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AFCADS?

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Guest fireman36

I am fairly new at this, but I have been downloading aircraft, scenery, all kinds of things including AFCADS. The thing is, I don't exactly know what AFCADS are. So, my question in general is: what is an AFCAD and how do you use them. I have a general understanding that they enhance airports. But how do you install and use them?

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Guest

they add the ability to use crossing runways, so KSFO you can take off of 19R or 28L/RThey add the ability to have more starting locations. They specify the game numbers and taxi designations better than default. They add more cargo/GA parking.I became addicted to afcads! I think I have a few thousand by nowcheck out projectai.com for their awesome ai packages and afcad.projectai.com for their great afcad packages

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Guest TWVA395

Or avsim.com for some fantastic afcad packages ;) A lot of scenery comes with AFCADs by default, so be sure to check that you aren't downloading duplicate AFCADs. AFCAD stands for Airport Facility Computer Aided Design--it changes some visible scenery and handles the routing of AI traffic and your own aircraft (depending if you stay on centerline :)) If you turn on progressive taxi at an add-on scenery that uses non-default textures, you'll see the AFCAD in action.http://www.kthxdone.com/images/kw_ft.jpgKen Weik [link:maam.org|MAAM-SIM][link:library.avsim.net/search.php?CatID=root&SearchTerm=kenneth+weik&Sort=Added&ScanMode=0&Go=Change+View]My AFCADs

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"AFCAD"s are files created with Lee Swordy's AFCAD program. This program was designed to modify the airport facility information files used in earlier versions of FS. The facility information was used to provide information to the simmer on airports, and also provided information used by the ATC facility and AI aircraft. AFCAD provided for editing of the default facility files thereby modifying the information.In FS9, this data has been incorporated into the overall scenery object system, so that facility information also creates the visual objects for runways, taxiways, and aprons. Lee modified his program to take this into account. The current AFCAD program scans the scenery object files currently installed, looking for airport scenery. The program again provides for editing of the data but in this case creates a new file which excludes the original data and replaces it with the edited data. For this to work, the file must be installed within the FS9 scenery.cfg data base at a priority that is higher than the default scenery (so that the proper objects are excluded). The way the AFCAD program works, is that each file produced by it edits a single airport. The assumption is that only the default airport scenery, and one AFCAD-produced file will be active for any airport. (this isn't strictly true, but is a good rule of thumb.) As long as you place this file at a higher scenery db priority than the default airport, it should work OK. Common places for this are: the same scenery folder as an addon airport scenery, the "addon scenery" folder, or a new scenery folder you create and activate as place to locate all AFCAD files for ease of management.Note that there are items which are part of an FS9 airport which AFCAD does not edit, such as terminals or hangers. Also it is possible to edit the airport data by hand, using the Microsoft FS9 BGLComp SDK, or various other tools such as CreateSign (for taxisigns) and SceneGenX (a general scenery design tool aimed at airport design.) Finally, FS9 still can use airport scenery developed using older (pre-FS9) methods. AFCAD can't recognize this scenery and hence can't edit it.Aside from the basic purpose of editing the layout of an airport, the most intense design work for AFCAD designers deals with the ATC and AI aircraft functions. Limitations in the methods MS have provided (or at least documented or independently discovered) have resulted in AFCAD "gurus" manipulating the files in an attempt to create a desired ATC or AI behaviour. For example, getting AI aircraft to be assigned to the proper gates or parking areas, and getting AI aircraft to use runways which are not parallel. Normally, the readmes incorporated into designer's AFCAD file packages will describe the intent of the file in these areas, as well as an indication that the file was designed for an otherwise stock/default airport, or a scenery designed as an addon.scott s..

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Guest fireman36

Thank you all for the great info so far. Now, how do you install and use AFCADS. I assume they are just like other scenery BGL files and need to be placed in the appropriate directory as listed in the designers README, but is that all there is to using or "activating" these things?

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Guest

as long as the addon scenery folder is activated in your scenery.cfg file, just placing the afcad file into your fs folderaddon sceneryscenery will activate itdownload a program calld scanafdscanafd.zip here in the libraryit will make sure you don't have duplicate afcad files.I did forget to mention the library here has a big afcad library. But first I would go to projectai. They test their afcads first to make sure some it is 99% bug free, while I have come across many weird afcads in the library here

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Put the files in the correct folders as explained by others. You have to restart FS9 when you'll see messages as it rebuilds its scenery database.

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