Introducing Orbx Central: Easy Installation, For Everyone

[Airwolf]

I really want to beta test this.  For years, I have been manually installing non-Orbx sceneries outside the root directory via addon method and symlink.

 

Will the new installer make all the files in sim directory/Scenery/World/Scenery & sim Directory/Scenery/Global/scenery outside the root directory.  I would love to have all Orbx files outside the sim.  Also the effects and effect/textures.

 

Super excited once you guys do this, and I am betting that other major sceneries developers will follow the direction the leader is taking.

[Ben McClintock]

3 hours ago, Airwolf said:

Will the new installer make all the files in sim directory/Scenery/World/Scenery & sim Directory/Scenery/Global/scenery outside the root directory.  I would love to have all Orbx files outside the sim.  Also the effects and effect/textures.

Wish granted at this stage, every file will reside outside the simulator directory.

[Airwolf]

10 minutes ago, Ben McClintock said:

Wish granted at this stage, every file will reside outside the simulator directory.

 

Wow - Thank You....OMG - This is the most excellent news.  Very grateful that you guys are doing this.  Stunning

 

I have already submitted by name on the beta sign up list.  Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

[andy1252]

A couple of questions for you, Ben.

 

I understand the push to move stuff out of the core P3D folders, but I have a couple of concerns about the use of XML definitions rather than the scenery.cfg entries. My own scenery layout has over 600 layers in scenery.cfg (including all the ORBX products but not including the default scenery). To manage this lot, I currently use the Scenery Config Editor to organise everything into regional groups. This allows me to firstly ensure that I have got everything in the correct order, and secondly disable large chunks of unnecessary scenery when using the sim. I currently modify products that install their "scenery" and/or "texture" definitions to allow me to continue to do this. I do so by amending the addon.xml to leave  any "effects/scripts/sounds" etc definitions but remove any scenery definitions and code them in scenery.cfg so that I can fit them in to my scheme. The main reason for doing this is the ability to only selectively enable required scenery, as I'm given to understand that this still effects load times.

 

So firstly, I guess, I should ask if this scenery loading is indeed still a factor. It feels like it is on my system, but I haven't done any terribly precisely measured tests so maybe I will do that.

And then as far as the new Central goes, I'm guessing the use of the add-on xml technique will not be optional? Personally, I'd like it to be so but I realise I may be ****ing into the wind with my distaste for the xml options (it might be more bearable if there were only a single place and method for coding the xml files, but there seem to be at least four different techniques I've found so far).

 

I have just done a clean install of P3D 4.5+ followed by a "re-install" of all my scenery, and using the sort of techniques described elsewhere by Nick, the full set of ORBX products were back in place and usable in a few minutes. Given that methodology, and how well it works, I gotta say I don't really see the need to go the whole xml route. I can see that keeping clear of the default scenery and autogen and effectively concatenating in front of it instead is a good idea, but I shall be mildly upset to lose the sort of control I currently have with the existing methods.

 

Anyway, it does all look very impressive, and there's a lot about it that I really like. My personal dislikes are not really anything to do with what you and ORBX are doing, more the way LM has kludged up the whole add-on thing.

 

But I would be keen to know if the use of scenery.cfg is going to be allowed, optionally.

 

[BrettT]

Quick question with regards to activating and deactivating scenery.

 

My typical mode of operation when flying is to have all the regions active when flying but only the airports I am flying to/from with the remainder of the airports being unchecked in the scenery library in P3D.  Will this still be able to be done or will it be done within the new version of Central?

[ncngrr]

Perhaps Central wouldn't be the best place for it, but along with the map, having a flight planner would be nice.   On a zoom-able map with my purchased ORBX airports highlighted (perhaps the ones not yet bought greyed out as incentive to buy even more!),  point/click on the originating airport, point/click on the destination airport, select IFR/VFR, route info, etc., and saving the .PLN file to its location.  Then, when firing up the sim, I could simply choose one of the plans I already know I'd like to fly within the ORBX world.

