Creating AI flight plans in P3Dv4.. How similar is it to creating AI flight plans in FSX?

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Hi everybody, It's me again!

I got P3Dv4 last week and i love it, but the skies are lonely...

I''ve gotten pretty good at making plans with AIFP on fsx, is the process similar for P3Dv4?

Thank you all for your help!

[Firebird]

Not having P3D myself I can't be 100% but I believe that P3D currently handles traffic in exactly the same way that FSX does so there should be no issue there. If you read the manual, at the bottom of page 3, it references P3D.

There will be other occurrences in there as well that may be more specific.

[TimC340]

All of your FSX flight plans will work in exactly the same way in P3Dv4. P3Dv5 updated many ICAO codes and airfield locations (MSFS 1-9/FSX/P3D1-4 were never too fussed about location accuracy!) but AIFP will automatically convert any plans that use old ICAO codes when converting to P3Dv5.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Hi everybody! AIFP is working great with the default P3D ai planes, but i've got a question.
How do I made my sim recognize my Military-AI folder? As of now, Stuff I put in here doesn't show up.
Thanks for the help!

[TimC340]

You need to create an xml entry in the add-on.cfg file to allow the sim to see those folders. The process is described rather well here. It's a lot easier to do than to describe!

[JoeJeepWrangler]

You need to create an xml entry in the add-on.cfg file to allow the sim to see those folders. The process is described rather well here. It's a lot easier to do than to describe!

Hi Tim,

Does it look like I'm doing this correctly? I've never modified XML before, so I have no idea if im doing this all wrong lol

Thanks for all the help so far

[TimC340]

Hi Joe

yes, that looks correct for the add-on.xml file within the add-on folder you created. There needs to be an entry in the add-on.cfg file to point to this folder similar to this:


[Package.14]
Path=C:\Users\timco\OneDrive\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\MAIW
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE


The process as described by the page I linked to uses a batch file to create this (addon_addnew.bat) which I presume is incorporated in their example download, but you can write the entry yourself and add it to the add-on.cfg file. Or you can use Lorby's P3D Addon Organiser (halfway down this page) to do the whole thing for you. Lorby's is great in that it allows you to manage all your add-ons, group them into logical collections and turn them on and off at will. It's free.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Hi Joe

yes, that looks correct for the add-on.xml file within the add-on folder you created. There needs to be an entry in the add-on.cfg file to point to this folder similar to this:


[Package.14]
Path=C:\Users\timco\OneDrive\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\MAIW
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE


The process as described by the page I linked to uses a batch file to create this (addon_addnew.bat) which I presume is incorporated in their example download, but you can write the entry yourself and add it to the add-on.cfg file. Or you can use Lorby's P3D Addon Organiser (halfway down this page) to do the whole thing for you. Lorby's is great in that it allows you to manage all your add-ons, group them into logical collections and turn them on and off at will. It's free.

Went ahead and grabbed the Lorby organizer, but i get an error when booting it up,

Not sure what this means or how to fix.. any ideas?

Thank you for all the help so far!

[TimC340]

I'd make a back-up of your AI-aircraft file so that any foul ups don't lose you the contents. I'd then delete all xml files in the version of the folder that Lorby can see. It will construct all the xml files it needs in the process of cataloguing and enabling your add-ons. If it's found the xml you wrote the other day, it probably doesn't like something in that! It's easier to let it take control than to try and guess what it doesn't like about what you've done.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Hi Tim,
I went ahead and backed up and then removed the addon.xml file, but now the addon isn't being detected by lorbys. How do i get this found?

Thanks!

[Firebird]

What does the manual say about finding addons?
I would guess there must be a button to select a folder to add.

[TimC340]

Joe, it seems to me that what you're doing is asking Lorby to find addons you've already added to P3D, which is a bit like asking a phone directory to confirm that you have a phone!

What you should be doing is adding the addons to P3D using Lorby, which means you have to tell the program where to find each addon - and why I suggested deleting your xml that Lorby objected to. The manual tells you how to do that - I'm not on my computer just now so I can't precis the process for you at the moment. But it basically involves using the big 'ADD' button at the bottom and browsing to the sppropriate folder. I don't think there are any traps or tricks. I'll have a look at mine when I can and check that the process is as simple as I describe.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Joe, it seems to me that what you're doing is asking Lorby to find addons you've already added to P3D, which is a bit like asking a phone directory to confirm that you have a phone!

What you should be doing is adding the addons to P3D using Lorby, which means you have to tell the program where to find each addon - and why I suggested deleting your xml that Lorby objected to. The manual tells you how to do that - I'm not on my computer just now so I can't precis the process for you at the moment. But it basically involves using the big 'ADD' button at the bottom and browsing to the sppropriate folder. I don't think there are any traps or tricks. I'll have a look at mine when I can and check that the process is as simple as I describe.

I appreciate it, Tim! Let me know once you're available to check yours.

I have autism so I apologize if I struggle to pick up some things

EDIT:

I found the "Add component" function, and P3D now recognizes the add-on, but the planes still do not work.
Any ideas what I messed up?

Thank you for all the help so far!

[TimC340]

Looking good, Joe! So, where have you got your traffic files? You can of course put them in P3D's scenery/world/scenery as you would with FS9 or FSX, but you can also add them via XML through Lorby in exactly the same way as you do any other scenery. Traffic files are scenery files, so you can add the folder where you keep them in the Scenery tab in Lorby (they'll need to be in a 'Scenery' folder within your chosen location). There are other ways of doing it too, but there's no need to complicate it unnecessarily.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Looking good, Joe! So, where have you got your traffic files? You can of course put them in P3D's scenery/world/scenery as you would with FS9 or FSX, but you can also add them via XML through Lorby in exactly the same way as you do any other scenery. Traffic files are scenery files, so you can add the folder where you keep them in the Scenery tab in Lorby (they'll need to be in a 'Scenery' folder within your chosen location). There are other ways of doing it too, but there's no need to complicate it unnecessarily.

They're in scenery/world/scenery.
The test plans i made with the AI aircraft that come with P3D work great, it's just the add-on AI planes that don't show up as of now.

[John Young]

Check that both of your traffic sliders are to the right. If you happen to be using AI aircraft that don't have "atc_airline=" allocated in the aircraft.cfg file, the traffic gets put onto the General Aviation slider and you may have that turned off.

John

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Check that both of your traffic sliders are to the right. If you happen to be using AI aircraft that don't have "atc_airline=" allocated in the aircraft.cfg file, the traffic gets put onto the General Aviation slider and you may have that turned off.

John

I've always had both traffic sliders on max.

[TimC340]

Do your AI aircraft work if you put them in the SimObjects folder in P3D? If they do, then something is wrong with the xml that's been generated.

[JoeJeepWrangler]

Do your AI aircraft work if you put them in the SimObjects folder in P3D? If they do, then something is wrong with the xml that's been generated.

Yep, They work when in Prepar3D v4\SimObjects\Airplanes, Must be an error with the xml, or i messed it up somehow..
Any ideas what? I've attached a screenshot of the contents of the XML that was generated.

Thank you all for the help so far, i really appreciate it!

[TimC340]

I'll have a look later, Joe. It'll be something simple, I'm sure!