AI in another folder

[Guest rnails]

Guys, I would like to keep my addon AI aircraft in a different folder other than Airplanes. If I add a diferent folder the AI do not show up in fsx. Is there a simple way to do this without having to be a fsx geek. rnails

[RFields5421 1]

An excellent idea/ practiceIn the FSX.CFG file you need to add a new line to the SimObjectsPaths section:MainUser Objects=Airplane, HelicopterSimObjectPaths.0=SimObjectsAirplanesSimObjectPaths.1=SimObjectsRotorcraftSimObjectPaths.2=SimObjectsGroundVehiclesSimObjectPaths.3=SimObjectsBoatsSimObjectPaths.4=SimObjectsAnimalsSimObjectPaths.5=SimObjectsMiscSimObjectPaths.6=SimObjectsFS9_AI_AircraftSimObjectPaths.7=SimObjectsFS2004_AircraftNote that I have my FS9 AI aircraft and my FS2004 flyable aircraft in separate folders - and different from FSX flyable aircraft.The FSX.cfg file is located in the folder: C:Documents and Settings________Application DataMicrosoftFSX____ is your computer login nameThis is a hidden folder, so you must have "Show hidden folders" turned on.

[Mace 1,896]

Nice tip.To the extent of your knoweldge, does your tip give any performance benefits (a/c load times, etc.) or is it more of an organizational thing?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[JSkorna 137]

Hi Mace,You will not see AI planes show up on the Aircraft screen in FSX, as you sometimes do in FS04. And this way you don't even need to edit the .air file like in FS04!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

[Mace 1,896]

But is there any known performance benefit of relocating them, or is it simply for organizational purposes?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[JSkorna 137]

That Aircraft screen load time will be faster just as in FS04, because FS doesn't need to sort through all those planes.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

[RFields5421 1]

It's mainly organizational - as noted above the main benefit is that with the AI aircraft set to not display, the Select Aircraft window opens much faster.FSX does not use the .air file reading to determine if an aircraft displays in the Select Aircraft screen.If the aircraft folder has a panel folder - the aircraft is displayed. If not, it's not displayed.I have several hundred AI aircraft folders.You might also note that I have all my FS9 transferred over aircraft in a separate folder. I am determined to keep things straight/ clean in this version of FS.All my addon aircraft have all their gauges in their own panel folder - none in the main gauges folder. That way I can actually remove a flyable aircraft and get rid of it.I think one of the things which hurts performance over time is that our FS setups get so messed up with files we don't use any more, aircraft we don't fly, etc.To some extent every file which FS has to read on startup and keep track of while running hurts stability and performance to a very small degree. But multiply that hundreds, even thousands of time and it has to have some impact.Having gauges which are no longer used certainly does not help.We don't

[Guest RonB49]

"I am determined to keep things straight/ clean in this version of FS."I've said that for every version since 5.1 :)R-

[Mace 1,896]

>It's mainly organizational - as noted above the main benefit>is that with the AI aircraft set to not display, the Select>Aircraft window opens much faster.>In my case, I simply do not have a panel subfolder in an AI aircraft folder, and that keeps it off the Select Aircraft screen.Which brings up a question: If the AI aircraft is in SIMOBJECTSAIRPLANES, does FSX still have to look at this AI aircraft folder, to determine if it meets the requirements for display in the Select Aircraft screen? (i.e. does it have or does not have, a panel subfolder?)If FSX is still checking the aircraft to see if it should be displayed or not, perhaps moving the AI to a separate folder is good idea...in more ways than one.>All my addon aircraft have all their gauges in their own panel>folder - none in the main gauges folder. That way I can>actually remove a flyable aircraft and get rid of it.>I have always believed in doing that, too. However, what do you do about gauges that MUST be installed in the GAUGES? I don't like gauges that function that way, but many, many are/have been coded that way.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[Mace 1,896]

>"I am determined to keep things straight/ clean in this>version of FS.>">>I've said that for every version since 5.1 :)>>R-Has it worked?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[Guest rnails]

Forum guys, As usual Avsim forum to the rescue. The question wasn't directed at me but I moved 125 ai folders out of flyable aircraft to reduce clutter. Keeping gauges in the panel folders was a great idea as I had 4200 files and 41 folders in the fs9 gauges folder. The problem arises when 3rd party builders alias their gauges to some other aircraft. Finally, before you ask why don't I just buy a comercial package for ai flights. I have Ultimate traffic for fs9 and My Traffic X for FSX. However a 38 page manual is a bit much at my age.Now my fs9 traffic files(72) can be added at my discretion. rnails

[Gypsy Baron 10]

>>It's mainly organizational - as noted above the main>benefit>>is that with the AI aircraft set to not display, the Select>>Aircraft window opens much faster.>>>>In my case, I simply do not have a panel subfolder in an AI>aircraft folder, and that keeps it off the Select Aircraft>screen.>>Which brings up a question: If the AI aircraft is in>SIMOBJECTSAIRPLANES, does FSX still have to look at this AI>aircraft folder, to determine if it meets the requirements for>display in the Select Aircraft screen? (i.e. does it have or>does not have, a panel subfolder?)>>If FSX is still checking the aircraft to see if it should be>displayed or not, perhaps moving the AI to a separate folder>is good idea...>in more ways than one.I just fired up FSX with FileMon running. When you hit "Change" on the main menu to bring up the Aircraft Selection screen, FSXreads through ALL the objects called out in the SimObjects pathesdefined in the fsx.CFG file.It looks at ALL the aircraft folders and vehicle folders.It first reads the "sim.cfg" or "aircraft.cfg", then moves on to the "texture" folders, then looks for a "state.CFG" file, thenthe "model.CFG". Finally it looks for the "panel.CFG". Failing thisit looks for a "panel.CAB" file. It then moves on to the next object!So, it doesn't matter where you place the AI Aircraft folder, as long as it's path is called out in the fsx.CFG file. FSX is goingto rifle through it, just as it does for flyable aircraft,ground vehicles, sailboats, etc.It's a freakin' wonder that FSX EVER finishes loading!BTW, I discovered early on that FSX looks first for a "sim.CFG"file before it tries to find an "airacrft.CFG" file. If it doesn'tsee a "sim.CFG" file it looks for a "sim.CAB" file and only thendoes it move to looking for the "aircraft.CFG" file. So I renamedALL my "aircraft.CFG" files to "sim.CFG". This saves several hundredpointless files searches. Granted, not a big savings in time butwhen added to all the OTHER pointless searches that FSX undertakes,eliminating them a few hundred at a time will make some slight difference.Also, I added "texture.CFG" files to most of my addon texturefolders to eliminate the unneccesary searches for "texture.CAB" when it can't find the CFG file first. Paul