FSX-MS AI Controller 1.4 (SID, Jet Route, STAR and Final Approach) (New) Beta

[NATK50 8]

Following his words, there are NO settings. Just install and it works all day long, anyway if Stock or Add On Airport, UT2 or WOAI, no care about the AIRAC cycle...

 

No Idea why he thinks that

 

Really? And for what I need SIDSTAR Converter?

[JSkorna 137]

Jim, could you share your settings? 

Norbo,

 

All settings are DEFAULT, except for Control Piston Aircraft changing the zero to a one.

 

Have used this method with UT2 and My Traffic X.

 

I have only used an older AIRAC cycle from a long time ago. No reason to edit any of those.

 

And since about HF 2 or 3  taxiway errors can be ignored. It doesn't matter to me because I did take the one time to edit those and I just continue to use the same data for each version.

 

Some people are going to hate no matter what.

[Kermit27 1]

Hi,

 

really don't know why people start complaining here. This is a program the AI traffic guys have been waiting a long time for and now finally someone is creating such and that for free. I think it is a big job he is doing and very time consuming. And he is fixing and fixing faults and gives great support in addition to new features!

 

 

Best,

 

Axel

[Norbo 0]

Hi,

 

really don't know why people start complaining here. This is a program the AI traffic guys have been waiting a long time for and now finally someone is creating such and that for free. I think it is a big job he is doing and very time consuming. And he is fixing and fixing faults and gives great support in addition to new features!

 

 

Best,

 

Axel

 

Great words, thanks Roland for everything he doing!

[Slayer 190]

I don't know if this had been mentioned yet but I've got my eye on this:

 

http://www.pollypotsoftware.org.uk/nav-data-tool.html

 

It will give you the ability to add/edit SID/STAR/Approaches. Probably go hand in hand with this program to getting your AI to do what you want.

[jackcford 1]

Further to my posts on Page 28 of this thread:

 

I have found by trial and error that for the 'Scenery Decompile' routine to work your converted SID/STAR text files MUST be only one level down in the SID= and STAR= path(s) target folder structure.

 

e.g. ..\AIControllerV14B\Caribbean_Sea\SLRQ APPROACH RNVZ14.txt    NOT   ..\AIControllerV14B\Caribbean_Sea\Other\SLRQ APPROACH RNVZ14.txt

 

So if you use the 'Organize procedures into State/Provinces Folders' option in the SID/STAR Converter and simply copy the resulting folders into your SID= STAR= target folder the decompile will not work simply by selecting the main target folder. I had presumed from the sample airport folder structure that it would.

 

Maybe this was obvious, if so I missed it?    :rolleyes:

 

Also the progress bar will only show in the few seconds at the end of the process, I presume when the taxi_graph.txt file is being written to. If you have more than a few activated sceneries this can literally take hours which may explain why some report that they don't see the progress bar, just the decompile successful message, which you get whether it was successful or not BTW.

 

I wonder as only a small change in the 'Departure and Approach Paths' triggers a full active scenery decompile, would it be possible to have the option to turn ON and OFF items in the taxi_graph.txt file like you can in the AIControllerList.txt rather than the longer process, unless there are 'new' additions obviously?

 

Just a thought, potentially it would be much quicker ...

 

A great bit of software ... well done -Roland

 

.

[b757 43]

Roland,

 

I have been away for about a month due to moving and now I am trying to download the latest hotfix, but it is saying that file is invalid and I can't downloand from mediafire. I am just wondering why I can't download it. Thanks in advance.

[FlyTweety 2]

Wait a second, there´s a new Hotfix on final approach

[chumley 0]

A few posts back I commented that occasionally I would witness an AI aircraft climb to sub-orbital altitudes.

 

Yesterday it happened again and when I recognised the symptoms I looked back at it's earlier demeanor and can provide this information.

 

The aircraft left YMML for YBSU and was assigned a SID after take-off. It left the SID and was assigned a jet route which it dutifully followed until about 250 or so nautical miles form destination when AiController relinquished control to FSX as it was so called nearing it's destination.

 

The aircraft immediately headed for the direct YMML - YBSU line as I would expect. I didn't pay any more attention to it until I was approaching YBSU when I noticed it had maintained heading over YBSU and was at 65000 and climbing 60nm out into the Pacific Ocean under FSX control - never to be seen again. Shades of MH370.

