Converting FSX content to Flight

[Waterman981 2]

Did you already install the World Region addon? http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/helpful-tips-addons-and-tools.431226/

Ah, nope!  Didn't know about that one.  I'll give it a try as soon as the Addon Manager is done installing my FSXWorld.flightAddon.

[jarsky 12]

@ KavindaJD, stonelance & Waterman981: Sorry for my late reply - I spent all of yesterday following your instructions! Thank you for your quick and helpful responses.

 

I have uninstalled all traces of the Toolkit and I have reinstalled v1.1.1.21720 without any other versions. (I had to disable my anti-virus to uninstall and to reinstall properly - perhaps this is why the conversion did not work previously?) The toolkit works correctly, Flight loads with all of my save data in GfWL mode ON, and now the command responds. I am running Flght version 1.1.1.30063.

 

But then I realized that my FSX was not a 'clean' install after all, so I uninstalled FSX, the SDK and Acceleration using this guide and this guide. I installed FSX and the SDK to the C:\ drive - lots of users said to avoid installing under 'Program files' (thanks for the tip too!). I cleaned out everything! (I don't use FSX any more, so this was long overdue!) Then I reinstalled FSX, the SDK and Acceleration (including FSX SP1 and FSX SP2). I did not install the FSX SDK SP1A, FSX SDK SP2 or the FSX Acceleration SDK. I confirmed that I have all of the scenery packs for FSX and no addons remaining anywhere on my system. (I even used 'Microsoft Fix-It' to remove hard-to-uninstall programs.)

 

So I have entered the following line in command prompt and when prompted, I chose the GfWL version of Flight:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Flight Tools\Flight Toolkit\ContentConverter.exe fsx /i:C:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X /o:C:\TEST

1) I installed FSX + Acceleration (the Gold Edition of FSX basically) - is my installation a problem for converting scenery?

2) How long does the conversion process actually take? The conversion has been running for 20 minutes, my CPU monitor shows constant activity around 20-40%, an empty folder called 'temp' has been created as a sub-folder in my 'TEST' folder above, and command prompt currently shows this:

 

 

Thank you for your help thus far! Sorry to give lots of detail, but it shows exactly what I have done if I need to troubleshoot. I really hope this works.

 

- jarsky

[KavindaJD 31]

Well, it looks like you're all set for converting the scenery! Good Job!

It was also a good idea to re-install FSX!

 

---

1) I installed FSX + Acceleration (the Gold Edition of FSX basically) - is my installation a problem for converting scenery?

No. I have Acceleration too and I haven't encountered any problems. FSX Acceleration doesn't dramatically adjust anything in your scenery folder - it just adds some better textures and enhances some of the .bgl files. So, you should be fine.

 

---

 

2) How long does the conversion process actually take? The conversion has been running for 20 minutes, my CPU monitor shows constant activity around 20-40%, an empty folder called 'temp' has been created as a sub-folder in my 'TEST' folder above, and command prompt currently shows this:

     That's a diffult question to answer because everyone has a different computer. If you find that your computer is usually slow, theoretically the conversion process will take longer. Bear in mind that there is 7GB of data to convert and process. For me it took about 1 hour and most of the time was eaten up by creating the addon.

 

     Just wait and if you find that it is taking too long or you are running out of time, exit the conversion and it should pick up again when you launch the converter next time. Do not worry about the empty folder. It is being used for "temporary files" which are being processed!

 

     You will get some errors in the conversion, however these are for some conversion features which are not currently supported.

[jarsky 12]

@ KavindaJD:

 

Oh OK, thank you. I'm glad that my installation should be OK.

 

Regarding the length of the conversion process: my PC is mid-high range (e.g., 16GB RAM at the maximum speed, an overclocked Intel i5 4.2GHz CPU, Windows 7 64-bit running everything as an administrator), but it has been at the same screen (as shown above) for 80 minutes now. My CPU is still working hard, but the 'temp' folder remains empty and I don't actually see that anything is being converted.

