FSX tower views

[Guest almack]

It seems the tower view in FSX cannot be changed as it could be in FS2004. At my home airport the tower is about 1000 feet AGL above the runway. Anyone know how to change the tower views in FSX?

[lliaudais 2]

Hi almack!Yes. But NOT like fs9 UNTIL we have an AFCAD equivalent.The Cameras SDK will give you the details. But here's an intro:Tower views are locked onto your aircraft by default in the camera definition and at the position/altitude defined by the airport information (probably) but (1) you can create new tower views using the SDK.Alternately (2) you can edit the 'nearest tower' definition (and an unset toggle in control assignments) and make the position movable and the view pan-able. If you do this and then save a flight at YOUR airport with those settings, then each time you reload that flight, you should have those same tower settings restored. Spawn as many saved flights from the original and you should be set for life!Highly recommend installing the SDK package from disk 1 and get on good terms with the Cameras SDK.Hope this helpsLoyd

[Guest almack]

Thanks Loyd I'll give it a try but what is SDK and is it on disk 1 of the FSX DVD's?As for the rest of FSX I am impressed. Been flying Simulators since my Atari days. I have dual cores running at 3.6 GHz, FSB at 960 MHz with 2 GB of DDR2 6400 ram and an Asus EN7800 GT video card. I can crank most of the sliders to the max. and that makes the simulator much more interesting plus more scenery shows up.

[lliaudais 2]

Almack,The learning center gives a little overview..."A variety of tools and processes let you create and modify Flight Simulator aircraft, Missions, panels and gauges, terrain, weather, special effects, air traffic control voicepacks, and scenery. To use these tools and processes (software development kits or SDKs) you must at least understand Flight Simulator file structures and may need some advanced programming skills.The Flight Simulator X Deluxe version includes the SDKs. You'll learn more about the skills required by reading the documentation and working through the tutorials that form the bulk of the SDK."It is installed from DVD 1.The more detailed documentation tells you how to look at, and control AI traffic; how to adjust or tweak the cameras or create new ones.A lot of what's in there isn't too useful yet. We can't modify airport parking, or traffic plans directly with it -- guess it's not that useful after all. But TrafficToolBox.dll comes from there and it's a must for anybody interested in the AI traffic.When all is said and done, it's less of a development kit than a tweakers kit; more like teasers of information -- I'm disappointed that it wasn't a step up from FS9 in improving the details.Ah, well. It still is a pretty sim; I've been exploring Friday Harbor this evening with excellent FPS (122 AI aircraft in the active zone.)Loyd

[Guest almack]

Thank you Loyd I'll have a look at SDK's

[RFields5421 1]

This is how a default tower view is defined without a scenery object:This is how a default tower view is defined with a scenery object for the tower - You will need a delete airports setting to remove the default tower view.

[RFields5421 1]

Here is the XML file I created to move the tower view at KAGO.The original tower view was near the beacon / light and most of the parking spots were not viewable from that position.I wanted the tower view to be on the northeast of the runway so all the parking spots, taxiways and runways would be in view.There are a couple errors / undocumented items for this file: [/b] 1. The deleteAllControlTowers statement is not in the BGLComp SDK documentation - it is in the .XSD file and does work. Along with additional undocumented statements for BlastFences and BoundaryFences. TaxiwaySigns cannot be deleted with such a statement - but can be excluded with another undocumented item.2. From FS2004 AFCAD we are used to tower elevation eyepoint as being ASL - in FSX it appears to be AGL, or rather above the airport elevation.By personal preference - I prefer to put all "static" changes like this in the SceneryGlobalScenery folder - saving the Addon SceneryScenery folder for heavily modified files - like parking.