Let's go AI Native!

[NGXfanatic 85]

Bjoern, what external differences are you asking about?  The new FAIB airbus A320 vs the DJC airbus A320?  UT2 FSX native models vs FS9 models?

[Bjoern 1,157]

Oops, should have quoted Dave.

 

He was referring to some 777 variations in UT2.

 

Which I totally misinterpreted, so my post is actually pretty useless.

 

I'll show myself out.

[NGXfanatic 85]

No worries mate.  I just wanted to respond appropriately as I had covered many of the differences in the UT2 program vs the stock AI and I'm sure there are lots of questions about why some folks, like yours truly, go to such great lengths to make their AI presentation so accurate in the sim.   I remember when I first saw AI in FS2004 I was happy just to see the default fake airlines and blocky models, as I migrated to the "dark side" from the X-Plane camp where there was no AI traffic.  From there, I moved over to FSX and learned about WOAI and enjoyed seeing real liveries and realistic looking models.  I then progressed to the payware AI scene with Just Flight Traffic, settling with UT2, and ultimately developed an interest in installing my own choice of flightplans and models/paints to supercede the base UT2 plans and paints. 

 

So I was once in the set it and forget it camp, and could not understand why people waste their time manually tweaking flightplans and such, but as a tinkerer at heart (and who among us FSX users doesn't enjoy this aspect of the hobby) I grew to love customizing the sim to my tastes.  With the newfound knowledge that I had the flexibility to customize the AI to my heart's content, I found myself obsessed with having the engine variants modeled match what the real fleets use, and seeing the little cottage industry out there that are is so particular about the AI fleets that they even account for minutiae like paintless nose cones on some aircraft or different emergency door/window configurations, I found myself sucked into the quest to have my AI fleets model the subtle quirks present in the real fleets as closely as possible.  I'm not as picky as some in the freeware AI community, some of which spend more time just spotting AI and not flying, but I do notice things like the raked wingtips on the 200LR or RR engines on the 767 because they stick out like a sore thumb when I'm sitting behind them queuing for takeoff.   

 

Anyhow, I understand most people probably don't care about such details, but I love to share my fascination with AI traffic fleet fidelity and hope others develop an appreciation for this ecosystem within our virtual skies.

[catchman 13]

Does any site currently have an active discussion board for ai traffic? I remember the old Project AI forums used to be really active. This post itself has been very helpful and since AI can work across several platforms like FS9, FSX, P3D.

[NGXfanatic 85]

Try the Alpha India Group, I find the forum there to have the most knowledgeable group of posters, which include the model authors, painters, and flightplan compilers who show up regularly.

It's a treasure trove of tips and tricks, previews, gossip, you name it.   The consensus in the community is that they have the most accurate and complete flight plans, which they share on the avsim library very frequently.

[Johnny19 344]

I'm using FAIB Airbus and Boeing native FSX models, putting them manually in the sim with flightplans from AIG/ghiom/UTT. AiAArdvark also updates some of their planes to be FSX "compatible". AIG planes seem to be good on performance. Wish that someday somebody would either update or make a new models for widebody jets ie TFS Airbus and Boeings

[gsnde 0]

I noticed that my AI Aircraft Editor was mentioned several times in this thread, so I might as well say a few words about it. The main purpose when I created that tool was to be able to calculate and adapt the different parking spot sizes in FS9 and FSX. Based on the feedback from mainly the MAIW & Alpha India Group forum the application has been further developed. The latest additions is a detailed error search for either the selected aircraft or all aircraft below the selected folder tree. The next thing that will add is an option to easily add / change the prop_anim_ratio for a given aircraft.

 

The model preview option by the way is by courtesy of Arno Gerretsen from FSDeveloper, who let me use his MCX components.

 

For those of you interested in Military AI The Owl's Nest could be a valuable source of information. In my Military AI reference I list more than 2.500 military models, repaints and flight plans, all with links to their download pages and detailed information what is included in each package and which FS version it is for.

 

Most military FS9 AI aircraft work just fine in FSX. There are two potential errors resulting from the different way FS9 and FSX handle alpha channels: the prop showing as a non-see through disk and the cockpit showing opaque. Both symptoms can be easily fixed. In the download center section of The Owl’s Nest I offer the cockpit fixes for almost all Tornado, Mirage 2000 and Eurofighter releases (the only aircraft affected).

 

Last but not least I like to point to a new feature of The Owl's Nest. I recently discovered that I can combine both my interest in flight simulation and photography. The result is the Military AI Screen Shot Gallery, where you will find more than 600 shots of military AI aircraft.

 

[E6BAV8R 88]

 

 

Are you sure? Please note, the 200LR and the 300ER have raked wingtips, the 777 base models in UT2 are not so equipped as they are the basic 200/200ER and 300 variants. And also, the engines are RR only of course.

These are just slight visual differences, but some people like myself want to see the correct engines/wings for the other variants not supplied as UT2 FSX models.

 

You're right.  I didn't look that closely at those details but the fuselage body appears to be correct.

[Sportsfan23 2]

 

 

I also learn so much about aircraft types and the constant fleet changes,

 

Is there a way to get the RJ 135, 145 into UT2? That series of planes I have not been able to find.

[E6BAV8R 88]

Is there a way to get the RJ 135, 145 into UT2? That series of planes I have not been able to find.

 

They're included in UT2.

[Sportsfan23 2]

They're included in UT2.

 

Ah I see well that is great news. I was under the impression they were not in there. I am very happy to know that they are.

[NGXfanatic 85]

Ah I see well that is great news. I was under the impression they were not in there. I am very happy to know that they are.

Yeah, just a reminder that the list I provided earlier in this thread of UT2 models only shows the high fidelity models from Aardvark, TFS and DJC.  Just about every other major airliner is also included, they are models from Bernard Renk for the regional jets through the A380.  The only ones missing are new types introduced into service post UT2, like the 787 or Sukhoi Superjet 100.  You will probably want to replace the other models when you see them, but they are there nonetheless.

 

I noticed that my AI Aircraft Editor was mentioned several times in this thread, so I might as well say a few words about it. T

Martin, thanks so much for your AI utility.  You have no idea how easier it has made my life these past few years when needing to batch change aircraft radius parameters so that AI types use the correct gates, and the new live model preview is a major game changer, thanks to Arno for sharing his work with you.   AI tweaking can be a very tedious and exhausting endeavor, it is very generous of you to contribute your skills to enhancing the enjoyment of our hobby.  I appreciate you dropping in here!

[gsnde 0]

Martin, thanks so much for your AI utility.  You have no idea how easier it has made my life these past few years when needing to batch change aircraft radius parameters so that AI types use the correct gates, and the new live model preview is a major game changer, thanks to Arno for sharing his work with you.   AI tweaking can be a very tedious and exhausting endeavor, it is very generous of you to contribute your skills to enhancing the enjoyment of our hobby.  I appreciate you dropping in here!

 

A.J.,

 

Reactions like yours make contributing worthwhile. I love to hear that AIAE helps you with your AI. Thank you very much for your feedback.

[Sportsfan23 2]

Yea I am actually really looking forward to trying to build a great looking AI fleet. A question I just thought of is it easy to make AI flight plans? Like say you know there is a flight from A to B but it is not in UT2 for some reason. Can you manually add that flight in and pick the aircraft/airline you want to fly it?

[NGXfanatic 85]

I've never tried anything like that, you may want to ask on the UT2 forum.  If I see a missing airline I just find a flightplan online and import it into UT2 with Powerpack, but I don't know about individual flights for an airline already in the UT2 database.