 

Should I see any other dialogue in command prompt? I'm happy to leave it all day, but my fear is that something is not working. Hopefully I am wrong.

 

For those who have successfully converted FSX scenery to Flight, can you share how long it took please?

 

Thank you, and watch this space!

 

- jarsky

[KavindaJD 31]

@Jarsky

      It seems I misunderstood - that screen has been on for 80 minutes? That definitely should not happen! You should see some activity. The converter logs every step!
 
Looking at the CMD panel, it seems that you have entered the command wrong. The Converter is trying to retrieve data from "C:\Microsoft"
 

What you need to do:

• Exit the Conversion that you are processing
• Copy and Paste this into CMD and execute. Important - Do NOT remove the Double quotes:
  

  C:\Program Files (x86)\Flight Tools\Flight Toolkit\ContentConverter.exe fsx /i:"C:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X" /o:"C:\TEST"
  

• To paste a line of code into CMD, do not use Ctrl + V. Instead, right click and paste. 
• You should now see a log being produced on the Console Window. It will show that some files are being converted.

Sorry about that! I should have noticed where the converter was looking!  -_-

The quotes are required! It tells the .exe to look at a specific directory. If there are spaces in a folder name, it won't work - you need quotation marks!

[jarsky 12]

@ KavindaJD: You genius! It is working now!

 

What I like about the advice from people on this forum is that it is sequential and clear (even your part about copying and pasting, which I only recently discovered!). I had no idea what the quotation marks ("<text>") did either. So I have copied and pasted exactly what you typed, so thank you very much for that help! Not your fault at all - I should have entered the right code and double-checked it.

 

Now I have a long string of commands showing in command prompt, an empty 'temp' folder and a populating 'FSX World' folder.

 

Hopefully the rest of the conversion/installation goes well. By the way, I saw a previous comment about the 'World Region Addon' - do I need to install that via Addon Manager for converted FSX scenery to work in Flight?

 

Thank you - I will let you know what happens!

 

- jarsky

[KavindaJD 31]

Phew! I'm glad I could help! 

It appears to be working...so you just have to leave it a while and let it do its thing! 

 

Now I have a long string of commands showing in command prompt, an empty 'temp' folder and a populating 'FSX World' folder.

 

Hopefully the rest of the conversion/installation goes well. By the way, I saw a previous comment about the 'World Region Addon' - do I need to install that via Addon Manager for converted FSX scenery to work in Flight?

 

Regarding your question, the Addon does need to be installed. It enables you to access the whole world on the map screen instead of being tied down to Alaska and Hawaii.

 

Thanks and I hope it will all go smoothly!  B)

[jarsky 12]

@ KavindaJD: Well when it is finished, I will follow stonelance's instructions and then I'll install the 'WorldRegionUI.flightAddon' file with Addon Manager. I will post here with the outcome.

 

Sorry if I've domianted this thread or used you guys as my personal tech support, haha! This is a really friendly forum and is helping to keep Flight alive.

 

- jarsky

[KavindaJD 31]

Sorry if I've dominated this thread or used you guys as my personal tech support, but this is a really helpful forum and is what keeps Flight alive, so thank you all!

 

 

     No problem! The truth is, someone may also have been experiencing the same problem as you, it could be useful for them as well. We really have to thank you for asking the questions!!

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi All.

 

In another thread I showed how a batch file can be used to make the conversion. You do need a clean install of FSX or FSX_SE.

MkDir FSX_Base
"Flight Toolkit\ContentConverter" FSX /l:fsx_conversion.log /i:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X" /o:"FSX_Base"
Pause

Save the text as FSX_Conversion.bat, double-click it and a command window opens and does the job.

