MAIW--Help

[lmgaylard]

Hi Guys,

Over the last couple of weeks i have installed MAIW Grobs and UK Harriers and UK Hawks part 2 into my FSX Standard.
I have, as far as i can tell, done all i am supposed to but still see no aircraft.
I have updated the voicepacks, removed appropriate afcads and the settings n FSX are set to high density.....but still no aircraft.

I sat this morning for 3 hours to see if anything would fly but nothing....

Any ideas guys......

[davem]

Have you converted the flight plan bgl to FSX compatability in the AIFP2 program?

If so, make sure the original FS9 flightplan bgl has been deleted or moved out of your FSX folder completely otherwise ANY old FS9 flightplan will kill ALL FSX AI.

[lmgaylard]

Thanks for that Davem but as i am quite new to FS i have not got a clue what you just said.....

[davem]

I have, as far as i can tell, done all i am supposed to but still see no aircraft.

If you're following the MAIW guide for converting to FSX then there are full details in there as to how to convert the traffic files.

I suspect that you've not yet converted the files though which will be the cause of your lack of AI.

I'll reply further and more fully when I'm not at work later tonight.

[RichC]

Most FSX users stay well away from MAIW, it's a shame they don't actually do much for FSX considering FS9 is slowly dying.
Why do you think this video was made?

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=60715" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lmgaylard]

Thanks gents....RichC.....that video is very funny, the one they made about scrapping the Harrier is very funny.....

[davem]

Most FSX users stay well away from MAIW

Afraid I'm in the minority then Rich! I've got most if not all of the packs that visit UK bases installed, admittedly with a LOAD of the paints scrapped and one version then duplicated to save on HDD space, but it still serves to populate the UK skies with military AI. It's just a question of balance and avoiding the FS9 coded scenery that will kill FSX frame rates.

As for the conversion Imgaylard, I find it somewhat simpler than MAIW or The Owl's Nest make out. Provided you've got a decent grasp of your FS9 and FSX folder names / structure and where each of the different types of file live and work it's relatively easy.

My method...

Download and install the package in question to a directory well away from FSX. You'll need to change the default installation directory to achieve this.

You'll have the following drectories after the 'installation'
*Addon Scenery
*Aircraft
*Effects
*Miltary AI Works
*Scenery

Move 'Addon Scenery' to your 'Addon Scenery' dirctory (Accept 'merge' if necessary) although this is primarily for airbase AFCADS, you may need to see if this contains any actual FS9 scenery files that will affect your FSX frame rates and delete them if necessary.
Move 'Aircraft' to your 'Airplanes' folder found within 'SimObjects'
Move 'Effects' to your 'Effects' folder. (Accept 'merge' if necessary and copy or replace any files if they are newer)
Move 'Miltary AI Works' to your 'Miltary AI Works' folder if you alrteady have one, if not just move it into your root FSX directory.

Finally... Download and install AIFP2 - AI Flight Planner 2 from here http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=100

Read the setup and basic manual carefully and learn how to convert the FS9 traffic file found in the 'Scenery' directory to the FSX format.

If you open up the 'Scenery' directory, you'll find 'World', open up 'World' and you'll find 'Scenery' and inside that (for example the Swedish Gripens package) you'll find a file called "Traffic_MAIW_CzechAF_JAS-39.bgl"

This is your FS9 format traffic AI file that needs converting.

In a very short explanation, when running AIFP2, click on the top 'Files' menu option, then click 'Convert FS9 Traffic FIles to FSX' and then navigate to your eg "Traffic_MAIW_CzechAF_JAS-39.bgl" file. Make sure you've selected a safe directory for it to be saved to and I always make sure that the tickbox option to 'add FSX suffix to FSX Traffic files' to file name' is selected. That way, if you create you new FSX traffic file in the same directory as your original FS9 one it will be immediately identifiable.

When this has been done, simply copy the eg "Traffic_MAIW_CzechAF_JAS-39_FSX.bgl" to your FSX\Scenery\World\Scenery directory and this should then work.

However, MAKE SURE you've deleted all NON-FSX traffic bgl files otherwise the presence of just ONE FS9 file will stop all AI showing.

Hope this helps, and if I've made any major mistakes, I'm sure someone will be along to point them out!

ATB,
Dave.

[RichC]

My grumble is, you shouldn't need to convert all this for FSX, it should be available as is, install it and go. A lot of pissing about to get MAIW to work okay on FSX and i have found even then, some of the scenery files they have just "guessed" on.... such as SPTA, Dartmoor, and other training ranges.
I haven't flown with AI traffic installed for several years now as i inly fly MP lately.... and if i did have the AI, i'd have to end up doing what i did in FS9 and make my own flights/routes as the ones in MAIW or elsewhere are unrealistic for what i need.

[lmgaylard]

Thanks Davem, i'll give your method a go......

[lmgaylard]

Just tried Davem's way but still no AI. when you say Dave;''MAKE SURE you've deleted all NON-FSX traffic bgl files otherwise the presence of just ONE FS9 file will stop all AI showing'', where should i look for these files and how will they read differently from FSX files?

Stupid questions i know but still learning........

Thank you....

