Some Basic Startup Questions

[Cdrbuck]

I recently purchased your TrueEarth GB (all three), Washington, and your Monument Valley software.  While the download time was significant, I got everything in one evening and everything appears to have installed correctly.  However, as a first time user of ORBX products, I have a few questions:

 

1.  Can I erase all the ZIP files in my X-Plane 11 folder, or are they necessary for the program?

 

2.  Should I incorporate all the ORBX Overlay files into my Ortho4XP Overlay file or just leave them as they are?  (I suspect the latter)

 

3.  Since X-Plane 11 required you to update the .ini file every time you install some new software, i.e. airports, scenery, etc., do I need to rearrange the ORBX files into the "proper" location in my .ini file, or again, do I just leave them alone? 

 

4.  Finally, do you have some recommended order or location of all the various ORBX files in the .ini file, or in my case, the GB, Washington, and Monument files?

 

This is the first time I have purchased ORBX programs so I want to make sure I get everything installed correctly so when I am actually flying in one of your downloaded areas, I get the result you were trying to achieve when you created the program.

 

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

 

Regards,

Cdrbuck (Ex US Navy Pilot)

[Jon Clarke]

15 hours ago, Cdrbuck said:

I recently purchased your TrueEarth GB (all three), Washington, and your Monument Valley software.  While the download time was significant, I got everything in one evening and everything appears to have installed correctly.  However, as a first time user of ORBX products, I have a few questions:

 

1.  Can I erase all the ZIP files in my X-Plane 11 folder, or are they necessary for the program?

 

2.  Should I incorporate all the ORBX Overlay files into my Ortho4XP Overlay file or just leave them as they are?  (I suspect the latter)

 

3.  Since X-Plane 11 required you to update the .ini file every time you install some new software, i.e. airports, scenery, etc., do I need to rearrange the ORBX files into the "proper" location in my .ini file, or again, do I just leave them alone? 

 

4.  Finally, do you have some recommended order or location of all the various ORBX files in the .ini file, or in my case, the GB, Washington, and Monument files?

 

This is the first time I have purchased ORBX programs so I want to make sure I get everything installed correctly so when I am actually flying in one of your downloaded areas, I get the result you were trying to achieve when you created the program.

 

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

 

Regards,

Cdrbuck (Ex US Navy Pilot)

 

Hi and welcome. I will try and answer your questions as a user of XP and Orbx.

1. I don't know what zip files you are referring to that would be in your XP "folder". What folder are you referring to? I assume it it not your XP directory.

2. Leave the installed Orbx files/folders in tact and DO NOT merge them with anything else. They have been installed exactly as they are supposed to be and have no association whatsoever with any Orth4XP files. The correct layering sequence for the TE series is Custom,Overlay, Orthos, but will discuss this further later.

3.Orbx will place the addons in the correct location, generally speaking, but there may on occasions be a need to manually adjust the .ini.

I ask that you attach for review your current .ini and I will make any adjustments to the layering sequence that may or may not be needed,

4. This is partly answered in 3. but i will give more details for future reference after I have reviewed your scenery_packs.ini

Speak to you soon.

[Nick Cooper]

EDIT: I made this reply yesterday but didn't post it.

Sorry

 

Hello,

welcome to the forums.

 

1. without knowing what they are, this question cannot be answered.

The Orbx installer does not install zip files into the X Plane 11\Custom scenery folder.

 

2. No

 

3. I would suggest that you create a properly ordered ini file and save it.

As I understand it, X Plane 11 will undo the correct order for Orbx scenery

whenever a fresh scenery product is added.

 

4. There is a whole and lengthy topic on the subject of the scenery_packs.ini file.

I defer to that.

 

[Cdrbuck]

Thanks to both JJAYCEE1 and NICK for the prompt replies.  If neither of you know about the .ZIP files, then they probably have nothing to do with ORBX and I will get rid of them.  I think between the two of you and the attachment from NICK, I think I have enough information to get everything working as designed.  Thanks for your help for an ORBX Nubie.

 

Regards,

Cdrbuck

[Jon Clarke]

34 minutes ago, Cdrbuck said:

Thanks to both JJAYCEE1 and NICK for the prompt replies.  If neither of you know about the .ZIP files, then they probably have nothing to do with ORBX and I will get rid of them.  I think between the two of you and the attachment from NICK, I think I have enough information to get everything working as designed.  Thanks for your help for an ORBX Nubie.

