So I sucked it up and bought FSX. To be honest i still prefer AF2 HOWEVER, I will add that AFX was a good buy simply for the ability to work and see right then and there what it looks like in MSFS, as well as the exclude feature.

That brings me to my question, when you manipulate the default scenery (IE, use the exclude tool for a building or taxiway signs etc) is all of that information stored in the AFX AFCAD file in the addon >> scenery folder or is there a seperate file created somewhere else that must be included if you wish to share your creation??

Jumpshot724 wrote:.. when you manipulate the default scenery (IE, use the exclude tool for a building or taxiway signs etc) is all of that information stored in the AFX AFCAD file in the addon >> scenery folder or is there a seperate file created somewhere else that must be included if you wish to share your creation??

What AFX produces is a single bgl, just like AFCAD 2.21 does. The FSX format that AFX produces includes the FSX-specific features (fencing, exclusion boxes, etc.) within a specific section of the bgl's code. FS2004 bgls created with AFX are backwards compatible with and essentially identical to those created in AFCAD, I think. So, if you save an afcad that you have modified from "stock" FS2004 by creating an exclusion rectangle, if you save it in FS2004 format, that rectangle will not be saved; if you save it in FSX format, AFCAD will not be able to see/modify that rectangle; and to repeat, AFX only creates a single file-the bgl.

That said, how and where that coding is done within the bgl is what separates AFX from ADE and FSX Planner (my understanding is that it's within the xml in the bgl header, but that's more detail than is necessary for 99% of users to know). All 3 of these do that differently so that if you open one created with one of the other two, you get a warning/error message that if you make and changes and save them, you'll lose features, it may not work correctly, etc.

As a convert to AFX (this is what AFCAD should have been if it had been developed) I'll attempt to answer your questions.

The excludes work in FS9 as do the runway and taxiway signs. These are included within the AFX BGL.

AFX files are semi-compatible with AFACD. Open a n AFX file in AFCAD and you loose the signs and the excludes and any other features that AFCAD does not understand.

AFX is designed to work in both sims. I create all my MAIW AFCADs using AFX. Its great to import a GE image and then use it to place aprons, runways and taxiways accurately.

On my wish list for AFX is an Aircraft Editor, like AFCAD 2.21 has, and the ability to produce a flatten area.

John

VulcanDriver wrote:The excludes work in FS9 as do the runway and taxiway signs. These are included within the AFX BGL.

I stand corrected - I never used the excludes in AFX-FS9 bgls because I believed they wouldn't work. Thanks for correcting my misunderstanding and clarifying for the OP.

Its great to import a GE image and then use it to place aprons, runways and taxiways accurately.

The key is "calibrating" the image correctly, don't you agree? I find that unless I am extremely careful doing so, that afcads I have created this way do not line up with afcads I've made using FSEarth - which theoretically uses the same GoogleEarth satellite imagery but "live" via SimConnect and/or FSUIPC to an open Internet Explorer wndow. This is my preferred method as I use the same method for building/object placement and distance measurements. To each his own, I guess.

On my wish list for AFX is an Aircraft Editor, like AFCAD 2.21 has, and the ability to produce a flatten area.

I agree that the last feature is one I would definitely appreciate.

<<One of these days, I will learn to limit my comments/responses to exactly and only what I KNOW with 100% certainty - then again, would that mean I'd just become mute? Oh the ignominy of that!>>>

Ford Friendly wrote:

Its great to import a GE image and then use it to place aprons, runways and taxiways accurately.

The key is "calibrating" the image correctly, don't you agree?

Absolutely. I use known factors the most reliable is the runway dimensions. I create the runway in AFX using real world data, then 'pin' the GE image of the runway to match it. That way I know all the other areas should ( I say should) match.

John