 

The only thing that made me pay particular attention to this flight was that i was mirroring the AI flight.

 

 Hope this helps in tracking down any bug.

[Clipper Ocean Spray 189]

A new beta version of AIController v1.14B (full version including Hot Fix 5) is available at the following link:

 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/83ttdu5bxgc9k6t/AIControllerHF5FullInstall.zip

 

Hot fix 5 by itself is available at the following link:

 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/6xjdvc367xmzbbc/AIControllerHF5Only.zip

 

 

Please do not mix with any version of 1.4A or earlier.  Instead, install into a separate directory for testing.

 

IMPORTANT:  Hotfix 5 now provides AI cruising speed data from the aircraft.cfg files, so be sure to perform a "Force Update" after installation.

 

Hot Fix 5 New Features:

 

NEW:  Each AI's individual cruising speed during jetroute portion of flight determined from AI's aircraft.cfg data.

 

NEW:  Progress bar added for aircraft.cfg scan during update process.  Note:  I discovered that over a network connection, the AI aircraft.cfg scan takes a longer time to complete than the scenery decompile process (opposite when AIController is installed on the local FSX/P3D server).  This discrepancy may lead the user to beleive the "update" process has completed, when actually the aircraft.cfg data is still being written.  Thus, the new progress bar will help the user know when the scan completed.  If you have had any problems with AI not getting assigned the correct gates, an incomplete aircraft.cfg scan may have been one of the causes, so please try this fix.

 

Hot Fix 5 Fixes:

 

FIXED:  Incorrect parking assignments and double-parking based on duplicate gate numbers at different areas (terminals) of airports.  The fix also modifies AIController and AIMonitor to provide more detailed parking assignment information.  Some double-parking may still occur (investigating), but this fix should reduce the frequency of such occurences.

 

FIXED:  Gate radius data sometimes not processed correctly (AI-gate size mismatch).

 

FIXED:  Only one aircraft.cfg parking code being read (note: scenery gates typically have mulitple parkings codes, which was read by AIController, however the aircraft.cfg itself can also contain multiple parking codes, which is now being read and processed).

 

FIXED:  Parking alignment bug sometimes prevented AI from being designated "Parked at Gate" causing double-parking and preventing departure of same AI after waiting period (if auto-inject option enabled). 

 

FIXED:  Sometimes AI obtaining high/low altitudes after being released from jetroute.

 

New for Version 1.4B (Prior Revisions)

 

NEW:  Manually delete AI (or a group of AI(s)) by highlighting them in AIMonitor.  Highlight the AI(s) in the AIMonitor window, right-click, then choose delete.  This is similar to the old AI Traffic Explorer utility.  Good for deleting pesky AI that you can't get to with the FSUIPC zapper, but you can identify on the AIMonitor. 

 

NEW:  Persistent highlighting of selected AIMonitor rows.  This feature was added to support the delete option above, but has actually been requested several times by itself!  I presume the persistent highlighting will allow the user to better track particular aircraft. 

 

NEW:  Specify AI install directories outside of the FSX/P3D path.  In the config menu, advanced options.  Useful if an AI package has been installed to location outside the SimObject path.

 

NEW:  Absolute path to UNC path translator for Scenery.cfg.  In the config menu, advanced options.  Useful for when AIController is running on a networked client.  You can tell AIController the corresponding UNC path for any absolute path (e.g., a path containing a drive letter) appearing in the scenery.cfg.  As always, relative scenery paths (relative to the main FSX/P3D installation directory) are not a problem for AIController, so I recommend using relative paths if possible.  However, absolute paths are very useful for sharing scenery between different simulators (e.g., FSX and P3D).

 

NEW:  Manual Landing Runway Selection:  If the user for whatever reason dislikes the current landing runway, which is based on prevailing winds, the user can instead enter up to three runways in AIMonitor to override all wind-based landing runway selections.  The AI will immediately switch to the new patterns, there will be no gradual transition.  When two runways are entered (e.g., 32L,32R), the load-balancing will be approx. 50-50.  When three runways are entered (e.g., 17C,18R, 18L), the load-balancing will be approx. 33-33-33.

