ndicki
July 29th, 2010, 01:06
As this question keeps coming up again and again, I thought it would be easier to give a final, one-off answer.
ALL CFS3 AIRCRAFT WILL WORK IN ANY INSTALL TYPE - FROM MAW TO ETO, PTO AND EVEN OFF.
There are no "physical" differences whatsoever between aircraft intended for this install or that install - it is only a question of ancillary parts, effects and aliases, and simple historical veracity.
To transfer an ETO aircraft to MAW, for example, you simply need to copy the aircraft's folder over, ensure that you have located and copied the shared files (usually cockpit textures), weapons, guns and pylons. These are listed in the aircraft's xdp file which you can open with windows notepad. The sections concerned are:
<GunStations>
<GunStation UpLimit="0" DownLimit="0" LeftLimit="0" RightLimit="0" RateLimit="0" SystemID="cannon" Tracer="40" Trainable="0" Trigger="0" Type="AvHistory_gr_gun_Mk103" Name="Nose Cannon" ConvergeDistance="300" Pitch=".1489" MaxAmmo="70"/>
The gun is highlighted here in red - look in your CFS3/Guns folder. It will in all probability already be in the install you wish to transfer into. If not, copy it over. Open it with Notepad and check if the round it refers to is already in your Weapons folder. Here it is AvHistory_gr_round_Mk103. As MAW and ETO/PTO use AvHistory guns and ammunition, it should already be there. Obviously in OFF, it won't be. Gun files are simple xdp files - do not copy the bdp file over.
Under Loadouts, you will see the weapons and pylons:
<Loadout Name="(2)300l Drop Tanks">
<Hardpoint ID="1" PylonType="pylon_190a5_3" PayloadType="AvHistory_gr_droptank_300L" Quantity="1"/>
<Hardpoint ID="2" PylonType="pylon_190a5_3" PayloadType="AvHistory_gr_droptank_300L" Quantity="1"/>
</Loadout>
The pylons (red) and weapons (blue) will be in their respective folders. Copy them over if necessary, not forgetting the pylon texture files. Pylons are NOT in individual folders, and will involve an m3d model, an xdp file and often a .dds texture file. Do not copy bdp files. Weapons are in individual folders and you should delete the bdp file before transferring.
Then open the aircraft's sound folder. You will find the sound.cfg file. If the folder is also already full of wav files as well, you can skip this part. If not, open sound.cfg with Windows Notepad. It will read:
[fltsim]
alias=DR_Engine_Sounds\GR_Daimler_ Benz_DB605\sound
This is the path within your aircraft folder to a functioning set of sound files. ALWAYS check this whenever you install a new aircraft, whatever the install you put it in; it is frequently the reason for lock-ups while the sim is loading.
If the sounds are not present in the other install, locate them and copy them over, taking care to keep the path the same. ETO and PTO build on MAW for this and many other things, so the DR_Engine_Sounds folder is already present in these installs. If you are transferring to a standard CFS3 install, you will need to create the folder.
This may sound more complicated than it actually is; the easiest solution is to copy the entire guns, pylons and weapons folders into the other install, allowing it to overwrite where necessary. ALWAYS copy from the most recent to the least recent - that means as of today from ETO towards PTO, MAW and vanilla. You will also need to copy the effects.xml from CFS3 ETO root into the other install, as well as CFS3 ETO\effects\fxtextures. These can be allowed to overwrite - again, ETO effects build on MAW effects, so you will not lose anything unless you have made any modifications yourself. If you have, you will probably not be needing to read this in any case... DO NOT COPY THE EFFECTS OVER INTO OFF! YOU WILL NEED TO DO A MANUAL MERGE INSTEAD!
Next, copy over the sound folders, ensuring that the path stays identical.
Finally, copy over any/all shared files in your aircraft folder. These normally include the word "shared" in the folder name.
Once you have done this, copy the bdp zapper (if necessary) into your new install, and let it run.
This will ensure that all your installs are running at the same level, and you can use any aircraft you like from MAW, ETO or PTO in any install you like as long as you take the usual basic install precautions.
