Larry_R
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Posts posted by Larry_R
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Hi guys,
It’s very easy to allow P3D v6 to use your existing P3D v5 installation. No modification to the root sim directory is needed. Specifically, you do not make any modifications to the files in the Autogen folder. I have used this procedure seemingly endless times doing clean installs of v6 and it’s quite fast.
The following works only if your Orbx products are installed in an external library. I’d highly recommend doing so if you are currently still installing in the root sim.
Make sure your Orbx libraries are up to date. Ed has told that the Orbx libs have been modified very slightly to accommodate P3D v6, but if that is not the case, here’s what to do:
go to [your install path]\Orbx P3D Library\p3dv5\Orbx Libraries\Orbx\Scripts\custom.gb_base
Rename AutogenDescriptions.spb to AutogenDescriptions original.spb
Make a copy of AutogenDescriptions_Legacy.spb and rename it to AutogenDescriptions.spb
Assuming that the Orbx libs have already been adjusted to accommodate v6, do these two steps:
1: In C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v6, open the add-ons.cfg in Notepad. Also open the same file for P3D v5. Copy all your Orbx entries from the v5 file and paste them into the v6 file. Now fix the numbering so that it is sequential. All this does is point v6 to the location of your Orbx scenery entries.
Alternatively, you can simply replace the v6 add-ons.cfg file with a copy of the file for v5. This will enable all the addons in v6 that were in the v5 file. Some may work, some may not, or perhaps some may be incompatible and might crash the sim. So go slow if you have a huge number of addons.
2: in the same location, make a copy of the existing terrain.cfg (306 kb, then replace the original with the same file from P3D v5. The size should be 905 kb.
That’s it. Your v5 installs should all continue to work properly.
My guess is that there will be issues with some Orbx products in v6, however I can tell you that Orbx PNW and all of the Orbx seaplane bases as well as the PNW ferries, and even the wave effects all look very nice in v6, and without issues, at least as of the last beta which I think is identical to the release version. The FSX Beaver works too, as well as the Milviz Turbo Otter with the exception of the GPS and a funny window tint as I remember.
Edited to add:
If you have the PNW ferries installed in v5, you have to do one more thing. Go to
[your install path]\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v6\Scenery\World\scenery and disable the ferry traffic file by renaming trafficBoats.bgl to trafficBoats.bgl.off. If you don't do this you will have duplicate ferries. If you uninstall the ferries from v5, reenable the boat traffic file in v6.
Note: all of the above is more or less an unsupported workaround and may become obsolete if v6 ends up officially supported.
Cheers,
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Hi guys,
Just a quick note to say that P3D v5.3 seems to have solved all the performance issues with the Orbx seaplane bases (CAX6, CAC8, CAG8, YRC and CAE3) that began with v5.0. The issue appears to have been related to the way in which v5 handled platforms or hardening and these products made extensive use of hardening so that heli pilots could land on the large models and the avatar could walk on them.
With 5.3 there are a few oddities I have not been able to solve and some effects, designed for v3 and 4 are not quite as I would wish them. But in general, everything works and on my machine performance is now better than in v4 using similar settings. This in spite of a lot of improvements to the sim.
Cheers,
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Hi @Whenmaker
I'm glad my guess on the end color fix worked for you. You might end up wanting to fiddle a bit more as you see the waves in more circumstances. As Aussie mentions above, the new lighting system P3Dv5 makes the waves (and other things too) highly dependent on the time of day, the time of year to some extent and the weather. The angle of the sun is especially important and as you fly the relation between the waves and the sun changes continually. The lighting system is not perfect and sometimes produces less than realistic colors (hue, saturation or lightness), but in general with each point version it gets better.
I'll mention one other adjustment that seems to produce different results from version to version; the 'alpha' or transparency value of the starting color. It's the 4th number in the Color Start line. The range is zero to 255, 255 being completely opaque. If the waves seem to harsh to your eye, you can lower the number, or raise it if they you want them more prominent.
Cheers,
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Hello Steffen,
Yes, this is one of those frustrations where the effect looks slightly different with each version of P3D; it's a continual moving target. I'm no longer able to try to tweak the effect files for each new version, but you can if you want to spend time to do it.
