Has anyone tried (and hopefully succeeded) to use FSHud and UTL2 (the P3d5 version)? I gave it a try but no joy. It seems to me that it shoudl be possible fromwhat I understand of the FSHud documentation.

Any help appreciated.

Jean-Pierre Gagné

If you have a question to ask about any "Tip or Trick" posted, use the PM system (Private Message). That is what it is for. Alternatively, ask your question in the appropriate forum, with a link back to the original "Tip or Trick."Please note that any originating post that asks a question will probably be deleted. If I'm in a good mood I may move the question to the appropriate forum, but......don't count on that.  B)

If you wish to ask a question about darned near anything FS related, simply click over to the Main P3D Forum and have at it. I am also quite sure that virtually no one will bother to actually read and adhere to this post...

2.) Lossless obviously works better with a higher base frame rate, however, you could probably get away with 30, 40 would be preferred. Make sure you CAP your frame rate to 30/40 or whatever minimum you can achieve, you want frame pacing to be really good so that lossless can do its magic. Uneven frame pacing causes more artifacts. For best overall experience, locking the game frame rate is recommended. This helps to avoid 100% GPU load (reducing its impact on latency) and ensures smoother frame pacing.

3.) Input lag?, the best way to eliminate it is to turn off V-Sync in game AND in losless AND in Nvidia control panel for THIS game only.  Screen tearing then? Not if you have your frame rate capped. For example 120 hz display, with G-Sync enabled. Cap your frames to 38 (using RTSS or whatever you prefer). 38x 3 (if you are using lossless frame gen X3) = 114. This allows a little head room incase of frame spikes, and will ensure you never go above 120hz, eliminating input lag and screen tearing. 

You can change this depending on your monitor. 60 hz? Lock frames to 29. 29X2 = 58, gives you 2FPS headroom below the 60hz limit. Then set frame gen X2 mode. 

There are lots of combinations depending on your monitor and frames generated, X2,X3,X4 etc...

4.) Resolution scale = Set this at 50%.

For higher resolution, use at higher than recommended frame rates or use the "Resolution Scale" option to downscale input to 1080p:
For 1440p, set it to 75%.
For 4K, set it to 50%.

When I made my first steps in SimDirector in 2018, I would have liked to have a tutorial like this.

Reason

Anyway, by now I have created over 30 missions / scenarios, which I make available to everyone for free download (see here).

I have created a detailed tutorial on how to create a mission.
The tutorial is available in English and German.

Why create a mission at all? A simple flight will do the trick.

The tutorial is divided into 2 main parts:

- Parts 1 through 4 create a simple flight in which an oil leak occurs.
You can rebuild this tutorial in less than an hour.
After that you have enough basic knowledge to create your own simple missions.

- In part 5 to 10, the simple flight will be expanded a little more comfortable.
Instead of takeoff, climb, oil leak, landing, the flight will go longer:
1) If you take it easy on the engine, (propeller speed reduced) you can fly to the destination airport.
2) So that an oil leak can still occur, an oil leak will occur randomly.
How to install such a random generator and many other things is explained here.

I hope my instructions were understandable and helpful.

Have fun with the rebuilding.

Greetings
Jörg

The instructions can be found here:
https://andi20.ch/p3d/tut1.html

The only difference is the brightness of the textures which can be managed by the tone mapping v6 provides at default. 

It doesnt look good for Orbx updating their products as when they were asked outright over on their forums, will Orbx Central be updated for v6?

 Orbx replied with "We cant answer that question".

Aerosoft Airbus planes sadly have stopped working in V5 now when they used to work, let alone in v6 and QW787 is the ONLY plane for v5 that has issues in v6 where the displays do not display during the day, only at night time will they display. 

FsLabs planes sadly do not work either. So there is no Airbus planes at all in v6 it seems. 

Every other plane works fine as intended. As does airports and addons following a video tutorial I made over on my YT channel just now to show you how you an install using original installers. 

P3Dv6 | HOW TO INSTALL ADDONS SAFELY WORKING

IF YOU FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE ORBX DEVELOPER WHERE HE SHOWS HOW TO SHARE ADDONS FROM V5 USING THE XML FILES, YOU WONT BE ABLE TO MANAGE YOUR SCENERY LIBRARY IN THE FUTURE AND EVENTUALLY YOUR P3D WILL LOCK AND NOT LOAD. So why Orbx are advising this to everyone is very surprising to me for v6 users. 