Perhaps this could be made sticky? It would save having to answer the same question time and again...
ALL CFS3 AIRCRAFT WILL WORK IN ANY INSTALL TYPE - FROM MAW TO ETO, PTO AND EVEN OFF.
There are no "physical" differences whatsoever between aircraft intended for this install or that install - it is only a question of ancillary parts, effects and aliases, and simple historical veracity.
To transfer an ETO aircraft to MAW, for example, you simply need to copy the aircraft's folder over, ensure that you have located and copied the shared files (usually cockpit textures), weapons, guns and pylons. These are listed in the aircraft's xdp file which you can open with windows notepad. The sections concerned are:
<GunStations>
<GunStation UpLimit="0" DownLimit="0" LeftLimit="0" RightLimit="0" RateLimit="0" SystemID="cannon" Tracer="40" Trainable="0" Trigger="0" Type="AvHistory_gr_gun_Mk103" Name="Nose Cannon" ConvergeDistance="300" Pitch=".1489" MaxAmmo="70"/>
The gun is highlighted here in red - look in your CFS3/Guns folder. It will in all probability already be in the install you wish to transfer into. If not, copy it over. Open it with Notepad and check if the round it refers to is already in your Weapons folder. Here it is AvHistory_gr_round_Mk103. As MAW and ETO/PTO use AvHistory guns and ammunition, it should already be there. Obviously in OFF, it won't be. Gun files are simple xdp files - do not copy the bdp file over.
Under Loadouts, you will see the weapons and pylons:
<Loadout Name="(2)300l Drop Tanks">
<Hardpoint ID="1" PylonType="pylon_190a5_3" PayloadType="AvHistory_gr_droptank_300L" Quantity="1"/>
<Hardpoint ID="2" PylonType="pylon_190a5_3" PayloadType="AvHistory_gr_droptank_300L" Quantity="1"/>
</Loadout>
The pylons (red) and weapons (blue) will be in their respective folders. Copy them over if necessary, not forgetting the pylon texture files. Pylons are NOT in individual folders, and will involve an m3d model, an xdp file and often a .dds texture file. Do not copy bdp files. Weapons are in individual folders and you should delete the bdp file before transferring.
Then open the aircraft's sound folder. You will find the sound.cfg file. If the folder is also already full of wav files as well, you can skip this part. If not, open sound.cfg with Windows Notepad. It will read:
[fltsim]
alias=DR_Engine_Sounds\GR_Daimler_ Benz_DB605\sound
This is the path within your aircraft folder to a functioning set of sound files. ALWAYS check this whenever you install a new aircraft, whatever the install you put it in; it is frequently the reason for lock-ups while the sim is loading.
If the sounds are not present in the other install, locate them and copy them over, taking care to keep the path the same. ETO and PTO build on MAW for this and many other things, so the DR_Engine_Sounds folder is already present in these installs. If you are transferring to a standard CFS3 install, you will need to create the folder.
This may sound more complicated than it actually is; the easiest solution is to copy the entire guns, pylons and weapons folders into the other install, allowing it to overwrite where necessary. ALWAYS copy from the most recent to the least recent - that means as of today from ETO towards PTO, MAW and vanilla. You will also need to copy the effects.xml from CFS3 ETO root into the other install, as well as CFS3 ETO\effects\fxtextures. These can be allowed to overwrite - again, ETO effects build on MAW effects, so you will not lose anything unless you have made any modifications yourself. If you have, you will probably not be needing to read this in any case... DO NOT COPY THE EFFECTS OVER INTO OFF! YOU WILL NEED TO DO A MANUAL MERGE INSTEAD!
Next, copy over the sound folders, ensuring that the path stays identical.
Finally, copy over any/all shared files in your aircraft folder. These normally include the word "shared" in the folder name.
Once you have done this, copy the bdp zapper (if necessary) into your new install, and let it run.
This will ensure that all your installs are running at the same level, and you can use any aircraft you like from MAW, ETO or PTO in any install you like as long as you take the usual basic install precautions.
Perhaps this could be made sticky? It would save having to answer the same question time and again...