An easy guide to populating X-Plane 10 with AI aircraft (for new X-Plane users)

[conura 45]

Hi all,

I know one of the most immersion breaking things in XP10 for me is to taxi around empty airports, especially when I know how busy places like Heathrow and Gatwick are in real life.

We all know there are some shortcomings in the XP10 AI, however there is a fairly simple process which lets you add a good amount of AI with realistic liveries. I'll break it down into a step by step process which shouldn't take you much more than 15 minutes!


Step one: (and with huge thanks to Morten for supplying the aircraft to the community)

Locate the download packs for AI aircraft, they can be found at the following link. Download as many as you want. There's not much of a reason to not download all of them, as they're fairly small files.

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?&app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&search_app=downloads&mid=2374

Step two:

Extract and place the aircraft into the following file location: (The place you put them doesn't really matter, but for ease of locating I thought to put them in aircraft from previous versions so as not to get any mixed up with the aircraft I fly).

http://postimg.org/image/pedfz5pzj/

Step three:
Run X-Plane, load a scenario and click the Aircraft tab, followed by Aircraft and Situations as per the below screenshot

http://postimg.org/image/59869sl69/full/

Step four:
Next, as per the following screenshot, locate your AI aircraft in the 'Aircraft from previous versions' tab, and add it by clicking 'open aircraft'. To get to this screen you simply click the small box to the left of the AI on the prior screen, which lets you select how many AI flights you want in the sim.

http://postimg.org/image/mqa9paxo7/full/

Step five:

Repeat the process for as many aircraft as you require. Around 10 gives a good feeling of being in fairly busy skies.

http://postimg.org/image/cwu0wgr9x/full/

Step six:

That's it - you're done! Enjoy having a far more immersive sim. Please remember to make sure you only use the models provided by Morten, if you want to ensure that the FPS hit is minimal.

http://postimg.org/image/idcd61fe9/full/


I've sort of rushed this as I have to get off to work, but if you have any questions or anything doesn't make sense, just let me know!

[conura 45]

Just a bit of further clarification, in order to access the menu that lets you select the various aircraft models you need to click the squares to the left of the aircraft names in the following screenshot.

 

http://postimg.org/image/cwu0wgr9x/full/

 

Hope this clarifies what I feel was a bit unclear in my initial post.

 

Luke

[marty2756 65]

Hi, one question:

 

You will have only traffic only around departure or there will be traffic still in arrival airport ? (I'm not filing plan from A to B with x-plane ATC, as we know its almost useless now)

[conura 45]

Hi Marty,

 

The traffic will follow you and when it's out of range, respawn. So you will see traffic wherever you are.

[ryanbatc 12,774]

What do you mean by follow? Is there an algorithm for AI ?

[deetee 164]

By follow he means they kind of "stalk" you during your flight and are never very far away. If take a glance at the Local Map every now and then you will see them going about their business, but once they leave your sight they will spawn back after a while on a new trajectory or at a stand.

 

Actually I think this approach (pun unintended) is fine if you just want a bit of company and Vatsim/Ivao do not suit your lifestyle for whatever reason.

 

The advantage of the XPFR AI planes is that they use very little resources (even the sound is disabled).

I generally just add 3 or 4 of them with airlines appropriate for the region and size of airports I'm using.

Sometimes you get a bit of "plane-humping" but you can change stands to avoid that. :lol:

[Rocketmandlgc 0]

Noobie question. Is there a way to put 6 or 7 gliders low down on a ridge to simulate the kind of traffic glider pilots have to negotiate on a busy summer's day, they would need to fly fairly close to each other - say 2-3 Km

[Colonel X 1,428]

I think it would be great if X-Plane would allow to save different AI-traffic profiles. For example, different planes for Europe and the US, or Asia. It's a hassle if you have to delete and select 10 new AI planes every time you change the region.

 

It's been on my wish list for ages, and I just came up with the following idea:

 

If we know where and how X-Plane saves what AI planes are selected, maybe it's possible to generate and switch between different files (before starting X-Plane) to make the switch. Not as elegant as a settings menu, but still a lot easier than doing it manually each time.

 

Thoughts? Anyone willing to dig into this with me?

[conura 45]

 

I think it would be great if X-Plane would allow to save different AI-traffic profiles. For example, different planes for Europe and the US, or Asia. It's a hassle if you have to delete and select 10 new AI planes every time you change the region.

 

It's been on my wish list for ages, and I just came up with the following idea:

 

If we know where and how X-Plane saves what AI planes are selected, maybe it's possible to generate and switch between different files (before starting X-Plane) to make the switch. Not as elegant as a settings menu, but still a lot easier than doing it manually each time.

 

Thoughts? Anyone willing to dig into this with me?

 

I bet it's possible - you'd have to set a boundary for geographical coordinates and reload liveries dependent on region. Geographical coordinates seem easily exported (i.e for vatsim, IVAO etc) so I'd imagine it's not the toughest job in the world. I'm a programmer, but I wouldn't really know where to start on something like a flight simulator script!

[Colonel X 1,428]

I bet it's possible - you'd have to set a boundary for geographical coordinates and reload liveries dependent on region. Geographical coordinates seem easily exported (i.e for vatsim, IVAO etc) so I'd imagine it's not the toughest job in the world. I'm a programmer, but I wouldn't really know where to start on something like a flight simulator script!

 

 

Finally, we have some activity on this issue: http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=76586

[Ryan188 0]

Hi,

 

Does the AI Traffic actually take off? Because I have a Air New Zealand place and United that are just staying at the holding point of the runway. 

[conura 45]

Hi,

 

Does the AI Traffic actually take off? Because I have a Air New Zealand place and United that are just staying at the holding point of the runway. 

Hi Ryan,

 

Yeah it does - it'll take off, land, taxi to and from gates...Very surprised it is just holding. Is there something else on approach maybe?

[User72 28]

Perhaps there is a break in the taxiway layout. Use WED to check.

[bushrat2 0]

Can AI aircraft be viewed and toggled in X-Plane 10 like they can be viewed in FSX?  If so, how do I set it up? 

[OmniAtlas 93]

Hi, so I've setup AI aircraft, works great. 

 

Problem is, none of these aircraft show up on my ND (TCAS notification). 

 

I am using Aerowinx PSX. 

 

Is the position of the aircraft disabled, so they do not send any data?