Difference Between Groups and Packages In P4AO?

[jmhelms 20]

Though I have read the manual, I'm still a bit 

confused as to the differences in and uses of 

Groups and Packages in P3AO....any 

explanation appreciated...

Thanks, John Helms

 

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

The packages are a simualtor asset. "Add-on package" is what the add-on.xml is really called in the specification. A package contains the actual addon components, scenery, aircraft, shaders, DLLs, EXEs, whatever. It is not limited to scenery, all addons, that use the proper referencing method, are part of a package. Packages are managed by the simulator in the two add-ons.cfg files.

Reference: "Learning Center -> SDK -> Add-ons -> Add-on Packages"

The "scenery groups" are a P4AO local thing that doesn't exist anywhere else. They are for scenery only and offer a method to activate/deactivate multiple scenery areas at the same time, whether they are scenery.cfg or package based. This feature is for people who like to disable those parts of their scenery where they are not currently flying.
If you know your way around the packages, you can achive the same thing with those, but it involves more manual work and careful planning to structure your packages just so. And it may not be a good idea to move a payware addon from its native package to a different one, since the installer/updater/uninstaller can then no longer find it.

Best regards 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[Michael Moe 495]

What if i disable in scenery section and not package (ORBX regions for instance) . Does they still load to memory ?

Should i disable in packages instead ?

Thanks

Michael Moe

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

22 minutes ago, Michael Moe said:

What if i disable in scenery section and not package (ORBX regions for instance) . Does they still load to memory ?

Should i disable in packages instead ?

Thanks

Michael Moe

Please read the chapter about disabling scenery at the beginning of the P4AO manual. It is very important.

The scenery is wrapped inside the package. Possibly together with other sceneries or assets that belong together. If you want to remove all of that at once, disable the package.

Analogy: a scenery area in an addon package is the same as a box of Kleenex in your shopping basket. As far as the Kleenex are concerned, the result is the same whether you throw away the box or the whole shopping basket. But there may be other things in that basket too, that you may want to keep - or not.

Best regards

Edited April 15, 2020 by Lorby_SI