 

NEW:  Max. Time Departing AI Remains Stopped on Taxiway Before Deletion.  Maximum time that AI taxiing OUT to the departure runway will be allowed to remained stopped on the taxiway before deletion (default 60 seconds).  Occasionally (even when not using AIController), departing AI becomes "stuck" just before runway entry holding up that AI and all the AI line-up behind it waiting.  This parameter will delete the AI that has become "stuck", allowing the AI behind it enter the runway and take off at a consistent rate.  The parameter cannot be used to increase waiting time higher than the FSX default value.  

 

NEW: AI Rollout Performance and Parking Based on AI's Aircraft.cfg File and ADE:  The AI rollout performance (e.g., braking distance) and parking preference (e.g., parking codes) are based on performance data in each AI's config file.  The parking algorithm has been revised to conform to typical FSX/P3D - ADE design methods (e.g., first AIController looks to gate radius, second AIControler looks to airline parking codes in the gate order as listed in the ADE parking list).  Version 1.4B automatically reads AI aircraft.cfg data to get each AI's braking, radius, airline code, etc. data, no user action is required.  Thus, the old GrabAIParkingCode utility is being retired.  An interesting note:  AIController will scan more than 5 airline codes per gate, thus eliminating the old FSX restraint.

 

NEW: Improved Landing Animations.  Consistent touchdown smoke, wheels (including nose-wheel) make firm contact with runway at correct angle, no more smoke effects when AI exits the runway and enters taxiway.  Touchdown smoke may be less prevalent at airports near sea level.

 

NEW: Special WinXP versions of AIController.exe and AIConv.exe are included in the distribution:  If you're running AIController in a networked configuration on an older laptop running WinXP, please use the AIController_WinXP.exe and AIConv_WinXP.exe files in the WinXP folder (see the readme in that folder for further instructions).

 

NEW: Latest version of SIDSTARConverter included, which allows you to select your preferred version of AIConv.exe.  The latest AIConv.exe is included in the AIController installation directory.

 

Prior Fixes for Version 1.4B:

 

HOTFIX 4:  (1) Incomplete aircraft_cfg_data.txt file causing long rollouts and parking misassignments; (2)  AIController reading crosswind runways (Jim Vile-ADE technique) causing problems with final approach assignments after STAR exit.  Note: use force runway option in AIController to support crosswind and parallel operations; (3) High final approaches (AI was incorrectly and quickly transitioning from Jetroute to STAR to final leaving AI high on final close to airport); (4) AI parking alignment; (5) Not all AI parking codes being read causing parking misassignments; (6) AIController crashing reading some STAR/SIDS/Approaches converted from the latest navdata; (7) (Evaluating) AI start successively going-around for no apparent reason.

 

HOTFIX 3: (1) AI being deleted after rollout at some airports.  Problem was due to conversion error (parking radius stored in scenery files as meters, AI wingspan stored in aircraf.cfg files as feet); (2) AIController sometimes crashing because of bad taxi-graph read; (3) Multiple fixes for non-enhanced mode, including custom final approach/autogen files not being selected and AI disappearing/re-appearing in AIMonitor; (4) Waypoint updates can be made while FSX/P3D running.

 

HOT FIX 2:  (1) Expanded search for *.cfg files in all of the SimObjects subdirectories.  I don't have all AI add-on packages, so I suppose it is possible some package will have the AI reside outside Simobjects.  If so, let me know and I'll patch it up again; (2) Fixed continuing issue with repetitive "Scenery Change Detected" message and then AIMonitor attempting update waypoints at the same time it starts AIController; (3) Fixed bug where sometimes AIControllerPath.txt doesn't sometimes contain the "taxi=" paths even though the user just ran an update; (4) Revised code to support "My Document" paths to better support auto-injection of departing AI at monitored airport (to maintain departure rates if user remains at airport for long periods of time); (5) Extended "Force Landing Runway" to support 3 runways; and (6) Removed ability to keep the "Force Landing Runway" option to remain active across different AIMonitor sessions (to reduce the chance of accidentally keeping option enabled when switching airports). 