Enjoy your v6 and have many happy, safe landings. 

First make a backup copy of, and then open this file with a text editor:  <your root P3Dv5 folder>\ShadersHLSL\FuncLibrary.fxh

In the vicinity of line 504, find and replace this text:

#if !defined(SHD_ENHANCED_ATMOSPHERICS_BLEND) && !defined(SHD_TO_FAR_CLIP) && !defined(SHD_SKY_STARS)
    const float distanceFogTrans = min(transmittance, CalculateExponentialFogBlend(distanceSq, cb_View.mFogDensity));
    fogInscatter += cb_View.mFogColor.rgb * distanceFogTrans;
    transmittance = saturate(transmittance - distanceFogTrans);
#endif
    return float4(fogInscatter, transmittance);

with this text

#if !defined(SHD_ENHANCED_ATMOSPHERICS_BLEND) && !defined(SHD_TO_FAR_CLIP)
    const float haze_scalar = 0.8f;  //recommend values of 0.65 to 0.85
    const float distanceFogTrans = min(transmittance, CalculateExponentialFogBlend(distanceSq, (cb_View.mFogDensity * haze_scalar)));
    fogInscatter += cb_View.mFogColor.rgb * distanceFogTrans;
    transmittance = saturate(transmittance - distanceFogTrans);
#endif
    return float4(fogInscatter, transmittance);

A higher value of haze_scalar makes the haze thicker, a lower value fades it.  I've settled on 0.8 here.

Once you've made the changes, you'll need to clear your shader cache before running P3D in order to effect the change.

Install filesearch named "Everything" on your system. Let it build its database of your files.

Usually, you just can type in your search term with asteriks and the result will quickly been showed. This search goes into the file, therefore we need some more technique

FS9 .mdl files look like this:

FSX .mdl files like this

The difference is MDL8MDLH vs MDLXMDLH

There are more types, but you only need to recognize MDL8MDLH

To search this, open Everything, go into search, then extended search:

In the first field add *.mdl, let's only search models.

Next add the specific code for FS9 .mdl files MDL8MDLH in the fifth field. In the lowest field add the path to search. Click ok

It's working some time ... shown in the lower edge comment

After a while you get results:

The first result is astonishing. It is a converted Alpha C-141 Starlifter (P3D4) model. But the .mdl shown here is FS9. How does it come? Go into the directory and check the files. Right click on the file and select open directory to see it directly with other files there

So below are two converted models, exterior and interior, and also named FSX. The upper file is just the original FS9, left there for people who want to dig in deeper and modify something they need the original for. You can check model.cfg to make sure it is not called. If it was listed in the model.cfg, you could have problems when this model is loaded, usually a crash of the sim.

Regards

Dan 

01. The Global Terrain Pack

2. Oceanic Pack

3. SkyPack

The packs work alongside Orbx Global products although designed to be a replacement and to naturally work with the PBR/shaders of v5.3.

  This is for the EA ON and Volumetric Clouds skies and is not compatible with the legacy textures skies. 

Its designed to replicate the MFS look of the skies/lighting, which affects everything, even the height of the waves has been increased. 

The Envshade/EnvshadePlus program is required for the shaders, everything else comes within. Full details and a tutorial will be in a forthcoming video.

This represents the final pack for P3Dv5.3 and the final tweaking I will do since I began back in V5.0 August 2020 with TrueSky. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

The following is a summary of a post I recently made regarding the new Affinity Mask (AM) options within the P3Dv5.3 configuration file as an attempt to explain what the AM is doing. The P3D configuration file is located:

 Users > xxx > AppData > Roaming > Lockheed Martin > Prepar3D v5 > Prepar3D.cfg

If you are not familiar with making edits to this file with something like Notepad++ I suggest you proceed with caution and make a backup of the file before proceeding. If something goes wrong you can always delete the file, when P3D is launched it will generate a new configuration file. However, preferred settings within the various options pages will have to be re-established that’s why a copy reinserted would be more advantageous if necessary.

Before I start the following link will lead to a very useful tool developed by a fellow forum member @mammyjammy This tool will enable you to make various choices for any processor and provide the AM values to insert in the P3D config file. This summary does not go into detail in the use of the calculator, but the author has given excellent instructions on its use.