 

Regards,

Cdrbuck

Good to know. Just for my peace of mind, would you oblige and attach your .ini for me to look at? I am sure you are very versed in matters XP, but there are a couple of Orbx related bits i want to check you have layered correctly. Obviously if you don't wish to attach your .ini i fully understand and don't wish to appear patronising or questioning your XP knowledge. just want to make sure your Orbx addons are correctly placed.

[Cdrbuck]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the kind offer.  I have a MASSIVE .ini file, but everything seems to be working correctly at the moment.  You will probably notice that I did move one of the Orbx files (Orbx_A_KCGX_Merrill_C_Meigs_Field) up into my US Airport section for Illinois near the top of my .ini file.  I was trying to get it and some other Chicago scenery to work together and in this position, everything seems to work fine.  I believe I have left everything else alone.  However, if you spot something out of place, I certainly would be interested in hearing your suggestions.

 

However, I now have another problem that just popped up and I just posted it in the forum.  Basically everything was working fine and still is, BUT, when I try to start Orbx Central, I get the following message:  

 

Error

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process 

Uncaught Exception:

SyntaxError: Unexpected token

 

As I said in my post, I tried restarting Central, but got the same message.  I then uninstalled Orbx Central and downloaded and reinstalled the most current version, but I still keep getting the same message.  So for the moment, I am unable to use Orbx Central and do everything manually.  If you have any idea what may be causing the problem, again, I am certainly open to suggestions.

 

Thanks again for your kind and generous offer.  I look forward to seeing what you have to say.

 

 

 

scenery_packs.ini

[Jon Clarke]

@Cdrbuck Hi. Sorry i took so long to get back to you but I lost internet service for 3 days until last night.

I have looked at yourscenery_packs.ini and you are correct it is massive. Very neatly arranged but not conducive to good performance. You have several "no-no's" regarding layering. For example you have some Orth scenery above Global airports to mention just one aspect.

 I have reorganised as much as I dare due to the fact I am not familiar with a large number of the addons and unsure of the relationships some sceneries have to each other. I have made sure you get the best performance of the Orbx addons  by layering them correctly.  After all this is an Orbx forum

As you must be aware the layering is all important in achieving best performance and to minimise conflicts and anomalies.

The basic structure of the .ini should be from top down:

3rd party airports (non default/global)

Global Airports

Orbx TE series

Scenery enhancements like VFR Objects, W2XP, Cable cars etc

Libraries

Ortho Overlays

Ortho

3rd party Mesh Like UHD and HD Mesh.

You will notice from your submitted scenery.ini that this formula was not followed. You may well have been observing that all was OK but with such an array of addons there would be a time when you are flying somewhere and you have no autogen for example, because you had Ortho masking a scenery.

 I attach your modified scenery.ini

Happy flying!

scenery_packs.ini

[Cdrbuck]

Thanks, Jon, I really appreciate the time you spend reviewing my .ini file.  I am still pretty much of a newbie and have been collecting a ton of files to see what looks interesting with the intention of culling the herd once I decide what I want to keep.  While I have read a large number of posts as to how to organize everything in the .ini file, the actual application of the various posts is a little more complicated than what It would appear, so the assistance from somebody with a great deal of experience is greatly appreciated.  I will keep and study your revisions to try and not make the same mistakes in the future.

 

I agree my huge .ini file is way too large and while the program runs fine and I normally get FPS rated in excess of 25-30 FPS, my load times sometimes allow me to make and eat lunch before I’m ready to fly, especially in the UK and Europe!  I’m looking forward to see how your changes affect my performance and visual presentation and no doubt I will learn a lot from your expertise.  And I promise, I will dramatically reduce the size of my .ini file by removing a lot of the files for areas I never use.

 

Just a small justification for all the files, before I retired, I was a Navy pilot, and I had a civilian job (not with the airlines) that required a substantial amount of international travel, so I have been to most of the countries that are in my files.  I have lived in most of the countries in Asia, Hawaii, Germany, and Costa Rica, and have worked in most of the other countries, so I always find it interesting to see how closely X-Plane replicates the areas where I have lived or worked.  And while the details may not be perfect, it is surprisingly accurate.  It’s a far cry from where I now live in the country not far from Purdue University in Indiana, USA, but surrounded by corn, soybeans, and cows!