 

As it stands now, I lose track of all the ORBX airports I own, some I'm sure I've never flown to/from.  I have to annotate all of the ICAO designators somewhere, open up the sim, and enter them in, not really knowing how far apart they are from one another, unless I also annotate that somehow.  This feature wouldn't need to be connected to the sim at all, if it just created/saved the .PLN file. 

 

Another useful feature would for Central (or the sim itself) to keep track of which flight plans I've already flown and which are still on my To-Do list.

 

All that to say, I love what ORBX does for my flight simulator!  Thanks!

[antonvs]

4 minutes ago, ncngrr said:

Perhaps Central wouldn't be the best place for it, but along with the map, having a flight planner would be nice.   On a zoom-able map with my purchased ORBX airports highlighted (perhaps the ones not yet bought greyed out as incentive to buy even more!),  point/click on the originating airport, point/click on the destination airport, ......... 

 

Another useful feature would for Central (or the sim itself) to keep track of which flight plans I've already flown and which are still on my To-Do list.

 

All that to say, I love what ORBX does for my flight simulator!  Thanks!

Rather than Orbx having to divert their talents and re-invent the wheel have you looked into LittleNavMap. This is such a useful Freeware product.  

[ncngrr]

34 minutes ago, antonvs said:

Rather than Orbx having to divert their talents and re-invent the wheel have you looked into LittleNavMap. This is such a useful Freeware product.  

I haven't tried LittleNavMap.  Just scanning online manual.  Looks promising.  Thanks, Antonvs. 

[VH-EEE]

They could simply add an Orbx notation to the airport search criteria that will only list orbx airports/products . Just like typing A2A when selecting planes ect ect.

I feel they have enough work to do in the light of all the massive releases this year .

just hoping central comes before Australia v2 , will be moving/shuffling everything sim around on my comp , new ssd ordered .

 

Great work by the way Orbx team.

[rtissera]

Would be really excited to beta test this too 

[Jack the Swede in Spain]

On 5/29/2019 at 3:13 AM, VH-EEE said:

They could simply add an Orbx notation to the airport search criteria that will only list orbx airports/products . Just like typing A2A when selecting planes ect ect.

I feel they have enough work to do in the light of all the massive releases this year .

just hoping central comes before Australia v2 , will be moving/shuffling everything sim around on my comp , new ssd ordered .

 

Great work by the way Orbx team.

 

It is already there! Just click the link, top left, under the text ORBX. 

 

Jack

the Swede in Spain

[M-Sauce]

Really excited for this needed upgrade. The move to allow external installation is long overdue. Great job guys, I look forward to migrating to this new Central. I'm hoping it will be just that, a migration and not re-installation.

 

One request please. Could the new central include a tool that allows you to deactivate airports by ICAO code, and then retain active/inactive status through FTX updates? This would really be the icing on the cake. When there are re-installations of FTX products, or updates, you sometimes end up with multiple files or other conflicts.

 

When installing 3rd party non-ORBX airports that replace an ORBX freeware addon airport or an airport included in a region, we often have to deactivate ORBX files. Having Central do that for the user in a standardized way would really save a lot of headaches keeping track of what should be active and what shouldn't when products are updated.

 

Apologies if this was previously discussed.

 

Thanks ORBX.

[Ben McClintock]

1 minute ago, M-Sauce said:

When installing 3rd party non-ORBX airports that replace an ORBX freeware addon airport or an airport included in a region, we often have to deactivate ORBX files. Having Central do that for the user in a standardized way would really save a lot of headaches keeping track of what should be active and what shouldn't when products are updated.

Hi Mariano,

 

This is a great idea. We have plans for some automation of our compatibility with 3rd party airports, but unfortunately that didn't make it into this release.

[M-Sauce]

Great to hear Ben. I look forward to that being implemented.

 

[DocBird]

This looks like a big step ahead! 

 

Another suggestion: Could this tool also include a automatic update function for third party addons like weather tool, third party libraries and/or maybe even the core sims themselves?

