Rogen

Hi Stan, Simconnect msi installers can be found in the path below, ~\Prepar3D v5\redist\Interface\ where ~\ indicates the path you've chosen to install P3D. e.g. for mine it's "H:\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v5\redist\Interface\" Each msi installer will be located within a "lib" folder for each version of simconnect. Cheers

Sure, nice airport. I've found both the P3D logging to be helpful in developement and troubleshooting various P3D issues, with SODE logging helpful for this particular problem. I reworked the SODE stuff, basically renamed the folders and edited the config files, more about consistency for troubleshooting, like below. SimObjects\ SODE_KPLN_EC_FLAG SODE_KPLN_EC_FLAG_STILL SODE_KPLN_MI_FLAG SODE_KPLN_MI_FLAG_STILL SODE_KPLN_US_FLAG SODE_KPLN_US_FLAG_STILL SODE_KPLN_WINDSOCK Then edited and resaved the various sim.cfg and the control xml files, again it was more about consistency for troubleshooting. All seems good for the flags, I can email you a zip of the SODE files if you like (PM me with your email address). Cheers Flags no wind - I've also repositioned them. Flags flapping in the breeze, note the far lodge flag is also flapping.

Ok, that has SODE components, but is still incomplete. e.g. the Windsock is missing poles for example the windsock calls "CB_Pole_GY_LM" which doesn't exist like in the xml cut below. <!-- Objects placing --> <SimObject Name="Windsock_Pole"> <Placement Lat="45.568872" Lon="-84.802000" Alt="0#AGL" Hdg="0.0"/> <Model SimTitle="CB_Pole_GY_LM"> </Model> </SimObject> The sim.cfg for the Windsock models defines the below which are missing. [fltsim.6] title=CB_Pole_GY model=cb_gray_pole [fltsim.7] title=CB_Pole_GY_LM model=cb_gray_pole_lm There are other issues as well like poles missing from lights around the airport. If you or your mate don't have these issues it's likely while the local install has the bits and pieces, they have not been added to the distribution archive. Cheers

SODE is dependent on SimConnect. Are all the simconnect.msi installed ? I'd expect to see the below. Additonally all the various airports supporting SODE will have SODE components and control xml to be installed. If it's working you'll have a menu item with several SODE commands available including a test option. Note that SODE is activated in P3D via an addon xml file. Cheers

That link doesn't contain any SODE items. Is there something more complete ?

Which KPLN scenery is it ? Do you have a download link for it ? (given it is freeware) Just thinking out loud there is probably some sort of attribute applied to the flag. Potentially the airport could be loaded into ADE and reviewed.

I have Orbx Pula, it's a nice little airport. I used it to showcase the PC-12 mods package I put together. YouTube PC-12 mods showcase Orbx also have a nice freebee in LWSK Skopje International Airport. https://orbxdirect.com/product/lwsk Cheers

You'll likely have to identify the sound for the gear. Once you've got the correct sound you can modify it in a tool like Audacity (free sound managment tool). It's what I did to build the addon immersive sound set for the C208B here. Cheers

A2A's AccuFeel is my contrib, it was even included as default in the now defunct "Flight Sim World", I personally never considered moving over to x64 simming until it had been prepped for 64 bit. Some form of shader managment utility like RDShade. Here's a list of things I use on my P3D v4.5 - most of which (or similar) can be had for P3D v5. Speaking of P3D v5, I'd go for v5.3 as 5.4 breaks xml Tools which is an important utiltiy providing function for many planes, LM did fix the xml Tools issue in 6.1, just not for 5.4. And don't forget all the great freebee aircraft to be had 🙂 Cheers

Frictionality ? never heard of it till now but it looks like a great utility for friction tuning. Pity it doesn't support the 64 bit sims... 🙁

Plus if P3D v6 only it would have been compiled via the v6 SDK/PDK so relative performance should be good. Cheers 🙂

Hi Luis, It's the RXP GTN, I generally use either the F1 or RXP GTN GPS depending on the time I'm puttling into the aircraft (either 650 or 750 series). i.e. if I'm going to be spending a reasonable level of session time in the particular aircraft I'll spend the time and update the GPS from the F1 to the RXP. I also use the GPS2020 available from the AVSIM library, it's more 530 based but is pretty feature rich and a good replacement for such types. Besides the C182 panel mod, the oxynator cabin oxygen system is a good addon to most of the A2A GA fleet, means higher altitude can be achieved without the associated blackout. Enjoy your holidays 🙂 Cheers https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/618312-reach-for-the-oxynator

A nice custom grey panel for the A2A C182, rounds the c182 out nicely when included with the Oxynator cabin oxygen gauge. The link below contains the download option for the grey panel file. https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=71689&p=546317&sid=2c696e090be32348587eb00b1f45791a#p546173 Cheers Pics:

Just to be aware RDShade and Reshade are two different applications., RDShade is P3D specific and modifies P3D's display shader files directly. Reshade is application agnostic and uses it's own shader files without modifying those of P3D. Reshade UI can be opened and and shaders adjusted on the fly so to speak with P3D running, thus changes are instantly viewable. And there are a great many reshade shaders by many different authors. Cheers

Lot's of questions re: troubleshooting this one. What version of reshade ? Was it the full addon support version ? P3D has the [USERINTERFACE] UIHardwareAcceleration=False set in the prepar3d.cfg ? Shader Effects were downloaded ? Once installed into the P3D root the following will have been created. A folder named "reshade-shaders" containing the shader effects you'd chosen and downloaded via the installer. dxgi.dll ReShade.ini ReShade.log ReShadePreset.ini And maybe some .addon64 files if you'd chosen any. Since reshade has to write to the various ini files P3D will need a level of permissions to do so. e.g. Run P3D as an admin, this would be especially so if P3D is installed into a Windows "Program Files" path. Note I rename the dxgi.dll to d3d11.dll to avoid a clash with my screen recording software, but that said it should still function OK otherwise. Cheers

The majority of routers (if not all) as used for connection to the internet will include a built in firewall and usually includes more direct options for blocking std. exploits. The Windows firewall is more about allowing what the Windows enviroment contains (like allowing XBOX) while blocking other things, it also runs zones e.g. private, domain, public where the level of what is blocked / allowed depends on the clasificaction of the network and it's level of regarded trust. It's actually reasonable in this regard. Cheers

Heh, yes indeed... Usually it's some unpatched known exploit in the OS, or weak credentials, or social engineering (e.g. click this link for untold millions!, Hi mum or dad, pay fine, toll, parcel delivery, infected forwarded email link, etc.). A lot of orgs outsource their I.T. where they are just customer number #### and things only get fixed if asked and they rollout the std. company spiel to customers regarding privacy and security. Really needs gov legislation to force companies to be more proactive IMHO. Cheers

Well... I've taken a look at this aircraft. And unfortunately the cavalier and unprofessional attitude of MilViz / Blackbird really shines in this release. The freebee download link will download "Twin Comanche Installer v2.210628.exe" - note this version does include P3Dv4 & v5 install options but I had to update the Radar dll to avoid CTDing (I installed to P3Dv4.5.14). However on their forums there is a later installer version download for P3D v5, why the installer version descrepancy ? all I can say is it is not the first time I've come across such an issue @ MilViz where it often appears the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. The forum post below holds the link for the later version download. http://milviz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=193&t=13129&sid=65dad25b8698ec8c6123ea4d5778eeab Not that the later download resolves the issue of the Autopilot function, where even a basic test would have shown the non-functionality of it. To resolve the non-functioning Autopilot a new model set was released which can be found at the below link. http://milviz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=193&t=11972&sid=65dad25b8698ec8c6123ea4d5778eeab Again if even the most basic testing had been carried out they would have seen although it fixes the Autopilot, it breaks the LHS position and landing lights, as well as a breaking a number of internal lighting options, could even break more, i just didn't go looking further after my initial test. Of course people did raise these issues on the MilViz / Blackbird forums where the response was either none or tough - no more P3D updates, even though their so called fixes broke things... I'm certainly happy I didn't need to pay for this aircraft. So from MilViz / Blackbird the choice is working lighting and non-functional autopilot, or functional autopilot and partially working lighting. Niether are great options and with that in mind I looked at an "option 3". Option three is to keep the non-functional AP models, and enable the matching popup AP that is included with the plane. This gives a method to operate the dash mounted AP successfully. But wait... there's more... In MVAMS this plane can have GPS and WX changes, however it does this by copying a pre-configered panel.cfg, unlike the DHC2 for example where the aircraft.cfg panel pointer is updated. Essentually it means there is a need to update at least the panel configs you'd be trialling or using. Looking at the lighting in the "fixed" models, it looks as if many dynamic texture references have changed, it's likely they could be updated in the various panel configs if someone has the time to do such, for myself I'll keep with the AP popout and default model files. Also to disable the strange sound when clicking on the dash mounted AP buttons one has only to rename the file named ~\Panel\TW_Sounds\SND5.wav Alternatively the SND5.wav can be replaced with a copy of one of the other sounds, for example you could copy SND25.wav, rename as SND5.wav, then each button click will say "Trim in Motion". Once past the choices above the plane itself is Ok in general, modeling is reasonable overall, does add about ~4 GB of vram use for my P3D config and I do like the use of True Glass and Real Light. Spoiler holds what I added to the various panel.cfg A few pics to round it out. Check the mem usage, note I do run TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 where mem use is normally about 3~4 GB less. The AP popup included with the Aircraft (I was experimenting with it's aspect and position at the time of pic), real light and real glass in use and the radar does work if you've an appropriate V5 or V4.5, alteratively Rolan's radar could be inserted if you've Active Sky and an unsupported P3Dv5 version. Cheers

