]

Rams,
Take care of you first my friend.

I only used individual towns from FS2000, no airports, NOT Cherbourg since you already did the port there.
I will continue to do layouts of bridges in the area.

Kevin,
FS2000 scenery burns up FPS rates. Kicked me down from 58-70 FPS to 15-20 FPS at 2,000 feet.
I just installed Azeville, Barfleur, Barneville, Cateret, Montebourg, Quineville, St Sauver le Vicomte, Sainte-Mere_Eglise, Vauville, and Valognes. I think I will cut those down to just those along the invasion beaches and not do the towns NOT initially involved.

All work just fine except for placement of Valognes which has a soccer stadium, and buildings in the rivers and on roadways. They all look fine and as long as I have altitude above 3500 feet the FPS are acceptable in the 24+ FPS.

I may have to get into one of my airport scenery programs and exclude individual buildings in Valognes.

Sainte-Mere-Eglise is workable.

[kdriver]

Lee,

Yes the scenery is heavy on frame rates. Fortunately it's broken into many files so you can delete unwanted scenery.

I got rid of the Jersey aerodrome but left the towns and port on the island. Yes, some of the BGLs need whittling down to get rid of modern objects and unrealistic beach and water textures.

Good luck with it.

[Rami]

Lee,

Why not use library objects and Mission Builder to make the towns in GSL, like I did for the other locales in France and you did for the Tuskegee Airmen?

It's not as if we don't have the tools or knowledge base...right?

[Devildog73]

Lee,

Why not use library objects and Mission Builder to make the towns in GSL, like I did for the other locales in France and you did for the Tuskegee Airmen?

It's not as if we don't have the tools or knowledge base...right?

LOL,
Yes, after looking at the FS2000 towns, I decided to do just that. Working on Saite-Mere-Elglise right now.
Just popped out to find roadways.

It has been a long time since I fooled around with scenery....
Right now I am looking for MB Roads which are longer than 10 meters. The ones in MB are short and narrow. Where can I get some 100 meter/200 meter length roadways?
I cannot build acceptable roads 10 meters at a time. I will run out of MB size requirements.

[Rami]

Devildog73,

About halfway down the right column on this page. Lots of useful stuff here...

http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/Vietnam_Projects_2.htm

[Devildog73]

Okay,

My first ever GSL scenery construction.

Sainte-Mere-Eglise circa 1944.

It is a work in progress, but I think fairly okay for first draft.

Smile

I have to find a bigger church building and narrow the town blocks, add more houses.....

[Devildog73]

Devildog73,

About halfway down the right column on this page. Lots of useful stuff here...

http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/Vietnam_Projects_2.htm

[Rami]

Devildog73,

The textures might need to be blended a little better, but it's looking good so far!

I have a question for you, though. Did you notice that in the ETO rural buildings package, there are a series of full-scale villages, and more importantly, village bases?

These are essentially a series of seven "prefab" villages with their own bitmaps to fit onto the terrain, the only thing you need to do is create a flatten for them, place the bitmap down, and then the corresponding village on top of it.

This might cut down your workload considerably!

[Ravenna]

Devildog73,

The textures might need to be blended a little better, but it's looking good so far!

I have a question for you, though. Did you notice that in the ETO rural buildings package, there are a series of full-scale villages, and more importantly, village bases?

These are essentially a series of seven "prefab" villages with their own bitmaps to fit onto the terrain, the only thing you need to do is create a flatten for them, place the bitmap down, and then the corresponding village on top of it.

This might cut down your workload considerably!

A good idea Rami, but the village bases can throw a shadow when ground shadows are turned on, even with a flatten. Best used with the shadows turned off.

DD, I really like your road layout.

[Devildog73]

Yes, and am using them in other towns.
I have already used them for Montebourg, Neuville-au-Plain, & Valognes.
The only issue with them is that the roads are a bit of a challenge to match up to what is already on the landclass.
I try to NOT make a flatten for them to preserve the actual hills and valleys.
So far it is working. I'll post some screenies here shortly.

Devildog73,

The textures might need to be blended a little better, but it's looking good so far!

I have a question for you, though. Did you notice that in the ETO rural buildings package, there are a series of full-scale villages, and more importantly, village bases?

These are essentially a series of seven "prefab" villages with their own bitmaps to fit onto the terrain, the only thing you need to do is create a flatten for them, place the bitmap down, and then the corresponding village on top of it.

This might cut down your workload considerably!

I'm not adept at blending the scenery as of yet. Actually don't know the first thing about it.....