 

For FSX_SE:

MkDir FSX-SE_Base
"Flight Toolkit\ContentConverter" FSX /l:fsx_se_conversion.log /i:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX" /o:"FSX-SE_Base"
Pause

Dick

[jarsky 12]

Thanks rhumbaflappy, but I think I've finally got the .exe to work as it should.

 

However, now I have a problem. At the end of the conversion, this appeared which is good:

 

 

So I closed the command prompt box and then I opened Addon Manager as an admin in GfWL mode. 'FSX World' appeared, so I checked the box and then I installed the 'WorldRegionUI' addon. I started Flight, it took about 10 seconds before the splash screen appeared (still at the desktop at this stage) and then an error occurred: "MS Flight application has stopped working".

 

I tried again, but this time with only FSX World installed, but the same error occured.

 

I tried again, but this time with only WorldRegionUI installed, and Flight loaded correctly and I was able to see the world (albeit empty without FSX World enabled).

 

So now I have unticked the FSX World addon and I have uninstalled the WorldRegionUI addon via Addon Manager, and Flight loads correctly with GfWL, Flight version 1.1.1.30063 and all of my profile/stats/DLC available.

 

Any ideas how to resolve this? I am thinking: where is the 'FSX World' stored? If I uninstall it from Addon Manager and then install it manually, maybe that will work?

 

- jarsky

[KavindaJD 31]

Thanks rhumbaflappy, but I think I've finally got the .exe to work as it should.

 

However, now I have a problem. At the end of the conversion, this appeared which is good:

 

 

So I closed the command prompt box and then I opened Addon Manager as an admin in GfWL mode. 'FSX World' appeared, so I checked the box and then I installed the 'WorldRegionUI' addon. I started Flight, it took about 10 seconds before the splash screen appeared (still at the desktop at this stage) and then an error occurred: "MS Flight application has stopped working". I tried again, but this time with WorldRegionUI uninstalled, but the same error occured. Any ideas how to resolve this?

 

Where is the 'FSX World' stored? If I uninstall it from Addon Manager and then install it manually, maybe that will work?

That appears to be a standard crash. If you wish to uninstall the Addon "FSX World" be warned that you have to go through the conversion process again to create a .flightAddon file. The "FSX World" Addon can be found in your XLive DLC folder, but I wouldn't delve into it.

 

I would just disable it in Addon Manager and try launching Flight again.

Know that it takes time for MS Flight to configure - adding 7GB of data will certainly cause some problems.

Tell us how that works out.

[jarsky 12]

Sorry, I edited my post after you replied:

 

So I closed the command prompt box and then I opened Addon Manager as an admin in GfWL mode. 'FSX World' appeared, so I checked the box and then I installed the 'WorldRegionUI' addon. I started Flight, it took about 10 seconds before the splash screen appeared (still at the desktop at this stage) and then an error occurred: "MS Flight application has stopped working".

 

I tried again, but this time with only FSX World installed, but the same error occured.

 

I tried again, but this time with only WorldRegionUI installed, and Flight loaded correctly and I was able to see the world (albeit empty without FSX World enabled).

 

So now I have unticked the FSX World addon and I have uninstalled the WorldRegionUI addon via Addon Manager, and Flight loads correctly with GfWL, Flight version 1.1.1.30063 and all of my profile/stats/DLC available.

 

I won't delve into the DLC folder then. What should I do? Sorry, I don't understand.

[KavindaJD 31]

Well, it seems that the DLC has been written properly so there should be no need to access the DLC and interfere with the FileLocator system.

The problem seems to be coming from the "FSX World" Addon - obviously. Try the following:

1. Switch to "NonGfWL" mode in the Addon Manager.
2. Install and enable "WorldRegionUI"
3. Enable "FSX World" 
4. Launch Flight

Report back what you find.

[stonelance 136]

Someone reported that the FSX conversion is crashing in GFWL mode, but works in Non-GFWL mode, so ill have to investigate today. Also, it looks like you found a bug where the conversion hangs if you put in the wrong path