P3Dv5.3 Affinity Mask Calculator

I also want to acknowledge Steve Waite @SteveW  , a long-time key contributor to this forum, for providing great insights and valuable testing helping me to understand this complicated and sometimes confusing AM topic.

Note when P3Dv5.3 was installed or upgraded on your PC a default AM was generated and exists in your config file at the top of the file already. Many people think they are not running an AM in P3Dv5.3 but in fact a default one exists. To be clear you do not have to change the default it will work as is. However, we have found it useful to modify the settings particularly if you are running a processor with Hyperthreading (HT) enabled as the P3D default AM settings don’t fully optimize the HT feature yet. Additionally, processors with more than 4 cores can benefit more because of the greater number of options.

When assigning processor core AM settings, I recommend using the same core settings for "AffinityMask" and "P3DCoreAffinityMask" and not setting the "P3DCoreAffinityMask" as a subset of the “AffinityMask”. Different opinions can be found in the forum but my opinion is to set them the same, @SteveW has main posts on this subject if you want to research it.

Also, there is discussion about leaving the first core free from P3D use so the Windows Operating System can use it to assign things, I have found no real benefit while testing both Windows 10 and recently Windows 11. Additionally, if you don’t have an abundance of cores, you may actually be hindering P3D performance. Again, I’m not saying you shouldn’t explore this I’m saying I found it to not be valuable on my system which can be seen in my signature at the bottom of the post.

Assuming you have used the AM Calculator or another tool and have decided on the core assignments you want there will be 5 lines of code that need to be looked at. The following is a recommended example for a 6 core processor with HT enabled:

[JobScheduler]
AffinityMask=4053
P3DCoreAffinityMask=4053
MainThreadScheduler=0
RenderThreadScheduler=1
FrameWorkerThreadScheduler=2

For those of who like binary notation it would look something like this from right to left:

11,11,11,01,01,01 = AffinityMask=4053
11,11,11,01,01,01 = P3DCoreAffinityMask=4053
00,00,00,00,00,01 = MainThreadScheduler=0
00,00,00,00,01,00 = RenderThreadScheduler=1
00,00,00,01,00,00 = FrameWorkerThreadScheduler=2

In simple terms (I hope) from right to left in the above example think of the logical processors as P1, P2, P3, P4 and so on to P12 for this 6 core with HT example 

MainThreadScheduler = 0  puts the MainThread on P1 which is on the first of 6 cores

P3D is told with AM=4053 not to use P2 (HT of first core) therefore no scenery rendering etc. is put on the same shared core as MainThread

RenderThreadScheduler = 1 puts the RenderThread on P3 which is on the second of the 6 cores

P3D is told with AM=4053 not to use P4 (HT of second core) therefore no scenery rendering etc. is put on the same shared core as RenderThread

FrameWorkerThreadScheduler = 2  puts the FrameWorkerThread on P5 which is on the third of 6 cores

P3D is told with AM=4053 not to use P6 (HT of third core) therefore no scenery rendering etc. is put on the same shared core as FrameWorker

By doing this you are directing P3D where the main threads should be run and run on separate cores (new feature with v5.3) and keeping any other P3D activities or programs launched by P3D from using the "sister HT's" (in my terms P2, P4, and P6 with the AffinityMask and P3DCoreAffinityMask = 4053 in this example) of those three primary thread cores in use.

Additionally, I recommend using a utility to coral (keep off) other high use add-ons off the first three cores including the "sister HT's". This prevents any sharing of the primary P3D threads with other apps. That would mean nothing else on P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 which is my "plain English" reference it's really C0, C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 in things like Process Lasso if that makes sense.

The following is a suggested example for an 8 core processor with HT enabled like my current i9-990ks:

[JobScheduler]
AffinityMask=65493
P3DCoreAffinityMask=65493
MainThreadScheduler=0
RenderThreadScheduler=1
FrameWorkerThreadScheduler=2

All the same logic as above applies this just utilizes more cores but assignments for the 3 primary P3D threads are the same first 3 cores. The AM=65493 prevents the same 3 “Sister HT” cores from being shared with the P3D primary threads.

It’s important to realize when hyperthreading is used the number of cores does not physically double. Hyperthreading shares each physical core creating a virtual core so to speak. You want to assure the assigned cores for the 3 P3D primary threads are not shared by other P3D tasks or heavy hitting add-ons. If the loading of any of those cores reaches 100% with the additive combination of say P1 and P2 (C0 and C1) in my above example stutters may arise.