In this case, the original idea was to gradually darken the color of the texture as a percentage of the time the wave runs. And that time is random within a given range which makes things more complicated. It's done by using the Color Rate, Color Start and Color End lines in the .fx file. The current version of v5 makes the darkening too obvious in some waves, like those that run the longest.
Here's what you can try:
in your \Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\Global_Orbx_Wave_Effects\Effects, find the effect file you suspect is being used. Ignore any of the files with Cntrl or controller in the file name. Open the suspect effect file in Notepad. For many shoreline waves, this file is used: fx_LR_Orbx_oceanwaves.fx
Scroll down to the [ParticleAttributes.0] section and look for the line Color End=..... For example it may be Color End=120, 129, 138, 0 This is the color at the end of the wave and in this case is quite dark. Try just lightening it up by uniformly increasing the first 3 numbers (for red, green and blue) by 40 or 50 as a first guess. There is no magic to this; it's trial and error. If your first attempt does not do what you want, just keep at it. I can't tell you how many hours I spent doing this sort of thing.
Once you get something you like, keep a copy of the effect file just in case. However, because this is a manual installation, Orbx Central should not ever overwrite it.
If you are not sure you are editing the correct wave effect file, the easiest check is to temporarily change the starting color to say pure red like this: Color Start=255, 0, 0, 160 If you have edited the correct file, the waves you are trying to fix will now start out red. If they are not, you are editing the wrong file -- or not doing it correctly.
Cheers,
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3 hours ago, shermank said:
A slight problem. I do not have an Extras folder with the PNW folder stored in my Orbx library. Maybe I should verify or reinstall PNW ferries?
Hi Sherm,
Everything you (or others interested) need is in the folder in the zip file I attached above plus the .pdf instructions. I copied them directly from the Extras folder in my PNW ferries installed by OC. You don't need the ferries for the new waves to work; they were just 'extras'.
Cheers
Ps: the only reason the Add-on folder was zipped was so that Orbx Central would not try to install it.
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On 10/20/2021 at 11:36 AM, shermank said:
Where can I find this as mentioned by Larry R in this thread. Thanks
Hi Sherm,
The Orbx Global Wave Effects were included as a manually installed Add-on in the 'Extras' folder in the PNW Ferries product. We did it this way to avoid the following problem: if the wave effects were added by Orbx Central and the user elected to install within the sim folder, a couple of default files would be over-written. This is a no-no. So although more inconvenient, manually putting the files in your P3D Add-ons folder avoids any such issues.
I'll attach the zip file needed for the waves. I hope you will take a look at the instructions attached too.
Instructions for the new wave and surf effects.pdf
Cheers,
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On 10/16/2021 at 7:39 PM, panzer2181 said:
After doing some research, LM is stating that these effects were removed in v5 and are not supposed to be present. The culprit appears to be Orbx products.
Hello,
I was not aware that LM has removed the default wave effects; I'll have to check on my setup. The required default files continue to be present on each version of v5 I have tested, including the latest. (This would be expected in that those files are used by Orbx and others.) For example:
wavecontroller.fx and the associated waves.fx are present in the effects folder. For what it's worth, previous advice I have offered on this topic is still valid in the latest version of v5. If anything, to my eye the Orbx Global Wave Effects manually installed add-on now look better in v5 as compared to v4. As to removing all wave effects, there are several posts I have made on the subject that will still apply to v5. Can't remember where however.
Cheers,
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Hello,
I'd suggest asking the guys over at FSDeveloper about this issue; that's what I would do.
Cheers,
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Thanks for the kind words Henrik,
Perhaps when the weather turns cold and rainy I'll look into adapting the boats only to MSFS. If I can get over the frustration of working with MSFS that is.
Larry
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Hello,
Let me add a bit to Graham's answer above although it has nothing to do with AI aircraft. If you have the PNW Ferries installed, Orbx Central disables the default file that guides AI ship and ferry traffic (trafficboats.bgl) and substitutes a version that is identical except for routes modified or added by the PNW Ferries. If for some reason you want to use the default AI ship and ferry traffic file, disable or uninstall the PNW Ferries scenery package. This is further discussed in the instructions for the ferries.
Cheers,
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Thanks for remembering the ferries Bert,
I don't know if I will ever get to adapting the ferries to MSFS; I'm currently off in another direction. But you never know....