 

HOT FIX 1:  (1) Repetitive repetitive "VARIABLE WINDS or TIMEOUT waiting for wind direction data" message in AIController; (2) Fixed repetitive "Scenery Change Detected" when AIMonitor started for first time; (3) Jet, prop, and VFR ONLY STARs/SIDs not recognized.  This has been fixed, but jet, prop and VFR only patterns are now specified by "pattern type" instead of "pattern name" to maintain consistency with final approach pattern types.  Any custom user files that user the "pattern name" to specificy jet-only, prop-only, or VFR-only files will have to be modified so that "pattern type" is used instead (this should be an easy modification, see the readme.pdf for further details); (4) Duplicate line added to AIControllerPath.txt file; (5) Excessive error messages when attempting scenery scan, such as when program paths incorrect.  AIController will now limit the error messages to five when an unsuccessful scenery scan occurs; (6) Sometime AI didn't park at gate at correct heading.  This has been fixed; (7) Generic left and right base pattern names reversed.  This has been fixed; (8) Pattern entry points (enhanced generic left-right patterns) sometimes not the closest to AI's present position; (9) Some approach files converted from nav data contained missed approach data causing AI to perform missed approach procedure (go-around) when landing.  This has been fixed.  (10) Addon/scenery folder not being scanned when active in FSX/P3D (this is where use-generated ADE files typically reside!); (11) AI's landing runway displayed more consistently on AIMonitor; (12) Departing AI not being auto-injected at some airports; (13) Locale issue continuing to cause errors when comma-deliminated error.  For those users who switched affected by this error, please give this fix a try; (14) Quicker assignment of wind-based runway selection, less incorrect STARs that have to be re-assigned later

 

Important Revision:  A registered version (4.9x or later) of Peter Dowson's FSUIPC utility is recommended to use the full functionality of AIController.  For example, AIController will not be able to delete problematic AI targeted for removal (e.g., parked at gate after arrival for the specificed parking time).  For networked configuration users, Peter's WideFS (ver. 6.9) is also recommended.

 

Various other fixes/revisions were also made.

 

Important New NOTAMS!

 

ENTERING FINAL APPROACH COORDINATES.  Do not use FSX when entering final approach coordinates for runway positions (e.g., touchdown, rollout) as the FSX in-game coordinate display (shift-Z) lacks the necessary precision (significant digits).  Use the freeware Airport Design Editor X (or similar) instead.

 

ENTERING RUNWAY DATA.   Ensure the runway number corresponds to the FSX runway description (for whatever airport scenery you are using).  Often, the latest FMS data will reference changed runway numbers that do not correspond to stock FSX runway descriptions.  For STAR files, if the runways do not match (STAR versus FSX), AIController will choose the STAR based on the waypoint having the closest entry point to the AI’s current position (i.e., not based on runway data), which often is satisfactory, but not always.  For Final Approach files, if the runways do not match, AIController might choose the final approach file having the incorrect runway data.

 

Please see the Original Thread Post for Additional Details Regarding Ver. 1.4 Including Installation Video.

 

Thanks!

-Roland

[chumley 0]

Just noticed that in the Jetroute options the 'Turbojet Lower range' default is 220000 feet and is way way higher than the upper range.

 

I thinks this default value should be changed to prevent undesired outcomes.

 

[Clipper Ocean Spray 189]

Do you want realism or simplicity? It would nice to have both but that dual goal is elusive.

 

Good point especially during beta when bugs/fixes get most of the attention and new features (most the result of great user suggestions) are added weekly.  I think when the feature set becomes more stable I'll look at UI issues once again, such as replacing the split STAR/SID screen with a single path screen.  Overall though, I'm comfortable with the basic tabular UI.

 

As for default values though, if anyone thinks they discovered much better values (e.g., taxi settings), please let me know and I'll take a look.

 

Also (to anyone reading who may not have noticed), there is also a context-specific help system...just hover you mouse over a parameter you don't understand and help text should pop up.

 

-Roland

 

 

I have found by trial and error that for the 'Scenery Decompile' routine to work your converted SID/STAR text files MUST be only one level down in the SID= and STAR= path(s) target folder structure.

 

Good work!  Yes, the rationale for reading one level down from the SID= and STAR= paths is that you could create a sub-folder (in your active SID/STARs folder) to store inactive procedures (e.g., rarely used procedures, wind-based procedures, procedures you don't really like but want to save).