 

I often have only very limited time to fly per week and sometimes it is eaten up by running updates of the simulator,  the Oculus software, the weather tool, the weather connector, a library here, an airport there... Very frustrating...

 

It would be great if one software could run all those downloads (downloadspeed here in Germnay is about 8 Mbit/s) and updates over night.

[tuisong]

On 6/1/2019 at 9:10 PM, rtissera said:

Would be really excited to beta test this too 

 

Hi rtissera, I have just popped in to welcome you to the forums and wish you many happy hours in the Orbx world.

[Ripcord]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 6:54 PM, tuisong said:

 

Hi rtissera, I have just popped in to welcome you to the forums and wish you many happy hours in the Orbx world.

 

Roger, I was just wondering yesterday about you.  Glad to see you here, been a while.

[tuisong]

17 hours ago, Ripcord said:

 

Roger, I was just wondering yesterday about you.  Glad to see you here, been a while.

 

Thanks Ripcord, yes I have been having a love hate relationship with the sim for about 18 months. Problems with the controls dropping out. After my long sulk a'm hoping it has learnd it's lesson. So I am giving it another chance.

[Anthony96]

I sent in a application to test it

 

Any updates on ready for testing?

[Eric Bakker]

On 5/15/2019 at 1:52 PM, Ben McClintock said:

Orbx and our Melbourne-based development team (Josh, Mitch and I) are very excited to announce the next generation in flight simulator software installation.

We are also looking for a group of people to help us test the functionality across Windows, macOS and Linux. If you're interested, please submit an application.

Once again, if you want to get early access and help us test Central, please submit an application.

Expect a release of Central within the coming months!

We're happy to answer any questions you may have

Hi Ben,

 

I am a bit late to the party, but I applied to the early access (beta).

Is there still room for testers, or is the beta full?

[Dadtom65]

I would hope it’s nearly ready for release but I may be a bit too eager. Hopefully there’s no hiccups and we will all be happy.  yea. Derek.

[patful]

On 7/2/2019 at 6:07 AM, Dadtom65 said:

Hopefully there’s no hiccups and we will all be happy.

 

Nearly two months since the announcement...somebody wake me when it's ready.

[Peter Crowhurst]

[John Venema]

8 hours ago, patful said:

 

Nearly two months since the announcement...somebody wake me when it's ready.

 

The announcement was for an closed beta which is now concluding. It is already available for Mac and Linux users and soon for Windows users. You do want a stable, bug-free version right?

[patful]

2 hours ago, John Venema said:

You do want a stable, bug-free version right?

 

Of course, always my preference. Just frustrated at my stubbornness. I installed a clean copy of Windows 10 and P3D 4.5 in May, and held off installing any Orbx in anticipation of the new Central. So I've been flying the ugly default for two months. Stupid and stubborn, never a good combo...

[lawrence aldrich]

3 hours ago, John Venema said:

 

The announcement was for an closed beta which is now concluding. It is already available for Mac and Linux users and soon for Windows users. You do want a stable, bug-free version right?

OK....but I never had any problems with the one there now.

Soooooooooooooo       whenever   

[Scott Harmes]

2 hours ago, patful said:

 

Of course, always my preference. Just frustrated at my stubbornness. I installed a clean copy of Windows 10 and P3D 4.5 in May, and held off installing any Orbx in anticipation of the new Central. So I've been flying the ugly default for two months. Stupid and stubborn, never a good combo...

 

The new ORBX Central will actually have a migration feature, so you can move any scenery installed with the existing FTX Central 3 to a new location, or actually locations, when the new ORBX Central becomes active.

[pmb]

4 minutes ago, Scott Harmes said:

 

The new ORBX Central will actually have a migration feature, so you can move any scenery installed with the existing FTX Central 3 to a new location, or actually locations, when the new ORBX Central becomes active.

Thanks, Scott, great to know.

