John Hinson

Time moves on, even if those of us who choose to stick to a very old version of Flight Simulator don't. According to this site, it closed down ten years ago: https://www.simflight.com/2012/12/25/world-of-ai-is-going-to-stop/ I found that with ease using a search engine. There were also links there to various sites that have some packages available, but that is not to say they all are. John

We agree, really, Hans but it is true to say it is old and outdated because it just wipes out features that have been added by more modern software, features that nobody knew were possible when the last version of AFCAD was released 19 years ago. It isn't just scenery objects that are lost, exclusion rectangles and changes to taxi signs are destroyed too. I would venture to suggest that over 90% of forum requests for help with default buildings or vegetation showing in add-on sceneries are caused by use of AFCAD2. It really needs well and truly getting rid of! ADE is indeed free, but there is a steep learning curve as the software works very differently. It is also quite complex for making small tweaks but brilliant for more major scenery development. AFX isn't free, but I would highly recommend it for those who don't want to spend many hours learning to get ADE to work as they want. The interface of AFX is very much like AFCAD2 and will feel very familiar to those who only make occasional tweaks. I use both, they will not mess up sceneries. John

Be very careful using AFCAD 2 with add-on sceneries, especially commercial products.. It can often cause more problems than it solves, being extremely outdated, and will unintentionally change other features. Use AFX or ADE instead. John

You will get used to it, one is instinctively resistant to change. But the old site has looked very dated for years. There's a search box on the downloads pages which perhaps you haven't yet found? And when you have located what you want, don't blink or you might miss the rocket-powered download speed! Best regards, John

I haven't come across the specific term "release fuel" but to fly an aircraft economically, only the quantity of fuel required, plus an amount to allow for delays, diversions and unfavourable wind direction, should be loaded. This keeps the aircraft as light as possible so it can achieve the best speed for the cost of the fuel. There are complicated and easy ways to calculate this amount for Flight Simulator, I do it the easy way by noting how much fuel I am left with at the end of a flight and adjusting accordingly for the future. It involves copious notes for future reference. In the real world, the crew will have lots of documentation at their fingertips to let them calculate the fuel requirement exactly. Some aircraft cannot land safely if there is more than a certain quantity on board - this mostly refers to weight and the forces of gravity. This is more critical in the real world than in FS. Some aircraft, like the Vickers Viscount or Concord, require to to take off with specific proportions of fuel in different tanks and to use only certain tanks, or actually pump fuel to different tanks, at specific points during the flight to balance the situation. The manual that comes with such aircraft in FS will explain how to do this. But most aircraft in FS are configured to use all tanks simultaneously to make life easier. If by releasing fuel you mean dumping fuel off the aircraft whilst in flight, this is obviously only done in emergency given the pollution involved. It is done when through some emergency it is necessary to land at a different airport than planned. A few advanced aircraft in FS will let you do this, but you can always go into the FS fuel settings and simply change the fuel load! Hans has already covered a little of this nicely above but I thought perhaps to put all of my thoughts together in one shot here. Best regards, John

If FS2004 wasn't installed in the correct manner (i.e. not from disc) the correct registry entries will not be present. The easiest way to fix this (as it affects many add-ons) is to use the Flight1 Registry Repair Tool: https://www.flight1.com/view.asp?page=library John

Take a look here - this will tell you which version of DirectX will work on your system: How to install the latest version of DirectX - Microsoft Support John

The file d3d9.dll is a critical DirectX file (and shouldn't be removed), but you may be able to run a newer version which may solve your issues. Run the Directx diagnosis tool dxdiag.exe which should be on your computer somewhere and see what solution it suggests. John

Hans, you have made my day! Gavin - really pleased you have got to the foot of the problem. Sometimes these things take a little time, but the effort is always worthwhile. John

Ha ha, not a mortal sin at all, Hans. Just that I have seen it said many times that it is best not to modify default files because they cover multiple airports. Not an issue for personal use, of course, but when developers start distributing "replacement" default files they may change one airport and reset another on one's setup at the same time! I would also venture to suggest that the method I suggested is both quicker and easier to remove/change whilst testing. I don't frequent sleazy bars either, but I do find a couple of sherries during a flight improve my landing ability. At least, so it looks through my eyes. 🙂 Take care, John

Hi Hans, The underlying issue (no pun intended) isn't with the way AFCAD, AFX or ADE work but with the way FS2004 works (I think FSX is the same, and maybe later equivalents too). For some reason, taxiways and aprons "self-flatten" the terrain underneath then, but runways do not. The solution is to either create a separate flatten file (ADE will do this from inside the software) or to cheat and place an apron area under the runway. The only time this doesn't work is if the add-on scenery has a file that over-rides this. Add-on sceneries should come with an appropriate flatten file if it is required, and these issues should not occur unless either a) the developer has omitted it, or b) another add-on is interfering with things. As to changes of altitude, you shouldn't ever need to edit AP* files, the easy way to do this is to place a copy of the airport in a scenery layer that loads before the AP file - because FS bases its airport altitudes on the first file it encounters. Many use scenery/world/scenery or you can create your own scenery layer for the purpose. ADE will do this automatically (with a cut down version that only includes the critical information), AFX does in FSX but not (from memory) in FS2004, and AFCAD2 does not cater for this at all. There's nothing to stop you doing it manually, of course. John

If your "bleed-throughs" are occurring only on runways as in that screen shot (and not taxiways) you might want to try creating an apron polygon under the runway. Aprons and taxiways automatically "flatten" the area beneath them, but runways do not. This trick usually works, unless there is a conflicting file somewhere. John

Unfortunately, what you read somewhere is mis-informed. The maximum valid figure for the first two is 4, using any higher figure is pure fantasy. The entry for the last line is only relevant of the middle line is set to lower than 4. Entries like this will get you the best results that FS2004 is capable of. TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=4 TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4 TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=0 More information here - see Harald G's translation of German documentation about halfway down: TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS - The FS2004 (FS9) Forum - The AVSIM Community John

I agree that is certainly a puzzle! I very much doubt any connection with Nvidia. It rather looks as if Taxi2gate don't have a forum at the moment, but their Support menu offers email contact. Send a picture, and make it clear you have done a clean install and have no other add-ons to interfere. John

Hi Gavin, Those other files will have been added when an add-on has been installed, as a form of backup. Only scenery.cfg itself has an actual purpose. As you install more add-ons you may fine more variations of scenery.cfg backups, to the extent that they become worthless if you uninstall something as they won't take into account other add-ons subsequently installed. They can be ignored, best to use the Scenery Library manually if uninstalling anything. Hope that makes sense, its easier to understand than write! I wouldn't change any unless the instructions with the add-on tell you to. Generally, they do it for you during installation. John