 

 

Also the progress bar will only show in the few seconds at the end of the process, I presume when the taxi_graph.txt file is being written to. If you have more than a few activated sceneries this can literally take hours which may explain why some report that they don't see the progress bar, just the decompile successful message, which you get whether it was successful or not BTW.

 

Good point, the enumeration of files to decompile (and not just the actual decompile) takes a long time during big batch jobs.  The progress bar is based on how many files decompiled vs. the list of files to decompile, so if the "list" takes a long time to develop, the user viewing the progress bar might think the process stalled out completely.  Still, I think I can add initial text like "gathering list of files to decompile, please wait...".  Thanks! 

 

 

Yesterday it happened again and when I recognised the symptoms I looked back at it's earlier demeanor and can provide this information.

 

The aircraft left YMML for YBSU and was assigned a SID after take-off. It left the SID and was assigned a jet route which it dutifully followed until about 250 or so nautical miles form destination when AiController relinquished control to FSX as it was so called nearing it's destination.

 

The aircraft immediately headed for the direct YMML - YBSU line as I would expect. I didn't pay any more attention to it until I was approaching YBSU when I noticed it had maintained heading over YBSU and was at 65000 and climbing 60nm out into the Pacific Ocean under FSX control - never to be seen again. Shades of MH370.

 

The only thing that made me pay particular attention to this flight was that i was mirroring the AI flight.

 

Thanks for the detailed description.  Please give Hot Fix 5 a try and see if it fixes this issue.  If not though, I can probably have enough in your description to recreate the issue.

 

 

Just noticed that in the Jetroute options the 'Turbojet Lower range' default is 220000 feet and is way way higher than the upper range.

 

I thinks this default value should be changed to prevent undesired outcomes.

 

Good catch.  Much appreciated.  I'm pulling Hot Fix 5 so I can slip this easy fix into it, then I'll re-post.

 

EDIT:  to anyone who has downloaded Hot Fix 5, I'm posting a new fix that simply changes the default turboprop jetroute altitudes.  However, you do not need to download if you make these changes to default values:  in the jet routes options, change the turbojet lower range to 18000 and the turbojet upper range to 22000 (or a suitable value of your choice). 

[liketofly1 11]

Hi Roland,

 

Thanks for all your continuing support and development. This little program is really coming togeather nicely..... and sooo much possibility's.... FSX and P3D default ATC guidance for the AI is really cr@p.... 

 

What would be really nice would be if AIController takes over all aspects of AI Traffic Control....From the Gate to the Gate... for all the aircraft - but ofcorse I know thats still some programming to do to achieve that..... anyhow, I do hope that is also your aim in the long run....

 

What I would like to see implemented if possible is that one can Force not only the landing runway, but also the Take off runway for specific Airports... that way, I think it would be better then the forced landing runway which at the moment is set pretty global. and has no influence on the depature runways....

 

Yesterday I sat for one hour at LOWW's RW34 to watch the traffic.... unfortunately i could only observe one sucessful landing all the other approaching aircraft conducted a go around, because the RW was occupied by AI Traffic departing... normally RW29 would have been used for departing AI - thus all approaching AI would have been able to use RW34 probably with a much higher rate of success....

 

Would it be possible and feasable to also choose the departure RW?  Like for instance:

 

LOWW     Ldg RW(s) 34

                T/O RW(s) 29 in use

and 

 

EKCH      Ldg RW(s) 22L

               T/O RW(s) 22R in use

 

i think it would be enought to be able to choose your Depature and Destination Airports, thatway ist set and forget at the beginning of the session - without the reminder, except maybe if there is a considerable change in weather or a large windshift....

 

What I also observed is that all the AI doing a Go Around were vectored back to the last waypoint of the star - beginning waypoint of the transition (in the case of LOWW that was to Waypoint BALAD) Now the transition is pretty long, and usually aircraft would be vectored to a closer Waypoint most likely to the FAF or a 10 nm intersept of the ILS... doing this large round takes a minimum of 20 minutes - with these fuel prices an expensive sightseeing flight... :-))

 

Thanks again, really love this little program....