 

Looking forward to ORBX Central 4, but given I, like Aldrich, don't have any issues with FTX Central 3 I decided to stay calm.

 

Kind regards, Michael

 

 

[dominique]

Same here, never had any issue with Version 3 and P3D. Rather simple to use and efficient,

[carlosqr]

7 hours ago, John Venema said:

You do want a stable, bug-free version right? 

 

Absolutely, thanks

[jamlen]

I'm pretty sure I'm in the closed beta, but I can't find a download link... I'd like to test on Mac as well as Windows for XP-11.

[slgoldberg]

5 hours ago, jamlen said:

I'm pretty sure I'm in the closed beta, but I can't find a download link... I'd like to test on Mac as well as Windows for XP-11.

 

@jamlen -- since I don't think the beta is available for Windows yet, but it is for Mac, then I recommend you simply go to your Mac, and point your web browser at orbxcentral.com, then click "Account" (or just go straight to orbxdirect dot com slash account.

 

From there, you will see all your products listed, and if you click through enough you'll eventually land on a page to download, that tells you you need Orbx Central, .. it's not a pretty page, but it lists two URLs (links) that point to the two publicly available betas (one for Mac, one for Linux).

 

If I remember, you then have to copy/paste the URL for the one you want (Mac in this case) into the Address box in your browser, hit enter, and Bob's your Uncle. :-)

 

  Steve

[Dadtom65]

On 7/7/2019 at 3:43 PM, Scott Harmes said:

 

The new ORBX Central will actually have a migration feature, so you can move any scenery installed with the existing FTX Central 3 to a new location, or actually locations, when the new ORBX Central becomes active.

This is fantastic news as at the moment I have P3Dv4 on a 2tb drive and Xplane on a 1tb drive. I was more into P3Dv4 at the time but now I’m using Xplane more, especially with the True Earth. So was thinking of doing the old cut and paste job and swapping them around but if FTX Central can now do that it will save some time. Derek.

[slgoldberg]

4 hours ago, jamlen said:

@slgoldberg orbxcentral.com doesn't seem to exist, and I can't find any link on my account to download the beta... but I do get this on a product page (that I haven't bought yet)

 

Blargh! I meant orbxdirect.com. It was just a typo as I had "Orbx Central" (the beta product name) in my head at the time. I just meant "the main Orbx website". :-(

 

  Steve

[slgoldberg]

@jamlen - I finally had time to go retrace my steps.. I see why you didn't find it.

 

Because it turns out (I *believe*, it's hard to be sure) the download of the beta is only offered for downloading and installing the TrueEarth US Washington product.

 

So, if you purchased TrueEarth US Washington, simply go to *that* page (i.e., click it from your account page) and scroll down to the bottom and click the highlighted link titled, "CROSS-PLATFORM DOWNLOAD".  That should take you to a page with some text on it and as I said above, copy/paste the link corresponding to your platform and it will work.

 

I don't want to paste the actual URL because I don't know if Orbx want everyone downloading it or only people who bought TE US Washington. So I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader. :-)  

 

  Steve

[wombat]

On 7/7/2019 at 10:43 PM, Scott Harmes said:

 

The new ORBX Central will actually have a migration feature, so you can move any scenery installed with the existing FTX Central 3 to a new location, or actually locations, when the new ORBX Central becomes active.

that will be fantastic, thanks guys.

 

I know Orbx will not put out a program until they are satisfied with it.

[Jester945271]

On 5/15/2019 at 1:42 PM, pmb said:

SimStarter can create such a Google Earth map for all your installed airports.

 

Kind regards, Michael

Hi Michael

 

I have Simstarter, how do I do this?

[pmb]

1 hour ago, Paul Rose said:

Hi Michael

 

I have Simstarter, how do I do this?

Tools|Export airports to GoogleEarth and Tools|Show airports in GoogleEarth

 

Kind regards, Michael

[Jester945271]

Thankyou Michael

 

I didn't know that, my love for this program grows daily lol

[Anthony96]

so where is link to download