Model Matching FSX Steam Edition DLC Airplanes?

[Don Whitney 1464271]

Hello; new to VATSIM and this is my 1st post.

 

I just installed vPilot version 2.2.2. Under its Settings > Model Matching > Advanced, all of the default aircraft in my

"F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\FSX\SimObjects\Airplane" folder are present.

However, as per a typical Steam installation my 3rd party aircraft purchased via Steam are stored in a DLC folder. Here's an example of my Carenado Cessna Stationair folder's path:

"F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\FSX\DLC\500200\SimObjects\Airplanes\Carenado Cessna 206"

 

I'm wondering if there's a way to have vPilot recognize those aircraft as well?

 

I do realize that this is just matching for the AI aircraft, but I have a handful of 3rd party airplanes purchased via Steam and a good deal of them are seaplanes and amphibs, so since I do a lot of floatplane flying it'd be nice if they could be recognized too.

[Ross Carlson]

If those models in the DLC folder are properly configured in the FSX.cfg file (in the SimObjectPaths section) then vPilot should find them.

 

Note that vPilot will only use them for model matching if their aircraft.cfg file contains a valid type code in the atc_model line.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

If those models in the DLC folder are properly configured in the FSX.cfg file (in the SimObjectPaths section) then vPilot should find them.

 

Note that vPilot will only use them for model matching if their aircraft.cfg file contains a valid type code in the atc_model line.

 

Many thanks for the reply Ross. I suspect they aren't correctly listed in the FSX.CFG file, because a recent install of the Active Sky XGauge gauge didn't properly locate them. I'll check for their presence and if they're there, check to see they have correct atc_model entries in their aircraft.cfg files.

Edited September 4, 2019 at 09:47 PM by Guest

[Ross Carlson]

Also note that you might run into frame rate issues if you use high-quality flyable models for model matching. That can put a strain on the sim to render them. You're generally better off using a model set designed for AI traffic like FLAi.

 

And another note, there is (or was) a bug in some (or all) Carenado aircraft where their copy protection would get triggered if they are used for model matching. Not sure if their copy protection is included when purchased through steam.

 

See here for details if you're curious: viewtopic.php?f=132&t=75591

[Don Whitney 1464271]

Well I checked the FSX.CFG and indeed they were not there. The good news is that each one of them had correct atc_model entries in their aircraft.cfg files. I added them into the FSX.CFG with entries as follows:

 

SimObjectPaths.6=DLC\500237\SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.7=DLC\379568\SimObjects\Airplanes

etc..

 

and the second I restarted vPilot it found them and auto-entered them under Model Matching (FSX) > Advanced. Very nice - thought I would at least have to manually rescan for them.

Dang! Wish I'd known about those entries before I tried to install XGauge - would have saved me a lot of panel.cfg editing.

 

I guess I'll just have to do some flying to see about frame rate impact and the copy protection issue, but many thanks for the heads up and helping me out.

[Ross Carlson]

If the copy protection bug kicks in, I believe it manifests by either cutting your engines, or putting you into a dive. So if either of those things happen, check if you have an aircraft nearby that is using a Carenado model. (You can open the aircraft list with the .aircraft command.)

[Don Whitney 1464271]

Oh oh! Well apparently you can't reference the Steam purchased 3rd party airplanes by creating SimObjectPaths in the FSX.CFG. If you do, when FSX:SE launches it repeats this bogus error for every single aircraft in the \simobjects\airplanes\... folder as well as all of those in the \DLC\... folders:

 

There are multiple objects with the same title name. They must have unique title names."

 

airplane title

simobjects\airplanes\airplanefolder

 

After it goes through the entire list of installed airplanes, it then loops through it again - doh! I wasted my time checking some of the aircraft.cfg's and of course all of them had unique titles for each entry. So...it looks like it's not possible to make 3rd party aircraft purchased via Steam available to vPilot.

 

Anyhow...I followed your earlier advice and downloaded the FLAi AI airplanes. That's a good list of aircraft and it only takes up an additional 2 GB of drive space, so I'm happy with that as a solution.

[Ross Carlson]

For FSX to throw that error, you must have had two copies of the aircraft installed, or possibly two entries in SimObjectPaths that referenced the same folder.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

For FSX to throw that error, you must have had two copies of the aircraft installed, or possibly two entries in SimObjectPaths that referenced the same folder.

 

Actually no, my edited in SimObjectPaths only reference single, unique DLC paths. As well, I don't have any duplication of airplanes or any type of SimObjects for that matter on my HD - checked via Windows Explorer because I feared that the lengthy FLAi download and file write might have somehow become corrupted. Here's the section of my FSX.CFG that contained the original SimObjectPaths (paths 0 - 5) and the DLC ones I edited in (paths 6 - 9.):

 

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft

SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats

SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

SimObjectPaths.6=DLC\500200\SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.7=DLC\379568\SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.8=DLC\353970\SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.9=DLC\343952\SimObjects\Airplanes

 

I've checked all of those unique numbered DLC subfolders and they're correctly named. As well, none of the airplanes in those DLC folders are found in my main \Simobjects\Airplanes folder.

