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Airport Design (Read 911 times)
Jul 6th, 2009 at 12:55pm

idahosurge   Offline
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I am thinking about getting into modifing stock FSX airports or if that is not possible then designing new ones.

What program would I need to take a stock FSX airport that has no parking or limited parking and then add parking?

An expample is KRIV March JARB in Riverside, CA.  The stock FSX airport has no parking so MyTraffic X will not park any aircraft there.

Rod
 
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Reply #1 - Jul 6th, 2009 at 2:50pm

Travis   Offline
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I'm not positive, but I'm fairly sure that AFCAD will still work with FSX.

Find it here.
 
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Reply #2 - Jul 6th, 2009 at 6:21pm

Brett_Henderson   Offline
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I've been using Airport Design Editor (ADE).. works great  Smiley

http://www.airportdesigneditor.co.uk/
 
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Reply #3 - Jul 7th, 2009 at 1:28am

Scruffyduck   Offline
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AFCAD won't work with FSX airports.  In some circumstances FS9 airport files created by AFCAD can work in FSX.  However there is almost always conversion work involved.
 
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Reply #4 - Jul 7th, 2009 at 3:51am

Travis   Offline
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Whoops!  Sorry 'bout that!  Good thing to know, however.  So the only two programs that can create facilities for FSX are AFX and ADE?  If so, what is the difference?  I've been looking at both, and wondering why anyone would choose the payware program over the free (and apparently much more versatile) program . . . Huh
 
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Reply #5 - Jul 7th, 2009 at 8:13am

dave3cu   Offline
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Travis,

The big difference is  that AFX does not require that the FSX SDK be installed. This makes it the only option for those with FSX Standard version (as is my case). The 'Live View' function is also handy.

If you have the SDK installed, ADE is your best choice based on it's additional capabilities.

For anyone curious about AFX there is a demo available. Full function within 50nm of Seattle. http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=afxv1

Dave
 
At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation.          Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good.         Steven Wright

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Reply #6 - Jul 8th, 2009 at 1:11pm

idahosurge   Offline
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So ADE seems to be freeware and AFX is payware.

Is there any real advantage to either in relation to modifing current FSX airport blg files or desiging an airport from scratch.

I am fine with paying for AFX if it makes sense to buy it.

Are there any other airport design programs besides ADE and AFX?

Rod
 
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Reply #7 - Jul 8th, 2009 at 3:16pm

Travis   Offline
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Quote:
Is there any real advantage to either in relation to modifing current FSX airport blg files or desiging an airport from scratch.


Quote:
The big difference is  that AFX does not require that the FSX SDK be installed. This makes it the only option for those with FSX Standard version (as is my case). The 'Live View' function is also handy.


If you have the standard version of FSX (as opposed to the "Gold Edition" Huh?) you'll want AFX.

It seems that for the moment there are NO other programs for airport design in FSX.  But I'm sure there will be others in the future.
 
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Reply #8 - Jul 8th, 2009 at 7:27pm

dave3cu   Offline
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Rod,

If you have the FSX SDK installed I think ADE is your best choice. It provides all the tools that AFX has for airport modification. In addition, it can create airport terrain polys for creating new airports or expansion of existing airports. (AFX cannot)

There is one other freeware editor, FSX Planner by ZBlue: http://www.zbluesoftware.com/fsxplanner/ Not familiar with it but looking at the features I see no mention of airport terrain poly tool. Like ADE, it requires the FSX SDK.

Note: Although a convenience, it is not necessary to have the airport terrain poly tool in the airport editor. There are other (free) design utilities that can create the polys. They will require the FSX SDK.

Dave
 
At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation.          Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good.         Steven Wright

You know....you can just rip up a to-do list.
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Reply #9 - Jul 8th, 2009 at 10:43pm

Travis   Offline
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Dave, when you say "terrain poly" are you referring to the cleared space around most airports?  If so, what programs can you get that will do this?  For FS9, I mean.
 
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Reply #10 - Jul 9th, 2009 at 1:21am

Scruffyduck   Offline
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For FS9 you will need SBuilder.  ADE does not support FS9 at the moment although we are beta testing a version now.  In any case it will not provide terrain polys (that is airport backgrounds, land class etc).  These are created quite differently in FS9 and FSX.
 