Additionally, regarding HT on or off for use with P3D there are dozens of opinions, mine is if you overclock and it's stable and you don't have heat issues, I would use HT but as stated above keep things off the "HT portions" of the first three cores assigned for the three main threads of P3D. 

As mentioned above it is also beneficial but not essential to assign AM to heavy hitting add-ons that are still free to use any of the cores on your processor. I use Process Lasso to keep those apps off the assigned cores for the 3 P3D primary threads. When all the add-ons are launched with P3D running every app can be seen on the Process Lasso process page and each app can have a custom affinity mask (core assignment) assigned. If you use Process Lasso, be sure to use the “Affinity Always” assignment so it’s permanent and not a onetime assignment.

The following are a few Process Lasso discussions on the forum but there are many other tools available.   

Process Lasso Forum Topic

Continued Process Lasso Forum Topic

I hope this helps. The complexity of understanding modern processors, all the terms and actual behaviors can be very confusing, I only hope I haven't added to the confusion.

Joe

Regedit. Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Lockheed Martin

With Lockheed Martin selected right-click and create a new key and name it Prepar3D v4

With that entry highlighted, over on the right window right-click and select New - String Value. Name it Licence. In the Value data field enter Academic.

Create a second String Value. Name it SetupPath. In the Value data field enter the path to your v5 root folder.

Now head over to:-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Lockheed Martin

With Lockheed Martin highlighted create a new key and name it Prepar3D v4

With that entry highlighted right click over on the right and select New - String Value. Name it AppPath then enter same installation path as under SetupPath above.

Right click again on the right and choose New DWORD 32bit.  Name it Installed.  Then double click on that new entry. Change value data from 0 to 1.

Then install the software.

Due some testing I´ve did, I´ve found some strange differences between the new volumetricclouds.cfg file, LM delivered with P3D V5.2, and my prior files which I´ve got during BETA testing and even had before with 5.1.

12th Jun 2021 12:00 AM (German time): 

• As I see this, at the moment and without having a feedback from LM yet, there are some missing lines in the config. At least this COULD be the PARTLY the cause some of you are having strange looking clouds!
• I´ve informed LM about this and will provide you feedback as soon as I know if my assumptions are correct or not.

12th Jun 2021  01:47 PM (German time):

• LM has confirmed that the volumetriccloud.cfg is correct and the changes are also correct!

Conclusion: Gerards changes have a positive influence on the overall look of clouds. 

If you give Gerard (The Autor of this file) and me (positive enough) feedback here, I will parse the file to LM and ask them politely to use this and make it "the standard". 

How to proceed:

1. Download his file here: Link to Volumetricclouds.cfg by GSalden provided
2. Head to the directory: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v5 and find the file called: VolumetricClouds.CFG
3. Rename this file in VolumetricClouds.CFG.OFF (This makes sure you don´t loose the original file)
4. Copy and Paste GSalden file at the directory as named at 2
5. Delete your Shaders at: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v5
6. Run P3D and test please (First without ASP3D or any other weather injector!
7. Then test with ASP3D
8. Provide screenshots and feedback in this thread please

These Sceenshots I´ve made while using @GSalden his recently posted volumetriclouds.cfg and I find it really excellent work he did!

I know how many hours it takes to change and tests in small incremental steps.

I will do some further testing to make sure, visuals and performance are in balance (this seems to be the case with this cfg. file).

First Two shots with GSalden his profile:

1. FL 400
2. Volumetricclouds slider at MEDIUM
3. 3 layers OC 1st Picture
4. 2 layer OC 2nd picture

Less  waffles (not 100% eliminated but better)

Enlarge the Pictures for full resolution please (Click on it)