 

regards

[Clipper Ocean Spray 189]

What would be really nice would be if AIController takes over all aspects of AI Traffic Control....From the Gate to the Gate... for all the aircraft - but ofcorse I know thats still some programming to do to achieve that..... anyhow, I do hope that is also your aim in the long run....

 

What I would like to see implemented if possible is that one can Force not only the landing runway, but also the Take off runway for specific Airports... that way, I think it would be better then the forced landing runway which at the moment is set pretty global. and has no influence on the depature runways....

 

That's definitely where I'm headed for the next major release and I'll support an on-the-fly force departure runway specific to the ICAO (I'll probably revise the force landing runway to be specific to the ICAO too).

 

 

Yesterday I sat for one hour at LOWW's RW34 to watch the traffic.... unfortunately i could only observe one sucessful landing all the other approaching aircraft conducted a go around, because the RW was occupied by AI Traffic departing... normally RW29 would have been used for departing AI - thus all approaching AI would have been able to use RW34 probably with a much higher rate of success....

 

Did you try modifying the .bgl using ADE to set the takeoff runway to RW29?

-Roland

[Clipper Ocean Spray 189]

A new beta version of AIController v1.14B (full version including Hot Fix 5) is available at the following link:

 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/zacc5oyn64ota9b/AIController14BFullWithHF5.zip

 

Hot fix 5 by itself is available at the following link:

 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/1bdacqhce6c2tci/AIController14BHF5Only.zip

 

 

Please do not mix with any version of 1.4A or earlier.  Instead, install into a separate directory for testing.

 

IMPORTANT:  Hotfix 5 now provides AI cruising speed data from the aircraft.cfg files, so be sure to perform a "Force Update" after installation.

 

Hot Fix 5 New Features:

 

NEW:  Each AI's individual cruising speed during jetroute portion of flight determined from AI's aircraft.cfg data.

 

NEW:  Progress bar added for aircraft.cfg scan during update process.  Note:  I discovered that over a network connection, the AI aircraft.cfg scan takes a longer time to complete than the scenery decompile process (opposite when AIController is installed on the local FSX/P3D server).  This discrepancy may lead the user to beleive the "update" process has completed, when actually the aircraft.cfg data is still being written.  Thus, the new progress bar will help the user know when the scan completed.  If you have had any problems with AI not getting assigned the correct gates, an incomplete aircraft.cfg scan may have been one of the causes, so please try this fix.

 

Hot Fix 5 Fixes:

 

FIXED:  Incorrect parking assignments and double-parking based on duplicate gate numbers at different areas (terminals) of airports.  The fix also modifies AIController and AIMonitor to provide more detailed parking assignment information.  Some double-parking may still occur (investigating), but this fix should reduce the frequency of such occurences.

 

FIXED:  Gate radius data sometimes not processed correctly (AI-gate size mismatch).

 

FIXED:  Only one aircraft.cfg parking code being read (note: scenery gates typically have mulitple parkings codes, which was read by AIController, however the aircraft.cfg itself can also contain multiple parking codes, which is now being read and processed).

 

FIXED:  Parking alignment bug sometimes prevented AI from being designated "Parked at Gate" causing double-parking and preventing departure of same AI after waiting period (if auto-inject option enabled). 

 

FIXED:  Sometimes AI obtaining high/low altitudes after being released from jetroute.  

 

FIXED:  Turbojet Default Lower and Upper Jetroute Altitudes Bad.  Choose "Reset Options to Default" to activate corrected default values - OR - if you do NOT want to reset your customized options to default, go to "Options" - "Jetroutes" and change the "Turbojet Altitude Lower Range" to 18000 (or your own preferred value) and change the "Turbojet Altitude Upper Range" to 22000 (or your own preferred value), then press the "Apply" button.  Note: the bad default altitudes may have also caused-in-part the "AI obtaining high/low altitudes" bug above.

 

New for Version 1.4B (Prior Revisions)

 

NEW:  Manually delete AI (or a group of AI(s)) by highlighting them in AIMonitor.  Highlight the AI(s) in the AIMonitor window, right-click, then choose delete.  This is similar to the old AI Traffic Explorer utility.  Good for deleting pesky AI that you can't get to with the FSUIPC zapper, but you can identify on the AIMonitor. 