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Reply #11 - Jul 9th, 2009 at 9:01am

dave3cu   Offline
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Travis,

Terrain polys?-Yes, flattening, clearing and applying texture to the area for an airport.

As Jon mentions, SBuilder is the 'tool of choice'. It is a 2D CAD design program with the tools needed to create/modify FS 2004 scenery.

SBuilder is now available here- http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=68

This download incorporates SBuilder 2.05 and all revisions needed to give you  the latest version, 2.05rev06.

Dave
 
At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation.          Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good.         Steven Wright

You know....you can just rip up a to-do list.
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Reply #12 - Jul 9th, 2009 at 10:05am

idahosurge   Offline
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dave3cu wrote on Jul 8th, 2009 at 7:27pm:
Rod,

If you have the FSX SDK installed I think ADE is your best choice. It provides all the tools that AFX has for airport modification. In addition, it can create airport terrain polys for creating new airports or expansion of existing airports. (AFX cannot)

There is one other freeware editor, FSX Planner by ZBlue: http://www.zbluesoftware.com/fsxplanner/ Not familiar with it but looking at the features I see no mention of airport terrain poly tool. Like ADE, it requires the FSX SDK.

Note: Although a convenience, it is not necessary to have the airport terrain poly tool in the airport editor. There are other (free) design utilities that can create the polys. They will require the FSX SDK.

Dave


Thanks Dave, I do have SDK installed, actually I just got around to that a couple of weeks ago.  So I guess ADE it is.

One more question, can ADE modify an FSX airport made or previously modified with AFX?

Rod

 
Asus R3E_i7 980X @ 4.44GHz_TR Silver Arrow_Mushkin Redline 6GB 1,644MHz @ 6-7-6-18_Zotac AMP GTX 480_OS - Windows 7 Ult 64b_OS SSD - Crucial C300 128GB_FSX HD - WD VR 600GB*2 w/3ware 9750-4i 6Gb/s Controller_Corsair AX850_CM HAF-X_FSX Gold, UTX, GEX, FSG, ST, MSX, MSE, FTX, FEX, FSWC, MTX, STB, AS F16, PMDG MD11, CS MD80 Pro, FSD P38, VRS FA18E
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Reply #13 - Jul 9th, 2009 at 11:00am

dave3cu   Offline
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Rod,

Quote:
....can ADE modify an FSX airport made or previously modified with AFX?


As I don't have ADE (no SDK) Jon will have to answer that one. As AFX uses some unconventional means, my guess is that even if it could open AFX files, editing would be problematic.

Dave
 
At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation.          Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good.         Steven Wright

You know....you can just rip up a to-do list.
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Reply #14 - Jul 10th, 2009 at 1:29am

Scruffyduck   Offline
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idahosurge wrote on Jul 9th, 2009 at 10:05am:
dave3cu wrote on Jul 8th, 2009 at 7:27pm:
Rod,

If you have the FSX SDK installed I think ADE is your best choice. It provides all the tools that AFX has for airport modification. In addition, it can create airport terrain polys for creating new airports or expansion of existing airports. (AFX cannot)

There is one other freeware editor, FSX Planner by ZBlue: http://www.zbluesoftware.com/fsxplanner/ Not familiar with it but looking at the features I see no mention of airport terrain poly tool. Like ADE, it requires the FSX SDK.

Note: Although a convenience, it is not necessary to have the airport terrain poly tool in the airport editor. There are other (free) design utilities that can create the polys. They will require the FSX SDK.

Dave


Thanks Dave, I do have SDK installed, actually I just got around to that a couple of weeks ago.  So I guess ADE it is.

One more question, can ADE modify an FSX airport made or previously modified with AFX?

Rod




Yes it can.  You can also load airports made by AFCAD for FS9 and modify them for use in FSX.  There is always a health warning though.  Both AFX and AFCAD use their own compilers.  This means they may not, and in the case of AFCAD certainly do not, conform to Microsoft Bgl Compiler standards.  You would load both as bgl files.  Then it is a good idea to run the fault finder and deal with anything it finds.  AFX uses dummy model files to create exclusions (which is a rather non standard way of doing things).  ADE won't import these and you would use the terrain polys ADE provides to replace them.

Generally you should not have any problems.  Also bear in mind that ADE loads a lot of data that neither AFX or AFCAD can work with such as approach code and buildings.  

Anyway best thing is to try it and if you get any problems we can usually help out  Wink
 
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