1. Run the exe and locate your simulator folder.
2. Install the scenery anywhere within your Prepar3D/Prepar3D v5 folder (make sure to remember where you installed it!)
3. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X and copy both the Effects and Texture folder
4. Go to your Prepar3Dv4/Prepar3Dv5 root folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4)
5. Paste the two folders (Effects and Texture) into the root Prepar3D directory - you should not be asked to overwrite any files!
6. Launch Prepar3Dv4/Prepar3Dv5
7. Go to the Scenery library
8. In there you have to manually add all three layers of the scenery within the MMMX-T2G folder (MMMX; MMMX-city; MMMX-terrain) - the layers should be in this exact order!
9. Restart Prepar3Dv4/Prepar3Dv5
10. Settle down in MMMX and make sure you don't have any black buildings and everything looks fine!
11. Download the MMMX_AF.BGL file either for Prepar3Dv4 or Prepar3Dv5 from this Google Drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-jn1fNZmyyW3vgJKmGD9pJcPECkYceJK?usp=sharing
12. Once you have downloaded the file go to ...MMMX-T2G\MMMX\Scenery and paste the BGL file in there. Overwrite!
13. That's it! Runway lights/Taxi lights/default buildings should be working/gone now! Have fun! :)

Optional (RECOMMENDED!):

We will be adding better Dynamic Lighting as well as GSXv1/v2 compatibility

1. All rights go to inibuilds!
2. Dynamic lighting for MMMX: https://forum.inibuilds.com/files/file/761-taxi2gate-mexico-city/
3. GSX-profile for MMMX: https://forum.inibuilds.com/files/file/929-taxi2gate-mexico-city/
4. follow given instructions carefull!

Alright folks! I hope this helped and you managed to fix Taxi2Gate MMMX!

Cheers,

Niels

Can't Init SimConnect - error code 0x80004005

Check your IPADDRESS Via CMD.EXE and "IPCONFIG"

Check two files : Simconnect.cfg in c:\users\name\Documents

                               Simconnect.xml in c:\Users\name\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4

-Spent a day trying to find out what was wrong.  My internet provider change my IP Address.

-Rich

The problem: in an aircraft (mostly PMDG, it would seem), the split second your main wheels touch the ground, there is a microstutter between 1/4 and 1 second long. Then, you hear the aircraft touchdown, and everything is normal afterwards.

The potential solutions to try:

1. For PMDG airplanes, go to PMDG Setup -> Options -> Sounds, and set "preload sounds" to "ALL." "Selective" may also help with touchdown lag, but this hasn't been tested by anyone specifically.

2. Make sure your audio device is processed through a sound card (onboard or add-on) rather than your CPU. Verify this by making sure that your sound device is plugged into a port supported by your onboard audio (lots of mainstream motherboards have one, i.e. Realtek etc.). An example problem in this case is when you plug in your headset through the front port but only the rear ports connect to your motherboard Realtek sound.

(These two options should solve your issue, as these are the primary causes of the lag. If not, try these less consistently effective options.)

3. In Prepar3D, go to Options -> Sound, and set the three dropdown menus on the left to your intended audio device (ideally going through a soundcard as outlined in step 2). By default, the existing setting should be <Default XXXX Device>.

4. In older versions, deleting fx_skidmark.fx from the "effects" folder has helped the performance. This file is not directly related to the split second of touchdown, but has helped some users in resolving their issue.

5. If you use an USB headset, try deleting your headset's software. Corsair's iCUE software has been shown to take up CPU usage as well as inducing touchdown lag. Simply uninstalling the software removed the touchdown lag.

6. Various FIBRE_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION settings have alleviated the issue for a few users in early Prepar3D/FSX days, but the effectiveness of this method is debatable.

It is by Nick Cooper -Orbx Administrator 

Posted May 1st 2020

Obviously Orbx oriented but a good general guide nonetheless 

I miss Poppets posts and this might be a Tip to add to list that is in current time 

Sorry at not being abler to post link-could someone do it?

xxd09

PS of course I have used it and it worked for me

More than four years ago, I made a video, in which I showed how to improve the performance in P3Dv3 during such conditions. In the following new video, I will revisit this problem, but this time I am using P3Dv4. You will learn how to improve the cloud performance under critical cloud conditions in a very quick, flexible and convenient way. Highly recommended!

V5.1 added a new feature called "Adaptive Simulation Group“, mainly intended to reduce visual jittering when flying in close formation with other traffic (multiplayer or AI).

Due to the way SODE works internally (it basically injects AI objects...), Prepar3D picked them up into that new simulation group and when SODE tried to remove the injected object, the sim crashed. This is going to be fixed within Prepar3D.

