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480FS F-16 package not showing

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dummy
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480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

Hi guys,

i've downloaded and installed the F-16 package for spangdahlem but none of the F-16's is showing.
there is a folder with FSX specific aircraft but in the aircraft.cfg i see the following note:
Note 3: This AI FDE is designed FOR FS9 USE ONLY and may have parking spot size issues if used *
//* in FSX.


could that be the problem?

Anyone an idea why there not showing? I also have other aircraft operating from Spangdahlem and they show up fine.

Hope someone can help me figuring it out.

Best regards,

Edwin
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

OK The thing here is that FS9 and FSX work out the parking spot size required differently.

FS9 uses a parm built into the mdl. FSX uses the wingspan that is written in the aircraft.cfg file.
This is why you can get weird differences. Most AI fdes were written for FS9 where the wingspan did not count and therefore that parm could be manipulated for a better flight envelope.

It specifically says that different models are used for FSX but I checked and found that the wings span equates to 7m which is less than the parking spot sizes.

If you have traffic at the base but none from the 480th then you have done something wrong somewhere. I would start by making sure that the other traffic files are not FS9 standard. This is the normal case with FSX traffic files not working.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

Hi Steve,

thank you for your answer. The other traffic are A-10's for wich i made the traffic files myself. they are in FSX format.
Do i have to check all other traffic files to see if they are in FS9 standard?

regards,

Edwin
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

Yes.
MS when they designed FSX decided that if it found any FS9 traffic files then no FSX traffic files would show up.
This would seem to indicate that this is not the issue as your A-10s would not show up.

I would use AIFP to check for any in your system to be sure and eliminate that as a possibility.

Once you have done that then you need to have a look at your F-16 installation. Maybe use a tool like ACA2007 Lite to check to ensure there are no aircraft.cfg errors.
Steve
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

okay thanks!! will give that a try.

Edwin
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

Hi Steve,

i checked my FSX directory with AIFP and no FS9 flightplans were found. Then i checked the aircraft with ACA2017 light and no errors were found for the spang F-16's.

Any other ideas?
thanks in advance

Edwin
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

OK keeping with the simple things, have you actually installed the flightplans for the 480th?
It may seem obvious but if there are no issues found and you have the aircraft installed it is the next logical question that could cause your issue.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

Steve,

yes, the FSX traffic file (Traffic 480th FS.bgl) is located in the FSX scenery/world/scenery folder.
it doesn't make sense to me :|

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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

I would agree. The only other thing that springs to mind is that you don't have enough parking for the 480th to show up but that doesn't make sense if you are using the unmodified afcad.

The full list of simple things to check for are:-
No fs9 traffic files.
Valid afcad with suitable parking spots.
schemes installed plus aircraft.cfg entries.
Flightplans installed.

That is it. If you have checked everything and found no errors, when using tools such as ACA2017, AIFP and AIAE then you have something complicated which is likely only to be on your PC.

Maybe somebody that uses FSX, and has installed the pack, can suggest something that they found.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by John Young »

I'd be very happy to test the package(s) in FSX, but I don't want to spend time hunting for them and ending up with an installation that might not be the same as the problematic one.

If you could post the link(s) to what's needed, I'll do some testing.

John
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by dummy »

steve,

thank you for your help. i was also thinking that it is something on my end. i have another weird thing going on my computer.
if i add or remove a traffic file or scenery then my FSX installation looses all settings. I then have to setup my DX10 fixer settings and all settings in FSX again. Very strange. Maybe a fresh installation of FSX will solve my problems :smt087

John,

thank you for you offering to help and test the package for me. it is the following package found in the library:
https://militaryaiworks.com/download-ha ... gdahlem-ab

Maybe it was usefull to say that i used my own modified afcad for spangdahlem because with the one coming with the package all parking spots were not connected :? i've included my own afcad for you to test.

scenery used:
https://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=184052

Hope you can find something.

Best regards,

Edwin
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

Well there is some new info there.
From what you told John you are using the scenery mentioned in the package readme but you are not using the replacement afcad from that package. The readme specifically says that there are issues with orphaned spots in the scenery and to use the replacement.

I would suggest that you retry using that one.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by John Young »

It's a complicated package, but I can confirm that I was unable to get any F-16's to show with the FSX versions of files in the primary download. That was with the AFCAD only (parking spots were confirmed as connected with AFX) and no 3-D scenery.

I then copied one aircraft line into an aircraft.txt file and paired it with a single flight plan entry for my test airfield. I compiled the traffic file for FSX with just that one aircraft. It too would not show on a very large parking spot on the airfield.

I wondered whether the FSX-P3D models had actually been compiled for P3D, in which they wouldn't show in FSX. However, I couldn't get them to show in P3Dv4 either.

I have checked all the obvious things, but all I'm doing at the moment is going around in circles creating more confusion for myself. I'll have a break for a few hours and try it again from scratch this evening.

John
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by morbidfred »

I've got the 480th FS pack installed and running in P3d V4.
The only thing I done to make it work (fully) was add a few parking spots to the ORBX Germany afcad.

Hope it helps,
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by paul day »

Hi John
I have the same problem with the F-16's not appearing in FSX, but I do have some A-10's. I hope that might help.

Regards Paul Day.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by John Young »

I did finally get the F-16s to appear in P3Dv4, both as AI and as a flyable aircraft once a panel and sound folder was added, but not in FSX in either form.

I saw nothing at all when I set up a single aircraft on my test airfield. I should have been able to see the aircraft in the FSX selection menu with a panel and sound folder added (same as in p3Dv4), but I got this error message:

Image

Although the aircraft are in a folder called "FSX-P3D 480th FS" in the download, which also says it's for FSX and P3D, I think they are compiled only for P3D. That's probably why Edwin, Paul and myself can't get them to work in FSX.

As a final test I ran the D model through MCX and compiled it for FSX. Now I can see both the AI model on my test airfield and also in the Flyable selection screen.

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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

That seems pretty conclusive.
It would seem that the likely cause here is confusion over FSX and P3D models. As I understand it, FSX models can be used in early versions of P3D but P3D models can't be used in FSX.
I fully understand how this came about. I think that when models were compiled for FSX people often asked if they could be used in P3D. To save time they soon got branded as FSX/P3D to avoid answering the same question.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by John Young »

Not quite Steve.

FSX models made with the FSX SDK and compiled in native code should work in all versions of P3D. Models compiled in P3D code won't generally work in FSX.

I'm not sure if the models were tested in FSX before the package was released, but at the moment, it looks like it is offering something it can't deliver and is likely to waste the time of expectant FSX users, as Edwin found out.

I think the package needs amending before other people keep going around in circles chasing the wrong parameters.

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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by petebramley »

Have been following this for a while and wondered exactly which package we are talking about (filename). I have the WSMG package installed on my P3Dv4 and all works fine. I have re-extracted the aircraft files to a temp folder and run them through AIAE and it appears that they were compiled with the P3Dv2 SDK and therefore may not be compatible with FSX. Unfortunately I cannot test in FSX as I no longer have it installed.
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Re: 480FS F-16 package not showing

Post by Firebird »

John Young wrote: 09 Jun 2021, 07:19 Not quite Steve.

FSX models made with the FSX SDK and compiled in native code should work in all versions of P3D. Models compiled in P3D code won't generally work in FSX.

I thought that is what I said, at least I was trying to. Apologies if I didn't make that clear.

An interesting aside to this is the fact that the pack has been available for nearly a year and no FSX user has reported this. Could it be that a lot of the FSX base has moved to P3D?
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