 

NEW:  Persistent highlighting of selected AIMonitor rows.  This feature was added to support the delete option above, but has actually been requested several times by itself!  I presume the persistent highlighting will allow the user to better track particular aircraft. 

 

NEW:  Specify AI install directories outside of the FSX/P3D path.  In the config menu, advanced options.  Useful if an AI package has been installed to location outside the SimObject path.

 

NEW:  Absolute path to UNC path translator for Scenery.cfg.  In the config menu, advanced options.  Useful for when AIController is running on a networked client.  You can tell AIController the corresponding UNC path for any absolute path (e.g., a path containing a drive letter) appearing in the scenery.cfg.  As always, relative scenery paths (relative to the main FSX/P3D installation directory) are not a problem for AIController, so I recommend using relative paths if possible.  However, absolute paths are very useful for sharing scenery between different simulators (e.g., FSX and P3D).

 

NEW:  Manual Landing Runway Selection:  If the user for whatever reason dislikes the current landing runway, which is based on prevailing winds, the user can instead enter up to three runways in AIMonitor to override all wind-based landing runway selections.  The AI will immediately switch to the new patterns, there will be no gradual transition.  When two runways are entered (e.g., 32L,32R), the load-balancing will be approx. 50-50.  When three runways are entered (e.g., 17C,18R, 18L), the load-balancing will be approx. 33-33-33.

 

NEW:  Max. Time Departing AI Remains Stopped on Taxiway Before Deletion.  Maximum time that AI taxiing OUT to the departure runway will be allowed to remained stopped on the taxiway before deletion (default 60 seconds).  Occasionally (even when not using AIController), departing AI becomes "stuck" just before runway entry holding up that AI and all the AI line-up behind it waiting.  This parameter will delete the AI that has become "stuck", allowing the AI behind it enter the runway and take off at a consistent rate.  The parameter cannot be used to increase waiting time higher than the FSX default value.  

 

NEW: AI Rollout Performance and Parking Based on AI's Aircraft.cfg File and ADE:  The AI rollout performance (e.g., braking distance) and parking preference (e.g., parking codes) are based on performance data in each AI's config file.  The parking algorithm has been revised to conform to typical FSX/P3D - ADE design methods (e.g., first AIController looks to gate radius, second AIControler looks to airline parking codes in the gate order as listed in the ADE parking list).  Version 1.4B automatically reads AI aircraft.cfg data to get each AI's braking, radius, airline code, etc. data, no user action is required.  Thus, the old GrabAIParkingCode utility is being retired.  An interesting note:  AIController will scan more than 5 airline codes per gate, thus eliminating the old FSX restraint.

 

NEW: Improved Landing Animations.  Consistent touchdown smoke, wheels (including nose-wheel) make firm contact with runway at correct angle, no more smoke effects when AI exits the runway and enters taxiway.  Touchdown smoke may be less prevalent at airports near sea level.

 

NEW: Special WinXP versions of AIController.exe and AIConv.exe are included in the distribution:  If you're running AIController in a networked configuration on an older laptop running WinXP, please use the AIController_WinXP.exe and AIConv_WinXP.exe files in the WinXP folder (see the readme in that folder for further instructions).

 

NEW: Latest version of SIDSTARConverter included, which allows you to select your preferred version of AIConv.exe.  The latest AIConv.exe is included in the AIController installation directory.

 

Prior Fixes for Version 1.4B:

 

HOTFIX 4:  (1) Incomplete aircraft_cfg_data.txt file causing long rollouts and parking misassignments; (2)  AIController reading crosswind runways (Jim Vile-ADE technique) causing problems with final approach assignments after STAR exit.  Note: use force runway option in AIController to support crosswind and parallel operations; (3) High final approaches (AI was incorrectly and quickly transitioning from Jetroute to STAR to final leaving AI high on final close to airport); (4) AI parking alignment; (5) Not all AI parking codes being read causing parking misassignments; (6) AIController crashing reading some STAR/SIDS/Approaches converted from the latest navdata; (7) (Evaluating) AI start successively going-around for no apparent reason.

