Flight simulator X SDK

**pilotwing** · November 29th, 2009, 13:08

Greetings, i have a problem whit the FSX SDK, i cant find any documents whit the parts name and animations (like the CFS3 SDK) and i'm guessing i can only use it whit 3dmax (but a gmax installer comes whit it), or the SDK installation is wrong, because i cant use anything, can anyone help me?.

Thanks

***Mathias*** · November 29th, 2009, 13:44

Well, it works a bit different in FSX.
There are not really fixed animation tags like in CFS3 but there is modedef.xml that has a number of code examples that you can choose from, and can be edited and expanded with a bit of practise.
But first of all you need to install the aces tools into either Max or Gmax.
Best is to open the SDK document, go to "index", select "using modelling tools" and make your way through the document to familiarize yourself with the waddabouts.
Oh, most use the updated SDK Service Pack 2 or the SDK that comes with the Acceleration Expansion Pack as it has updated and better tools.

**pilotwing** · December 6th, 2009, 11:50

But i can use it whit gmax?, and the aces tools are the plug-ins in the scenery sdk folder?

***Mathias*** · December 6th, 2009, 13:01

Yes, you can use it with Gmax.
You really want to read the "using modelling tools" part in the SDK as it explains how to install the plugins into Gmax.

**pilotwing** · December 9th, 2009, 09:51

it says i got to configure the paths of the plug-ins, i done that but when i restart gmax it says the plug-ins failed to load, but i will keep looking in the doc

***Mathias*** · December 9th, 2009, 22:03

Tje pilotwing, that's where I'm at the end of my knowledge as I don't use Gmax for ages anymore.
It's time now to direct you to the fine fellas at http://www.aerodynamika.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi
It's save to say that they will bring you up to speed in not time over there.

**FelixFFDS** · December 10th, 2009, 02:57

Install the FS-X SDK from the FS-X Deluixe disc (original) to the default location

(I pray you don't have VISTA/WIndows 7)

Install the SDK update SP1a (which gives you the gmax gamepack), again, to the default location

COPY the FSX_gmaxgamepack folder and all of its contents to your gmax/gamepacks folder

WIthin the FSX_GamxGamepacks folder there is a startup gmax icon .. send (copy/move) that icon to your desktop.

Start gmax for FS-X with THAT icon (DO NOT USE THE PLAIN DEFAULT gmax ICON)

If you have Acceleration, you'll find all the needed SDK updates on that disk...

The order of installation is

SDK RTM (from FS-X disc)
SDK SP1a (download or install from ACceleration) <- contains the gmax gamepack.
SDK SP2/ACceleration (download (SP2) or install (Acceleration))

**pilotwing** · December 10th, 2009, 09:59

I just updated the sdk to SP1, now i know what Mathias was talking about, but the .x export option is only available in SP1a?

**hairyspin** · December 10th, 2009, 10:45

Originally Posted by FelixFFDS

Install the FS-X SDK from the FS-X Deluixe disc (original) to the default location

(I pray you don't have VISTA/WIndows 7).....

Is XP a better idea for FSX development Felix?

(I have both it and W7 on separate HDs and intend to keep things that way for CFS3 development at least)

***Mathias*** · December 10th, 2009, 13:24

Originally Posted by hairyspin

Is XP a better idea for FSX development Felix?

(I have both it and W7 on separate HDs and intend to keep things that way for CFS3 development at least)

I don't know about Gmax, but I have no trouble whatsoever with Max on Vista Ultimate 64b. Its actually running a lot more stable for me with considerably less exporter failures than in XP.

**FelixFFDS** · December 10th, 2009, 17:20

Originally Posted by pilotwing

I just updated the sdk to SP1, now i know what Mathias was talking about, but the .x export option is only available in SP1a?

No. using gmax, you CANNOT get an x file export. The Autodesk/Discreet licensing expressly prohibited developing an export module from which you could capture the intemediate x file.

Your only export possibility from gmax is to an FS-X MDL file.

------------------------------

As for VISTA/Windows 7, I believe that gmax can work seamlessly, but *my personal opinion* is that there's too many hoops with the User Administrator COntrol, etc not letting you access files, on programs developed pre-Vista.