Until then, there is a workaround (hoping you don‘t do much close formation flying), courtesy of P3Ds dev team: You can disable this new adaptive simulation group system in the Prepar3D.cfg

[SIM]

AdaptiveSimGroupEnable=False

Find your Aircraft.cfg file in your P3d installation directory and open it with text document editor. Scroll to near bottom of file and look for [Lights] which will look like this:

[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=Landing, 6=taxi        
//light.0 = 3,  -1.23, -16.61, 3.08, fx_navred
//light.1 = 3,  -1.23,  16.61, 3.08, fx_navgre
//light.2 = 3, -17.05,   0.00, 4.85, fx_navwhi
//light.3 = 2,  -1.23, -16.61, 3.08, fx_strobe
//light.4 = 2,  -1.23,  16.61, 3.08, fx_strobe
//light.5 = 4,  -2.24,   0.00, 2.20, fx_vclight

The table above was provided by P3D's aircraft.cfg file, version Prepar3D_v4_Professional_4.5.13.32097 and also in V5. Light switches on Saitek switch panel operated properly with programming provided by SpadneXt. However, switches failed to illuminate lights on aircraft because all six lighting lines (above) were commented (with //) and therefore failed to execute. Removed slashes and lights then illuminated with the Saitek panel switches.

I modified the above table in aircraft.cfg with the following table:
[L[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing, 6=taxi           
//  Axis:          Lon      Lat      vert       Measured in feet from aircraft CG. Reset P3D profile after changes.
light.0   = 3,  -1.23, -16.61,  2.60, fx_navred
light.1   = 3,  -1.23,  16.61,  2.60, fx_navgre
light.2   = 3, -17.05,   0.00,  4.85, fx_navwhi
light.3   = 2,   1.50, -11.80,  2.00, fx_strobe      //Left
light.4   = 2,   1.50,  11.80,  2.00, fx_strobe      //Right
light.5   = 4,  -2.24,    0.00,  2.20, fx_vclight      //Cockpit panel
light.6   = 6,   0.00,    0.00,  2.80, fx_taxiBlue
light.7   = 5, 16.00,    0.00, -4.08, fx_landing
light.8   = 1,  -14.50,  0.00,  4.50, fx_beacon    //Upper
light.9   = 1,  -8.00,    0.00, -1.00, fx_beacon    //Lower

The following light circuit codes apply per http://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv3/LearningCenter/simobjects/aircraft_configuration_files.html#lights.

Code     Switch
1     Beacon
2     Strobe
3     Navigation or Position
4     Cockpit
5     Landing
6     Taxi
7     Recognition
8     Wing
9     Logo
10     Cabin
11     General
12     Headlight
13     Brake

The first entry of the line (light.0 to light.n) defines which light circuit, or switch, that
the light is connected to (see the code table above). Multiple lights
may be connected to a single switch. The next three entries Longitudinal,
lateral and height, respectively) are the position relative to datum reference point.
The final entry is the special effect file name that is triggered (for example, fx_navred).
These files have .fx extensions and are located in my P3D installation folder:
    H:\P3Dv4.5\Prepar3D_v4_Professional_4.5.13.32097\Effects

Positions of aircraft components are given relative to the datum reference point for the aircraft, in the order: longitudinal, lateral, vertical. The convention for positions is positive equals forward, to the right, and vertically upward. Units are in feet. you may want to tweak the exact position of the red Beacon light since I don't know exactly where the upper and lower lights belong.
The datum reference point itself is specified in the weight_and_balance section of the SDK document.

I'm a hugh fan of AI. It makes my sim always looking much more realistic. In this topic I provide (for beginners) the necessary thing (in my eyes) for an good AI-Traffic System (what I use - what I think).

This can be used of course for your flying experiences also for spotting. A lot of you guys like Aircraft's and like spotting on airports, but with an good AI System you can do this also from your PC at home.

Main Package (AI-Aircraft, Sounds, Flightplans):

the AIG AIM (OCI)

Link: https://www.alpha-india.net/forums/index.php?topic=28686.0

---> this link will maybe change when V1 is released

Flightplans: They use schedules (no Live Data), these are updated from time to time and provide realistic flightplans for Airlines (Passenger and Cargo), GA Flightplans will follow in some time

Aircraft: High quality AI Aircraft will be installed with every installed Flightplan

AI Aircraft Flightdynamics: will be automatically updated via the OCI to become much more realistic (Approach Speed, Landing Speed, Braking Distance, ... ). Exclusivly for the OCI, not puplic!