[davem]

If as per your original email you've installed MAIW packages as per their instructions but not converted the traffic files, then your rogue traffic files will be in FSX\Scenery\World\Scenery\... (where you should have put your converted file called Traffic_x?x?x?x_FSX.bgl). If you can get a screen grab of that directory I can tell you which traffic files will be causing you problems.

Alternatively, just run the AIFP2 traffic file FS9 to FSX converter on that directory and anything not FSX should be shown up and able to be converted.

Dave.

[lmgaylard]

I have re-installed FSX and will start again....
So from the first addon i just go with your first mail......

[lmgaylard]

Yipee.....it works
Thanks Dave......

The only problem i have now is...................Yeovilton is full of Grobs........

[RichC]

No difference to real life then, Yeovilton and Boscombe have gone down hill rapidly, both are just Grob bases nowadays.

[lmgaylard]

Yeah i agree, to a point. But the future looks brighter at Vl with the 'Wildcat' and Merlin HC4'S being based there and you never know what else.....

Just thinking, would this AI process work for most/all packages?
And, apart from UKMIL and MAIW, who else does AI Scenery.

[lmgaylard]

I think the quality of the MAIW packages is very good from what i've seen and now i know how to convert to FSX its no big deal really.

I do hope that MAIW do some dedicated Naval Shars, T8 Harriers and Hunters.......seems to be a real lack of these AI aircraft. Ski-Jump that worked would be nice also......

I have got the ACG-Hunter fsx pack but cant seem to get that to work, that has lots of naval Hunters.......

[lmgaylard]

In my ACG Hunter pack i have just found the following;
''No AFCADs or flight plans are included in the packs, but users familiar with AFCAD, Traffic Tools, AI Flight Planner etc will be able to set up the aircraft at their chosen locations to operate as they wish''.

Anyone know what to do? I have AFIP but not sure how to use it and no idea about AFCAD'S......

[Binnman]

My grumble is, you shouldn't need to convert all this for FSX, it should be available as is, install it and go. A lot of pissing about to get MAIW to work okay on FSX and i have found even then, some of the scenery files they have just "guessed" on.... such as SPTA, Dartmoor, and other training ranges.
I haven't flown with AI traffic installed for several years now as i inly fly MP lately.... and if i did have the AI, i'd have to end up doing what i did in FS9 and make my own flights/routes as the ones in MAIW or elsewhere are unrealistic for what i need.

What's that phrase again? Oh yes, "You can please some of the people....................."

When we started MAIW, we made a deliberate decision to stick with FS9, as at that time FSX was bugged to you know what. The fact that our packages are still being downloaded at Avsim, having been on our site for several weeks, kind of indicates that we still have "customers". Remember Rich, we (MAIW) do this as a hobby, in our spare time. We provide a specific FSX forum for help with converting, for those that want to do it. You state that you only fly MP lately, in which case MAIW packages are NOT for you. You further moan that SPTA, Dartmoor and other training ranges are not accurate (in your opinion).

Our scenery designers are based not only in the UK, but in Australia and the USA - so they can surely be forgiven if they don't know where a particular hut or portaloo sits on a range.

If this does fall short of your requirements, which apparently seems to be the case, the solution is right before you mate. Design and build your own scenery and then you can be sure of getting the accuracy you seem to crave.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but your post smacks of being damned ungrateful for the efforts that others put in to try and improve your experience.

[garyscott]

Just thought i would jump in on this one. I have a few friends who are fsx only, and have happily converted several maiw packs relatively painlessly. It can work if you want it to. I am a fs9 devotee, and have most, if not all of the maiw packs installed. The scenery is great, im not looking for blade of grass perfection, but the general feel of a location. As for the ai, i fully enjoy being pushed back in the landing sequence because of a busy period! I know they mostly only go from base to base, but that is fine with me. You never know when you will cross paths with them, i have mid-aired a tonka near sheffield and speared through a formation of tomcats near china lake, as in real life, they can be anywhere. Dont you dare stop maiw!

[RichC]

Not ungrateful.... i used to use your packages a lot when flying in FS9.
Hardly a hut or portaloo though is it, Binnman? MAIW's Deptford Down was approx several miles east of the proper location and was an odd shaped (polygon) brown patch of dirt that looked like a smudge on the landscape when the real Deptford Down is a grass airstrip (two strips infact made into one). Bit more than a portaloo considering it is used frequently by the RAF with C130s and helicopters. Again, knowledge is power, if you don't have the knowledge of the area, don't produce it and expect people not to moan. Those who don't know the area and know nothing of the strip wouldn't moan as to them, it could well be a brown smudge anywhere on SPTA.

Yes it is free, yes i know you put a lot of hard work into the packages, but people have the right to moan about anything these days, free or not. Hence why i no longer use MAIW as to counter your sentence above, MAIW did not improve my experience. You can't please everyone, and i fall into that category.
So for that, i did go ahead and design my scenery even in FS9 several years ago... but now with FSX (SPTA etc) as can be seen elsewhere on this forum so i know how hard it is and how long it takes within my free time. It took several months just to make an Oshkosh tanker for my FARP.
I don't worry about AI nowadays as i mostly fly multiplayer (as said before) so although i did have a moan above about the AI, it is now defunct of my requirements and therefore yes, there was no need for that.

You're allowed to rant as much as you like, being a Staff member of MAIW, and i fully understand what you are trying to say (and achieve).