Well... I just installed it (via "Twin Comanche Installer v2.210628.exe") and the PA-30 installer seems to place all the same items into P3D v5 as per P3D v4.5, true light, real glass and xmlTools included. I notice the aircraft does use a lot of vram memory, nearly 8 GB. Also MVAMS doesn't appear to be updating the aircraft.cfg, MVAMS does save the settings in the correct ini file but nothing is changed in the aircraft.cfg file. Intriguing indeed (but that could just be the intriguinol kicking in 😄). I did update the following in the aircraft.cfg to get the PA-30 listing to display nicely for aircraft selection, but that was after testing MVAMS. //TBM 17/01/2024 // changed ui_createdby="Military Visualisations" to ui_createdby="MilViz" // changed title=Piper Twin Comanche to title=Piper Twin Comanche PA-30 // Added aircraft number to the title instead of just 1,2,3 etc. I might look into this a bit further and see what pops out. Cheers

I would think the above is going to be the biggest killer to owning such a unique aircraft unfortunatelly. Cheers

And the contribution of your comment is ??? Apart from being derisive that is... Cheers

I recommend a backup regime, including the use of removable drives for offline rotation. For example: I run a NAS box with a couple of drives raided into a single drive. The raid drive is shared and is the storage location of all things flight sim related. Once a week it copies it's contents to a drive plugged into a SATA drive caddy which I remove and rotate. Atm it holds a 3.5 TB collection of flight sim items stretching back to when I first picked up FSX on disk. Backup storage space is the biggest hasle, where as a rule of thumb 4 x the space of the drive being backed up is required for reliability of backups. The main drives of the computer itself are backed up via Macurium Backup every second day where drive rotation archives give a recovery option of approx. one year backwards in time. It takes a bit of displine keeping drives in rotation (swapping out/in) but such a regime has proved of use to recover (mostly accidently deleted items) and twice in the past where I had to recover the entire machine and it does give piece of mind knowing backups are there should they be needed. Cheers

Yeah, they probably do, just not for the general public, and likely it would cost a ton of $$$ anyway. Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN9Qsw1COzI&t=8s Cheers

I think everyone is forgetting P3D is primarily a licensed commercially available training aid, noting the entertainement and enthusiast market are not their target market, even though LM does benefit from usage by such brackets of the market. For LM's purposes they develop and sell P3D, as well as develop, sell and support complete packaged systems, e.g. there is custom development, custom graphics (via the Common Image Generator Interface (CIGI)), multichannel support, a networked instructor operating station for managing the training senarios in realtime, they've introduced the PDK which functions similarly to SimConnect but is tied into Prepar3D at a lower level for improved performance and more direct integration and probably much more that we, as basic end users, don't see. A basic user level software license often doesn't show the real and deep capabilites of said software. A truely professionally built training aid will likely incorporate all aspects, along with ground gfx that look nothing like those LM provides as a default. Also there is ongoing P3D 3rd party development, e.g. contracted for development and support of P3D systems, Blackbird and A2A are both development houses where they have said they develop P3D for the military and there would be others as well. So this is where there is a break between the enthusiast, who is the driver of a software house's non-contracted development (via the public's purchases), and contracted, which is not public and might also include an ongoing software maintenance charge for support. Here is a thread on the P3D forum where the P3D crew talk briefly about such a contracted example. https://prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=150205 That LM sells P3D directly to the public means org's producing semi-mass market training aids can just throw on P3D with a custom developed aircraft and have a relatively cheap and effective training aid for the target aircraft. Of course LM needs a robust 3rd party array of developers to develop for, and support their particular sales model, and while they held a fairly captive audience what with the original demise of FSX, they have basically lost the 3rd parties who were developing enthusiast products, unfortunately it's just a fact of life that devs who relied upon on direct sales to enthusiasts "need" to go where they will make income, and that's precisly because LM have lost their captive audience. P3D itself will go on advancing in one form or another and maybe eventually migrate to the Unreal engine. https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/2022/gaming-technology-the-future-of-training.html As to improved ground surface graphics, LM could provide such an option if they really wanted to. An example of such availablity. https://www.maxar.com/press-releases/maxar-launches-high-performance-synth3d-digital-twin-for-metaverse-simulation-and-virtual-reality-applications https://www.maxar.com/products/synth3d A couple of example training aids. https://www.defenceprocurementinternational.com/features/air/f-35-full-mission-simulator https://www.lockheedmartin.com/f35/news-and-features/10-ways-the-f35-simulator-is-changing-pilot-training.html And a pic of one. Cheers