I'm trying to fix the issue of missing buildings on certain default airports in v5.

A good example case is Meadow Lake Airport in Colorado Springs.

In v5 it is called KFLY and has no (0) buildings. Just runways and taxiways (scenery set to Extremely Dense).
In v4 it uses the former name 00V and has about 60 (!) buildings.

I want those buildings back!

So I browsed a bit and came across this post regarding the loss of parking positions in v5:
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/609973-p3dv5-large-reduction-in-parking-positons-same-in-v4/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-4660709

I figured this solution may bring the buildings back as well and I copied all the APX files from v4 to v5.
When launching v5 with these files, I noticed KFLY had indeed disappeared and 00V was there (including a couple more parking spots).
However, no buildings.

I fired up ADE, learned that KFLY is in APX20180.bgl, and was able to verify that the BGL from v4 has the buildings and v5 does not.

So there must be something else in v5 that has changed about building data that causes the buildings from the old BGL file to not show up.
This downgrade issue is very upsetting. I also noticed in the same BGL file a private heliport (5CO5) is entirely missing in v5 but was there in v4.

I'm grateful for any additional info anyone may have.

Since you're saying that you want the buildings, would importing the buildings from the v4 scenery using ADE be enough? 

Following on from what David was saying, maybe this thread helps a little?

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/convert-p3d-v4-sceneries-for-p3d-v5.454726/#post-899044

@Matthias1231, I abandoned that idea after discovering the buildings in v3 were in a different place to taxiways and runways in v5. Ai parking inside a building was not realistic.

Plus the fact I was using old runway data so where runway designations had changed I was still on the old one.

v5 does have far fewer parking positions and it is a pain at less popular airports. But overall I found the advantages of using earlier AFCAD data were outweighed by the disadvantages.

There is a bug in v5 where some buildings only appear at the highest scenery setting whereas in earlier versions they appeared at Medium.

All I can suggest is you bear with it as v6 is in beta and should be available in the next few months. Hopefully this problem will be addressed.

@David Vega @787flyer Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not that familiar with ADE but I may play with it more. Since the buildings are already present in the BGL, I don't know if importing would make a difference. In theory you'd think they would just show up, at least at maximum scenery settings. I'm really looking for a wholesale solution as I like to explore and prefer many good default airports over a few nice add-on ones.

@Ray Proudfoot Thanks Ray, for the update. I was hoping you'd chime in here since I noticed your dedication to P3D and your experience with keeping it current. Indeed after my first landing after making this change I was directed to a parking position that was halfway inside a building.

I guess that means there is airport related data in files other than the APX ones. I may try one more thing by replacing all default BGL files in v5 with those of v4 and see what happens. But I agree, the outdated runway designations and other outdated data is frustrating to deal with.

In my ideal world I would be replacing all default v5 data with v4 data, which brings back the buildings, fixes the double building issue with Orbx Global Airport Pack and makes REX WorldWide Airports HD compatible with v5. 
Then I'd just fix all the runways and outdated data with the latest AIRAC cycle from Navigraph.
😉 One can dream.

(Or maybe just go back to v4 entirely... 🤔)

Better to just be grateful as to how well v5 runs in general and wait for v6 with the rest of you!

@Matthias1231,

You're correct. KFLY in P3Dv5 doesn't have buildings. P3Dv4 and FSX have them for 00V. 

Here's a process to add the 00V buildings from P3Dv4 or FSX to KFLY in P3Dv5 using ADE.

1. Open ADE using P3Dv4 or FSX
2. File / Open Stock Airport; type 00V and click on "Find Now" button; select 00V - Meadow Lake and click on Open
3. You should see 00V with the buildings. 
4. List / Scenery Objects shows all the generic buildings and other objects. Click on all the Generic Buildings. You can click on the first one and then use SHIFT+click on the last. If this selection includes other objects, you can carefully remove them from the selection by using CTRL on each. 
5. Once the buildings are selected, click on "Select In Display" button
6. File / Export ADE Objects; select a file name and location that will be easy to locate, i.e., 00V_blds. then click on "SAVE" button; a window appears showing all the generic buildings exported; click on OK button; close ADE, click the "No" button if ADE asks you if you want to save the airport
7. Open ADE again, but this time for P3Dv5
8. File / Open Stock Airport; type KFLY and click on "Find Now" button; select KFLY - Meadow Lake and click on Open
9. File / Import ADE Objects; select the file you saved in step 6 and click on Open
10. A pop-up window shows you the generic buildings imported. Click on OK.
11. You can now see the buildings on the display. 

From here you can compile the airport either to a scenery folder that is already part of your scenery library or create a folder, i.e., KFLY and the a folder named scenery inside of it and compile to KFLY/scenery. Then add KFLY to your P3Dv5 scenery library and you're done. 

Hope this works for you.

Thank you, @David Vega for the detailed instructions! It worked and was quick to do. For some reason I couldn't find a "Select In Display" button and had to do the selection manually, might be my ADE version.

KFLY with buildings in V5. 🙂

I've been trying to so this export and I too do not see a select in display either. How do I export all those files selected, i.e. the next step

 

Thanks.

 

 

In ADE Can only save as csv file.

Edited January 18, 20233 yr by Butch1

@Butch1

Ensure you have the latest ADE version. 

In my version (01.79.7475.29407), the button is at the lower right side as seen in the image above. 

A second option to select the buildings is to select them individually on the display by using the click and shift-click method. 

Thanks for the bump back,

My version 1.79.7475 doesn't have that button so I wonder what to do next without that select button you have?

 

5 hours ago, Butch1 said:

Thanks for the bump back,

My version 1.79.7475 doesn't have that button so I wonder what to do next without that select button you have?

 

 

AFAIK I have the latest version.

Edited January 19, 20233 yr by Butch1

The two screens do not match. Look at your "Center on Object" and "use Zoom." Notice that my checkmarks are blue? Are the last numbers in your version the same as mine?  

No my version is newer then yours, hence the missing select in display option/button which was the point of my discussion.

and to repeat my question, using the version I have, what is the next step after selecting the buildings?  My screen grab was just

for posting here and I realized that I have to filter out the objects that are NOT buildings.  Again, I am using the latest and greatest version

1.79.7475

 

 

Edit: Just for grins, I found and installed the same version you use and still didn't see that select in display button.

 

 

Edited January 20, 20233 yr by Butch1

1 hour ago, Butch1 said:

No my version is newer then yours, hence the missing select in display option/button which was the point of my discussion.

He is probably using ADE's Prokey, which is a payware option to add extra features and tools to ADE.

Dave