Sound: AI Traffic Sound will be installed automatically

which SIM's are supported: at the moment Prepar3dv4 (but you can add it via the the add-on.xml to v5 - but not 100% compatible at night at the moment) - but it will be updated for sure for v5 in the next few days/weeks. I don't post an explained instruction how to bring it manually over to v5, when you guys have some experience with the sim structure you know how to handle the add-on.xml. It's your own risk, don't expect any support.

Costs: FREEWARE

Forum Login for the Alpha India Group:

they provide the most immersive (and free) things for AI (including the OCI Installer),

here you get support, more infos and much more

Costs: FREEWARE

Payware AI Aircraft:

FSPX available at Simmarket https://secure.simmarket.com/fspxai-(de_1118).mhtml

I'd like to have these in my sim, they will be automatically installed via the OCI if you have purchased them

Necessary: NO / Recommended: YES

Costs: ok, not cheap

ATC Sound:

at the moment I use EditVoicePack for the default ATC. Much more realistic. Maybe this will change in some time to get some freeware stuff via AIG

Basepack: https://secure.simmarket.com/bevenel-editvoicepack-(de_8767).phtml

Soundfiles: available at AVSIM, JCAI.DK and the AIG Forum

Link for JCAI.DK Voicepacks: https://jcai.dk/category/editvoicepack/

updated ADE's (provided from me via JCAI.DK):

they provide much more realistic data then the default (in your Payware Scenery included) ones

more Parkingsposts, adjusted Parkingspots, Gate Assignments, updated AI-Aircraft Trafficflow, updated Approaches, and much more

Link: https://jcai.dk/category/afcad/

Some more are available in the AIG Forum and in the AVSIM Forum (not 100% compatible with the OCI!)

Costs: FREEWARE

AI-Aircraft Lights:

I use FS Reborn Lights, much more realistic

Link: https://www.fsreborn.com/

Costs: ok, not cheap - but highly recommended

SODE:

I suggest to enable AI Traffic Detection in your SODE Manager, the the SODE-Jetways will dock automatically to all of your AI-Aircraft, much more realistic

SuperTrafficBoard:

I suggest to use the SuperTrafficBoard for controlling you AI. You can see which AI is around you, an Departure / Arrival Board for your Airport, AI - Aircraft can be put on hold or be deleted if you want, AI will be hold away from your aircraft when you are on approach.

I love it - it's fantastic!

Link: http://www.supertrafficboard.com/

Costs: ok, not cheap - but highly recommended

Little Navmap:

highly recommended! You can see on a map which aircraft is around you, which ADE's are installed, you see the Airport Layout with parking - taxiways - and everything else, you have an flightplanner, and much much more!

Link: https://albar965.github.io/littlenavmap.html

AI Ships:

personally I use the fantastic AI Ship Package from Hendrik Nielsen

Download: https://www.flightsimnorway.com/addons/?funct=dl&pack=aishipsn

Costs: FREEWARE

I'm using always 100% AI, and I'm fine with it. I have an really old PC (4770K, GTX 1080) and it runs fine, even with High End Payware Aircraft. It will be much better with Prepar3dv5 (I've already tested it in the new FlyTampa EKCH with 100%AI - I'm getting always between 25 and 60 FPS at this airport -  flying with the default Carenado in low circles over the airport - much more than I get normally in v4)

Have fun with your AI

Urmel!

Ever notice the jumping / scrolling that occurs when marking a vehicle as 'favorite' , causing you to have to re-locate the group of aircraft you were at ?   I just discovered that by holding down <shift> while clicking your favorite, causes the screen / column to stay put, avoiding the need to re-scroll for the next selection.  

cheers, 

When flying using Oculus Rift VR headset, sometimes when you activate the ATC window it does not appear on the screen. Sometimes it just dissapear and it's difficult to bring it back. Sometimes you bring it back by  press a lot of times the key for activation/desactivation. Sometimes that doesn't work either.

So my workaround is to change the view, let's say to the Aircraft's tail, then activate the ATC window there. It almost always work! Then you can change the view to Virtual Cockpit again and your ATC window will still be there for you.

These seems to be a problem related to the complexity of the scene + aircraft. So, in case it doesn't your by changing to the tail, try change the view to the tower or some view with less complexity, then activate ATC Window, then change to Virtual Cockpit view.

This problem happens to me in Prepar3D v4.5 with Oculus Rift crash patch installed + ORBX + Some addons more like airports, etc.

Hope it hepls!