 

Thanks again for all your time and help.

 

Regards,

Richard

 

[Cdrbuck]

Hi Jon,

 

I just started going through your revised .ini file, and I certainly had a significant number of things mixed up and out of place.  I just have one question for now.  You mentioned that I have some Ortho scenery above my Global Airports, but I noticed in your revision that the Global Airports is located in the middle of my Orbx files.  Was this intentional or simply misplaced?  According to your layering plan, the Global Airports should come right after my 3rd party airports.  Should I move the Global Airports shown in you revision to just below my 3rd party airport and above the Orbx files?

[Jon Clarke]

7 hours ago, Cdrbuck said:

Hi Jon,

 

I just started going through your revised .ini file, and I certainly had a significant number of things mixed up and out of place.  I just have one question for now.  You mentioned that I have some Ortho scenery above my Global Airports, but I noticed in your revision that the Global Airports is located in the middle of my Orbx files.  Was this intentional or simply misplaced?  According to your layering plan, the Global Airports should come right after my 3rd party airports.  Should I move the Global Airports shown in you revision to just below my 3rd party airport and above the Orbx files?

The position I put Global Airports is above the Orbx True Earth sceneries. The Orbx files above Global Airports are Orbx Airports (3rd party airports)

You have many entries which are labelled as, and ending in "Scenery" like these examples:

SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Salt Lake City Scenery/
SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Salvador Scenery/
SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/San Diego Scenery/

I have no idea what they are so I have left them alone. If they are NOT airports then they should be placed below all the Orbx True earth and Orbx LOWI entries. I will let you determine what they are and for you to move them if required. It is only a matter of opening the scenery_packs.ini with Notepad and cutting and pasting the entries to the right layer. I did move some of your "ending in "Scenery" files but concentrated on making sure the Orbx addons were correctly placed. Now you have the knowledge of how things should be layered, you will be able to reorganise you .ini accordingly.

Remember it is from top down:

3rd party airports (non default including Orbx Airport addons)

Global Airports

Orbx True Earth ( place London Landmarks file above True Earth and directly below Global Airports if you have TEGB South)

Scenery enhancement addons (not airports or TE addons)

Libraries (these can go anywhere but it makes sense to have them all together and out of the way near the bottom of the .ini)

Ortho Overlays

Ortho like Ortho4XP files

Mesh (global coverage mesh like HD & UHD Mesh by Aipilot, NOT mesh that forms part of an airport addon)

 

Regarding your personal work history, it has similarities to mine in as much as the travel and work locations is concerned. I lived/worked in 23 countries from birth through to retirement.

[Cdrbuck]

OK, I think I have a pretty good handle on the order of files in the .ini.  It's just when I search for answers on the internet, I get every possible variation of the answer I am looking for, so sometimes it's a little difficult to determine which one is correct.  Your answers have been a big help.

 

Everything seems to be working fine and all the Orbx stuff looks great with one exception.  The Innsbruck airport and surrounding area look great, but some of the roads across from the airport are like vertical walls.  Totally at a loss how to address that as it clearly is not present in the Orbx pictures of the area.  Any ideas?

 

Perhaps our paths crossed at some time in the past.

 

Cdrbuck

 

[Jon Clarke]

7 hours ago, Cdrbuck said:

OK, I think I have a pretty good handle on the order of files in the .ini.  It's just when I search for answers on the internet, I get every possible variation of the answer I am looking for, so sometimes it's a little difficult to determine which one is correct.  Your answers have been a big help.

 

Everything seems to be working fine and all the Orbx stuff looks great with one exception.  The Innsbruck airport and surrounding area look great, but some of the roads across from the airport are like vertical walls.  Totally at a loss how to address that as it clearly is not present in the Orbx pictures of the area.  Any ideas?

 

Perhaps our paths crossed at some time in the past.

 

Cdrbuck

 

Check if you have "Runways follow terrain contours" enabled in your XP settings General options. This maybe the cause. Test and see if it resolves the issue.