Larry
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Hello,
My expertise is in AI boats, not planes but in that there has been no reply yet, take this for what it's worth.
In your SimObjects\Airplanes, find the pertinent model. It may have a number of liveries. Open the aircraft.cfg with notepad.
You will see entries like this example:
[fltsim.1]
title=Commercial Airliner Paint4
sim=Commercial_Airliner
model=
panel=
sound=
texture=4
kb_checklists=
kb_reference=
atc_id=I-HKSN
atc_airline=Orbit
atc_flight_number=
ui_manufacturer="ACME"
ui_type="Commercial Jet"
ui_variation="Orbit Airlines"
ui_typerole="Commercial Airliner"
ui_createdby="Lockheed Martin"
description="Commercial Airliner"Make a backup or copy of the aircraft.cfg, then delete the entire pertinent [fltsim.n] entry and renumber any remaining so there are no missing numbers.
That should do it. If the sim crashes, revert to your saved original .cfg.
If that aircraft is pilotable, you will no longer have that option.
Cheers
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2 hours ago, peregrine said:
It seems to be getting a lot of attention at the moment because the problem appears to have become more pronounced on V5.1 when EA is on. I am having the problem in 4.5 and 5 with EA off as well though.
As John has mentioned above, this has been a longstanding problem with v4 involving default objects in addition to those from addons. As Ed has mentioned elsewhere on this forum, it's likely that the issue may be resolved for v5.1 fairly soon. I very much doubt that LM will return to v4 to try to fix what has been a very difficult issue. You option will be to give v5.1 a try once the issue has been resolved.
Cheers
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On 1/15/2019 at 5:27 AM, John Venema said:
3. Remove all bloatware from Windows 10 using this simple script - https://geekylifestyle.com/remove-windows-10-bloat-with-this-amazing-script
Hi John,
Have you ever used Black Viper's service recommendations?
http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-10-service-configurations/
I like it because he gives 'safe' and 'tweaked' recommendations and frequently a description of what the service does and it's easy to undo any changes. On the other hand it takes a while to go through all the services he marks as changes from the default. He also keeps track of the new services (of questionable merit) that Win 10 often adds with every update.
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I am saddened by Neil’s passing. I first met Neil at his home at the suggestion of his friend Rob Abernathy just as the first beta of CAC8 was being tested. I was very discouraged, figuring I could never fix all the problems found, and I had decided just to do it for myself as had been my custom. Neil and Rob too were so encouraging, so positive and offering help if I needed it. The result of this first visit was that I decided that I would at least give it a shot. So if you ever use any of the SPBs, think of Neil.
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Hi folks,
I know that many have very tight budgets but considering the cost of hardware needed run a sim well, I note that the cost of FTX PNW is currently less than a top of the line 120 mm case fan at Newegg. (Yes, you can get them for $5 too.)
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Hi Guys,
Here's some more info:
Elaine has explained this issue here.
I have not seen the video in question but it seems to be creating unnecessary angst. It is completely untrue that all addons for P3D will go in the P3D v4 folder in your My Documents folder. Please see what Elaine has to say about the issue. As Elaine describes, using the Add On system, which is not new to v4, is optional at the discretion of the developer. I does provide certain conveniences but using it requires that the developer create installers to specifically use this system. Widespread adoption is unlikely to happen soon. Orbx scenery installs *exactly* like it does now. But as JV has warned here *do not* try to move files to P3D v4 yourself!
I have been using the P3D v4 betas for some time now and FTXC3 is just as easy to use for v4 as it is for other sims. The files go in the same respective locations. (To my eye, version 4 looks *so* much better by the way.)
As a left over from FSX, many have added their own 'addon' folder in the P3D root in order to store a variety of minor sceneries. The Addon folder in the My Documents is a special folder and is entirely different. You can continue to use an addon folder (named however you want) in the sim root, however there is no need to have it in the sim root where it may get wiped out with re-installs. You can put it anywhere. And as in earlier versions, you can have sub folders for effects, sounds, sim objects etc and use pointers to tell P3D where to find the files in the same way you currently tell P3D where to find your custom addons folder. See the Learning Center.
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Prepar3D v6.0 Features and Enhancements
in General Discussion
Posted
ObjectFlow works in v6 on my machine at least; should work on yours.
Cheers