--------------------------------

**hairyspin** · December 11th, 2009, 10:57

UAC is a pain from a developer's point of view, but it can be turned off in Vista and down, or off, in Win7. If that's all the issues involved then I'll have no worries when I eventually get FSX.

Thanks for the info!

**pilotwing** · December 19th, 2009, 11:24

Thanks for all the help, just one more question, when i try to export as mdl, it says "Exporter host is not valid!", i only updated to SP1 (not SP1a), can this be the problem?

**spatialpro** · January 5th, 2010, 02:50

I'm having the same "Exporter host is not valid!" problem, but with 3DS Max 2008 on Vista 64-bit. I have MS .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed from spring 2009. I have given the object a friendly name and a GUID using the LOD tool.

Did you solve this problem?

**n4gix** · January 5th, 2010, 10:07

Originally Posted by Airtrooper

I'm having the same "Exporter host is not valid!" problem, but with 3DS Max 2008 on Vista 64-bit. I have MS .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed from spring 2009. I have given the object a friendly name and a GUID using the LOD tool.

Did you solve this problem?

Make sure you change the system to use a period (.) instead of a comma (,) as your decimal separator...

The export module for FS will NOT work with a comma (,) decimal separator...

**spatialpro** · January 5th, 2010, 11:25

I just double checked and my OS is using a period (.), not a comma (,), as the decimal separator (decimal symbol).

I tried to export from 3DS Max 2008 again, but still no joy.

**spatialpro** · January 6th, 2010, 06:28

OK, I figured out what my problem was!

Like a fool, I didn't read the detail in the SDK Manual, which states (very clearly, in retrospect!

) under the heading Exporting a Model from 3ds Max:

To export the model, make sure the format Flight Simulator Direct X File (*.X) is selected, no other model format will work. If the option Flightsim Model (*.MDL) is shown, do not use it, it has not been implemented in this release.

Before reading this I was stubbornly trying to export direct to an MDL, which caused the error I had above!

I guess this is what happens when you're raised on GMAX!

One other thing... when I tried XtoMDL in the 3DS9 Plugins folder it didn't work, so I simply used the one in the 3DS7 Plugins folder and bingo, I got myself a working MDL! :mixedsmi:

Having used BGLcomp and added the scenery to FSX I can confirm that 3DS Max 2008 works fine with the FSX SDK (3DS9).

***Mathias*** · January 6th, 2010, 06:36

Originally Posted by Airtrooper

One other thing... when I tried XtoMDL in the 3DS9 Plugins folder it didn't work, so I simply used the one in the 3DS7 Plugins folder and bingo, I got myself a working MDL!

IIRC the Max 9 exporter that comes with Acceleration doesn't work.
The one in the SP2 SDK does work however.

**n4gix** · January 6th, 2010, 09:39

Originally Posted by Mathias

IIRC the Max 9 exporter that comes with Acceleration doesn't work.
The one in the SP2 SDK does work however.

The only problems I've found with the ones in the Max 9 set is that ACES forgot to CodeSign them! Once I CodeSigned them myself, they worked just fine... :ernae:

***Mathias*** · January 6th, 2010, 09:47

Originally Posted by n4gix

The only problems I've found with the ones in the Max 9 set is that ACES forgot to CodeSign them! Once I CodeSigned them myself, they worked just fine... :ernae:

Interesting, Bill!
Would you mind sharing your trick?

**pilotwing** · January 8th, 2010, 11:25

So... there is no solution for the mdl export on Gmax?

**N2056** · January 8th, 2010, 14:59

Pilotwing, Gmax exports to FSX with no issues if set up correctly. Don't worry, we'll get it figured out

This is a pretty good install guide...http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/inde..._GMax_gamepack

**n4gix** · January 11th, 2010, 09:31

Originally Posted by Mathias

Interesting, Bill!
Would you mind sharing your trick?

I used the Eaglesoft Development Group Certificate. You can create a "self-signed" Certificate using the tools in the .NET SDK, or...

http://www.xenossoftware.com/freetoo...categenerator/

for a "certificate generator."

**pilotwing** · January 19th, 2010, 10:48

I just updated the .net framework, and the "invalid host" box has disappeared, but now comes out a big box whit error messages then a "convertdata failed!" then a "failed to run exporter!" then a "failed to export model" and finally the "export module failure" box, and someone knows how to get the tools menu in the game?, thank you