 

HOTFIX 3: (1) AI being deleted after rollout at some airports.  Problem was due to conversion error (parking radius stored in scenery files as meters, AI wingspan stored in aircraf.cfg files as feet); (2) AIController sometimes crashing because of bad taxi-graph read; (3) Multiple fixes for non-enhanced mode, including custom final approach/autogen files not being selected and AI disappearing/re-appearing in AIMonitor; (4) Waypoint updates can be made while FSX/P3D running.

 

HOT FIX 2:  (1) Expanded search for *.cfg files in all of the SimObjects subdirectories.  I don't have all AI add-on packages, so I suppose it is possible some package will have the AI reside outside Simobjects.  If so, let me know and I'll patch it up again; (2) Fixed continuing issue with repetitive "Scenery Change Detected" message and then AIMonitor attempting update waypoints at the same time it starts AIController; (3) Fixed bug where sometimes AIControllerPath.txt doesn't sometimes contain the "taxi=" paths even though the user just ran an update; (4) Revised code to support "My Document" paths to better support auto-injection of departing AI at monitored airport (to maintain departure rates if user remains at airport for long periods of time); (5) Extended "Force Landing Runway" to support 3 runways; and (6) Removed ability to keep the "Force Landing Runway" option to remain active across different AIMonitor sessions (to reduce the chance of accidentally keeping option enabled when switching airports). 

 

HOT FIX 1:  (1) Repetitive repetitive "VARIABLE WINDS or TIMEOUT waiting for wind direction data" message in AIController; (2) Fixed repetitive "Scenery Change Detected" when AIMonitor started for first time; (3) Jet, prop, and VFR ONLY STARs/SIDs not recognized.  This has been fixed, but jet, prop and VFR only patterns are now specified by "pattern type" instead of "pattern name" to maintain consistency with final approach pattern types.  Any custom user files that user the "pattern name" to specificy jet-only, prop-only, or VFR-only files will have to be modified so that "pattern type" is used instead (this should be an easy modification, see the readme.pdf for further details); (4) Duplicate line added to AIControllerPath.txt file; (5) Excessive error messages when attempting scenery scan, such as when program paths incorrect.  AIController will now limit the error messages to five when an unsuccessful scenery scan occurs; (6) Sometime AI didn't park at gate at correct heading.  This has been fixed; (7) Generic left and right base pattern names reversed.  This has been fixed; (8) Pattern entry points (enhanced generic left-right patterns) sometimes not the closest to AI's present position; (9) Some approach files converted from nav data contained missed approach data causing AI to perform missed approach procedure (go-around) when landing.  This has been fixed.  (10) Addon/scenery folder not being scanned when active in FSX/P3D (this is where use-generated ADE files typically reside!); (11) AI's landing runway displayed more consistently on AIMonitor; (12) Departing AI not being auto-injected at some airports; (13) Locale issue continuing to cause errors when comma-deliminated error.  For those users who switched affected by this error, please give this fix a try; (14) Quicker assignment of wind-based runway selection, less incorrect STARs that have to be re-assigned later

 

Important Revision:  A registered version (4.9x or later) of Peter Dowson's FSUIPC utility is recommended to use the full functionality of AIController.  For example, AIController will not be able to delete problematic AI targeted for removal (e.g., parked at gate after arrival for the specificed parking time).  For networked configuration users, Peter's WideFS (ver. 6.9) is also recommended.

 

Various other fixes/revisions were also made.

 

Important New NOTAMS!

 

ENTERING FINAL APPROACH COORDINATES.  Do not use FSX when entering final approach coordinates for runway positions (e.g., touchdown, rollout) as the FSX in-game coordinate display (shift-Z) lacks the necessary precision (significant digits).  Use the freeware Airport Design Editor X (or similar) instead.

 

ENTERING RUNWAY DATA.   Ensure the runway number corresponds to the FSX runway description (for whatever airport scenery you are using).  Often, the latest FMS data will reference changed runway numbers that do not correspond to stock FSX runway descriptions.  For STAR files, if the runways do not match (STAR versus FSX), AIController will choose the STAR based on the waypoint having the closest entry point to the AI’s current position (i.e., not based on runway data), which often is satisfactory, but not always.  For Final Approach files, if the runways do not match, AIController might choose the final approach file having the incorrect runway data.

 

Please see the Original Thread Post for Additional Details Regarding Ver. 1.4 Including Installation Video.

 

Thanks!

-Roland