I'm guessing the bogus error messages are being triggered by FSX:SE encountering other SimObjectPaths that list an "Airplanes" folder. Could it possibly be some prevention against referencing/using DLC airplanes for other purposes/applications, that Dovetail has implemented in the Steam edition?

 

I encourage you to try it; just make sure you have TaskManager loaded, because you're going to have to End Task on FSX:SE to get out of the loop.

[Ross Carlson]

I'm not sure how they would prevent DLC simobjects from being used in other applications. You get that error even if vPilot isn't running, I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume.

 

Does the error show you the specific model title that it says is a duplicate? It does in P3D.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

I'm not sure how they would prevent DLC simobjects from being used in other applications. You get that error even if vPilot isn't running, I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume.

 

Does the error show you the specific model title that it says is a duplicate? It does in P3D.

 

Ross, I receive the error in the format I quoted above for every single airplane; those in the main SimObjects\Airplanes folder and the those in the DLC\uniqueID\SimObjects\Airplanes folders.

 

To make matters worse, when done it loops through them again from the start. That includes the newly installed FLAi airplanes, so just getting through the 1st round of errors takes minutes of clicking or spacebar presses. I receive the error even with vPilot running.

[Ross Carlson]

What I would recommend is that you make a note of the first one that comes up. Make a note of the title, and the folder. Then, go through all the SimObjects entries, and search the aircraft.cfg (or sim.cfg) file for that title. Somehow, you're getting a duplicated title across two different aircraft.cfg files in two different folders.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

What I would recommend is that you make a note of the first one that comes up. Make a note of the title, and the folder. Then, go through all the SimObjects entries, and search the aircraft.cfg (or sim.cfg) file for that title. Somehow, you're getting a duplicated title across two different aircraft.cfg files in two different folders.

 

Been there done that, but I did it again and docomeented it this time just for $h!t$ & giggles. The first error message that comes up is as follows:

 

There are multiple objects with the same title

name. They must have unique title names.

 

AH_Piper_Aztec

simobjects\airplanes\ah_piper_aztec

 

That's Aeroplane Heaven's Piper Aztec - not a very good airplane, but hey it came free in a FSX:SE bundle.

 

Issuing this command line query:

F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\FSX>findstr /x /s "title=AH_Piper_Aztec" aircraft.cfg

I got this result: DLC\379568\SimObjects\Airplanes\AH_Piper_Aztec\aircraft.cfg:title=AH_Piper_Aztec

Exactly what I expected.

Then issuing this command line query:

F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\FSX>findstr /x /s "title=AH_Piper_Aztec" sim.cfg

It returned no results. TBH I didn't know what to expect with that query, but that it returned nothing means there's no such text in any sim.cfg file.

 

Meanwhile, while browsing through the different "title=" entries in Piper Aztec's aircraft.cfg file, this is what's present under the different [flitsim.#] headers

 

[fltsim.0]

title=AH_Piper_Aztec

 

[fltsim.1]

title=AH_Piper_Aztec NZ

 

[fltsim.2]

title=AH_Piper_Aztec NZCharter

 

[fltsim.3]

title=AH_Piper_Aztec BlueStripe

 

[fltsim.4]

title=AH_Piper_Aztec LeAvia

 

So it looks to me that there is indeed only 1 "AH_Piper_Aztec" title in my entire FSX installation folder. Does that look to be the case to you?

[Ross Carlson]

Yup, sure does. So the next thing I would do is remove those entries you made in fsx.cfg one by one until you no longer get the duplicate content error for the aztec. Then you can figure out which folder is triggering the duplicate.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

Yup, sure does. So the next thing I would do is remove those entries you made in fsx.cfg one by one until you no longer get the duplicate content error for the aztec. Then you can figure out which folder is triggering the duplicate.

 

OK, so I removed the SimObjectPaths.7=DLC\379568\SimObjects\Airplanes line in my FSX.CFG which references the folder for the Piper Aztec, but the 1st error message that pops is the exact same one referencing the Piper Aztec. In fact, until I remove the last of the 4 SimObjectPaths.#=DLC\uniqueID\SimObjects\Airplanes paths I edited in, I continue to get the exact same error message claiming a duplication of the AH_Piper_Aztec title.

 

It seems to me, FSX:SE is enumerating these DLC airplanes by some other means and that any other instance of an \Airplane subfolder in a FSX.CFG SimObjectsPath triggers the equivalent of an app meltdown. Or is it perhaps a drastic measure Dovetail games has coded in to prevent some form of unauthorized airplane use?

[Ross Carlson]

Wow, very strange. Would you mind sending me your model scan result file? You'll find it in the same folder as the vPilot.exe, and it'll be called ModelScanResult-FsxSe.xml. Please send me that file AFTER starting vPilot with all four of those DLC entries present in your cfg file. You can post it somewhere and send me the link via PM, or let me know and I'll send you my email address.

[Don Whitney 1464271]

OK Ross, I have the ModelScanResult-FsxSe.xml that was generated by vPilot while those 4 DLC SimObject paths are present in the FSX.CFG. It's probably better to PM me an email address; I have both Dropbox and Box.net, but I've found both of them at times can be problematic for sharing files.

 

[Edit] I uploaded the file into a DropBox folder, here's the link:

vPilot model scan

 

Let me know if you have any problems downloading it.