15 replies to this topic

[Antimod]

I'd like to add some existing FS-airports to Airports.txt for AI traffic. How to locate the coordinates needed? I thought they were the airport center marks (the purple cross), but I read the manual and realized it was not.
So how to get it?

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 19 2006, 05:20 PM, said:

I'd like to add some existing FS-airports to Airports.txt for AI traffic. How to locate the coordinates needed? I thought they were the airport center marks (the purple cross), but I read the manual and realized it was not.
So how to get it?

The purple dot/crosshair DOES contain the airport's center reference point.  Put your mouse pointer on the dot, right click, then select properties.  You can also put the mouse pointer in any unused part of the AFCAD screen, right click, select properties, and the coordinates will show up there, too.

Be sure you're adding AF2_xxxx.BGL files.  AFCAD .txt files are for FS2002 and will not work in FS2004.

Edited by sarge, 19 June 2006 - 04:52 PM.

[Antimod]

I'm working with AFCAD 2.x
BGL files are all right, but the reference point does not match with the thing needed in the uncompressed txt file! That's my problem!

[TechnicolorYawn]

All you need is the approximate location. The coords in the filghtplan's airports_xxx file is used together with the cruise speed in the aircraft_xxx for computing the arrival time of each flight. Getting the coords slightly innacurate will only mean that a plane may land a couple of minutes early or late. Don't worry, they will still land in the right place.

[Antimod]

OK, I'll try then with the reference points!

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 19 2006, 06:04 PM, said:

I'm working with AFCAD 2.x
BGL files are all right, but the reference point does not match with the thing needed in the uncompressed txt file! That's my problem!

Let me guess:

In the airports.txt file, the coordinates for your airport are:

Nxx.xx Wxx.xx
(or similar)

and in the AFCAD the coordinates are:

Nxx.xxxx
Wxx.xxxx
(or similar)

Is that the problem?  If so, it's because FS9 uses only two decimal places in some places and four in others.  Look at your aircraft's position in the map view -- only 2 decimal places -- then look at your aircraft's position by pressing Shift-Z twice -- 4 decimal places; whereas AFCAD uses 4 decimal places in all cases.  As long as the first two decimal places are the same, no problem.

Edited by sarge, 19 June 2006 - 09:11 PM.

[Antimod]

Yes, I rounded them ( ), but even the first two aren't the same.
I put in LKHO in Airports.txt and sent a DC-3 there (easily can land on that rwy), and I created a parking place in AFCAD. Still no traffic shows up there.

Just to show it. Let's see a random airport, which isn't modified (AFCAD says stock):

Reference point:
N49* 41.7675',E18* 06.6508'

coordinates seen in the aircraft.txt:
N49* 41.64',E18* 6.53',843

[IBtheSarge]

If that's the data you're getting for the stock LKHO, you've got a problem somewhere:

Antimod, on Jun 20 2006, 03:55 AM, said:

Just to show it. Let's see a random airport, which isn't modified (AFCAD says stock):
Reference point:
N49* 41.7675',E18* 06.6508'

Antimod, on Jun 20 2006, 03:55 AM, said:

coordinates seen in the aircraft.txt:
N49* 41.64',E18* 6.53',843

That's straight from FS9/Scenery/EURW/Scenery/AP952140.bgl (the original, FS9 BGL containing LKHO).  The data you're showing is 23' too far north and 30' too far east.  Forget the decimal places, your whole minutes are out of whack.

[Antimod]

The coords I gave are from LKMT.
But I that yours are quite the same for LKHO not as mine.
But TTools is collecting airport data from AP952140.bgl, right? That's strange.

edit.: So if I can decode that bgl file, I can get detail for every airport in FS?

Edited by Antimod, 20 June 2006 - 06:55 AM.

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 20 2006, 07:53 AM, said:

edit.: So if I can decode that bgl file, I can get detail for every airport in FS?

No, you can get the detail for every airport in that AREA.  If you look in FS9/Scenery/EURW/Scenery, you will see a tonne of bgl files; they all contain airports of western Europe, grouped according to location.  The best bet for getting the coordinates is to open the airport(s) individually in AFCAD and right click on the pink dot.