[isfun2fly]

Dear Jon Clarke - I have been reading several of your posts and noticed how you've helped so many.  I reported this bug a while back and have had no noticeable responses about how to fix (I have had some good natured laughs given about needing elevators in the sim, etc. - all in good fun I'm sure).  I'm trying to work out the solution on my own and am wondering if I'm doing something wrong with my scenery_packs.ini folder order that is causing the problem.  Any help you might provide would be greatly appreciated.  Even if it's just to say that my scenery order is OK, then I'll know to try something else.  The "Giant Buildings" occur throughout the North, Central and South areas of TEGB Orbx titles.  You can see one here, but I've posted others that are in the "bug" files now.  Thanks for any feed back - sure appreciate what you've done for others - Thanks.  Scott 

(The pic is of your typical 50+ story building found in a gentle countryside setting - ha, ha - my feeble attempt at humor)

scenery_packs.ini

[Jon Clarke]

@Tony WroblewskiThe appearance of these giant buildings has been reported in June. I also reported a similar issue way back regarding these buildings. There has been no response as far as i can see nor any indication that the anomaly has been "Noted" by the devs. 

 

 

[Jon Clarke]

8 hours ago, sfreeby41163 said:

Dear Jon Clarke - I have been reading several of your posts and noticed how you've helped so many.  I reported this bug a while back and have had no noticeable responses about how to fix (I have had some good natured laughs given about needing elevators in the sim, etc. - all in good fun I'm sure).  I'm trying to work out the solution on my own and am wondering if I'm doing something wrong with my scenery_packs.ini folder order that is causing the problem.  Any help you might provide would be greatly appreciated.  Even if it's just to say that my scenery order is OK, then I'll know to try something else.  The "Giant Buildings" occur throughout the North, Central and South areas of TEGB Orbx titles.  You can see one here, but I've posted others that are in the "bug" files now.  Thanks for any feed back - sure appreciate what you've done for others - Thanks.  Scott 

(The pic is of your typical 50+ story building found in a gentle countryside setting - ha, ha - my feeble attempt at humor)

scenery_packs.ini 2.98 kB · 2 downloads

Hi. You can see that i have passed this query to Tony. It would have been preferable to have posted your request as a separate topic rather than include it into a non related topic like this one. Anyway I have revised you scenery_packs.ini but it will NOT remove the anomaly you (and me) are seeing regarding the buildings issue.

 

scenery_packs.ini

[isfun2fly]

Dear Jon Clarke - As someone who perhaps should know better but doesn't, how do I start a separate topic with the hope of conversing with you, specifically.  I thought the only way I could talk/type to you would be to reply to a post that you had created?  I'm grateful for your response and the re-organization of my scenery_packs.ini folder.  I was curious about the placement of the "Landmarks - Chicago" below the Orbx_KCGX_A Merrill_C_Meigs_Field.  Another gentleman told me that it had to be above  the Orbx entry to be able to see the landmarks.  Will try your new organization!  Thank you!  Scott   

[Jon Clarke]

You may get several suggestions regarding where to place Landmark fies. Regarding Chicago though I have always placed my Landmarks below because i was not sure if there was any duplication of "landmark" buildings which are included in the large Autogen part of Orbx Meigs.

To start a new topic see  the attached pic.:

[isfun2fly]

Thank you, Jon for your prompt and great replies!  I do understand how to start a new topic, I was just wondering how I might speak with you, personally when I do so.  I just did not understand how to signal that I wanted to speak to someone specific without responding to a message that that person had previously posted.  I will do better in the future.  Thank you again for all your wonderful help!  Happy Skies!  Scott Freeby 

[Jon Clarke]

22 minutes ago, sfreeby41163 said:

Thank you, Jon for your prompt and great replies!  I do understand how to start a new topic, I was just wondering how I might speak with you, personally when I do so.  I just did not understand how to signal that I wanted to speak to someone specific without responding to a message that that person had previously posted.  I will do better in the future.  Thank you again for all your wonderful help!  Happy Skies!  Scott Freeby 

Hi Scott. All support requests are to be posted on the forum and if it is X-Plane related i will see it and respond where I can. If I can't help I will forward to someone within Orbx who may have a better knowledge base than I do. 

[isfun2fly]

Got it Jon - I'll remember and respond/ask accordingly.  Thanks again for all your wonderful help.  Happy Skies!  Scott