Replacing Default FS9 control twoer

[Guest drix]

Hi,I'm in the process of finishing up my KFRG scenery design project. I would like to replace the default KFRG control tower with the default FS9 tower located at KPNE. The KPNE tower looks almost identical to the real KFRG tower. How would I do this?

[Guest seev_39]

You will find a very similar tower in Rwy12 Object Placer program under the "FS Airport Buildings and Facilities library". The object is "medium_tower1". You can rezise it, turn it, etc.When you upload the scenery don't forget to include the lib bgl file for those who don't have Rwy12 on their computers. Read more about that in the program's documentation. http://www.sk-flightsim.com/http://www.rwy12.com/

[Guest drix]

thanks seev. good idea

[Guest Bell206freak]

Another thing you can do is go in and edit the default ob9XXXX.bgl files. These will usually contain objects like control towers, hangars, and other airport scenery objects. In short, you'll need SceneGenX, a BGL decompiler (preferrably NewBGLAnalyze), and the BGLCOMP SDK.**The following is a shortened version of a tutorial I am releasing soon that covers the topic of editing and deleting default scenery objects. I have thoroughly tested this method and has worked well for me in scenery design***In order to edit the default, first decompile all of the ob9XXXX.bgl scenery files, and then the APXXXXXX.bgl scenery files. When you decompile using NewBGLAnalyze, the output will be a *.txt file. Rename that extension to *.XML and open it up in notepad. Keep the XML files open in notepad throughout the entire procedure outlined below.Now, open up SceneGenX and then import the APXXXXXX.bgl scenery file's XML code. To do so, go to "File" and then select "Import source code." A prompt will show up, asking you to locate your XML files. You'll use this to locate the airport you're modifying (in your case, it's KFRG). After finding it, click the "Scan XML" button. After the scan finishes, which will take a few seconds or a minute, locate your airport, then select "Import XML". You should then see an AFCAD-type display showing the taxiways, runways, etc.Now, you need to do the same thing for all of the OB9XXXX.bgl scenery files you decompiled. You need to be very careful in doing this, or else you'll have to start fresh in SceneGenX (I speak from experience). Using the same method, import the XML files and then select the "Import scenery into existing airport scenery" radio button and select a radius of 5000 meters from center point at the upper left. Click the button that says "Select objects" and then a count of the objects should show up. Click "Import XML" again. Afterwards, your AFCAD-type display will shopw up again, this time containing boxes that represent the "footprint" of the scenery objects. Now is also the time to have FS2004 open. Using the "Top Down" view, get into slew mode and hit the spacebar to orient yourself to where you face north. Then slew over to the control tower and then go back into SceneGenX and go into "Show Aircraft" mode (I believe this is under the menu bar; I don't have my FS computer with me right now to verify.). This locates the control tower in reference to the AFCAD. It would also be a good idea at this point to save your work in case something wrong happens.Now, locate the box that depicts the location of your control tower and click on it. Make sure that it does not move!!! Right click on the object and then locate the heading of the object and its coordinates. Write down the coordinates (I used the series of numbers after the decimal), and then go into your ob9XXXX.XML files that were the result of decompiling the respective bgl files. Go to "Edit" and then "Find Next", and then input the number in the field. Click "Find" and if all goes well, it should locate the numbers. It'll be in one ob9XXXX.bgl file, but you'll need to search all of them to find out which one it's in.Once you locate the coordinates, go ahead and delete the "" data tag containing the default object, and then click "Save."Then, drag the XML file onto BGLCOMP.exe and it'll create a new 0b9XXXX.bgl file. Save a copy of the default BGL file and place it in a backup folder, and then place the new bgl file in the default scenery directory. When prompted to overwrite, click "Yes" and then test the new BGL file in Flight Simulator. Afterwards, you can either use Rwy12 to place the right control tower, or use gmax to build and create your own.

[Guest drix]

thanks bell206. i appreciate your descriptive help! Seev_39's suggestion to use RWY12 is perfect as the medium_tower2 is exactly how FRG's tower looks in real life at a 1.5 scale. The modification was extremely quick which allowed me extra time to build perimeter fencing. The last step will be to add detailed night lighting with photoshop. Hopefully I can release it within the next few days. The scenery is very, very nice but I will let you decide.

[mgh 89]

There's another way that doesn't involve editing and recompiling stock .bgl files - a pet hate of mine!Download Kevin Ryan's Visual Index for FS2004 Scenery Objects(sorry but I can't remember the zip file name :(). This is an Excel spreadsheet that lists the descriptive names and LibraryObject names of many of the stock scenery objects together with .jpgs of them. Clicking on a descriptive name displays the jpg.The XML code to exclude objects in a given rectangular area using ExclusionRectangle, and then to add a single stock object using SceneryObject is shown in the following:<?xml version="1.0"?>You can add several buildings by including more entries.Compile this with bglcomp.exe and put the resulting .bgl file into C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator 9Addon Sceneryscenery.

[Guest drix]

awesome. thanks!