Just checked LKMT ..... default AFCAD shows N49 41.76xx E18 6.65xx and the airports.txt file shows N49 41.76 E18 6.65 (the 843 is field elevation).  Off-hand, I'd guess that someone has been ing with your airports.txt file; that's the only way you'd get E18 6.53 instead of E18 6.65.

Your statement is correct -- the airports.txt data is taken directly from the dominant AFCAD (either the stock or the latest modified); TTools ONLY reads airport data from AFCADs.  If the data in airports.txt doesn't match the AFCAD data, it's been manually manipulated.

[Antimod]

Not working.
The traffic started its route in time: then I followed the plane in slew mode (after I realized it hasn't done the touch and go at its destination airfield). The aircraft positioned itself to the given coordinates (collected from the AFCAD), but didn't find the airport, just flew straight out of the country with its gears out.
So it seems that proper coordinates are a must. How can I decompile that bgl (which contains all the airports in FS2004)?

Edited by Antimod, 25 June 2006 - 06:49 AM.

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 25 2006, 07:48 AM, said:

Not working.
The traffic started its route in time: then I followed the plane in slew mode (after I realized it hasn't done the touch and go at its destination airfield). The aircraft positioned itself to the given coordinates (collected from the AFCAD), but didn't find the airport, just flew straight out of the country with its gears out.
So it seems that proper coordinates are a must. How can I decompile that bgl (which contains all the airports in FS2004)?

The only BGL that contains all of the FS airports is the traffic BGL in your FS9/Scenery/World/Scenery folder.  You decompile it into aircraft.txt, airports.txt, and flightplans.txt with Lee Swordy's TTools.  That is the ONLY BGL that contains data for all of the airports.

Just out of curiosity:  which airport did you want the AI traffic to do touch-and-go's at?  Give me the flightplan you are using for the AI aircraft you followed in slew mode.

[Antimod]

Thanks for your help, but now I'm a bit confused.  
Where is that bgl? Isn't it the FS9/Scenery/EURW/Scenery/AP952140.bgl ?
How can I decompile it? Because TTools can't do it. First of all, just doesn't find it, since there isn't the word Traffic in the filename. I renamed it, then tried to decode, it quit with an error message. I don't see any options in the program that would do it. Or am I using an old version of TTools? (2.0.2)

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 25 2006, 11:58 AM, said:

Thanks for your help, but now I'm a bit confused. 
Where is that bgl? Isn't it the FS9/Scenery/EURW/Scenery/AP952140.bgl ?

That BGL only contains the airports in a specific area.  If you look in that folder, you will see a few DOZEN bgl's .... they are all airports throughout Western Europe (EURW, Europe West).  Go to the Scenery Hall of Fame (SHOF) website and get a program called NewBglAnalyze (by Winfried Orthmann); the exact filename is newbglanalyze_143281.zip.  You'll have to copy AP952140.bgl into the same directory you unpack NewBglAnalyze into, then start NewBglAnalyze and point it to the .bgl file you want it to decompile.  It will produce a .txt file for you that you can scroll through to find the coordinates of the few airports that are in there.

Again, however; that file does NOT contain all the airports in FS2004.  It only contains a FEW of the airports in a small part of Western Europe.  There is no single BGL in FS2004 that contains ALL of the airports, except the airports.txt file that is used to compile the traffic BGL.  If such a file DID exist, it would decompile to a .txt file several gigabytes in size and you wouldn't be able to open it to view it.

Antimod, on Jun 25 2006, 11:58 AM, said:

Because TTools can't do it.

Correct; TTools is designed specifically to open only one type of BGL -- a traffic BGL.  When you run TTools, it looks in the BGL for the three sets of data -- airports, aircraft, and flightplans -- and, if it doesn't see all three of those inside the BGL, it won't open it and decompile it.

Edited by sarge, 25 June 2006 - 12:39 PM.

[Antimod]

Thanks! Now I give it a try to get the proper data, because it seems my flightplan fails because of those incorrect coordinates.

[IBtheSarge]

Antimod, on Jun 25 2006, 02:08 PM, said:

Thanks! Now I give it a try to get the proper data, because it seems my flightplan fails because of those incorrect coordinates.

Yell if you run into another brick wall .... there's plenty of help in these design forums.